The Mark of Solomon: a review

The Lion Hunger and The Empty Kingdom
by Elizabeth Wein

I finished the last word of The Lion Hunter, shrieked (quietly–my roommate was already in bed), and dove into The Empty Kingdom. I stayed up far too late to finish that one, but it was worth it. Telemakos has grown so much over the course of this series and with the new twists I can’t wait to see what he does next.

A Sounisian said that Telemakos is kind of like reading The Queen of Attolia from Attolia’s point of view. I think that’s a really great point. Like Attolia, Telemakos is cut off, highly powerful in some ways and highly powerless in others. When he makes mistakes it is usually in not trusting someone he should have. Although there are definite connections with Attolia, I also saw some to Gen: the cockiness, the sneakiness, the enormous sense of loyalty and the correspondingly enormous sense of betrayal. Both have to deal with a loss of one kind of power and the gaining of another. Gen’s attendants and Telemakos’s silver bracelet even serve the same basic purpose. And then there’s one huge similarity that just happens to be a big spoiler for both series, so I won’t say it. But it should be obvious to anyone who’s read both.

Anyway, I’m in a state of Attolia fever, due to the upcoming book release (1 month, 8 days! Not that I’m counting or anything), but I think that in this case the comparisons aren’t just valid, they’re inescapable. And even if you haven’t read any of the Attolia books (in which case, what is wrong with you?), Wein’s books come highly recommended.

She is apparently writing another one, which makes me filled with glee.

Previously:
1. The Winter Prince
2. A Coalition of Lions and The Sunbird

Book source: Inter-library loan

Spoilery review in which Sherwood Smith also compares them to Megan Whalen Turner’s books.

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