The Fractured City

Legends of Coralia, Book 1

By: Kate Jenkins, Morgan Moreau

Narrated by: Jade Kelly

Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

She might be the queen, but mounting pressures from he old guard prevents Collette from making real change in Coralia.

Following the death of her father, Collette dreams of peace and prosperity for her people. She wants to stop the Merscales trade and grow the economy through international cooperation. The nobility wants to maintain he status quo.

When an important visit from the Nereid emissary is overshadowed by the brutal murder of Wrenn Almeida, Collette finds herself accused of murder by Wrenn's sister, Rhoslyn. As tensions rise between herself, her half-brother Zephraim, and Rhoslyn’s supporters, the queen finds that her only choice is to flee the kingdom. Her allies—a trio of mercenaries, her aging guard captain, and her half-human lover—must stop at nothing to protect her.

The Fractured City is the debut novel in the epic Legends of Coralia fantasy series. This book contains LGBTQ+ themes, violence, revenge, discussions of genocide, language, and sexual content.

©2023 Kate Jenkins, Morgan Moreau (P)2024 Kate Jenkins, Morgan Moreau

Masterful use of dialog in world building

This book was such great fun. I listened to the audiobook, which was also excellently narrated. I found the narrator’s voice to be soothing as well as versatile and compelling.

The story is one of political court intrigue in a fantasy world and concerning a Queen who wants to break free of the terrible legacy of her father, but who must first face the conniving and treasonous intent of the old guard nobility who want to keep things as they have been—that is, venal and corrupt with cruel inequities among the populace.

The first thing I noticed was that this book is excellently written, just from a craft perspective. The authors made masterful use of dialog to build the world and create suspense as the reader gradually clues in to “what’s going on,” almost exclusively from the dialog alone. That is so hard to do and so naturally, and these authors nailed it. The action beats, too, were pretty much perfect and fleshed out the world and story and characters themselves to a really satisfying degree. I also loved the attention to sensory detail, which made the world feel rich and engaging.

Characterizations and voicing for each one were also superb and I thought the internal stakes as well as motivations for each character were communicated *really* well. This was a really good read and I definitely want to know what happens in Book 2.

very fun political intrigue fantasy

I enjoyed the characters and the layers of politics that Collete is trying to navigate. She's not incompetent at it either. She has a lot to battle, namely agism and sexism. The banter is witty, and the tongues are sharp.