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Review: The Kraken King Part 8 by Meljean Brook (Iron Seas #4.8)

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The Kraken King Part 8 by Meljean Brook // VBC ReviewThe Kraken King Part 8: The Kraken King and the Greatest Adventure (Iron Seas #4.8)
Meljean Brook
Published: June 3, 2014 (Avon)
Purchase: Amazon
Review source: copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review

Reviewed by: Amy

Rating (out of 5): 4.5 stars

Note from Chelsea/VBC: The Kraken King is being published as a serial with a new part offered each week. We’re such super fans of Meljean Brook’s Iron Seas series that we decided to review this as a read along. So each week you’ll get Amy’s take on the latest part and we’ll discuss it in the comments. Catch up with Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6 and Part 7.

Part 8 begins after the terrible cliffhanger at the end of Part 7 that left Ariq’s life hanging in the balance. After the interrogation by the Empress’s guard captain, Ariq and Zenobia escape only to be met with resistance. Luckily, with Captain Corsair as part of the rescue mission, along with Mara and Cooper, everyone escaped unscathed, except for Ariq who was shot while shielding Zenobia. Never to worry, Ariq will heal, a little too slowly in Zenobia’s opinion, but until then we do get a sweet moment between reunited brother and sister.

The main conflict hovering over our characters is the problem that the rebels are at Krakentown supposedly waiting on Ariq to return before taking action, still hoping to talk him in to giving up the location of the Skybreaker. When the Empress’s guard learns of Ariq’s deception, and they too set their sights on Krakentown, Ariq will be lucky if anyone gets out of this alive.

From the very beginning of the Kraken King parts, starting with the marauder attacks, this is what it all has been leading up to. Meljean Brook does a good job of setting aside too much action and instead decides to focus in making this encounter between Krakentown (essentially Ariq), the rebels and Empress’s guard more a battle of wills. Ariq truly doesn’t want bloodshed, but considering none of his verbal attempts at discouraging the use of The Skybreaker has worked, he’s more than willing to demonstrate the power it wields if necessary.

The entirety of this story started out with Ariq’s POV and, honestly, I wasn’t too sure about it. At first, I much preferred Zenobia’s quick wit and logic than Ariq’s bluntness. Saying that, over the course of the story I’ve actually come to like Ariq’s POV more than Zenobia’s. I liked getting his side of things, and it was interesting to understand his thoughts on certain matters. It was also interesting to see the almost reverent way people treat him.

Don’t think that Zenobia’s adventure has been discounted in any way though. I liked seeing the progression of her character from an almost shut-in to a woman willing/wanting to explore the world around her. She’s no longer waiting for her brother’s letters; she’s out living the adventure herself. The thing that made Ariq stand out for me though was he was more of a mystery. We didn’t know anything about him coming into the story, whereas we were already familiar with Zenobia, and her growth was only natural given that this is her story, for the most part.

Overall, I found The Kraken King to be another fun adventure in Brooks Iron Seas series. Im really interested to find out where she takes us next.

DISCUSSION

  1. So, what did you think of The Kraken King overall? How did Ariq and Zenobia fare as our hero and heroine?
  2. Oftentimes Meljean Brook will take a secondary character from one story and turn them into the main character in the next. Who would you like to see take center stage in the next Iron Seas adventure?

Sexual content: Kissing

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