The Eight King was a difficult book for me. I wanted to like it so bad. It was original fantasy, set against a Chinese background, but maybe because it featured so many different and special elements, I found it hard to follow and to concentrate on the book.

As I'm always reading multiple books at the same time, I had to cut down the portions I read of The Eight King because I noticed the reading always haltered there. Which I think might be due to the writing which was to say the least special. Told from the all knowing third person perspective, the characters always feel far away, and with the characters each carrying multiple names (many of which have some sort of Ape in it) it was difficult to connect to them (or tell them all apart at times). At times the writing felt slightly condescending towards the characters.

It was a shame, because I loved the way magic was interwoven in the world. It was very whimsical, mainly providing problems rather than easy solutions. The politics involved were also really nice. I would like to know where the world is going, but I hope the writing would change a bit.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!