Falling Kingdoms (Falling Kingdoms Series #1)

by Morgan Rhodes

Overview

War brought them together. Love will tear them apart.
 
Princess Cleo of Mytica confronts violence for the first time in her life when a shocking murder sets her kingdom on a path to collapse. Once a privileged royal, Cleo must now summon the strength to survive in this new world and fight for her rightful place as Queen.
 
The King of Limeros’s son, Magnus, must plan each footstep with shrewd, sharp guile if he is to earn his powerful father’s trust, while his sister, Lucia, discovers a terrifying secret about her heritage that will change everything.
 
Rebellious Jonas lashes out against the forces of oppression that have kept his country cruelly impoverished—and finds himself the leader of a people’s revolution centuries in the making.
 
Witches, if found, are put to death, and Watchers, immortal beings who take the shape of hawks to visit the human world, have been almost entirely forgotten. A vicious power struggle quickly escalates to war, and these four young people collide against each other and the rise of elementia, the magic that can topple kingdoms and crown a ruler in the same day.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101590768
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	12/11/2012
Series:	Falling Kingdoms Series , #1
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	432
Sales rank:	20,371
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Morgan Rhodes is the New York Times bestselling author of the Falling Kingdoms series. Under another pen name, she's an award winning author of more than two dozen novels. Morgan lives in Southern Ontario, where she’s currently hard at work on the next Falling Kingdoms book.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Morgan Rhodes has created a rich, living fantasy world and characters that immediately draw the reader in. This is one of those series you can't help but be obsessed with — I can't wait to see what happens next!"—RICHELLE MEAD, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Vampire Academy and Bloodlines series

"Falling Kingdoms will gut you emotionally. It will make you ache, cry, and beg for the sequel as you turn the last page. I absolutely loved it." —Julie Kagawa, New York Times bestselling author of The Iron Queen

"This triple-layered tale of bloodshed, heartbreak, and tangled court intrigue kept me turning pages very late into the night." —Lesley Livingston, award-winning author of Wondrous Strange

"From an opening dripping with blood, magic, and betrayal through complex interweaving plots detailing treachery, deceit, and forbidden love, this novel is the first in a projected series that will immediately engage readers and keep them intrigued. —Booklist

Editorial Reviews

Gr 9 Up—Three kingdoms, Limeros, Auranos, and Paelsia, struggle for riches and sovereignty in this complexly wrought tale of war, rebellion, and magic. A prophecy foretells the birth of a sorceress powerful enough to rival dead goddesses, ancient legend speaks of a ring that provides mastery over the Kindred (embodiments of elemental magic), and duplicitous betrayal leads to an alliance between royalty and commoner. The sorceress emerges in the form of Lucia, the princess of Limeros, while Cleo, the princess of Auranos, obtains the ring. Young Jonas, the son of a Paelsian wineseller, puts aside vengeance and aligns with his enemy to save his homeland. Intimations of romance and sex are interspersed with scenes of brutality and magic in an often-barbaric environment that vaguely echoes George R. R. Martin. The plot is packed with incident, although constantly changing points of view weaken the dramatic arc and interrupt the forward momentum. Characterizations are fairly stock, with little to differentiate them, and the stylized fantasy language occasionally stutters over modern colloquialisms. This first volume of an intended series sets up the backstory that informs and motivates the action to come. While the shifting points of view can be distracting, the result is short, action-driven chapters that may carry readers to the finish and on to the next volume.—Janice M. Del Negro, GSLIS Dominican University, River Forest, IL

School Library Journal

Writing under a pseudonym, author Michelle Rowan (the Demon Princess series) launches a planned series with this otherworldly epic about kingdoms on the brink of war. While the corrupt rulers of three realms plot the others' overthrow, key young people—Cleo, the flighty youngest daughter of the Auranian king; Magnus, the bitter son of the cruel king of Limeros; and Jonas, an angry peasant from Palesia whose brother was murdered by an Auranian nobleman—all chafe under the restrictions placed upon them by misguided elders. Relatively few action sequences and heavy dialogue slow the pacing, yet Rhodes maps an evocative and intricate world mythology. Readers will likely relate most to the numerous dysfunctional familial, political, and romantic relationships spawning from the labyrinthine network of kingdoms. Though characters' behaviors can be mechanical at times (Cleo's tears over an arranged marriage come across as perfunctory), the novel's blend of forbidden love, unruly royals, and ancient prophecy should draw in fantasy lovers who don't mind a touch of melodrama. Ages 12–up. Agent: Jim McCarthy, Dystel & Goderich Literary Management. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

"Morgan Rhodes has created a rich, living fantasy world and characters that immediately draw the reader in. This is one of those series you can't help but be obsessed with — I can't wait to see what happens next!"—RICHELLE MEAD, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Vampire Academy and Bloodlines series

"[It] will gut you emotionally . . . make you ache, cry, and beg for the sequel as you turn the last page. I absolutely loved it.”—Julie Kagawa, New York Times bestselling author of The Iron Queen

“This triple-layered tale of bloodshed, heartbreak, and tangled court intrigue kept me turning pages very late into the night.”—Lesley Livingston, author of Wondrous Strange and Starling

“From an opening dripping with blood, magic, and betrayal through complex interweaving plots detailing treachery, deceit, and forbidden love, this novel . . . will immediately engage readers and keep them intrigued.” —Booklist

“[An] otherworldly epic . . . evocative and intricate.”—Publishers Weekly

“I loved it from start to finish.”—SLJTeen

From the Publisher

Amid the profusion of characters in this story evolves an enthralling plot that is introduced in the prologue and continues in the initial chapters. However, it is not until further into the middle chapters that the plot connections become clear. Three kingdoms—northern Limeros, southern Auranos, and middle Paelsia—are affected by the death of Paelsian winemaker Silas Agallon's eldest son at the hands of drunken Prince Aron of Auranos. Paelsia, land-locked on two sides by the other two kingdoms, is in financial decline while Auranos thrives. Benefitting from this situation is Gaius Damora, the "Blood King" of Limeros, who joins forces with King Hugo Basilius of Paelsia to take over the Auranian kingdom. Caught in the power struggle are the princes and princesses of the three kingdoms. Princess Cleiona Bellos of Auranous feels that her inaction led to the death of Tomas Agallon. Magnus Damora of Limeros is tortured by his unnatural feelings for his sister, Princess Lucia Damora, and unearths a secret that will alter the future of his family. Jonas Agallon, the youngest son of winemaker Silas Agallon, has but one goal—to exact revenge on Princess Cleiona and her father's kingdom for the death of his brother. The undercurrent to the main plot is the subtle quest to find the Sorceress who holds the key to the whereabouts of the Kindred, the four powers of elementia: wind, water, fire, and earth. The violence and the inference to incest labels this book as subject matter for young adult readers. A sequel must be forthcoming; readers will turn the last page, expecting to see more. Reviewer: Zella Cunningham

Children's Literature - Zella Cunningham