Winner of the 2018 IRDA for fantasy / 2018 Reader’s Favorite Gold Medalist#1 Best Seller in Canadian Dark Fantasy99% liked it (Goodreads)A deformed genius plots vengeance while struggling to survive. A wastrel prince comes of age, finding a power he never imagined. Two worlds will collide. Only one can be king.★★★★★ “This dark fantasy epic will be held up against George R.R. Martin’s masterwork, … be held up against George R.R. Martin’s masterwork, A Song of Ice and Fire. Read this book now so you can act pompous around your friends when HBO turns it into a television series.” – Goodreads
★★★★★ “Kings of Paradise presents a brutal world of complex yet simple politics, reminiscent of Game of Thrones. An intriguing low-magic world packed with interesting cultures to be further delved. Nell shows considerable skill in displaying his world distinctly through the eyes of his different characters.” – Fantasybookreview.co.uk
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Ruka, called a demon at birth, is a genius. Born malformed and ugly into the snow-covered wasteland of the Ascom, he was spared from death by his mother’s love. Now he is an outcast, consumed with hate for those who’ve wronged him. But to take his vengeance, he must first survive.
Across a vast sea in the white-sand island paradise of Sri Kon, Kale is fourth and youngest son of the Sorcerer King. At sixteen, Kale is a disappointment. As the first prince ever forced to serve with low-born marines, Kale must prove himself and become a man, or else lose all chance of a worthy future, and any hope to win the love of his life.
Though they do not know it, both boys are on the cusp of discovery. Their worlds and lives are destined for greatness, or ruin. But in a changing world where ash meets paradise, only one man can be king…
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The first installment of an epic, low- fantasy trilogy. Kings of Paradise is a dark, bloody, coming-of-age story shaped by culture, politics, and magic.
★★★★★ “The novel’s brilliant world works on so many levels; it has a rich political landscape, moral complexity, and immense environmental challenges, all told in beautiful, thoughtful prose.” – Indiereader
★★★★★ “A must for lovers of fantasy, especially those who enjoy losing themselves in a epic tale.” – Reader’s Favorite
★★★★★ “The world that Mr. Nell has created is pretty incredible. But the thing that really made me love this story was the characters he filled that world with.” – Goodreads
★★★★★ “If Kale changes, Ruka grows and festers like a storm. Without a doubt, the darker of the two characters, I feel Richard Nell has created a compelling and classic character here.” Goodreads
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This is a titanic effort from an indie author and well worth the mountains of praise it has received. I could quibble with the occasionally anachronistic word choice or the not infrequent typos (we all struggle with these, but I would have thought such a widely-read book would have gotten a new round of proofing), but Kings of Paradise is nevertheless impressive by any measure.
This first book essentially sets up what I expect will be the conflict of the final two — but I could be wrong, and it wouldn’t surprise me. Nell alternates between three major characters, each of whom has his/her own story, but there are countless other characters who play important roles as well, and each is vividly drawn. Also, as many have noted, there is something of an Asian culture theme to much of the story, which isn’t something I’ve encountered a lot in my reading. Always nice to be challenged and pulled outside my comfort zone and habits.
All in all, a cracking good yarn. You’ll want to rush right into the second book, despite its length!
A disfigured orphan plans his revenge on those responsible for the death of his mother & his exile.
A younger prince searches for a way to prove his worth and discovers a power believed lost.
A novice priestess is determined to remake her order as she sees fit.
Kings of Paradise is not for the faint of heart but it does let you know this upfront. Any book where the first paragraph has a main character intent on cannibalizing someone he just killed can’t be accused of not giving you fair warning.
A lot of work has obviously gone into this book, beginning with the world-building. Distinct nations, races and locales are well-developed so that each stands out. There is also a great sense of history in the world as well, with lands having their own legends and traditions, some of which the characters either find themselves victims of or look to turn to their advantage.
Each of the three main characters are given chapters from their point of view to advance the story. Ruka is probably the most difficult. Beginning as a child, shunned and cursed by everyone except his mother, he quickly develops into a ruthless killer as well as the above-mentioned cannibal. He also seems capable of great mental feats, including his creation of a mental place which echoes the mind palace of another famous cannibal. As the years pass, and he attains his first measure of revenge, his goals begin to change, becoming more enamoured with building his own myth and launching conquest.
Kale is the one in the most traditional (and least blood-thirsty) mould. Being the younger son of a king, he has no especially defined role and is put into military service, then later a monastery, in hopes he might find a place (or be out of the way). As he progress, he begins to show both a natural leadership and a strong independent streak.
The third character, Dala, is somewhere between the two. Driven to protect those close to her but equally ruthless to those she considers threats. As she begins to gather influence to herself, both those aspects grow in tandem, as does her ambition.
The characters almost never interact, with only a single (but important) meeting between two of them. It seems as if the majority of of that will be saved for future instalments which I will be eagerly awaiting based on this. Having said that, it does connect to one of my few problems with the book. The chapters aren’t necessarily distributed evenly, focusing more on completing one story before switching. While I can understand the reasoning, more than once I did find myself wanting to get back to one of the other characters. But that’s only a minor quibble compared to the riches Kings of Paradise offers.
The basics. A grimdark world portraying two cultures completely unaware the other lies across the sea. One culture is a Scandinavian-like matriarchal society living in a harsh land of ash and cold and generally suffering. The other is an Asian-inspired island chain offer an Asian-inspired mainland. The islands are basically paradise, and the people are much more educated, but not nearly as adept in war because of soft lives and not having iron.
Now we come to our two main protagonists.
Ruka is an ostracized, deformed orphan forced to murder and cannibalism to keep from starving. A horrible life leads him to decide he wants to unmake a corrupt and unfair society. Ruka also has an eidetic memory, a genius-level intellect, and as he grows up, deformed giant size and strength.
I found him far more compelling in book 2 as he evolves as a character.
In book 1, I actually preferred the second protagonist, Kale, a prince of paradise. Kale is something like a fourth son, which means he basically doesn’t matter politically. His father sends him to the navy for training, and he begins as a good-natured slacker … at least until he decides he really cares about the people around him who do not have palaces to go home to if things go south. Then he becomes far more dedicated.
There’s a lot more going on with both protagonists, but their developments into pillars of each civilization is something I don’t want to spoil.
The first book is amazing. The second is even better.
If you like grimdark fantasy that pulls no punches, you need to be reading this series.
KINGS OF PARADISE by Richard Nell is one of the favorites to win the Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off (#SPFBO). It is a story which has been recommended to me over and over again. I was surprised by this because the fantasy fans I hang around with are a very cynical bunch. If one liked THE POPPY WARS, then the next disliked it. I was a huge fan of 1000 SCARS but others were iffy about it. Here? Just about everyone who read this novel had nothing but praise for it. They said it was the best grimdark they’d read since THE GREY BASTARDS or WHERE LOYALTIS LIE. So, i decided to check it out.
What did I think? Kings of Paradise is really solid fantasy. I didn’t like it quite as much as the aforementioned books but it’s definitely something that both earns its moniker of grimdark (which I define as “dark, gritty fantasy for adults”) but also is just good fiction in general. The characters are interesting, the twists are actually unpredictable, and world-building is solid. This is one of those books for people who don’t like their fantasy to read like Dungeons and Dragons but more like George R.R. Martin or Joe Abercrombie.
The premise is centered around three characters: Ruka, Kale, and Dala. Ruka is a deformed cannibal savage who may be the son of a god but is certainly the daughter of a witch. After being raised with love by his mother, he is cast out of civilized society by a corrupt priestess–which causes him to decide that it his destiny to destroy the old world. Kale is the spoiled prince of an island nation is that is one part England and one part Polynesia. Dala is a beautiful farm girl who grew up on a impoverished farm with an abusive father, when a chance encounter with Ruka results in her deciding to join the upper-crust priestesses on what she believes is a mission from her goddess.
Ruka is an interesting character and reminds me a bit of Kratos from God of War crossed with Caliban from The Tempest–not exactly a very common pair of team-ups. He’s a genius with the face of a monster and his rage is all-consuming. He’s not quite as sharp as he thinks he is and his only real move is “burn down everything that ticks him off.” It’s an effective move, though, and it’s interesting how his partners keep trying to screw him–only to realize they’ve brought down holy hell on their heads.
Kale is a character I want to punch in the face and that’s a good thing because it’s what the author obviously intended as a reaction. Kale reminds me strongly of Jezal from THE FIRST LAW TRILOGY and his romance with Lala is not too dissimilar to said character’s romance with Ardee West. That isn’t to say the characters are identical but they have arcs of privileged individuals discovering their privilege comes with severe costs and have left them helpless once outside their comfort zone. The fact he discovers he has an incredible talent that can change the world struck me as a bit annoying but I am interested in where it takes him.
Dala is probably my favorite character in the story and I was saddened her role wasn’t bigger. Dala is a seemingly sweet poor girl with a story which wouldn’t be too out of home in a Disney movie, right before it goes in a bizarre and horrifying direction. When confronted with women who are going to kick her out of the priesthood and destroy her life solely because of her impoverished background, she assembles an army of assassins from the lower classes. It shows a woman with a keen sense of survival and who is every bit as dangerous as Ruka.
I like Kings of Paradise and recommend it for people who want to see a big complicated story with multiple interlocking parts. The book is divided into three parts and really does feel like reading an entire trilogy in one sitting. That’s more bang for your book, tough, and I’m interested in where the story goes from here. I think readers will enjoy the care and detail Richard Nell has put into his masterpiece and I’ll certainly be picking up the next installment.
9/10