A Plague of Giants (Seven Kennings, #1)

If you drape the word duty over murder, well - you can hardly tell it's murder anymore. Add the words in wartime, and the word murder simply disappears.

A Plague of Giants came to me by way of r/fantasy and it hit the mark. The story slowly unfolds with a bard telling a gathered crowd events that transpired across countries through the view of different characters each night. This is a fun way to deliver exposition and gave me Kingkiller Chronicles vibes from it as there are events happening in real time plus the historical story.

I was confused by the characters and their Kenning capabilities at first. Some (Tidal Mariner) were immediately awesome and I understood them more than others (Plants was a bit odd at first). Thankfully Hearne eased me through the story and characters, allowing me to play catchup where necessary while laying the groundwork for larger events to transpire.

It is somewhat strange to cry for those who are now at peace except for the stark fact that we, while living, are not.

The magic system was incredibly unique and allowed each nationality to have a trait that fit their region, and not everyone had magical capabilities. Within each Kenning there was a variety of powers so this allowed for some fun rules to operate within and some excellent sequences where a character would push themselves to execute their powers.

The bodies you see are the ends of so many stories, and most of them never get told.

I was pleasantly surprised by what was (or wasn't) the climax of the story. There are refugees listening to the story on a location called "Survivors Field". The residents are piecing back together their lives and some are mourning their losses. This was what I thought the bard was building up for in their story, but why would he tell a story to people who knew what happened outside their walls?

Eventually you come to a point where you have no choice but to be about the business of forever.

The conflict with the Hathrim giants was just as exciting as characters encountering Bone Giants.
Understanding how each region reacted to this news was enjoyable and the chapters were addicting, I was hooked and wanted to keep reading.

It's an airborne poison, hatred is, for I felt it filling my lungs and contaminating my thoughts. It is how violence thrives and peace withers.

There were military and political elements here too and how each region would exploit Kennings for their survival, or where some would willingly give it. The story may start off slowly but I found enough was happening with an occasional POV character or in real time to keep me going and as I slowly understood the story and what was happening I was riveted.

Toast, interrupted. Should anyone ever ask for a quick summary of my existence, I think that will do.

I have not read Hearne before but this is an excellent high fantasy story that I'm eager to read the rest of the series and look in to Hearne's other works.