For those who crave dragons, destinies, and daring quests.This book will be your go to ride
| Book Details | Four Ruined Realms |
| Author | Mai Corland |
| Release Date | 7 January 2025 |
| Language | English |
| Amazon | Book Link |
Introduction
Meredith Ireland is a Korean American lawyer and author who writes under the pen name Mai Corland. She attended Rollins College and the University of Miami School of Law after being born in Seoul, adopted, and reared in New York. Because of her vivid storytelling, nuanced moral complexity, and cultural diversity, Mai Corland is unique in the fantasy genre.
About the Book
A Part of Broken Blade Triology, inspired by Korean myth and culture, drawing from Corland’s experiences as a Korean American, and includes multiple LGBTQ+ characters and the mythical country of yusan. As Corland describes it, “Five Broken Blades, I’d like to say that it’s Ocean’s 11 meets a Korean, fantasy-inspired Kill Bill… it’s five dangerous people, five dangerous liars, plus a side buddy… who have to get together to try to kill the king, and the problem is that the king, once he has his crown on, is immortal.”
Brief Summary
A dark adventure, which starts on a ship at sea, where Aeri, the daughter of King Joon and erstwhile Princess Naerium, is imprisoned in a cabin out of fear of her fellow passengers, who used to view her as an ally but now regard her as a traitor. Aeri is a liability because of her background as a spy and her ancestry. Her emotional attachment to Royo, who now treats her with icy coldness, and her own decisions haunt her. Her friends still distrust her despite the fact that she betrayed her father to help their failed coup. While Sora, the de facto leader, stays focused on their goal—assassinating King Joon and installing Euyn on the throne.But Euyn, the exiled prince, publicly doubts her motivations.
They travel to Khitan as part of their mission in order to form an alliance with Queen Quilimar, who is presently living in isolation. The dynamics of the group are still tense. Their shaky relationship could be destroyed when Sora learns that Euyn used to hunt her father for fun. In the meantime, three Khitanese agents are killed in a planned attack by the vicious spymaster Mikail.Even though he privately doubts Euyn’s suitability for leadership and King Joon’s more sinister goals, Mikail is nevertheless committed to the cause.
The group’s goal in Khitan is to persuade Quilimar to declare war while searching for the Dragon Lord’s Golden Ring, one of five potent relics. Following an assassination attempt, the palace is locked according to stringent procedures. Mikail meets the disgraced prince Fallador and finds out about troubling events in the Khitan court. Royo, meantime, is still struggling with his loss and his love for Aeri, whose regret and quietness mirror her own inner conflict. They start dividing up into groups and focussing on different aspects of the overall goal. In the midst of this, Tiyung, an ally who is imprisoned, endures solitary incarceration in Idle Prison until Hana, a lady who is thought to be dead, unexpectedly shows up.She departs King Joon with a lamp and a letter from Sora, indicating that their assassination operation is still in progress.
She is now known as Zahara and is in alliance with him. In another scene, Aeri tells Sora her deepest secrets, which include killing Prince Omin, killing three slaves by accident, and ageing unnaturally due to a stolen amulet. Touched, Sora shares her own realities and demands that Aeri, not Euyn, ascend to the kingdom because she is the only one who can genuinely transform Yusan. Royo finds out that Bay Chin, the leader of the Umbrian gangs, planned the circumstances that resulted in Lora, his lover, dying.
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Review
I don’t want to give away too much, but readers will leave this book feeling somewhat devastated, and the final third of the book contains some really intense scenes. Together with a number of surprising revelations and surprises that are nicely hinted at by the author’s previous, subtly placed elements, Four Ruined Realms leaves you feeling both affected and especially eager to know how the series will conclude. Corland introduces Four Ruined Realms in a wonderful way, much like in the first book of the series, and I really liked the way the intricate plot was presented.
The author did an outstanding job of balancing the different perspectives, with all the protagonists getting their chance to shine in their respective chapters, and even the increased use of Tiyung didn’t throw this out of whack. Indeed, Tiyung’s chapters honestly pulled the other perspectives together into a tight and captivating overarching narrative, as the inclusion of an outsider character viewing events from afar increased the complexity of the story.
A major part of the book is focused on the complicated relationships that have formed between various protagonists – Royo & Aeri, Mikail & Euyn and Tiyung & Sora. As Corland points out :”But if I abandon what I love just to live, what kind of life is that?”. A brilliant and moving fantasy novel with some dramatic character moments and themes such as gender role, moral ambiguity and betryal. I’m eager to see how this trilogy ends, and fortunately, Three Shattered Souls, the last book will be available in July.
