The Harp of Kings

Written by Juliet Marillier

Narrated by Moira Quirk, Alex Wyndham and Frazer Douglas

A young woman is both a bard-and a warrior-in this thrilling historical fantasy from the author of the Sevenwaters novels. Eighteen-year-old Liobhan is a powerful singer and an expert whistle player. Her brother has a voice to melt the hardest heart, and is a rare talent on the harp. But Liobhan's burning ambition is to join the elite warrior band on Swan Island. She and her brother train there to compete for places, and find themselves joining a mission while still candidates. Their unusual blend of skills makes them ideal for this particular job, which requires going undercover as traveling minstrels. For Swan Island trains both warriors and spies. Their mission: to find and retrieve a precious harp, an ancient symbol of kingship, which has gone missing. If the instrument is not played at the upcoming coronation, the candidate will not be accepted and the kingdom will be thrown into disarray. Faced with plotting courtiers and tight-lipped druids, an insightful storyteller, and a boorish Crown Prince, Liobhan soon realizes an Otherworld power may be meddling in the affairs of the kingdom. When ambition clashes with conscience, Liobhan must make a bold decision-and the consequences may break her heart.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Sep 24, 2019
• ISBN: 9781501992070

Juliet Marillier

Juliet Marillier was born in New Zealand and brought up in Dunedin, the ‘Edinburgh of the South’. She has a passionate interest in Celtic music and Irish folklore. A mother of two daughters and two sons, she lives in a rural area outside Perth in Western Australia.

Reviews for The Harp of Kings

[Cassandra Bengtson · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I am enjoying the book, but can't get through due to one of the male narrators. He sounds surprised in every single sentence. He's in the next book too, so I'm giving up. Super disappointed

[kmartin802_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a pretty standard start to an epic fantasy well-told by a master of the genre. It takes three young people - Liobhan, Brocc, and Dau - who are students at an elite academy where they are training in weaponry and other skills in the hopes of being chosen to join the company. Liobhan is a warrior who also has skills and a musician and singer. She is talented and tricky. Her brother Brocc is the more gifted musician but is also a smart and skilled warrior. Dau is their competitive rival who is determined to be the finest warrior so that he will be chosen to stay with the company.The three are chosen to go along with two elders to find a missing harp that is needed for the coronation of the new king of Breifne. They will be going undercover, complete with new, fabricated identities, to locate the harp and restore it before midsummer when the coronation will be held. All of the roles are difficult but Liobhan, who has to become shy and diffident, and Dau, who has to play the role of a mute stable hand, have the hardest time. They learn rather quickly that the presumed heir - Rodan - is a cowardly bully who feels entitled to whatever he wants when he wants it. He has been abusive to his younger sister and his sister's nursemaid. When his attempted assault on Liobhan is thwarted, she is the one who is forced to make a public apology. Worst of all, Rodan will make a terrible king because he doesn't have any respect for the Fair Folk who also inhabit his land. In fact, he doesn't believe in them. Each chapter is the story is told from the viewpoint of one of the three young people. In each we not only advance the plot but learn about each one's past and the reasons for their behavior. It was an enjoyable story that is the first in a new series.

[thegalaxygirl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I love Juliet Marillier, especially her Sevenwaters series. And in some ways, I wished that this book was more like those, richer and with a single complex POV character. But I get that this is supposed to be more YA, and that Marillier has to do new and different things with her craft.I thought the premise was interesting, although I at first had a hard time swallowing the idea of a kind of Medieval Secret Service. I mean, who has the resources (back then) to establish such a thing, let alone pay for its ongoing upkeep?Also, the pacing seemed both too fast and too slow. Crazy, I know. But sometimes I thought the narrative needed to slow down, especially at the end when the goal was almost achieved--it almost felt skimmed over. And it seemed slow in the middle, when subplots took priority over the main plot.But overall, I enjoyed the story and was happy to see a new Marillier book.

[infjsarah · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Juliet Marillier knocks it out of the park again. I love her novels and "Harp of Kings" was another fabulous read. Following 3 different points of view it pulls you along as the adventure proceeds before coming to a satisfying conclusion. The start of a new series for her and I will as always wait in anticipation for the next one.

[debbiemccauley-2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

18-year-old Liobhan is fighting for a place amongst the elite warriors of Swan Island along with her brother Brocc and unwanted chieftan’s son Dau. Liobhan and Brocc are musicians as well as fighters, so when they are chosen for a mission their disguise as travelling minstrels will help keep them undercover. Dau is chosen to go with them, but must remain mute the entire time. Each is given a new identity for the mission, which is to find a missing ancient harp without which the crowning of a new King cannot take place. But is the prince worthy of being King? The story is told from the point of view of all three main characters. A lovely read.

[eyes92c · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Warriors, missions, Druids and the Fey, what could be more enticing?A strong fantasy, although I must admit it took me a few pages to get used to the three voices. Those of sister and brother, Liobhan (Ciara), singer and whistle player, and harper Brocc (Donal), along with Dau (Neesam) a chieftain's third son. Three training to be warriors for a place within the exclusive warrior group of Swan Island. "Brocc and [Liobhan] prepared for months to win places in the training course, from which maybe two or three out of the twenty will be chosen to stay as permanent members of the Swan Island force. Nobody wants to be sent home."An unusual request takes them on a mission before their training is finished. A mission that will bring consternation, open up mysteries of hidden ways and lead the three into troubling yet concerted action. An important artifact has gone missing from the kingdom of Briefne, an "instrument known as the Harp of Kings. To the people of Breifne, it’s of deep significance. If it isn’t played at the ritual, the man who’s up for the kingship won’t be accepted by the populace." A new king is to be crowned. That harp must be found!Unfortunately parts of Briefne has been harassed by giant crow like figures that wreak destruction on those who they come across. Dau has a run in with them before reaching the court. They are part of the mysteries that surround the Harp and its origins.The importance of those mysteries are referenced when the woman healer Erine reminds Liobhan (Ciara), “Your kind have forgotten the old ways,” ... “You have forgotten the importance of the tales, the wisdom of the past, the strength that rises from tree and stone and stream, the bond between one world and the other. It is at such times of distrust and disruption that dark forces like these rise up to shadow our world.”The three along with their mentors infiltrate the court in disguise, seeking the harp, in the face of significant dangers, and some major revelations.I was on the edge of my reading seat with much of the story, what with the competition between Dau and Liobhan, with the potential mishaps for them in the face of the brutish heir to the throne and his henchmen. Each character surprises, particularly IMO Dau. Brocc seems to always march to the beat of his own drum .. or rather harp, and pursues matters in quite a different way to the other two, with some interesting results.A bardic saga in the making that will invite, entrance and thrill. Intrigue, mysteries, druids, and the fey all play a part both in the present and in stories to come.A Berkley Group ARC via NetGalley