Review Day: Lord and King by P.L. Stuart

There are no major spoilers in this review.

Lord and King is the third book in The Drowned Kingdom saga, by prolific new author, P.L. Stuart. There are many high points to appreciate in this excellent story although the pacing sometimes drags in its mostly episodic structure.

Prince Othrun of Atalantyx is now King Othrun of Eastrealm, vassal to Lynchun and Carthlughe. Having achieved his interim goal of finding safety for his exiled people, he sets his eye on growing strong enough to conquer the continent of Acremia -- building an impregnable fortress, protecting the purity of his peoples' religion in a land of allied heathens, and quelling the threats across his immediate borders. The sheer weight of administration required to manage his scant resources and grow his empire is shared in an engaging manner by the author, like a fun live-action retelling of a convoluted German board game.

Against this external background, Othrun continues to get lost in his own headspace as he tries to be both a good king and a good man. He gains more self-awareness of his bigoted views and the Atalantean reputation of being cruel, seafaring conquerors. This dichotomy is driven home later in the book when we're finally introduced to the dark-skinned people of Anibia, a continent that has been united under Queen Undala through collaboration rather than cruelty. The population of Anibia is so vast that all of Atalantyx barely registers. I enjoyed watching Othrun grow as a character and start to work on his flaws. The chaos of his love affairs (both requited and unrequited) was a little frustrating, but served to remind me of how young he actually is.

After the cohesive unity of the first two books, I struggled a bit with the episodic feel of Book Three. The individual plot lines, from the catastrophe in Meridnia to the siege in Celtnia, are excellent, but I felt like there was no overarching thread giving shape and momentum to this single book as a whole. Still, P.L. Stuart continues to grow as an author and is very effective at conveying the complexity of alliances, conflicts, and underlying emotions without boring the reader. In Book Three, he begins to unfold different perspectives on earlier events, making the world deeper and richer. If the tale told in the first two books gripped you, you'll find plenty to enjoy here. The fourth book, A Lion's Pride is slated for publication in 2024.

Final Grade: B

• Book 1: A Drowned Kingdom review
• Book 2: The Last of the Atalanteans review
• Book 3: Lord and King review
• Book 4: A Lion's Pride review