Falling Kingdoms (Falling Kingdoms Series #1) by Morgan Rhodes. Razorbill (Penguin Imprint) 2012. 432 pgs (hardback). Young Adult, fantasy.

In a land where magic has been forgotten but peace has reigned for centuries, a deadly unrest is simmering. Three kingdoms grapple for power—brutally transforming their subjects’ lives in the process. Amidst betrayals, bargains, and battles, four young people find their fates forever intertwined:

Cleo: A princess raised in luxury must embark on a rough and treacherous journey into enemy territory in search of a magic long thought extinct.
Jonas: Enraged at injustice, a rebel lashes out against the forces of oppression that have kept his country impoverished—and finds himself the leader of a people’s revolution centuries in the making.

Lucia: A girl adopted at birth into a royal family discovers the truth about her past—and the supernatural legacy she is destined to wield.

Magnus: Bred for aggression and trained to conquer, a firstborn son begins to realize that the heart can be more lethal than the sword. . . .

The only outcome that’s certain is that kingdoms will fall. Who will emerge triumphant when all they know has collapsed?

I’ve read multiple times that this book, Falling Kingdoms, is meant to be “Game of Thrones for teens.” That is the farthest from the case as I can possibly imagine. While the story is pretty good, I would never compare this book to George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series.

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This story follows a cast of characters who are, to put it mildly, children. They are 15-17 years old and it’s the fault of ONE accident that an entire war begins. I’m not sure if an accident would cause a war in a truly medieval world. The closest I can think of (and it’s not medieval at all) would be the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand before World War I, but that was an assassination, not an accident.

So in that way, yes, I guess it is like “Game of Thrones.” There are lots of characters and none of them are purely good or evil. The story is told from multiple perspectives, which gives the reader a broader sense of what’s going on in the story, but I would draw the line there.

Falling Kingdoms is written in a very simplistic style that occasionally grated on my nerves. It left me feeling “blah” about this book in the end, even though it had some incredible potential in its plot, it fell far short of what I was expecting. I don’t regret reading it (it got interesting at the end) and while I probably will read the second book, Rebel Spring, when it comes out later this year, I don’t think I’ll be recommending this to any of my friends, unless they’re into simple, nondescript writing.

I suggest you make your own decision, though, by watching the book trailer, maybe reading this excerpt, and taking a look at some other reviews. Maybe it’s your cup of tea, maybe it’s not. But if you’re waiting on GRRM’s Winds of Winter and you happen to pick up Falling Kingdoms, don’t expect to be wowed by this book.