Kingdoms at War by Lindsay Buroker [Review]

Kingdoms at War (Dragons Gate #1) by Lindsay Buroker
Format: ebook
Source: borrowed through Kindle Unlimited
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: July 17, 2021

Dragon Gate
1. Kingdoms at War - Paperback | Kindle
2. Art of the Hunt
3. Broken by Magic
4. Chosen by Power
5. Sky on Fire
6. Orbs of Wisdom

Lindsay Buroker
| Website | Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):

For centuries, wizard kings have ruled the world from their elite sky cities, battling each other to add to their wealth and power, while using normal human beings as pawns. Those without magic struggle to feed their families and live in constant fear of bringing down the wrath of their tyrannical masters.

Something must change.

As a cartography student, Jak has always dreamed of finding the lost dragon gate and exploring and mapping distant worlds.

Developing magical powers and becoming a powerful wizard? Not a chance.

Wizards are cruel and inhumane, warring with each other from their great sky cities and keeping most of humanity enslaved. Jak wants nothing to do with them.

But when he and his archaeologist mother unearth the gate, they attract the attention of the very wizards they sought to avoid. Even more troubling, Jak starts developing magical powers of his own, powers that could rival those of the great rulers.

Fate may have given him the opportunity to change the world.

But the wizard rulers don’t like change, and when they detect threats, they send their elite assassins to eliminate them.

If Jak can’t unlock the power of the gate, and the powers within himself, the world will remain enslaved forever.

Thoughts on Kingdoms at War: HOO BOY. This book gave me some high level anxiety at parts. Not necessarily because of what happened to our heroes (although that was SUPER harrowing at times, in itself), but because I'm utterly torn on whether one certain high level wizard is really as honorable as he seems and if that honorableness will put him on the path with our heroes. Honestly, LB had me rooting for a royal assassin once upon a time, so I wouldn't put it past her and I'm IN KNOTS about how and when it will happen.

But that's another story for another book, methinks. Instead, we were given tantalizing clues as to the whos and the whats and the wheres of this world and more than a few nudges that the 'bad guys' can have their moments. To be fair, however, some of the bad guys are utter butt-nuggets who deserve all sorts of awful things to happen to them.

Right. Let's talk about our heroes for a moment. Jak and Jadora have no idea the political brouhaha they're about to cause when they (literally) dig up a buried dragon gate. The find almost single-handedly ushers in a war between several of the kingdoms. Not that the wizard kings need much to push them into warring, but the chance for untapped and possible untold power (if they can figure the portal out, that is) is more than enough to nudge them into battle.

It's a messy battle, too. We have soldiers and wizards and mercenaries clashing. And airships going up against flying cities and all sorts of other incredibly dangerous maneuvers. It was thrilling.

Am I ready to know what happens next? Yeah. That would be a hard yes. Even if I don't get concrete answers about a certain someone yet, I'm read. So ready.