Legacy of Kings, by Eleanor Herman

Hey all! 

I finished Legacy of Kings, by Eleanor Herman 

Note: the Boekhandel Dominicanen let me borrow this for review, thank you very much! This does not change my opinion on the book. 

Also, I wanted this back when it was presented on Netgalley, so that’s a bonus! 

"Imagine a time when the gods turn a blind eye to the agony of men, when the last of the hellions roam the plains and evil stirs beyond the edges of the map. A time when cities burn, and in their ashes, empires rise.

Alexander, Macedonia’s sixteen-year-old heir, is on the brink of discovering his fated role in conquering the known world but finds himself drawn to a newcomer…

Katerina must navigate the dark secrets of court life while hiding her own mission: kill the Queen. But she doesn’t account for her first love…

Jacob will go to unthinkable lengths to win Katerina, even if it means having to compete for her heart with Hephaestion, a murderer sheltered by the prince.

And far across the sea, Zofia, a Persian princess and Alexander’s unmet betrothed, wants to alter her destiny by seeking the famed and deadly Spirit Eaters.”



I actually quite liked this! This is a re-telling of the story of Alexander the Great, an awesome blend of magic, myth and history. It takes place between Greece and Macedonia. It’s kind of like Game of Thrones, in the sense that the different chapters are from the point of view of different characters, but, unlike GoT, the amount of characters is actually manageable. 

I thought that this book had a great and diverse set of characters. Sure there are historical inaccuracies, but hey, it’s a re-telling. The main characters are Kat, Alex, Jacob, Zofia, Cyn and Heph, and they all relate to each other in some way or another. Kat and Jacob come from the same village, and are finally coming together when Jacob tells her he’s going to participate in the Blood Tournament, something kind of like the Hunger Games. Kat follows him and becomes Alex’s guest. Alex’s best friend is Heph, who likes Cyn. He (Alex) is meant to marry Zophia for political reasons. 

Each of the characters were built super well! They have real quirks and personalities, and had their own motivations, which sometimes lead to unusual situations. Personally, Heph really isn’t my favorite, but Kat and Alex are cool. Jacob is quite clingy, and Cyn... well I can’t say much about her without spoiling  the entire book.

What I really enjoyed was the world-building. I absolutely loved both the way it was put together and written, and what the world was like. There was a certain... grace to it, and elegancy, even though it was also dark and bloody. It’s really hard to explain, but it was really unique. 

There was a great mystery behind Kat’s character, which I loved reading about! Again, I can’t say more, simply because it would give away too much. 

The book had a great rhythm and was nice to read - I managed to reading it practically one sitting. 

I’m giving this a 4.5/5 feathers! Can’t wait for part 2!

Have you read Legacy of Kings? What did you think about it? Let me know!