Hohum. I loved The Black Coast, but if I hadn’t been so invested in the future of Black Keep, The Splinter King could easily have been a DNF. I love the themes and there’s plenty to enjoy on the way (my best boy Daimon, the most wholesome marital communication, Zhanna growing into her command, Ekram finding his feet, the focus on culture change and language barriers and open mindedness and loyalty), but The Splinter King had too many meanders, too little tension, and some resolutions that felt heavily engineered.

The biggest problem for me was way too many POVs. In contrast to the first volume, where the plethora of POVs were mostly colocated and interconnected, here they’re largely parallel and in different locations - so it’s just loads of related but independent storylines that progress frustratingly slowly (to the extent that some chapters start with recaps of that plot line within this book, which is a huge red flag for me. Love the book one recap, but reminding us what happened in the book we’re reading? Whew).

I really hope it sits better in retrospect / in the context of the completed trilogy (altho I don’t see how Brooks can wrap this in just one book) - but I didn’t feel The Splinter King worked on its own merits; the mini arcs just aren’t developed enough to be satisfying.

Full review

I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. ( )