The reign of King Bersun is coming to its mandated end, and representatives from Orrun's seven societies must vie for their chance to replace him. One of those is Bersun's high scholar, Neema, who is thrown into the position after the original candidate from her society (the Ravens) was murdered just before the competition started. Tasked with both finding the killer and surviving (and maybe even winning?) the battle for the throne, Neema must carefully thread the needle of competing against and investigating her fellow fighters, none of whom are entirely as they seem.
This is a beast of a book, in that it's almost 700 pages of political intrigue and untrustworthy characters. But it's also a great start to a well-imagined fantasy tale, with plenty of fodder for future books. And while there is a bit of a romance in this book, it's refreshing to have it not take center stage, as happens in so many fantasy books these days. I'll happily read the sequel(s) to this one when they come out!
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