The Riven Kingdom

The Godspeaker Trilogy, Book 2

By: Karen Miller

Narrated by: Josephine Bailey

Ethrea is an island in the center of the most important shipping route in the world. For 400 years, it has been a land of peace and impregnable security, a perfect trading hub - and a keeper of secrets.

The King of Ethrea is dying. His only surviving heir is the princess Rhian. But if her enemies have their way, Ethrea will not be ruled by a woman.

Dexterity Jones is a toymaker. To protect Princess Rhian and his country, he must place his trust in an exile from Mijak.

Yet as Ethrea comes ever closer to civil war, a greater danger awaits. Across the sea, an empress has already slaughtered millions in the name of her god. And the war will not end - until the world kneels before her.

©2009 Karen Miller (P)2009 Tantor

Fantastic

Love this series. Fantastic.
Rhian’s character can be whiny and dramatic but its not bad enough to bother me overly much. Great series! Cant wait to see how it ends.

Excellent balance to the harsh nature of Book 1

This second book of The Godspeaker Trilogy demonstrates the incredible talent of Karen Miller to create and convey culture and its impact on the characters. It is almost a completely different book from the first book which presented a very harsh environment and people. This book presents a world and culture to which we westerners are far more accustomed. The characters, as always, are vividly presented and the narrator does the most incredible job of bringing each and everyone alive to the listener. The narrator reminds me of the narrator for The Innocent Mage and The Awakened Mage. She is the perfect compliment to the author's words and creation. In the first book, it was very difficult to feel much love for the characters as their world was so extreme and harsh. Though I will admit I did find a way to see past most of this and find something to like about most of them. This book is possibly a direct opposite with a world more sensitive and caring and the characters are so easy to like.
I recommend both books, but be aware that the first one may be difficult to listen to at times. This book though is never outside our realm of understanding and begins to explain much of the reasons behind what happened in the first book. They are both worthy of five stars in my opinion, just very different in the story they tell.

Hands Down, My Favorite

The Godspeaker Trilogy is absolutely my favorite short series. I wish there was more. This second book is great for those used to traditional, European tales. The first book, Empress, is still the one that got be hooked. I read the first book as hard copy at first, and made it through most of The Riven Kingdom. Work and life made it difficult to finish, until I discovered Audible. I was so impressed by Josephine Bailey's narration, that I got the first book and the remaining books. She does a phenomenal job bringing the characters to life. The characters in this book bring great joy. The complicated relationships are good to see. I hoped it worked well.

not for everyone

this series is tough. blood. death. gore. this 2nd book (whole series) i’ve read a few times. and i loved the 1st one so much that this second was a VERY jarring start. i almost thought i mistakenly picked up a different series. however. altho i don’t like the 2nd or 3rd books as much as the 1sronly listening to/ reading it alone doesn’t feel like a complete story.

i like this series a lot. but it’s not like most popular fantasy. it’s doesn’t follow the standard modern fantasy tropes [well a few; orphan is miraculously skilled! .. but it’s almost impossible to Completely avoid and this isn’t a regular story arc so i forgive].

i love it. i dont recommend it lightly. and i barely ever actually take time to review because it’s all so subjective. a book recommendation is such an intimate thing. it takes so many things into consideration. an impersonal online review, for me, is weird.

that being said thanks for reading to this point.

the story is unconventional. may be hard to read for general public. gore. death. violence. repetitive words. pagan rituals. sacrifice. slavery. women rising up and taking over.

readers be aware. <3

WOW.

This was a nice way to change the story up from the first book. One thing I like about Karen's writing is that she left the race of the people of Mijak mostly ambiguous, at least in my opinion, in the first book; she focused on it in this second book, which gave her writing a true western perspective. Besides a great story and cliff hanger ending, I thought the mechanisms she used to tell the story from a western lense were masterful.

A Sequel Well Done

What a breath of fresh air. New setting, compelling characters to both love and hate, all contributing to the over-arching plot from book one. This book stands on its own without relying too heavily on everything that came before yet it manages to remain relevant. It really demonstrates Miller's strength as a writer.

A fun ride

The story is pretty straightforward but does leave the ending of this particular arc a little wanting. I felt that the build up of main antagonist lead to a mostly unsatisfactory ending.
The narrator has fantastic range of emotions a decently distinguishable range of character voices.

still awful performer

I thought the 1st book had annoying characters. but it turns out the voice actress just makes every single female in her books sound like the most obnoxious child even if they are in their 30s. I finished the series by buying the physical books. I got the entire series as a gift on audible and I am sorry I wasted my friends money. Josephine Bailey will never narrate another book for me again.