Review: The Starless Crown by James Rollins

Synopsis
A gifted student foretells an apocalypse. Her reward is a sentence of death.

Fleeing into the unknown she is drawn into a team of outcasts:

A broken soldier, who once again takes up the weapons he’s forbidden to wield and carves a trail back home.

A drunken prince, who steps out from his beloved brother’s shadow and claims a purpose of his own.

An imprisoned thief, who escapes the crushing dark and discovers a gleaming artifact – one that will ignite a power struggle across the globe.

On the run, hunted by enemies old and new, they must learn to trust each other in order to survive in a world evolved in strange, beautiful, and deadly ways, and uncover ancient secrets that hold the key to their salvation.

But with each passing moment, doom draws closer.

What I thought
Thank you, Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for giving me an ARC copy of this book for an honest review. All thoughts and feelings expressed are my own.

James Rollins is known for his thrillers, but this is not his first time writing fantasy.  He started his writing career as a fantasy author under the name James Clemens, granted it has been 15 years since he has written a fantasy book.  I do not typically read thrillers, so I had no idea what I was in for.  I am happy to be able to say that I enjoyed this book so much that I have picked up one of his books under James Clemens too.  

This book is the first in what is expected to be a four-book series.  Just like any first book, there is a lot of information given to you, but I did not find it too difficult to keep track of all of it.  This story has an interesting cast of characters that come from different backgrounds. For approximately the first 45% of the book, I  was much more invested in the chapters that involved Nyx and Prince Kanthe.  I liked the chapters that focused on Rhaif and Shiva, but I just did not have the same pull towards them.  When all of our characters come together around that 45% mark, I really saw the story take off. 

This book has more of a classic fantasy feel to it.  Essentially this is a quest to save the world which is not a new storyline, however, I enjoyed how he is going about it.  

The only thing that I hope that is not drawn out in the next few books is the possible love triangle that is being set up.  I am just glad that Nyx is not interested and has no time for it.  

If you enjoy a good classic feeling fantasy, I say this one is a good one to pick up.  

My Rating: /5

Have you read this book? If so what did you think? Tell me in the comments below.