Generations ago, two empires were united through the union of their respective scions. But the latest incumbent hates one-half of his heritage and so the lines of Sun and Lion are splintering. Unbeknownst to the rulers of the empire, in secret, a Lion heir has been protected and prepared to take back his throne.I found this book heavy going. I struggled to distinguish the differences between the two main characters - Estarion and Korusan - until they met. Then, I found the book interesting again for about the middle third. But then I found the last portion of the action heavy going. I'm not sure why I struggled with this one - whether the plot was too predictable or the characters too uninteresting. At times, I enjoyed it, but overall it disappointed me.
This reminded me a bit of Kameron Hurley's The Mirror Empire, even though it's not nearly as a complicated and doesn't have as many characters. Maybe it was just the gates? Not sure. In any case, I had the same feeling reading it - it was too long, I got bogged down, and it took me double the time it probably should've taken to finish it.It is fine if what you want is a story about a king coming to power and figuring out how to incorporate the disparate parts of his kingdom. That kind of thing isn't really for me. There's a lot of sex in here, if that's of interest, but it's full of weird euphemisms (it's a staff or a flag or a banner or something like that which is always standing proudly and ugh).
