Synopsis
Six immortal siblings. Five sworn to peace. One demands a throne.
Radiance, the mysterious power of life and creation, is theirs to command. Death cannot claim them. For hundreds of years, the ever-living ruled with ease. Yet when the world is nearly broken beneath their reign, the humbled six swear a They will sit upon no thrones, wear no crowns, and no longer teach humanity the gifts of radiance.
But after centuries of peace, Eder rejects their vow, anoints himself Voice of Father, and spreads a new, cruel faith across the land.
Faron cannot allow such indiscretion. Returning from a self-imposed exile, he swears to crush Eder’s kingdom, and he will not do so alone—Sariel, their cold and calculating brother, knows all too well that an ever-living’s dominion is bound for brutality and destruction. But to overthrow a nation, they will need more than each other. They will need an army and a ruler who can take the throne their own vow forbids. And so, they pledge themselves to the fanatical Bastard Princess, a woman with incredible powers she insists were given to her by the goddess Leliel.
But Eder’s conquest is not what it seems, and it will take more than a holy war to stop an immortal who has heard the desperate plea of a god.
Review
Immortality to humanity is like the mailman to your dog. What I mean by that is — what happens when your dog finally catches the mailman? What then?
What will people do when they can live forever? How does that affect them? How does that corrupt them?
The Radiant King takes the concept of immortality and (mostly) looks at it through a lens of pessimism and the man’s evil nature. In fact, we get six different looks at immorality in the first installment of David Dalglish’s Astral Kingdoms series from the vantage points of six siblings who are each immortal. Each handles and perceives their “gift” differently and those perspectives guide and affect the humans who are trying to survive and thrive with just the one life they’ve been given. The idea of living forever and keeping your sanity intact is definitely a key idea for a few of our siblings.
Now, I say six siblings, but one is absent for a significant chunk of the book and we never do get to meet one of them entirely. But each of their stories tells about how they are shaped by their long lives, particularly Faron and Sariel, who almost act like co-lead protagonists in this novel. Faron is the more optimistic of the two, seeing humanity can grow and improve, while Sariel is the more dour of the two. They present a nice contrast to the story, but to be honest there were times that they seemed a little too similar. It seemed a bit odd to me until I read Dalglish’s Author’s Note at the end of the novel, and it seemed to make a little more sense.
I was into the story and did love the forward momentum Dalglish kept up throughout the book. I wasn’t sure I was as interested in continuing the series, however, until the final few pages when the aftermath of the final battle takes shape and the characters find out what’s happened to their friends and world moving forward. The scars left behind present a fascinating opening point to whatever Dalglish brings to the second book in the series and I’ll be interested in seeing what he does with a follow-up.
There is some great action and some interesting ideas that weave in and out of The Radiant King and I do recommend picking it up for a great fantasy read.
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