Blood of the Old Kings by Sung-il Kim: Review by Sean Dowie

Blood of the Old Kings, Sung-il Kim (Tor 978-1-25089-533-2, $27.95, 368pp, hc) October 2024.

Sung-il Kim’s 2016 fantasy novel Blood of the Old Kings features heroic characters and an innovative, engaging magic system. It makes for a breezy fantasy story where exposition is skillfully allotted in brief bursts that don’t mar its pacing. And the action scenes are breathlessly propulsive. Those ingredients launch a tale of a band of rebels fighting against an evil empire; it might have a predictable outcome, but is never boring. It also features elements familiar to Korean fantasy like necromancy, dragons, and subverting societal norms particularly through class, while creating a world singularly itself. Blood of the Old Kings was inspired by Sung il-Kim’s experi­ence with tabletop role playing games, and that’s reflected in its pages. This is a novel that focuses on fun and adventure.

Blood of the Old Kings follows Loran, Arienne, and Cain and is set in a world ruled by the Empire, where sorcerers have their mummified corpses used to energize power generators. The Empire has conquered and subjugated all other nations, including Arland, the focal point of the story. One of those subjugated people is Loran, whose family was killed by the Empire. To free her people and seek revenge, she travels to a volcano to be imbued with power by the dragon within. Meanwhile, Arienne is in a sorcery school being raised to have her dead body energize a power generator. Then she hears a disembodied voice from some­ one named Eldred offering her an escape and a purpose. Despite sensing something ominous, she agrees. Finally, there’s Cain, who investigates the mysterious death of his friend and becomes embroiled in vital political affairs.

Anton Hur deftly translates the story from the original Korean. The language is clear, crisp, and effective. The prose is clear and direct, which works for this type of story, as it helps you to get lost in the world. The concept of using human bodies to energize power generators was new to me and added a human element to the magic system. But sometimes the characterization and plot left me wanting more. A powerful image or insight would’ve added color to the world. The worldbuilding centers on Arland and the Em­pire, with limited details on other nations. I was left with a good footing on the mechanics of the world – particularly the mechanics relevant to the first book – while wanting more in the future. It’s a wise choice that nourished my imagination rather than overfilled it.

Of the three main characters, Cain is the weak­est for me. He’s fueled by finding answers for the mysterious death of his friend Fienna, who’s already passed away at the novel’s start. The story’s brief tidbits of his backstory failed to make me buy into their relationship, which resulted in not giv­ing him much more dimension besides him being a nice, helping guy. Arienne and Loren are more fleshed out to me – particularly Arienne, as she reckons with needing to keep an evil but powerful companion by her side to get things done, while fearing what he can do as he gains power. Mean­while, Loren flips from diving headfirst into saving her nation to being bereft by the collateral damage and her capability to mitigate it. Many times, the characters felt one-note. They were likeable, but I would have liked biting flaws, which would’ve had me sympathetic to their toothiness. It’s not a heady book, and it shouldn’t be, but I would’ve loved a little more dimensionality.

Blood the Old Kings culminates with an epic battle and a resolution that ties up a few threads and leaves the most important one for later books and is enough for me to want to read the next in the series. This seems like an enjoyable but perhaps safe effort that should give its readers everything they expect with its setup. Oftentimes, its inventive worldbuilding and grand action sequences put me in such a high that its flaws were unnoticeable. It was like I was soaring over the world, and the people and land that looked rough around the edges on the ground now looked majestic. Despite wanting Blood of the Old Kings to surprise me more, I’m happy I read it.

-Sean Dowie

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This review and more like it in the November 2024 issue of Locus.

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