A Tournament of Crowns

The way the competition was manipulated behind the scenes made me wonder if the real prize was power rather than the crown itself. Did anyone else find the political games more intense than the battles?

The romance added depth but also slowed down some parts of the story. I’m curious whether that was intentional to develop characters or just a natural side effect of the narrative structure.

The world felt richly detailed, and I wonder if Elise Kova based it on any real-world traditions or if it was entirely created from her imagination.