Uncrowned

 

Uncrowned by Will Wight
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Every few years the Monarch's gather their strongest young underlords and have them battle in the Uncrowned King Tournament. These fights aren't simply a matter of pride, they determine what happens in each of the Monarch's lands going forward.

Uncrowned was a good book overall, but until the very end it didn't present the same weight to it as the prior books. The importance of the tournament is certainly mentioned, but it's hard to have a true understanding when the full balance of power hasn't been displayed. None of the books have put on display the tension betweens nations outside of the Dreadgod Bleeding Phoenix's attack. We are told the golden dragons are extremely dangerous and we witness a little of that in the book, but not enough to give the tournament the weight that Akura Charity tried to press into Lindon.

While the previous books focused significantly on advancement, this book focused on refinement. It starts early as Eithan and Yerin are sparring. He shocks her with his abilities and says, "People think that the way to improve your power is to push for advancement, but that's not always true. A child and a veteran swordsman, given the same weapon are vastly different opponents." That as much as anything is what pushes the book forward. Characters growing in skill rather than advancing.

Uncrowned while not being what I had anticipated, was still quite good.

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