A young man gets a new pirate hat

The Ruin of Kings is epic fantasy at its best with detailed worldbuilding, numerous intersecting plots, and characters with secrets I was desperate to uncover. In one word, this book was intricate. Though I'm typically not a fan of unconventional narrative devices, as they often read as corny, the device used here added depth in a way I enjoyed.

I also really enjoyed Lyons' voice and the way she chose to subvert expectations. It is no secret that fantasy (and especially epic fantasy) can be a male-dominated genre and that is often abundantly clear in the writing itself; Lyons leverages those expectations to create scenes that surprised me in a very satisfying way.

There were a handful of writing choices that I didn't love which kept this from being a full 5 stars, but those were entirely personal preference. If you like intricate epic fantasy, you should definitely give this a try.