The Harp of Kings

I've never read this author before, and I was looking for something within the realm of fantasy as my next read. When I learned of the premise of an epic quest in a medieval world involving magical instruments, warriors, bards, fey, and druids I was intrigued and excited, especially considering how well this book was received generally upon its release in 2019. The author also has glowing reviews for multiple of her earlier fantasy series, making me feel as though I was on pretty solid ground when choosing this. A "safe" pick almost guaranteed to assure satisfaction, as it were. So, why only 2 stars?

First of all, I very much enjoyed the setting of this book and the Celtic lore references within. The author did a fine job of transporting me to this medieval world; it was well written, descriptive and whimsical. I also enjoyed the references to hearth magic, the inclusion of fey according to ancient lore and references to the Tuatha Dé Danann. This was a rich experience for anyone familiar with old folk tales.

The issue certainly wasn't with the world, but the plot and characters were where things fell a little short for me.

To me, a good story needs a sense of danger and a strong antagonist to bring such. A strong, well-written adversary brings that sense of high stakes, high danger and peril that thwarts our heroes and frustratingly stands in the way of them achieving their goals. In order to overcome that, the protagonists typically need to overcome fears within themselves, grow and develop as characters, grow as a team, learn new skills or unlock secrets or abilities within themselves that they otherwise didn't know they possessed. Absolutely none of this was present in The Harp of Kings, which I think was the main reason I felt that the book read as something quite flat, with a minimal sense of drama and suspense. This ultimately led me to not being as invested in the story as I should have been, given its premise.

There were certainly setbacks our heroes faced, but they either felt underwhelming or disjointed and didn't provide the sense of danger and peril that I felt the book needed to make it interesting. Never once did I feel those "just one more chapter" vibes that I so often get when reading a truly engrossing and compelling story that I just can't put down; at times, quite the opposite, in fact, where I either had to find some extra motivation to pick the book back up or chose to end a reading session early.

So, without drama and suspense there was surely at least some mystery to keep the reader engaged, right? Unfortunately, that was where the story also didn't deliver for me either. The outcome of the story I found to be predictable, because it was largely outlined in the book itself. There wasn't much room for interpretation of where things could go, since the reader is essentially told fairly early on the likely whereabouts of the harp and why it was taken, which turns out to be exactly as it was. There was no interesting twists, no hidden motivations on behalf of some of the characters, just things presented as they are being precisely what they are. All in all, for me, this made the quest, which was the premise of the story, rather bland and insipid. I felt the quest itself was a good potential vehicle to create engagement for the reader, but even that failed to deliver in my eyes. It was obvious where the plot was going throughout the entire novel and the ultimate outcome was predictable, and to me this this wasn't really a good thing.

With the plot leaving a lot to be desired with no particular drama and suspense, sometimes the enjoyment in a book comes with the characters themselves and their development throughout the story. Once again, I found this to be an aspect of the story which unfortunately was lacking for me. We get minimal backstory about our protagonists, minimal character development and certainly nothing beyond the superficial. I found the cast of characters to be lacking in a frustrating kind of way, because as a reader I was so desperate to learn more or to see more of how they change throughout the course of the quest, but the simple truth is that ultimately they didn't have to develop all that much due to the weak plot. As I mentioned, the lack of adversaries attempting to truly thwart their progress didn't really exist; massive setbacks that could have forced some character development on our heroes just weren't there, ipso facto neither was that character development itself.

I walk away from this book with the feeling that it could have been so much more than it was, given the premise. What if the druids were working covertly in tandem with the fey to manipulate human politics for less benevolent reasons, given their increasingly dwindling status with the crown, particularly if Rodan were to take the throne? What if others were intent on making a claim to the throne and had a hand in disrupting the coronation? What if there was an adversary who saw the kingdom as weak as a result of a reluctant claimant and a coronation that was already delayed and made a play for power? What if there were hidden tensions or reasons that Rodan felt the need to claim the crown to keep his brother off the throne and instead exiled in the druidic nemeton? What if the spies were discovered by folk in the court not privy to the fact they were there, and this created tensions between those in the court and the regent? Or perhaps between regent and prince? There were so, so many possibilities for twists and turns here to imbue a much-needed sense of drama, and sadly absolutely none of them materialized.

The last criticism I have for the story was the lack of action. I went in expecting a little more from a series entitled "Warrior Bards", but the action was limited and the story plodded along to its slow and obvious conclusion.

Given the author's writing style, I cannot discount the fact that I'll be reading other books by her particularly as some reviewers specifically praised her earlier works. I don't feel The Harp of Kings was necessarily a bad book and it certainly made me feel all kinds of emotions at times, but I just feel an overwhelming feeling of "meh" when thinking about the story. If you're looking for a lighter read that doesn't involve too much drama or unpredictability, this might be precisely the type of cozy book which might appeal to you. It just wasn't what I personally expected, given the premise and setting.