Kingdoms and Chaos

This was another good instalment in Kel Kade's <i>King's Dark Tidings</i> series. On the whole this series is one of my favourite fantasy finds of the last 5 years. The books deliver a super fun fantasy adventure story packed with likeable characters, plenty of action, humour, and even a few touching moments. The writing and the story do have a slightly YA-ish feel to them but that does not stop this being an exciting and utterly compelling read! <br /><br />Rezkin is the star of this story, and remains one of my favourite fantasy characters in general, but I feel like Kade has done a good job of developing a lot of the support cast to the point where I'm engaged and interested in their various story arcs and plights. Tam, Wesson, and the duo of Malcius and Yserria were the standout secondary characters in this instalment but Farson, Frisha, and Tieran all had good moments as well. All the characters in this series have shown a good amount of growth. Most of it positive! <br /><br />In terms of story this 4th instalment of the series was probably an upgrade on what we got in Legends of the Ahn. We got some of the secret war with the demons and fae but for the most part the focus was on Rez trying to secure his claim as King of Cael. To do so he needed the King of Gendishen to recognize the claim. A task that did not go quite so smoothly as we have come to expect when Rez is involved. The King of Gendishen had a task for Rez as the price of his claim on Cael and that task managed to snowball quickly into a whole bunch of tasks that saw Rez and his friends tour, and cause havoc, across a number of kingdoms in the land. <br /><br />The story was a lot of fun and was packed with a lot of unexpected twists and turns and developments. I also enjoyed glimpsing a bit more of the other kingdoms, and their people, in this instalment. <br /><br />The first two books in this series are pretty perfect in my eyes but the third and fourth books do have a few flaws. In many ways this 4th book fixed a lot of the flaws of the 3rd book and got the story back on track but unfortunately it had a few negatives of its own. The big negatives being the way a lot of the personal relationships between the characters played out. I was annoyed on three or four separate occasions by the relationship developments which is so not like me while reading this series! I usually love all the drama lol. <br /><br />Major spoilers ahoy! I've decided to take some time out of this review to moan about those personal relationships developments that managed to slightly taint my enjoyment of this one. <br /><br /><input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="50ccaae0-c7bd-430a-8432-d1af1ec9965d" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="50ccaae0-c7bd-430a-8432-d1af1ec9965d">My big complaint was how the Rezkin/Frisha romance developed in this book. Mostly because Kade pretty much killed it stone dead which I HATE!!! I guess there is a tiny hope in might be rekindled later but that seems a long shot now rather than the direction that Kade intends to take the story. <br /><br />Frisha expressed a few doubts about Rez in the third instalment which I actually enjoyed. It was good to see her move on from blind devotion and realize that Rez was both more and less than she dreamed he was. I also felt it could be a real positive for the pairs relationship as a Frisha pushing him away might have forced Rezkin to confront his feelings for her and actually make him have to work a bit for her affection which would have offered some balance to the romance. It could have been great as the best thing about the Rez/Frisha romance for me is how it prompts positive character growth in Rezkin and how it proves he is a lot more human even than he himself likes to think! <br /><br />I actually thought a lot of the happenings in Lon Leresh were hilarious but the late development with the Queen and Rez (you guys know the one!) did not please me at all. I felt like it was needless and only hurt the Rez/Frisha romance. I was just getting over that when we got that whole Frisha/Tieran happening at the end. What the fuck! Where did that come from? Actually, I do not care where it came from, I just want it to go away! Is it too much to ask that Bilior has been getting a bit bored following a bunch of humans around so decided to enchant a few of them to spice things up for his own amusement? I'll clutch at any straw to make this go away!!! <br /><br />The Rezkin/Frisha romance is not just one of my favourite things in this story but I also feel like without it I might be left with and ending I'm not going to be pleased with. This book had the feel that Kade was setting the characters up for life after Rez and I hate the idea of that with a passion. <br /><br />The only positive of the late development was the fact that it produced a really powerful emotional scene involving Rez, Frisha, and Tieran which was very emotionally engaging and positive for Rezkin as a character. <br /><br />*sigh* I think I could even have got behind a Frisha/Tieran romance if it was developed slowly but it was way too sudden for me in this one. <br /><br />That was not even the only development that annoyed me as I felt like the Wesson/Celise pairing could have been handled better. What is with weird love triangles developing in this one that seem to leave no one involved particularly happy? It was frustrating as this was another pairing I think could have worked and benefited both characters. This should have been a fun romance but it needs a lot of work to get it on track after it got mishandled a bit in this one. </label><br /><br />That is a fair bit of complaining but despite all those things that did frustrate me I did still enjoy this a whole lot. I was as addicted to following Rezkin's crazy adventures as ever and the book was packed with the usual mix of humor, action, and likeable support characters that makes this series such a favourite of mine to read. <br /><br />Rating: 4.5 stars. I've chopped a half star off as a reflection of my frustration at a few of the happenings and the possible change in direction of the story but this was too compelling and fun a read outside of that stuff to overly damage my enjoyment of this fun series. I'm tempted to chop more off but I feel like the story could still get back on track so I'm not going to judge any of the happenings too harshly just quite yet. <br /><br />Audio Note: This was narrated by Nick Podehl. His performance was absolutely fantastic and he really captured the spirit of the story. He was so good that he is probably one of the reasons I enjoyed this book so much.

<strong>Frisa you spoiled useless twat!!</strong><br /><br />I love these books! Can't wait for the next! I want to see Frisa confined to a tower insane with guilt soon!

Guys, I don't even have the first clue what to say.<br><br>Plot wise, I enjoyed this one much more than book three. Rezkin &amp; co. are on a mission to get their little island kingdom recognized officially. In order to do that, they for some reason end up going on a weird, extended, <i>Legend of Zelda</i>-like quest across what seems like the whole world. "You can have your kingdom if you get me this sword." "You can have this sword if you get me this girl." "You can have this girl if you marry the queen."<br><br>It's very much like a video game level where you have to collect all these things and roam back and forth and back and forth before you can unlock the door to your actual goal. Rezkin, meanwhile, is up to his usual antics, taking over kingdoms on accident this time instead of thieves' guilds. It's a lot more fun than the demon wars of book three.<br><br>Good things:<br><blockquote>• Rezkin continues to be truly the greatest and most powerful human being ever to touch his callused, omnipotent foot to the earth. This, really, is all anyone ever needs to know about any of the books in these series. Kel Kade stretches out their hand and says in a kindly, gentle voice, "Here, I have made you some more Rezkin," and I, a sickly, poor, weak, and foolish beggar, weep as I kiss the hem of their robe and sob, "Thank you, thank you."<br><br>• INFORMATION. We finally have concrete, detailed answers about Rezkin's background, and the mysterious person General Marcum was planning to sic on Rezkin in the first book! YES. I HAVE WAITED SO LONG AND NOW I AM SATISFIED.<br><br>• AT LAST, SOME MOVEMENT ON THE FRISHA ISSUE. Frisha actually gets to be in on the main plot in this book! I can't tell you how relieved I am! She's there most of the time, and she gets to talk to Rezkin quite a bit, and process what she feels and think about what she wants. I can't say I'm honestly satisfied with where this went, but any kind of meaningful movement is better than having no movement at all.<br><br>• *sing songy voice* Rezkin gets more practice processing his emo-tions. The slow, glacial progression from Robot Warrior With No Feelings to what I am convinced will end with Rezkin forming healthy, human connections, continues in this book. Book three punched out Rezkin's emotional wall, and in book four he comes off a little wobbly several times. He still doesn't know what's going on most of the time, but he is able to NAME the "tight feeling" as being from loss, and he gets visibly angry and frustrated several times. It's happening, folks. Eventually, one day, years from now, he will be able to tell someone he loves them, I'm SURE of it.<br><br>• He's also expressing more and more personality. The more attuned he becomes to the "outworld," the more you can see that's just Rezkin, as opposed to the overall state of Being Confused And Weird. "I don't need a mother. I wonder if I could give her to any of my friends?" Don't mind me, I'm just wiping a single tear from my eye because I love him.<br><br>• I love the inevitable scene when Rezkin comes before a new potential ally or potential enemy. At this point, his shadow is so huge it blocks the sun, plunging entire lands into darkness at his approach. His boot shakes the earth when he disembarks his ship, and people for miles around know -- he has arrived. Nothing will ever be the same once his touch has been felt in your kingdom. Then, inevitably, he says, "I am nineteen years old" and the whole room is just like *freeze frame* *record scratch*. I LOVE THESE MOMENTS SO MUCH.<br><br>• Striker Farson. He was in most of the book and I very much enjoy his presence. His dynamic with Rezkin is so important, and the day they come to realize they care about each other will probably be my favorite part of the whole series when it happens. </blockquote><br>It's just so. Funny. "You can have my daughter, but ONLY if you agree to become king." "You can have the sword, sure, I don't care. But ONLY if you agree to take my throne." Meanwhile Rezkin is like UGH. YOU PEOPLE. I JUST WANT MY ISLAND, GO AWAY. What pure, absolute self-indulgent fun. I tore through this book so quickly.<br><br>However, I only gave it three stars. That's because of the queendom of Lon Leresh. The whole place is, apparently, a matriarchy where men are used for breeding chattel and brute labor, and women engage in constant catty, backstabbing status politics while wearing next to nothing and calling it empowerment. It, apparently, is not safe for a good looking man to walk the street without being forced against his will to join some lecherous, voluptuous, noblewoman's harem. In this series, when at least one paragraph every chapter is dedicated to Rezkin's gorgeousness, we all know where THAT concept is going.<br><br>It's skin-crawlingly creepy. There's dubcon. It's very much a Buck Rogers and Princess Ardala type situation. Yeah, I don't know what else to say about this.<br><br><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1536472271i/26275604._SX540_.jpg" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>One day, when I am gripped with dementia that has caused me to forget all my loved ones and no longer know my own name, tears will spill down my weathered old cheeks, and my grandchildren will ask, "Grandma, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" And I'll say, "What? What do you mean?" because I won't remember why I am crying, and it will be because of this. Even when my mind has failed, my soul will always remember the cringey, repulsive agony of having to read this extremely cursed Lon Leresh section.<br><br>I want to overlook and handwave this, but I can't. I want to give more than three stars, but I can't. I can never forgive, and never forget. Let's not do this ever again, thank you.

quite honestly the plot twist at the end was quite ....... idk what to say :D<br />i never liked frisha but that plot twist .... oh boy i dont understand it and i even dislike her now more than before, didnt think that was possible.<br />tieran and frisha makes no sense in my eyes .......... i mean frisha has no purpose in those books.<br />Dk why but that scene did it for me with this book, i just hope the next one will be better Y_Y

The first hundred or so pages of this book were useless, at least in my opinion. Eventually we got to an interesting development and got pretty much ALL the answers as to who Rezkin is and the things that surround him so that was nice.<br /><br />And from that point on it wasn't bad, but the storyline got even more ridiculous. I never think it can get more ridiculous but every single book proves me wrong.<br /><br />Rezkin is out there claiming kingdoms left right and centre, and he's on his way to becoming an <i>EMPEROR</i>. That's right friends, E M P E R O R. All he needs to be now is a supreme overlord of the whole universe and then he will have achieved all that he possibly could.<br /><br />But that's not all, the romance also became interesting for the first time because <input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="f668f8cd-0593-4256-9c86-92601192b192" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="f668f8cd-0593-4256-9c86-92601192b192">FRISHA LEFT REZKIN, THEY ARE NO MORE!!!! This made me so happy because I hated them together, and hated Frisha in general from the start because of how stupid she was and how she behaved towards Rezkin long before they were ever together, how she was jealous of all the women in his vicinity and so on</label>. <br /><br />We actually got a romance between several characters and I don't mind that they found love, only that now <input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="c048418d-3c75-4137-a264-563a21a3018e" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="c048418d-3c75-4137-a264-563a21a3018e"> since Yserria is married, she won't be able to be with Rezkin</label>.<br /><br />I really don't know how I feel about this? Dare I say I even <i>liked</i> it to an extent? It's weird, but something keeps pushing me to finish this series, and I'm not so sure how much of it is spite at this point.<br /><br />3.5

I wasn't a fan of the third book, but I have to say I love this one ! ♥<br />1. Let's start with Farson and Wesson. When Rez is with one of them, you can be sure the scene will be good. You can just tell that even if he isn't aware of it, he cares about them. The interactions with them are great, they feel to me like the right friends for Rez bescause they support him,(in their own way) but they hold him acountable and they don't always want something from him like the others.<br />2. The Frisha element. #EverybodyHatesFrisha<br /> I'm soooo happy that they crashed and burned. They just didn't click, Frisha wasn't the right one for Rez. She is useless and ever since she discovered that Rez was Dark Tidings, unbearable. I even like Ilinet better with Rez. And Rez can collect the pieces of his broken heart and make a beautiful mozaic to give to someone else. (at this point I don't care who as long as they are strong and love him)<br />3. The travels !<br /> There was so much travel in this one, but it didn't feel like useless page filler. It expended the world quite a bit. <br />4. Humour ! <br />What I love about this series, aside from the swords and the action, is that it doesn't lose its funny scenes as the books go on. <br />5. What I would like to see in the future : <br />More of Wesson, Farson and Kai. Less of Frisha. A rescue team for poor Tam. Someone to love Rez. The relationship between Malcius and Isarya. A point of view to see what is really happening in Ashai. Knowing the reason behind Rezkin's episodes of paranoia and hunger.

**WARNING SOME SPOILERS**<br /><br />I like this better than the previous book. BUT, my goodness, please, PLEASE I BEG YOU, make a much better character development on Frisha. She was sooooo annoying I kept wishing she'd be dead or gravely injured most of the time. I know she's the heroine and is supposed to be innocent and all but I can't help but to compare her to Haruno Sakura's character. But Frisha is much, much more disappointing because she's always safe and protected from the bad big world and not even stop to think for a moment to come out of her comfort zone, even when she knows Malcius disappeared. <br /><br /><br />Don't get me wrong, I really support and would like her as our heroine and I can see why she would balance Rezkin and that he needs her at his side, but she'd need to be more than just a spoiled little brat to deserve that, don't you think?<br /><br /><br />That little twist about Frisha and Tieran is amusing, but Frisha's side is quite lacking shown in the story so that it makes their sudden relationship awkward and forced. But it's a good twist, really. Rezkin needs a rival in order for him to realize his own feelings. And there's no way better than his own cousin snatching his woman under his nose. I say keep going with it. We need our hero finds his missing soul, after all. We'd like to see him happy and is capable to realize that he, too, has desires and feelings, and is allowed to keep it. And I can see why he needs Frisha to do that. But please, PLEASE I BEG YOUR HUMBLE HEART do not be one of those writers who makes his hero ended up alone with the nonsense of "love doesn't have to mean we should be together" and makes Rezkin stands alone while watching all his friends happy. I'd like to see him be selfish for once and keeps something, or someone, for himself. He's done so much for his friends and kingdom it'll be sad and cruel if he's just become a martyr. <br /><br /><br />The marriage is very disturbing and I admit this is why I gave only 3 stars(YES, I STICK TO THIS SERIES ONLY FOR THE ANTICIPATION OF THE ROMANCE PF THE MAIN CHARACTERS SO?). It was very, very disturbing and I loath that The Bitch Queen was forcing a reluctant 19 year old boy (doesn't matter how manly he looks) to marry her, and even (OMG EWWWW) consumate with the witness of her supposedly possessive and faithful lover. I hope she died horribly in the end. I strongly ship Rezkin to be with Frisha and it really breaks my heart to see him that cold towards her. I'm also very disappointed that Frisha, again, does absolutely nothing besides complaining. I'm sure most readers want to see her to die painfully at this point. And maybe smack Rezkin (maybe not just Rezkin but also the author...sorry, Kel) on the head with a chair for agreeing on such thing.<br /><br /><br />Anyway, I'm still confused with where all these ancients and elementals and demons are going. And it's like the confrontation with Cadence is purposely kept for final, but it left us readers wonder just how mad and cruel is this king everyone keeps talking about as if he's the worst of the worst. We have not yet to really see how he's deserving everybody's ire. I'd be disappointed if he'd be continuously kept out of Rezkin's way. I'm waiting for someone who's going to be able to stand toe to toe with Rezkin. Wouldn't be an impressive villain otherwise. <br /><br /><br />In the end, I was disappointed that our supposedly invincible hero was brought to heel by a bitch queen and be ordered around by monarchs all the while he just wants to do his duty, for his friends. Added with Frisha's judgment towards him, it was just sad and unfair for Rezkin. But I love that he's becoming more human here. I love that he's realizing his feelings and more normal. I hope that he finds peace and a sense of belonging in the end, and someone who loves him and he loves back, after all of those efforts. I hope Rezkin and Frisha could stand their differences and make it up and find each other. (Or I'd have break something in the end of the series...)

Brilliant, just absolutely amazed at how amazing this story truly is. Kel Kade has definitely grabbed my attention and has rightfully earned a spot among my favorite authors. This series as I have said before is massive in scope and is wonderfully crafted. <br /><br />The journey is constantly going in different and unexpected directions which gives the series a constant freshness. I honestly do not have a clue where this series is going but I am so eager to stay on and enjoy the ride. Rezkin and all the characters are my sweet angels and devils, my trash children and I will go down with them.<br /><br />I am a little sad that I have caught up with this series and now have to wait for the next book like everyone else. I am even more sad that we do not know when we are getting the next book. However Kel Kade has a new series starting and book 1 for that is right around the corner.

<strong>Disappointing and meandering follow up to a promising series so far</strong><br /><br />This book lost a lot of the the realistic plot development that allows for any kind of suspension of disbelief. Instead you follow reckon around as he easily conquers four other kingdoms, despite not making any progress at the kingdom he actually needs to pursue. Then, the story lumps into a cliffhanger with no indication that the plot is concluding except the few pages left in the book

4.5⭐️