The Call of Crowns by Chinaza Bado
Blurb:
It’s a game of palace intrigue, survival, and plotting as Khalil and Zikora continue to grow up under the thumb of a tyrannical family in this electrifying second book in the Birth of a Dynasty trilogy.
The kingdom of Ahkelbulin is on the brink of war. Following a shocking death, the royal court is a viper’s nest of ambition and betrayal. The princes, once united, now eye the throne with hungry gazes, forging dangerous alliances that could tear their dynasty apart.
In the heart of the palace, Zikora navigates the treacherous political currents. Far from home and concealing a powerful secret, she is drawn into a high-stakes game where one wrong move could mean her end. Elsewhere, a new commander, Khalil, finds his loyalty tested as he is caught between warring factions, forced to choose between duty and morality.
As power shifts and loyalties are questioned, unlikely alliances will form and ancient powers will awaken. In a world where blood oaths hold immense power and the line between friend and foe is blurred, the struggle for the crown will demand unimaginable sacrifices. The very future of Ahkelbulin hangs in the balance, and not everyone will survive the call of crowns...
Review:
On the brink of war, the Kingdom of Ahkelbulin is still recovering from a shocking death that nearly blew it off its hinges. Plunged into a nest of ambition, betrayal, and nefarious court politics, the princes who once got along so well eye the throne with equal parts greed and selfishness. As they forge deadly yet potentially advantageous alliances that could rip their dynasty apart, Vikora is forced to navigate the treacherous currents of a newly revised political landscape.
Torn from home and concealing a powerful but dangerous secret, she’s forced to play the political game the princes are invoking in order to keep it. But in a world where promises and deception come hand in hand, one misstep might cost her her life.
In another part of the world, Khalil tests his loyalty when he’s forced to choose between two warring factions with two thoroughly different beliefs. Power is shifting, loyalty is forsaken, unlikely alliances are forging, and oaths hold immense weight. The crown must be claimed, and until it is, the Kingdom of Ahkelbulin is at risk of coming to its bloody end.
Somehow, I requested this ARC on NetGalley without having read the first book or reviewed it anywhere (or knowing it existed, at all). Somehow, I also got accepted for an ARC review via NetGalley. The number of times I’ve accidentally started reading a series by starting with the sequel is astronomical, but the amount of times I’ve regretted doing so and haven’t continued to enjoy the other books in the series is exactly zero.
Something I love about accidentally stumbling into a new world halfway through its story is that, if the novel is well-executed, it can be just as compelling and entertaining as starting the series where I should’ve. The Call of Crowns is no exception to this rule.
Although this book is a sequel in a trilogy, and even though I haven’t read the first novel, I didn’t enjoy my readthrough of the book any less. Which is an incredible feat, considering how expansive and developed the world in this trilogy truly is.
Composed of an intricate world crammed with politics and characters with diverse motivations and identities, it’s one of those books that feels like it should require a ton of exposition and backstory to understand. While it might, in some instances, the author Chinaza Bado does a wonderful job of writing this sequel in a way that makes everything incredibly comprehensible and easy to learn–even if you, like me, started reading the book in the middle of the storyline.
Although I didn’t know some of the context of the characters and their situations, it was easy to gather what was going on and to get as invested as I would’ve been if I’d read the first book all the way through.
Packed with court intrigue, noble political mechanisms, and murder plots, this novel is a marvel of political fantasy. It’s utterly and inevitably absorbing. With every problem introduced and every way the plot deepened from dangerous to terrifying, I became more and more invested in the end and the well-being of the characters within the novel.
I’m excited to read the other books in the Birth of a Dynasty trilogy at some point in the future; hopefully in the right order, this time!
