Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Blood for the Undying Throne by Sung-Il Kim Series: The Bleeding Empire #2
Published by Tor on October 28, 2025
Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 336
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
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Last seen under Loran’s command, Emere is now a member of the Commons Council. While giving a speech in the Capital, he survives an assassination attempt―and now must team up with the Ministry of Intelligence to discover who is behind it.
Arienne is on a mission to find out what really happened to Mersia. The land―destroyed a hundred years ago by a mysterious weapon known only as the Star of Mersia―is devoid of life, populated only by ghosts. But when she arrives at the ruined city of Danras, Arienne finds more than she expects.
One hundred and seventy years ago, Yuma is the Chief Herder of Danras, looking after the city’s aurochs every summer. After being punished for disobeying the Demon King, she meets Lysandros, who is on a mission to establish diplomatic relations between the Empire and the states of Mersia. But is there a cost of doing business with the Empire?
I’m pretty new to translated stories and Korean authors but I tried out Blood of the Old Kings last year and enjoyed the overall story, so I was excited to pick up another installment in the The Bleeding Empire series. Blood for the Undying Throne picks up not long after the events of the first book and follows some of the characters we saw before while adding in a few new PoVs to get a fuller picture of the past and how one of the greatest cities was destroyed by the empire.
Our story is told via three different PoVs. Emere and Arienne were two characters the reader saw in the first book but the addition of Yuma’s voice from the past was the most interesting part to me. Emere played a slightly more minor role in the first book. He was following his brother the King in the rebellion before Loren came and changed his life. Trying to follow a destiny he believes is his, he has spent years trying to be more than an outcast prince. He helped to saved the city from the Circuit of Destiny in the prior story but where should he go from there. He has been tagged now by the Circuit to either become King if he can make the right decision when the time comes. But the Circuit is tricky and seems to be disjointing in its desires so Emere is torn on what the correct course should be.
“The . . . work, that I do,” continued Septima, “allows me to become acquainted with a great variety of persons. The ones who are reckless with their own lives usually have no purpose in life, so they don’t care if they live or die. But there are also those who are reckless because their purpose is too clear. So clear, they don’t care if they die pursuing it.
Arienne once held the Grim King of the past, Eldred, in her mind and fought him in the prior book. She ran away from the Empire so they could not use her body in death as a battery for the system. Arienne now wants to find out the true story of Mersia and how the entire city was destroyed by the Empire so long ago. I liked her journey and the discoveries she made, not only of the child battery she holds in her mind, but of the fates of all the people who were once free of the Empire and now act at the warning to any who might oppose Empiric Rule.
Yuma is the PoV that held my interest the most though. Hers is the tale of how The Grim King ruled his lands, how an emissary from the Empire came and how Yuma fell in love and risked trading rule under the Grim King to rule by the Empire. She shared the secrets of her land and in so doing changed the coarse of her people. It was heartbreaking as the reader knows what will become of her land and people but the build up to those events was executed in such a way that you felt more connected to it and discovered the true horror of it.
I liked the exploration of different past events, the make up of the components of the Circuit of Destiny and why it is possibly so divided in the futures it predicts or the impacts it is trying to make. There are some histories that are fleshed out more and characters that are explored. I liked Blood of the Old Kings a little better in that it had a clear path and goal to what is trying to be accomplished and then there was the battle at the end. In Blood for the Undying Throne it is more of a journey of understanding. Yes there are battles throughout but not a definitive ending, just understanding that will better help the reading in future books. Also Loren was a key character for me in the first story and while we do see her and what she is currently up to, we don’t get PoVs from her and I missed that.
Overall, this is a good continuation of the series but was not as engaging or clear for me as the prior story. I still look forward to seeing more translations of the series to see where the fight against the Empire goes and how the Circuit of Destiny filled with former sorcerers as batteries impacts the characters and their destinies.
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Very nice review. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks Angela. I’m enjoying branching out into the Korean Fantasy realm with this series.
I’m in love with this cover. 😀
it is pretty. I admit I picked up the first book because of the dragon on the cover.
It’s got an eye-catching story. Almost sounds like the journey thing that is in so many second books. Glad you enjoyed it enough. Great review!
Yes!!! That is exactly it. 2nd book journey.