The Shattered Realm of Ardor Benn

September 21, 2020
Gifted conman Ardor Benn returns in the excellent second epic in Whitesides’s Kingdom of Grit fantasy trilogy (after The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn). Whitesides reacquaints readers with Ard mid-caper: he’s enclosed in a coffin impersonating a general’s corpse in order to steal a valuable medal from a mausoleum. While fleeing the scene, he stumbles on an even bigger potential payday when Queen Abeth Ostel Agaul mistakes him for a police inspector and tasks him with a sensitive investigation. Abeth believes that her late son, Shad, a rightful heir to the throne presumed dead in an explosion, may be alive. She also suspects that her cousin, King Termain, the current ruler of the Greater Chain, had a hand in Shad’s disappearance. Termain’s reign is viewed as illegitimate by many in his kingdom—and Ard helped facilitate his rise to power. Now Ard assures Abeth that he’ll uncover the truth of what happened to her son—but to do so he’ll have to gain the trust of an organized crime ring. Whitesides makes his vibrant world easily accessible for newcomers, and the enjoyable blend of intrigue, lighthearted escapades, and thrilling action brilliantly sets the stage for the series’ conclusion. Readers will be thrilled. Agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary.

October 15, 2020
Ardor Benn, fresh from having saved the world?and in the process, helping to land a terrible king on the newly vacant throne and indirectly causing a devastating war?is back at his schemes, dubiously disguised with the pseudonym Androt Penn. A convenient case of mistaken identity puts him on the track of a potential legitimate heir to the throne. In the course of this project, he also has to infiltrate a mysterious criminal organization known as the Realm. He's not the only familiar face there; unbeknownst to him, Quarrah is also embedded in the Realm, working another angle on corruption in the palace. Readers of the first book in the Kingdom of Grit series (The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn, 2018) who expect a truly grand scheme with complicated layers of plotting and trickery will not be disappointed. There are plenty of plots that seem too preposterous to succeed, along with narrow escapes, moments of inspiration, thrills and chases, and a cliffhanger ending, priming fans for the upcoming third entry in the series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)