The Killing Fog by Jeff Wheeler Pages: 412
Published by 47North on March 1, 2020
Series: The Grave Kingdom #1
Genres: Fantasy & Magic
Source: Finished Copy from Publisher
The Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Kingfountain series conjures an epic, adventurous world of ancient myth and magic as a young woman’s battle with infinite evil begins.
Survivor of a combat school, the orphaned Bingmei belongs to a band of mercenaries employed by a local ruler. Now the nobleman, and collector of rare artifacts, has entrusted Bingmei and the skilled team with a treacherous assignment: brave the wilderness’s dangers to retrieve the treasures of a lost palace buried in a glacier valley. But upsetting its tombs has a price.
Echion, emperor of the Grave Kingdom, ruler of darkness, Dragon of Night, has long been entombed. Now Bingmei has unwittingly awakened him and is answerable to a legendary prophecy. Destroying the dark lord before he reclaims the kingdoms of the living is her inherited mission. Killing Bingmei before she fulfills it is Echion’s.
Thrust unprepared into the role of savior, urged on by a renegade prince, and possessing a magic that is her destiny, Bingmei knows what she must do. But what must she risk to honor her ancestors? Bingmei’s fateful choice is one that neither her friends nor her enemies can foretell, as Echion’s dark war for control unfolds.
The Killing Fog is the first book in the Grave Kingdom series by Jeff Wheeler. The Killing Fog is the first book I have read by Jeff, but I know it will not be my last. I really enjoyed this fantasy novel and I can’t wait to continue on in the series. The writing is richly atmospheric, and I think the age of the main character lends itself to reader crossover appeal for fans of both young adult fantasy and adult fantasy novels.
In the Killing Fog, we meet our main character Bingmei. Bingmei is a warrior and she is hired with a group of other warriors to go on a quest to find a lost artifact. Bingmei and her group end up unleashing something much more sinister on their quest than they ever expected. I don’t want to give too much more away, but I really enjoyed the plot and I can’t wait to see how it is going to unfold further in the next installment. The world building in this novel is excellent. It was easy for me to fall into the world and gain my bearings, which is a rare treat for me lately. There is magic present in the kingdoms, but it is a different kind of magic structure than I am used to seeing in fantasy novels. Normally, the magic is front and center and sometimes the characters lean on it with a crutch. Here fighting and martial arts are front and center with the culture, and the magic element is secondary.
Bingmei herself is a super fascinating character. She wasn’t immediately likable for me, and at times I found her to be quite prickly, but seeing her think through and reason along her quest always got me thinking. And that is the kind of character that makes for an interesting read. There is tremendous growth with her, which I found to be very satisfying. The Killing Fog seemed to be a very plot driven novel, and the plot was great for sure. I tend to be more of a character driven reader, and while the characters were good, I found myself hoping to get to know them a bit more. There are two potential love interests in the story, that we might see developed in later novels, but there is almost no romance in The Killing Fog. This will come as a surprise to no one, but I was hoping for more in the romance department as I was reading. I am certainly hoping more develops in that regard in the next book. Overall, I really liked The Killing Fog, and I can’t wait to continue on in the Grave Kingdom series.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2020 New Release Challenge
- Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge 2020
that is a fabulous cover!
sherry @ fundinmental
I just got this book and haven’t started it yet! Can’t wait! Thanks for sharing!