Review: The Kraken King Part I by Meljean Brook
Title: The Kraken King Part I (Iron Seas #4)
Author: Meljean Brook
Publication Date: November 4, 2014
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Find It: Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, Book Depository. Bookshop
Source: e-ARC via Netgalley
Rating: 4 stars – stay up late
A former smuggler and thief, Ariq-better known as the Kraken King-doesn’t know what to make of the clever, mysterious woman he rescues from an airship besieged by marauders. Unsure if she’s a spy or a pawn in someone else’s game, Ariq isn’t about to let her out of his sight until he finds out. After escaping her fourth kidnapping attempt in a year, Zenobia Fox has learned to vigilantly guard her identity. While her brother Archimedes is notorious for his exploits, Zenobia has had no adventures to call her own-besides the stories she writes. But when she jumps at the chance to escape to the wilds of Australia and acquire research for her next story, Zenobia quickly discovers that the voyage will be far more adventurous than any fiction she could put to paper.
I am not usually a fan of serialized stories (I prefer the immediate gratification of being able to read the entire book) but I couldn’t resist when I heard that Meljean Brook was writing her next book in a serialized format. I just couldn’t wait until all of the parts were out to dive in and resigned myself to having to wait for each part to come out.
Zenobia Fox is an unconventional woman, the sister of the famed adventurer Archimedes Fox, and secret author of popular novels chronicling her brother’s exploits. After escaping yet another kidnapping attempt, Zenobia finds safety on the airship of the notorious Kraken King, While he has a reputation, The Kraken King (aka Ariq) is not as ruthless as the stories say. He is immediately intrigued by Zenobia and embarks on maybe the greatest adventure of his life, winning Zenobia’s heart.
I absolutely love the Iron Seas series. The world building is fantastic and the characters are always wonderfully interesting and complex. Zenobia is a fantastic character, a woman used to watching the world from the sidelines who decides to take her future into her own hands. I loved how smart and headstrong she was and also naive at times.
Brook knows how to write amazing romances and the chemistry between Ariq and Zenobia is undeniable from the get-go. Their romance was frustrating at times because they seemed to have a lot of communication problems but that just added to the tension.
The only bad thing about this is that it’s too short. I really would have preferred having the whole book at once so I wasn’t pining for the next installment. By the time this review comes out the book will be quite a few years old and will be available in its entirety (lucky you!). I highly recommend this book and the entire series to anyone who loves great adventures, fantastic world building, and heart stopping romances.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my review or opinion of the book.
