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Krondor
The Assassins
416 pages
A shadowy, fast-paced fantasy thriller where noble knights and cunning rogues navigate a deadly urban underworld.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like stepping back into the golden age of nineties high fantasy, but with the tense, street-level grit of a noir thriller. The atmosphere is distinctly shadowy and claustrophobic, trading sweeping vistas for damp sewers, darkened alleyways, and the creeping dread of an unseen enemy. It moves at a brisk, cinematic clip, pulling you through a web of political intrigue and underworld assassinations without ever getting bogged down in dense exposition. The prose is straightforward and action-oriented, designed to keep the pages turning as the mystery unravels. It is a perfect fit for readers who love the earnest heroism of classic epic fantasy but want to spend a little more time in the company of quick-witted rogues and deadly assassins.
- Mood
- shadowy
- tense
- intrigue-laden
- nostalgic
- Tone
- adventurous
- suspenseful
- earnest
- gritty
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- loyalty and duty · political maneuvering · urban underworlds · order versus chaos
- The writing
- Straightforward and momentum-driven, the prose favors swift action and accessible dialogue over dense world-building.
- The arc
- The journey shifts from a creeping, claustrophobic dread in the city's underbelly to the thrilling, high-stakes adrenaline of a classic fantasy showdown.
- Who it's for
- Readers who crave classic, nostalgic high fantasy blended with the street-level grit of a rogue-led murder mystery.
Content notes
- fantasy violence
- murder
- gore
About the book
Fresh back from the front, another foe defeated, Prince Arutha arrives to find all is not well in Krondor. A series of apparently random murders has brought an eerie quiet to the city. Where normally the streets are bustling with merchants and tricksters, good life and night life, now there seems to be a self-imposed curfew at sundown.
Mutilated bodies have been turning up in the sewers, the Mocker’ demense. The Thieves’ Guild has been decimated – men, women, children, it matters not. The head of the Mockers is missing, presumed dead. Those few who survived the terrible attacks are lying low. Very low.
The Crawler, it seems, is back in town. And he’s being helped by others, more ruthless than he. Can it be the Nighthawks again? The Prince enlists his loyal Squire James to find out. If anyone can unravel what’s happening in the bowels of Krondor, he can. He knows the sewers like the back of his hand. After all, as Jimmy the Hand, he grew up there.
Meanwhile, the retinue of the Duke of Olasko has arrived suddenly at the palace, a week ahead of schedule but with no apologies and many demands. They say they are here to hunt. But to hunt what? Pug’s son William, on his first posting as a knight-lieutenant, must escort them into the wilds. It should have been a straightforward mission...
Description from Open Library.
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