Four Ruined Realms

The exciting second installment in Corland’s Broken Blades series (after Five Broken Blades) reunites Sora, Royo, Aeri, Euyn, and Mikail on a treacherous mission into new lands, all inspired by Korean mythology and history. Having barely completed their last heist, each of the five blades has been blackmailed or bribed into taking on a new task: retrieve the Golden Ring of the Dragon Lord from Yusan’s neighboring kingdom of Khitan. However, lingering distrust from recent betrayals threaten to tear the group apart. Sora’s desire to save her sister, Royo’s quest for forgiveness, and Euyn’s ambitions clash with secrets revealed about Aeri’s lineage and secrets still closely held to Mikail’s chest about his own. As they embark on this challenging heist, a series of unexpected reveals lead them to question if the Golden Ring is really what King Joon is after or if they are falling into an elaborate trap. Corland makes it easy for readers to reenter this vivid world by including plentiful reminders of the plot and character dynamics of book one that manage not to stall the momentum. Her skill at blending political intrigue with emotional stakes makes this a worthy and exhilarating continuation of the series, and sets the stage for even more twists to come. Readers will be rapt. Agent: Lauren Spieller, Folio Literary. (Jan.)