The Harp of Kings by Juliet Marillier – Review

Published: September 3, 2019

Publisher: Ace Books

Series: Warrior Bards #1

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 464 (Paperback)

My Rating: 4.5/5.0

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:

A young woman is both a bard–and a warrior–in this thrilling historical fantasy from the author of the Sevenwaters novels.

Eighteen-year-old Liobhan is a powerful singer and an expert whistle player. Her brother has a voice to melt the hardest heart, and a rare talent on the harp. But Liobhan’s burning ambition is to join the elite warrior band on Swan Island. She and her brother train there to compete for places, and find themselves joining a mission while still candidates. Their unusual blend of skills makes them ideal for this particular job, which requires going undercover as traveling minstrels. For Swan Island trains both warriors and spies.

Their mission: to find and retrieve a precious harp, an ancient symbol of kingship, which has gone mysteriously missing. If the instrument is not played at the upcoming coronation, the candidate will not be accepted and the people could revolt. Faced with plotting courtiers and tight-lipped druids, an insightful storyteller, and a boorish Crown Prince, Liobhan soon realizes an Otherworld power may be meddling in the affairs of the kingdom. When ambition clashes with conscience, Liobhan must make a bold decision and is faced with a heartbreaking choice. . .

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Guys! My first Marillier book ever! Obviously you can tell by the rating that I really enjoyed it and I’ll be honest, I’m trying to decide when I can carve out time to read the Blackthorn and Grim books because it’s the same world!! I’m just so happy that I ended up enjoying this as much as I hoped I would. So many people have said great things about her writing and I hoped that I too would find another author to love.

The book starts out with Liobhan and her brother Brocc who are training to join the Swan Island warriors. It’s competitive, there aren’t many female warriors, and both must prove themselves to enter the ranks. Before they’re even out of training, Liobhan, Brocc, and Dau (another trainee) are sent undercover to find the missing Harp of Kings before the midsummer coronation ceremony. Liobhan and Brocc are sent because they’ve both trained as bards and can thus pull off the ruse with minimal difficulty. My theory is that Dau was sent to teach him some humility and help him confront his past because his cover is that of a lowly stable boy who also happens to be mute. I initially didn’t like Dau that much, but he quickly grew on me and ended up being a sympathetic character. Liobhan and Brocc were instantly lovable and all three of their character arcs were well executed – they became more mature, began to work as a team, and overall had solid development.

The world building was lovely, though I would hazard a guess that if you’ve read the Blackthorn and Grim books it may actually be made even better (once I read those I’ll report back). There were druids, evil crow beings, Fae, and a wide assortment of troubled humans. While the book gave me inherently good feelings, the characters both major and minor had their share of issues. There are people who take advantage of the power bestowed upon them, neglected children, people who can’t control their varying emotions etc. It sounds a bit silly writing it out like that, but the characters just felt more realistic than they often do and maybe it’s because of the petty dramas. It’s not entirely this righteous grandstanding where the hero bemoans a great moral crisis or something where the fate of the entire world is at stake. It’s a bit smaller scale than that (though not by too much). 

This was such an enjoyable read that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it. It was a welcome relief from dark fantasy or the “chosen one” fantasy books and it also has the benefit of having a celtic feel to it!