The title of Evan Leikam’s new novel, Anji Kills a King, isn’t a spoiler. The king is dead by the end of the first paragraph. This story is all about what happens after Anji kills the king of her miserable, economically depressed, and religiously oppressed country. Who is going to change things for the better in the middle of a power vacuum? And is Anji going to survive being chased down by the deadliest bounty hunters in the nation?
Anji doesn’t get far from the capital before she is captured by the Hawk, an acerbic member of the Menagerie. There’s no one to rescue her. She wasn’t working with rebels against the king’s punishing rule. But when another member of the Menagerie finds Hawk and Anji, Hawk kills him rather than allow him to help escort Anji back for torture and execution. Hawk won’t turn Anji free, however. She is adamant that she needs the reward Anji will bring. Anji Kills a King swiftly transforms from thriller to journey and back to thriller as Anji and Hawk battle the elements, the other members of the Menagerie, and each other.
I almost gave up on this novel. The beginning was rough going for me due to a little too much telling and not quite enough showing. (There’s also a ludicrously labeled creature at one point in the novel.) This style of exposition makes it hard for me to really imagine the world Anji and the other characters inhabit; there are places where this book reads more like set dressing rather than lived-in worldbuilding. Hawk won me over. I stuck around to find out what she was really up to and I’m glad I did because the last third of the book introduced some interesting consequences for the murder Anji committed. With the king dead and no alternative to the hopelessly corrupt and oppressive institutions, things for ordinary people might be even worse than if the king were still alive.
Anji Kills a King is the first novel in a planned series. Based on how this book ended, I expect that the next books in the series are going to be an exciting tangle of politics and bloodshed with Anji in the middle. Will she try to make life better for the people being ground down by the current regime? Will she light out for the territories? Will there be more creatures with silly names? We’ll have to wait for the next installment to find out.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration.