Book Review: The Harp of Kings by Juliet Marillier

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The Details

Media Type: Audiobook
Title: The Harp of Kings
*Series: Warrior Bards #1
Author(s): Juliet Marillier
Publisher: Ace
Pages/Length: Kindle; 463 pages
Release Date: September 3, 2019
Source: Netgalley

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A young woman is both a bard–and a warrior–in this thrilling historical fantasy from the author of the Sevenwaters novels.

Eighteen-year-old Liobhan is a powerful singer and an expert whistle player. Her brother has a voice to melt the hardest heart, and a rare talent on the harp. But Liobhan’s burning ambition is to join the elite warrior band on Swan Island. She and her brother train there to compete for places, and find themselves joining a mission while still candidates. Their unusual blend of skills makes them ideal for this particular job, which requires going undercover as traveling minstrels. For Swan Island trains both warriors and spies.

Their mission: to find and retrieve a precious harp, an ancient symbol of kingship, which has gone mysteriously missing. If the instrument is not played at the upcoming coronation, the candidate will not be accepted and the people could revolt. Faced with plotting courtiers and tight-lipped druids, an insightful storyteller, and a boorish Crown Prince, Liobhan soon realizes an Otherworld power may be meddling in the affairs of the kingdom. When ambition clashes with conscience, Liobhan must make a bold decision and is faced with a heartbreaking choice. . . .

The Review

I’m a big lover of Fantasy, but this was the first time I’ve experienced one of Marillier’s books. The Harp of Kings has been on my reading list for quite a while, and I was excited to finally get to it. I have to say, this book starts extremely slowly. I’m used to Fantasy books taking a bit to get the reader situated, but this one felt a bit painstaking if I’m being honest. The pacing is very uneven, and the story jumps a lot in order to try to establish the character backstories. It made me feel wary as a reader.

That being said, it got much better as the book went on. When our heroes finally reached the city where their big goal would be achieved, Fey were introduced. That made my heart so happy. I was still feeling like I was on uneven footing as the characters bartered for the very item that would cause them to succeed in their mission. Although it wasn’t as lush as I wanted it to be, I very much enjoyed the backstory of the Fey and the reason they needed our the assistance of our heroes.

I’m not saying that the end of this book was perfect, thus the three star rating. There are many more quiet moments here though, that allow opportunities to see deeper into the characters that we’ve been following. There’s more life to this part of the story, and I think that was what struck me most and kept me reading. Still, I was frustrated by the lack of resolution on a lot of plot points. It felt like so many events happened simply to push forward the plot at that moment, and then were left open ended. Our characters should have had so many more consequences that they just magically avoided. In a way, I wanted more tension.

So, The Harp of Kings let me down a bit. I’m still on the fence whether or not I want to finish out this series. I know Marillier’s works are well spoken of, so perhaps I’ll go attempt another series instead.