Book Tour - GOD KING RISING by Jeffrey L. Kohanek

Out of This World SFF is pleased to be just one of the many blogs participating in the Storytellers On Tour Book Tour featuring author Jeffrey L. Kohanek and his fantasy book, GOD KING RISING!  I will soon be giving you a brief synopsis of the book, followed by my official review, plus some additional links to connect with Jeffrey and his books.

But before that! I'd just like to mention that Storytellers is currently running a spectacular giveaway in conjunction with this tour. One person could win a signed physical copy of God King Rising! (US only).  And that's not all!  Another winner will be chosen to win a choice of an ebook or audiobook version. (international) 

To enter, just click this link. The winners will be chosen at random and the giveaway ends this Wednesday, August 18th at 11:59pm, so get those entries in now!

And now here is a brief description of Jeffrey L. Kohanek's GOD KING RISING, followed by my official review:

Book Blurb

A stirring rebellion. Unrelenting assassins. Conspiracies abound.

Two queens.

One rules by fear, her citizens laboring to fund the lavish lifestyle of the wizard class. The other believes in justice and compassion, earning her the love of her subjects...and the enmity of her wizard peers.

Both will die.

In one wizardom, a secret rebellion brews. A hero to the people rises, fueled by a mysterious sorcerer's blood magic. But at what cost?

Conspiracies and assassins lurk in every shadow, threatening the throne of another nation. The scheming wizard behind it will stop at nothing to reclaim the crown. Yet, even he is a pawn.

What force is behind it all? What is their endgame?

Review

Jeffrey Kohanek's GOD KING RISING is an entertaining jaunt into a world of sword and sorcery that gave me some of the same feels as when I devoured Dragonlance books as a young fantasy reader. Nothing incredibly complex, which can be a good thing every once in a while, given the amount of densely plotted fantasy these days. This story in particular sets up the events that will follow in upcoming volumes quite nicely as we are introduced to some of the history and characters in the opening chapters.

For a fairly short book this one had a good deal of action that took place. The battle scenes were written quite well and the blood and guts does get vividly described in some passages. The idea of two queens with very different personalities, goals, and motivations was a really neat concept and one that I haven't read much. So that slight air of originality helped my enjoyment of the book as their stories are told and each are confronted with scheming and manipulation from both within their courts and without.

Another refreshing aspect to this book and something that was great to see was that there were a lot of female characters who played huge roles. As someone who gets annoyed at seeing an almost completely male-dominated dramatis personae in some books, it heartened me greatly to be able to read a story that is more representative and diverse and where the heroes (and badass villains) are primarily women. 

My only real sticking point was what I thought was the lack of character development and the fact that much of the book felt like I was getting an awesome depiction of the action, but with maybe some depth missing that would have had me a little more invested. The world-building was also good but not to the level that I would have hoped for as much of the descriptions of place are kind of skimmed over in an effort to get back to the action.

That being said, I did really enjoy this book and for most of it I was totally sucked in. If you are looking for a read that is fast-paced, filled with lots of escapes and battles, and gives you a Terry Brooks vibe with a dash of Dragonlance thrown into the mix, then you will likely find GOD KING RISING your cup of tea. An entertaining escapist fantasy book that intrigued me to want to pick up the next in this series. Definitely give this one a go, as it will delight many fantasy readers who aren't interested in reading doorstopper tomes with hundreds of characters and houses to keep track of. 

Overall Rating:

You can purchase God King Rising on Amazon by clicking HERE.

About the Author

Jeffrey L. Kohanek grew up in rural Minnesota where comic books sparked his young imagination, inspiring fantasies of heroes with super-powers saving the day. His tastes later evolved to fantasy epics featuring unlikely heroes overcoming impossible odds to save worlds born from the writer's imagination.

Now residing in southern California, Jeff uses that imagination to weave tales of engaging characters caught in fantastic plots to inspire young adults and the child within us all. You can connect with Jeff and his books online via his Website, Facebook, Amazon, Goodreads, and BookBub.

And that concludes my stop on the GOD KING RISING book tour! Hope you enjoyed it. I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to both Storytellers On Tour and author Jeffrey L. Kohanek for the chance to participate. There are many more awesome stops on this tour, so if you would like to check those out, below is the official schedule.

As always thanks so much for stopping by and for supporting Out of This World SFF. It is appreciated more than you could ever know. Happy reading!

-Nick