
The Ruin of Kings
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Narrated by:
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Feodor Chin
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Vikas Adam
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Soneela Nankani
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By:
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Jenn Lyons
About this listen
"Everything epic fantasy should be: rich, cruel, gorgeous, brilliant, enthralling and deeply, deeply satisfying. I loved it." (Lev Grossman, author of The Magicians)
Jenn Lyons begins the Chorus of Dragons series with The Ruin of Kings, an epic fantasy audiobook about a man who discovers his fate is tied to the future of an empire.
When destiny calls, there's no fighting back.
Kihrin grew up in the slums of Quur, a thief and a minstrel's son raised on tales of long-lost princes and magnificent quests. When he is claimed against his will as the missing son of a treasonous prince, Kihrin finds himself at the mercy of his new family's ruthless power plays and political ambitions.
Practically a prisoner, Kihrin discovers that being a long-lost prince is nothing like what the storybooks promised. The storybooks have lied about a lot of other things, too: dragons, demons, gods, prophecies, and how the hero always wins.
Then again, maybe he isn't the hero after all. For Kihrin is not destined to save the world.
He's destined to destroy it.
Library Journal Best Books of the Year - 2019
Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year - 2019
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Critic reviews
"A trio of talented narrators tackles the first book in a new fantasy series centered on a man who is destined to destroy an empire...the trio complement each other and elevate an unconventional story filled with intense world-building and vivid characters." (AudioFile Magazine)

Editor's Pick
Bloodlines and battlefields
"There's nothing like getting sucked into a truly epic fantasy story and that's exactly what Ruin of Kings delivers from the moment you start getting to know the cheeky young Kihrin, following his journey from orphaned street rat to long-lost heir to a royal house to on-the-run savior (or destroyer) of the world. Narrators Feodor Chin, Vikas Adam, and Soneela Nankani seamlessly pull you into a world full of wizards, dragons, demons, and witches, all made believably real thanks, in part, to the all-too-human motivations of the characters. It all comes together to make this series starter come alive in the most delicious ways."
—Abby W., Audible Editor
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Jen Williams, acclaimed author of The Copper Cat trilogy, featuring The Copper Promise, The Iron Ghost and The Silver Tide, returns with the first in a blistering new trilogy. The great city of Ebora once glittered with gold. Now its streets are stalked by wolves. Tormalin the Oathless has no taste for sitting around waiting to die while the realm of his storied ancestors falls to pieces - talk about a guilt trip. Better to be amongst the living, where there are taverns full of women and wine.
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Couldn’t put it down!
- By Renae on 09-09-22
By: Jen Williams
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The Grace of Kings
- The Dandelion Dynasty
- By: Ken Liu
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 21 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Wily, charming Kuni Garu, a bandit, and stern, fearless Mata Zyndu, the son of a deposed duke, seem like polar opposites. Yet in the uprising against the emperor, the two quickly become the best of friends after a series of adventures fighting against vast conscripted armies, silk-draped airships, and shapeshifting gods.
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Unfortunately cannot recommend
- By Eric on 05-21-16
By: Ken Liu
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The Ember Blade
- The Darkwater Legacy, Book 1
- By: Chris Wooding
- Narrated by: Simon Bubb
- Length: 30 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Aren has lived by the rules all his life. He's never questioned it; that's just the way things are. But then his father is executed for treason, and he and his best friend, Cade, are thrown into a prison mine, doomed to work until they drop. Unless they can somehow break free.... But what lies beyond the prison walls is more terrifying still. Rescued by a man who hates him yet is oath-bound to protect him, pursued by inhuman forces, Aren slowly accepts that everything he knew about his world was a lie.
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I cried at the end of this damn thing.
- By Amazon Customer on 05-09-19
By: Chris Wooding
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The Complete King Raven Trilogy
- Hood, Scarlet, Tuck
- By: Stephen Lawhead
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 35 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Hunted like an animal by Norman invaders, Bran ap Brychan, heir to the throne of Elfael, has abandoned his father’s kingdom and fled to the greenwood. There, in the primeval forest of the Welsh borders, danger surrounds him - for this woodland is a living, breathing entity with mysterious powers and secrets. Bran must find a way to make it his own if he is to survive and become King Raven. From deep in the forest, Bran, Will Scarlet, and Friar Tuck form a daring plan for deliverance, knowing that failure means death for them all - and the dreams of the oppressed people of Wales.
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A Timeless classic that peaks too soon
- By Nero on 04-17-20
By: Stephen Lawhead
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The Bone Ships
- By: RJ Barker
- Narrated by: Jude Owusu
- Length: 17 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Two nations at war. One prize beyond compare. For generations, the Hundred Isles have built their ships from the bones of ancient dragons to fight an endless war. The dragons disappeared, but the battles for supremacy persisted. Now the first dragon in centuries has been spotted in far-off waters, and both sides see a chance to shift the balance of power in their favor. Because whoever catches it will win not only glory, but the war.
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Bold and unique with a compelling story.
- By Kevin Potter on 11-12-19
By: RJ Barker
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Only a Monster
- Only a Monster, Book 1
- By: Vanessa Len
- Narrated by: Vera Chok
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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The sweeping romance of Passenger meets the dark fantasy edge of This Savage Song in this stunning contemporary fantasy debut from Vanessa Len, where the line between monster and hero is razor thin.
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A nice YA fantasy
- By Diana Kaz on 02-27-22
By: Vanessa Len
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The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
- By: N. K. Jemisin
- Narrated by: Casaundra Freeman
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Yeine Darr is an outcast from the barbarian North. But when her mother dies under mysterious circumstances, she is summoned to the majestic city of Sky. There, to her shock, Yeine is named an heiress to the king. But the throne of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is not easily won, and Yeine is thrust into a vicious power struggle with cousins she never knew she had. As she fights for her life, she draws ever closer to the secrets of her mother's death and her family's bloody history.
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Read, don't listen, to this book
- By Kaylee on 02-24-19
By: N. K. Jemisin
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Five Broken Blades
- Five Broken Blades, Book 1
- By: Mai Corland
- Narrated by: Greg Chun, Zion Jang, Roger Yeh, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Story
The five most dangerous liars in the land have been mysteriously summoned to work together for a single objective: to kill the god king Joon. He has it coming. Under his merciless immortal hand, the nobles flourish, while the poor and innocent are imprisoned, ruined … or sold. And now each of the five blades will come for him. Each has tasted bitterness—from the hired hit man seeking atonement, a lovely assassin who seeks freedom, or even the prince banished for his cruel crimes.
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A journey lacking in substance, narrative and character.
- By Justin on 10-27-24
By: Mai Corland
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The Curse of the Mistwraith
- The Wars of Light and Shadow, Book 1
- By: Janny Wurts
- Narrated by: Colin Mace
- Length: 28 hrs
- Unabridged
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Athera is besieged by the Mistwraith, which blights the land and dims the mysteries guarded by the last fugitives of the old bloodlines. But from a prophecy springs hope: the gifts of two brothers – one dark, one fair, raised on opposite sides of a relentless war – when paired may challenge the Mistwraith’s invasion, though at brutal cost.
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The start of a masterpiece
- By Blaise Ancona on 04-25-24
By: Janny Wurts
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The Dragon's Blade
- The Reborn King
- By: Michael R. Miller
- Narrated by: Dave Cruse
- Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
Dragons once soared in the skies, but that was before the Transformation, before they took human form. Now, demonic forces stand to obliterate them. When left mortally wounded, Darnuir, the Prince of Dragons, can only be saved through a dangerous rebirthing spell. He is left as a babe in human hands. Twenty years later, Darnuir is of age to wield the Dragon's Blade. As the last member of his bloodline, he is the only one who can. He is plunged into a role he is not prepared for, to lead a people he does not know.
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Awesome listen!
- By superstardrifter on 02-12-17
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For the Wolf
- By: Hannah Whitten
- Narrated by: Inés del Castillo
- Length: 13 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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As the only Second Daughter born in centuries, Red has one purpose - to be sacrificed to the Wolf in the Wood in the hope he'll return the world's captured gods. Red is almost relieved to go. Plagued by a dangerous power she can't control, at least she knows that in the Wilderwood, she can't hurt those she loves. Again. But the legends lie. The Wolf is a man, not a monster. Her magic is a calling, not a curse. And if she doesn't learn how to use it, the monsters the gods have become will swallow the Wilderwood - and her world - whole.
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Performance makes the book!
- By Lindsey Hulbert on 10-23-21
By: Hannah Whitten
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The Black Company
- Chronicles of The Black Company, Book 1
- By: Glen Cook
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Some feel the Lady, newly risen from centuries in thrall, stands between humankind and evil. Some feel she is evil itself. The hardbitten men of the Black Company take their pay and do what they must, burying their doubts with their dead - until the prophesy: The White Rose has been reborn, somewhere, to embody good once more. There must be a way for the Black Company to find her....
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Hard Boiled Morally Ambiguous Epic Fantasy
- By Jefferson on 03-18-11
By: Glen Cook
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Foundryside
- A Novel
- By: Robert Jackson Bennett
- Narrated by: Tara Sands
- Length: 19 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Sancia Grado is a thief, and a damn good one. And her latest target, a heavily guarded warehouse on Tevanne’s docks, is nothing her unique abilities can’t handle. But unbeknownst to her, Sancia’s been sent to steal an artifact of unimaginable power, an object that could revolutionize the magical technology known as scriving. The Merchant Houses who control this magic - the art of using coded commands to imbue everyday objects with sentience - have already used it to transform Tevanne into a vast, remorseless capitalist machine.
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Parts & Sums
- By CaffineFreeJAVA on 05-07-19
The overall story was interesting, but it was unnecessarily confusing. I'm 100% glad I listened to this via audiobook rather than suffered through all the pages.
Interesting story but incredibly confusing
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Great book but a little of a struggle sometimes
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Good first book, phenomenal series
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excellent story and narration
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amazing
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Incredible writing, terrific pacing and storytelling
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Honestly, it’s an achievement I finished this book at all since I’ve tried to read this book three times before and was unsuccessful all three times. The thing about this book is that it is confusing. Very, very confusing. This time I started this book because I was in the right mood where I wanted to read a book with no thoughts, and just be here for the vibes. And this book fit the bill.
As confusing as this book is, I think I really enjoyed it. Is that weird? I would recommend reading this by e-book and audiobook together. The e-book so you can search names, places, and things more easily than you could with a physical book, and the audiobook because the narration performances are FANTASTIC and really do help bring the characters and story to life.
Trigger warnings include multiple mentions and scenes of rape, PTSD, sexual assault, slavery, torture, suicide (part of reincarnation rituals), incest, graphic violence, mind control, body possession, kidnapping, misogyny, domestic violence, abuse, and murder.
I will try my best to break down this story. But if I get details wrong, well...I tried.
This story is told from three different timelines and by different POVs. Remember how confusing The Witcher TV show was before everyone caught on to the multiple timelines that were happening? This is like that.
Our first timeline, and one that we see more in voiceover than playing out in real time, is the one told in present-day. Told in third-person, this is where we start with the main protagonist, Kihrin, in a jail cell with a captor by the name of Talon. Talon holds a magic stone that records whatever the holder is saying and wishes to record Kihrin’s story as they pass the time. In this present-day story, Kihrin is 20.
The story then begins with their accounts of what happened that leads up to them being locked away together.
We have Kihrin telling his story in first-person set in the past (he’s 16 here) where he is captured and being sold as a slave. He captures the eye of one wizard, Relos Var, and a group of vané. Vané are the last immortal race and the Manol vané here are a group of worshippers to a death goddess and their Black Brotherhood “cult”, as they are referred to, are able to come back from the dead. At least, that’s how I understand it.
No, it is not at all lost on me how the Black Brotherhood name so closely resembles the Black Dagger Brotherhood created by J.R. Ward, and the vané here resemble vampires in appearance and agelessness, as well as the vané’s penchant to drink blood during their sacred rituals. Coincidence?? The word vampire does not exist in these books but if you were to give the vané a familiar name, I think it would be vampire.
Anyways.
In Talon’s recounting of events told in third-person, Kihrin is 15. Her story being us up to Kihrin’s retelling of his story. And Kihrin’s chapters brings us to present-day. It’s important to note that Talon is not human and every character she “tells” the tale from in their perspective are all people who have died and has eaten, or she has stolen their memories. It’s actually sad when you think about it, but I liked some of these characters.
Then there’s a third narrator who talks in first-person, who inputs his opinion of the recorded accounts called Thurvishar. His comments add as a footnote throughout the story and is sarcastic but insightful. I found him funny. His character does show up in the story in Talon and Kihrin’s accounts and I think it’s surprising to see him in flesh and bone after only associating him as a voice in the footnotes. He has some pretty funny footnotes regarding his own character as well.
Confused yet? Yeah.
I think the only book I appreciated being told in a nonlinear fashion is WHERE DEATH MEETS THE DEVIL by L.J. Hayward, and that’s because the past and present timelines built off each other in parallel that worked really well. Here? It just didn’t really seem all that necessary, honestly. This book is confusing for a whole host of reasons, and the multiple timelines will probably turn a lot of readers off before they even get to the other reasons why this book is confusing.
Let’s talk about names. There is an explanation for so many names being so similar, and it is actually part of the worldbuilding. But as someone who doesn’t usually read adult high fantasy, this was not fun to try to follow along with. We have a lot of names that start with a T and a lot that start with a K, and almost none of them are pronounceable without the help of the audiobook. This is before we add in the names of trying to remember or pronounce the places this book is set in.
While there is a pronounciation guide at the end of the book, it’s at the END. Same with the glossary. How is anyone supposed to know any of that is there??? That’s the kind of stuff that should be at the front of the book.
This book is FULL of unreliable narrators. This means that what you’re being told in one storyline from one character could change multiple times until the truth is revealed later in the book. This goes for the very, very complicated family tree of our protagonist Kihrin. This book involves body switching due to magic and lots of murder involved, so who’s really whose parent is COMPLICATED. The family tree diagram is a spoiler at the end of the book, and I’m not sure if it answers more questions than it asks even if you look at it early.
Another layer of complicatedness is the idea of reincarnation and past lives. The questions are who is able to be reincarnated and who is able to remember all of their past lives. This is complicated, and trying to make sense of the different afterlives presented in this book are not clear. But just know that not everyone stays dead in this book, although there is an extremely high body count.
Someone I haven’t mentioned yet is Teraeth. He is a vané who does remember his pasts, and he has a very slow burn (like HUNDREDS of years in the making) with Kihrin. Kihrin is a total disaster bi, who in this book, has too much to deal with and is actually just a teenager so he doesn’t necessarily think that he’s bi yet. Moments between Kihrin and Teraeth are hilarious a lot of the time. They like to needle each other and their banter is neverending. In terms of physical appearance, they are around the same age. However, when you add in Terareth’s reincarnations and immortality and everything we find out about Kihrin’s history, the whole thing gets more than a little murky.
This series is apparently a polyam endgame with Kihrin, Teraeth, and someone we meet at the end of this book, so this romance has a while to go. I love slow burns that crosses multiple books, so to me, this is PERFECT.
I am a sucker for spoilers and indeed looked ahead to some reviews for future books and this series is going to be very queer. And I am here for all of it!!! We have some ace characters in a relationship in the other books? I will suffer any number of confusing storylines as long as the romances are queer. I am simple that way.
I think character-wise, the book is entertaining and a lot of fun. If extremely violent. Please do take a look at the trigger warnings because this book is DARK.
I ADORE Kihrin, and Talon is a very interesting character. They definitely bring life to the story. This book, so far, contains gods and goddesses, demons, vampires (and maybe reptile vampires??? I think), zombies, and dragons. Like I said. This book is ~vibes~ for me. I think I got the main pieces of the storyline figured out by the end of the book, although I would be hard pressed to give a summary of what all happened.
LUCKILY...the audiobook has an excerpt of book 2, THE NAME OF ALL THINGS, at the very end. What’s included in that excerpt? That’s right, a recap of everything you need to know going into book 2. So, if you need a reminder of what you just read, there is a convenient excerpt at the end of the audiobook to jog your memory.
I think the narrators of the audiobook did an EXCELLENT job here. Vikas Adam (Kihrin), Soneela Nankani (Talon), and Feodor Chin (Thurvishar) are really amazing narrators and they switch between male and female voices very well. I wouldn’t have finished the book without the help of their narration, and I really appreciate how they brought the story to life!!
Which is why I was so very confused at the narrator changes for the second book, but I think I understand now after some research. The events of book 2 run in parallel to the events in book 1 and is actually about different characters that will eventually catch up with the main storyline. These books are massive in this series (the audiobooks around 27 hours each), so the reader commitment here is actually asking for a lot. But one of the leads for the second book is actually part of the polyam relationship with Kihrin and Teraeth in the long run, so I guess I can deal. She’s also a demon. So, that’s fun. It helps that by the time I’m reading this, books 1 through 3 are out and we’re a month out from book 4’s release (out of a 5 book series), so I guess I’m coming into this series at a really good time.
All I can really say is that I’m happy I finally finished the book, I did enjoy it, and I’ll be diving into the next book immediately!
Confusing, but still a very enjoyable book!!
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Terrible waste of money!!
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Good book
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