[Archive] LITERAL ADDICTION's Review of The Warlock King

Heather Killough Walden is a California native currently living in Texas with her husband and child. She is the New York Times bestselling author of the Big Bad Wolf series. Heather’s educational background includes religious studies, archeology, and law. She has traveled all over the world but hopes to one day live in a town with a world-class hockey team. (Let’s Go Pens!)

The Warlock King - Book #3 of THE KINGS series
Author: Heather Killough-Walden

Synopsis:

Jason Alberich wears the crown of the sovereign of the warlocks, a dark breed that uses darker magic. He wears it well, skillfully wielding a power that would corrupt others. Yet he has paid the price for his control, bearing the scars of a time when his power had control over him. He is haunted by the regrets of a shady past and now lives each day and night with an isolated soul.

Chloe Septeran is an Akyri like no other. A member of a race that must depend upon warlocks for sustenance in exchange for servitude, Chloe runs from the dark magic users, choosing instead to live free of their hold. She has existed empty and “hungry,” but stubbornly free of the warlock’s dark embrace. However, now the fates have chosen to bring her running to a halt, as the 13 Kings each discover their queens – and the Warlock King discovers his.

A mighty power is awakening, wreaking havoc on the supernatural world. The 13 Kings, their queens, the werewolf nation, and the witch covens with their high leader, Lalura Chantelle, must band together and stand strong in the face of a dawning nightmare that threatens the very fabric of all they hold dear… and from which none may escape.

Our Review, by LITERAL ADDICTION's Pack Alpha - Michelle L. Olson:
This series grabbed me from book #1, but this was, without a doubt, my favorite installment of the saga thus far!

Immediately upon finishing the book all I could do was shake my head and say "Sheer brilliance; Heather Killough-Walden does it again!"

Let me start by simply saying that Heather is a true artist! She paints a vivid fantasy landscape with words, intertwines it with reality, and delivers it with heart and poetic prose. Her worlds are incredibly thought out and unique, her characters robust and engaging, and her story arcs full of mystery, intrigue, romance, and emotion. Unlike some other authors where I find I don't even think about them while reading the story, it's hard to ignore the sheer amount of 'self' that Heather puts into her writing and her incredible tales, and it just makes me - as a reader - feel even more privileged to read her work.

O.K, on to the tale at hand (though if you follow my reviews, you know I don't do spoilers!)...

Our hero (the incredibly powerful Warlock King) and heroine (an Akyri fighting against her base nature of having to live off of the power of Warlocks) met very briefly earlier in the series via simple yet electrifying eye contact across a crowded street. It was obvious, even in that split second, that there would be something special there. Chloe was dealing with her own personal issues, however, and Jason was helping the other 12 Kings in their fight against those that sought to destroy them, so it was also evident that fate would not be satisfied immediately.

Throughout their action/mystery/romance/tension-filled journey towards one another in The Warlock King, we learn that there is way more to Chloe AND Jason than meets the eye and/or that we were made privy to earlier in the series, and all of that coupled with the continuing story arc of the series itself made for some pretty amazing reading.

This is an important book of the series. It wasn't completely and solely about Jason and Chloe. We got glimpses into the continuing storylines of our hero and heroine (the Vampire King and Queen) from book #1, the Phantom King and Queen from book #2, as well as introductions to several of the other Kings. Heather also gave us additional information regarding our villains (complete with some pretty heady surprises!) and a slight sneak peek into what we might expect in the fight to come (though with Heather, you always get more than you think!). :)

I know that is incredibly vague and that you are all probably groaning right now in frustration, but I don't know how else to gush without giving things away.

To sum up... LITERAL ADDICTION gives The Warlock King a VERY well deserved 5 Skulls and would recommend it to everyone! And while the book stands well on its own, I would strongly urge you to read the entire series in order to get the most out of it, and simply because every book so far has been absolutely incredible!

The Warlock King