tamaranth | 2025/092: A Conspiracy of Kings

2025/092: A Conspiracy of Kings — Megan Whalen Turner

All my life they had made choices for me, and I had resented it. Now the choice was mine, and once it was made, I would have no right to blame anyone else for the consequences. Loss of that privilege, to blame others, unexpectedly stung. [p. 79]

Sophos, the heir to the kingdom of Sounis, was one of Eugenides' companions in The Thief. He doesn't especially want to be king, though he'd quite like to marry the Queen of Eddis. But suddenly catastrophe strikes, Sophos loses everything, and Sounis is under threat. In order to save his country from civil war, he has first to save himself.

I didn't enjoy this as much as the previous three books in the series: this is partly because Eugenides is a peripheral rather than a central character, and partly because there is much more large-scale conflict. But Eugenides is there (scheming and manipulating, obviously): and Sophos, growing up over the course of the novel -- growing from Sophos to Sounis -- is a fascinating character. His resolution of the impasse between factions was stark and shocking: it would have been unthinkable to the young man at the beginning of the novel, but it is the act of a king.

Another interesting set of narrative choices, too. The first half of the novel is Sophos' first-person narration, but it becomes clear that he's telling his story to somebody. The rest of the novel alternates between third-person and Sophos' continued account.

A Conspiracy of Kings felt like a pivot to the wider world, to the pieces being placed for war. Yet the interpersonal relationships, and the character growth, are just as important as before. I'm glad I didn't read it first: I doubt I'd have appreciated just how intrinsic to the story are Eugenides and Attolia.