Raymond E. Feist

Janny Wurts

Set in the mysterious world of Kelewan, an exotic empire encircled by murder and magic and where formal courts mask deadly intrigues, a valiant girl leads her followers through terror and peril - and discovers her own womanhood.

Daughter of the Empire

Daughter of the empire

Sarah Sammis

Natasha Musa

Seems very unlikely that a 17 year old could be so strategic in thinking, could read people and their reactions so well that she is able to develop really effective plans to achieve the best for her empire and her people. Yet, I find Daughter of the Empire quite an interesting read. I love Mara's character and think she's excellent; smart and also honorable. Will definitely be reading the second book.

Ookay, two days later and not quite fully rested up, let's do this.

So. Daughter of the Empire. Yes. Very good book. Highly recommended.
The characters were excellent, really. The setting was vaguely oriental, (though as Wastrel tells me, Wurts drew a lot from Korea) so a large part of this book is political intrigue and matters of honor. If that's your team, go for it. If the whole honor thing isn't for you, maybe not as much. But the political intrigue stuff is actually really excellently written.

Moving on. Mara. Oh, Mara. Mara was magnificent. Mara was fantastic. I could sing praises for Mara for weeks. Or months.
Mara is that strong female character you've always wished you'd find somewhere in fantasy. She's beautifully real and it's very easy to empathize with her.

The supporting characters really made the book for me. Wurts and Feist didn't let anything slip by them; each of their supporting characters were wonderfully realized and fully fleshed-out.

Ugh. Highly recommended. Highly.

Book one in the magnificent Empire Trilogy by bestselling authors Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts, now available in ebook format.

Sheila

This is an older classic omg it's only just older than myself what is time that would have entirely passed me by if not for a recommendation made to me by Allison literally years ago! (bless u <3) 

This story is fantastic! It's hard not to get wholly invested from the start, as Mara is an unassumingly cunning 17-year old whose life has been upended by the deaths of her father and brother. Alone to take on the mantle as Lady of her house, she manages to survive in a situation all but engineered for her to lose.

While she ages a couple of years throughout the course of this book, my only big criticism is that Mara's behaviour isn't written like an older teen's. I know not everyone is the same, but some of the plans she invents and follows through with honestly feel like they should have been beyond someone as young and previously sheltered as she, despite the book's one limp hand-waving of "she listened in on her father telling her brother about political matters."

Aside from that, this book is rife with delicious political intrigue and plotting that I have such a hard time putting down. Can't wait to complete this trilogy!

Jennifer

A full review for this book will come in due course. 

What I enjoyed: 

- Mara's character development throughout the novel
- Complex politics at play
- Solid worldbuilding

What didn't really work for me:

- The writing style was a bit dry so it took me a while before I could fully get into the story
- The chapters are rather long so it also took me some time before I was able to connect with the characters
- I personally think a few intimate scenes could be cut in favour of more actions and plots

Overall, I think Mara's personality traits resonated with me a lot and this book did a very wonderful job portraying her traits in different areas of her life. I'm hoping that there would be more magic and more plots in the upcoming books in the series.

(3.5 stars out of 5)

Alexia Cambaling

I haven’t made secret of the fact that I like a lot of politicking in my fantasy books. To me, if there’s going to be aristocracy in a book, there better be a lot of politics going on. Far too many stories focus on their balls but not backroom deals, alliances, negotiations, rivalries, etc. I like having discussions of what goes on behind the scenes, and I like it in depth. So far, I have enjoyed many books and I love them, but I often found the political discussions to not go as in depth as I would have liked.

Daughter of the Empire isn’t like that. It’s basically a deep dive into the politics of the world it’s set in. Not only that, but it also has one of the best female protagonists I’ve read about this year. Mara of the Acoma is no martial heroine, she doesn’t wield a sword, nor does she command armies. However, she does have people to do it for her, and they do it well.

Before I discuss Mara, I first want to talk about the world-building. It’s excellent. The book is set in the same universe as Raymond E. Feist’s Riftwar Saga but in a different world and stands on its own. The world of Kelewan lush, dense, and rich with description. There’s even an in-depth discussion of how the economy worked and how the nobles gain money. Among the nobles, there’s also this culture of honor and shame. Etiquette was discussed and there are consequences for breaches of etiquette.

And of course, the politics. There’s a lot of it here. There are great families, alliances, rivalries, espionage, etc. Noble houses are fighting each other for control and Mara has to fight the hardest of them all. Not only is she a young woman, but her family was also nearly decimated in a battle which nearly wiped out their forces. So the Acoma’s position was severely weakened and it’s up to Mara to rebuild the noble house.

At first, Mara is a bit naive, still shaken and mourning as one would expect from someone who was minutes away from being ordained as a temple priestess when she was informed she’s now a Ruling Lady and all her family’s dead. She makes a lot of mistakes in the beginning, mistakes that could have cost her life and ended her line. Fortunately for her, she has trusted and capable people around her who saved her life on multiple occasions.

However, while she does make mistakes, she also learns. Because of her new, somewhat tenuous position, she was forced to learn fast, and learn fast she did. Listening to how Mara outwitted her enemies and got herself out of dangerous positions was a joy to hear. This was a young, naive girl forced to become a Ruling Lady of the Empire and she does it with a lot of grace and composure, so as to not shame her family name.

Mara is a woman in power and is acknowledged as such. Early in the book, she talks about how her gender might save her only to be told that she would be treated as a man would as a Ruling Lady. This meant being vulnerable to assassination as sexism still rears their ugly head. And yet, Mara plays to it masterfully. She marries an abusive oaf and lets everyone underestimate her until the moment she reveals her hand. She learned the ways of the Great Game, played the coquette, and then struck.

The plot mostly revolved around Mara’s survival in this book. Because her family was nearly totally eradicated, she really had to fight to ensure that the Acoma named lived on. That did include some hard choices and some unsavory dealings but in the end, she survived. She outwitted and outlived some of her enemies in this book and I can’t wait to see how she outwits the next ones.

I listened to this on audiobook narrated by Tania Rodrigues and I think it’s fantastic. I enjoyed the narration and the voices really added to my enjoyment of the story.

Overall, I’d say The Empire Trilogy holds up well. Daughter of the Empire was first published in 1987 and maybe I can see that it did, but it still aged very well and remains a very good read. I can highly recommend it for anyone who likes their fantasy with a lot of politics exploring the dynamics of a woman in power.

This review is also on  The Bookworm Daydreamer

Daughter of the Empire

Reviews