Hello, reader!

I feel like it’s been a minute since I’ve done a blog tour post. After having multiple tours every month since the beginning of 2021, it’s weird to have a month where I only have one, lol. My one tour for the month of July is being hosted by the ever wonderful The Write Reads and I’m happy to report that it turned out to be a great time, too! Kings and Daemons by Marcus Lee is a dark fantasy novel that features magic, action, and, as promised in the title, daemons.

Before I get into the post and my review, though, I want to thank Dave @ The Write Reads and the author for providing me with a free e-book in exchange for my participation with this tour. As always, it is very much appreciated!

That being said, let’s get to it!

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“If you like fantasy tales of conquest, dark kings, daemonic heroes, and magic, you’ll love ‘Kings and Daemons’ by Epic Fantasy author, Marcus Lee. This is a spellbinding Dark Fantasy novel which will enchant you with its plot of ambition, revenge, love, and tragedy. What the gods give with one hand, they take away with the other, for if you are gifted, you shall also be cursed.

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Over fifty years have passed since Daleth the seemingly immortal Witch-King, and his army conquered the Ember Kingdom.

Now, with the once fertile lands and its enslaved people dying around him, the Witch-King, driven by his insatiable thirst for eternal youth, prepares his forces to march on the prosperous neighbouring Freestates. It will be the beginnings of a conquest that could destroy nations, bringing death and destruction on an unimaginable scale. Then, when a peasant huntress whose rare gift was concealed from birth is exposed, it sets in motion a chain of events that could alter the destiny of generations to come.”

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When it comes to fantasy, I’ve read a wide variety. It is my favorite genre, after all. So I’ve come to the point in my reading life where I can tell fairly quickly whether I’m going to enjoy a fantasy book or not. Which is how I knew I was going to love Kings and Daemons within the first few pages!

This story follows quite a few characters: a young woman with a forbidden gift, a young man who find himself conscripted into an army he hates, and a man possessed by a daemon who should have died years ago. All of them live in the realm of the Witch King, a conquering tyrant who devastated the country years ago when he defeated the king. But the land is dying and the Witch King has set his sights on spreading his empire. Through strange and devastating means, these three lives are set on a collision course that may change the fate of a nation.

This was such a wild ride, y’all! When the author says you’re about to dive into a dark fantasy, he does mean dark. He certainly doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to the more gruesome details and I would suggest checking trigger warnings if you’re at all sensitive to certain things. I will say, though, that it never felt the more intense scenes were simply dropped in for shock value. They served a purpose and added to the story, instead of feeling like they were there just to show how gruesome the author could be.

The action in this story is intense, as well! This was certainly a page-turner, with seemingly one crisis after the next making me fly through the book. I needed to know what was happening to my favorite characters! The writing pulls you into the world and makes you invested fairly quickly. I liked that the world-building was seamlessly woven into the story. I never felt like I was getting too much information at once. It was wonderfully done and written in a way that built a picture in my mind. Do you ever read a book and, while you’re reading, you can vividly see it playing out in your head? That’s what happened to me with this one! I love when that happens.

Beyond the great plot and fantastic world-building, this book is also populated with some captivating characters. Maya, our huntress with the hidden gift, is by far my favorite. She is such an interesting character and I loved watching her come into her own, especially when it came to her powers. But, even though Maya is my fave, the other main characters in this story, Taran and Kalas, were equally well crafted! They are fascinating, flawed, and I loved being able to get inside their heads. I will say, we get to see a lot of different perspectives and, at times, it was a little overwhelming. Especially when the switches happened frequently, as in sometimes multiple switches within one chapter. It was a bit disorienting and it made it hard to connect with some of the secondary characters. But I still think the overall character work was great!

Final thoughts: This was a dark, blood soaked ride and I enjoyed every minute of it! Though I think we got to see a few too many points of view, I did love getting to know our three main characters and I thought they were well-written. You can’t get me invested in an epic fantasy if you don’t have compelling characters, but this book definitely hit the mark! The world-building was solid and the pacing well done, with my attention hooked from beginning to end. If you enjoy fantasy that has high stakes, interesting magic, and will keep you on the edge of your seat, I think you would love Kings and Daemons!

Star rating: