The Empire of Dreams

this was so so so so good. in other words, I loved it. Red's character was interesting and I loved to see how she grew from book 3. I also really liked how her past chapters were titled as 'then' and then her present chapters were written as 'now'. I don't know which I liked more, her past or her present. I liked both but each part was different so..I have no clue which I liked best. as usual, seeing Elisa and Hector in this book was amazing. I also really liked Rosario in this book. high-key don't wanna leave this amazing series/world, but I enjoyed my time reading this series ❤️🦋

I felt super disconnected at first because it had been so long since I read the original trilogy, but after a while it still owned up to what I remembered from my previous experience with Rae Carson's writing, and it held it's own! Loved Rae's writing style and storytelling!

Thoroughly enjoyed this sort of epilogue to one of my favorite childhood series :)

The Empire of Dreams – внезапная четвертая книга в серии, которая, казалось бы, закончилась аж 7 лет назад. Рэй Карсон по какой-то причине решила вернуться в этот мир, чтобы рассказать еще одну историю. Судя по Author’s Note в конце, она страдала от ПТСР, и видимо эта книга стала некой формой терапии для неё. Главное, что можно сказать про The Empire of Dreams – несмотря на то, что главная героиня в ней другая, не та, что в трилогии, читать её как стэндэлоун не стоит, потому что мироустройства Рэй Карсон в ней не поясняет. А устройство в этом мире как минимум необычное: некоторые люди там рождаются с драгоценными камнями в пупке, его называют Божественный камень, а обладатели его, натурально, считаются Богоизбранными. Взаимоотношения с Богом – одна из центральных тем трилогии, её героиня Элиза много молится, размышляет о природе Божественного, разговаривает о нем со священниками, осмысляет себя как Богоизбранную (у нее, конечно же, есть камень в пупке), и в сочетании с тем фактом, что Рэй Карсон выбрала для своего мира не анлосаксонский фреймворк, а испанский – у героев испанские имена, а у стран испанские названия – всё это вместе производит отчетливое впечатление средневековой католической Испании. Вся история с Божественными камнями, а также Инвьернами, соседями и врагами Испании-ваннаби, в деталях рассказывается в трилогии, а в третьей книге мы встречаем героиню книги четвертой, девочку-сироту, которую Элиза выкупает из рабства. Между событиями третьей и четвертой книги проходит около 7 лет, как и для читателя. Девочке со странным именем Red Sparkle Stone около 17 лет, она готовится официально стать частью королевской семьи, но тут что-то идет не так. Слово за слово, церемония отменяется, и чтобы компенсировать для себя этот эмоциональный провал, Ред записывается в Королевскую Гвардию. Самые – как водится – элитные вооруженные силы в стране, где она – как водится – первая девочка-рекрут. Бытность Ред на обучении в гвардии и есть, собственно, история этой книги – вместе с расследованием подозрительной истории с развалом церемонии удочерения, в которой сразу видится начало дворцового переворота. Мне сразу вспомнился фильм «Солдат Джейн», здесь у нас тот же самый вайб – девочка в казарме с пацанами, сначала её все недооценивают, а потом она такая уууух. Параллельно с историей в настоящем нам рассказывают историю прошлого Ред – как она осиротела, как попала в рабство, как ей трудно там жилось вплоть до встречи с Элизой. Видимо, Рэй Карсон нашла самого пострадавшего персонажа во всей трилогии и решила сделать его инструментом переосмысления своего опыта травмы. Получилось, в целом, нормально. Не супер, но пойдет. Почему не супер? Потому что отчаянно не хватило ворлдбилдинга и магии, которых так много было в трилогии, не хватило тайн, хотя пространство для них было – скажем, кто отец Ред, мы так и не узнаем, а он явно могучий маг. И не хватило романтики – у Рэй Карсон с этим в принципе не очень, она и в трилогии с этой темой не справилась, и в другой своей серии, The Gold Seer Trilogy. В обеих сериях романтические отношения совершенно без огня и неубедительны, так что, наверное, хорошо, что для Ред никого не нашлось (а ведь какие возможности были в казарме! иной автор – I’m looking at you, Sarah J. Maas – сменил бы ей несколько любовных интересов и со всеми устроил бы жаркую страсть за конюшней). Итого: читать стоит, если вам понравилась трилогия, а если вы с трилогией не знакомы, то рекомендую попробовать, она очень приключенческая, и меня в свое время чрезвычайно увлекла. Кстати, там я впервые увидела героиню эпического фэнтези, которая не skinny & pretty, а вполне себе пухленькая девочка, очень любящая сладкое и страдающая из-за своей неконвенциональности. I feel for you, girl!

Definitely more of a 3.5. I was so so excited when this book was announced because Girl of Fire and Thorns is one of my favorite YA trilogies from the earliest days of my blogging and I have a lot of nostalgia associated with it. But I did lose track of it among my numerous ARCs, other new releases and a reading slump, but I’m glad that I finally got around to it. I can’t tell you how happy I was to be back in this world. The author does mention in an interview that this can be read as a standalone but I truly can’t comment on that, because my experience is completely tied up in the knowledge I come with while starting the book. It’s been almost three years, but I immediately felt familiar and could recollect all the important things that had happened in the trilogy as well as the important characters, so that I dove head first into this new story. I thought the author did a great job showing us how much and how little the world/court has changed over the years, giving us a sense of what happens after a rebellion ends and the rulers take major decisions. Maybe because this is a standalone, I felt like it had lesser stakes (though it does get serious eventually) and that’s why it didn’t give me enough tension filled moments which I naturally expected. Most of the plot is the training of the Royal Guard which has some great scenes, but it felt very much like a slice of life story rather than a fantasy for a huge part of it. We also get two different timelines, with the past timeline recounting the history of the main character before we met her in The Bitter Kingdom, and while it was very helpful in giving us a better understanding of the character, I felt that it really created a disconnect and took attention away from the much more interesting present timeline. I only remember Red as the little girl Elisa saved in the finale, and it was exciting to see more of her story. She has a lot of trauma from her childhood and I appreciated knowing that the ptsd representation in the book is modeled after the author’s own personal experiences. Red’s startle reflex and her trust issues are a major part of her as a person and they are due to her past, but she is also protective of those she loves and is such a genuine human being who wants to do good. Even when she is competing with the other recruits for her position in the Guard, she treats everyone well despite getting pushback and even helps them all in their training because she believes in them. I really liked her as a character and I thought the author depicted the nuances of her having a certain amount of privilege while also being surrounded by people who are prejudiced against her, in a very interesting manner. I think the best part of the book are the various relationships Red has or forms with the various side characters. Though we get most amount of page time with Ivan, I also really loved the characters of Aldo, Pedrón, the Arturos, Itzal, Valentino and many of the other recruits. The trust they all develop between each other is beautiful to watch and its only because of them that the very easy and rushed climax even works, though not entirely convincingly. And it was such a joy to meet my favorite couple Elisa and Hector again along with the glimpses we get of Mara and Rosario. I felt that the themes the author dealt with in this book were very thoughtful. The main one is obviously about a woman trying to make it in an all male profession, and it comes with the usual comments about a beautiful woman being a distraction or not being strong enough to be a guard and complete the training. But through Red, we see how competence will be rewarded eventually but the author also ensures that Red stands her ground most of the times, and doesn’t let anyone get away with making misogynistic and sexist comments. The other main theme is trust - how much trust and respect plays a main role when a group of people have to work together, despite their class differences or other prejudices. But the one that really left an impression on me was about countries and treaties and people - how the leaders of enemy countries might come to a compromise for the sake of the betterment of their people, but it’s not easy to change the minds of the people whose minds are full of prejudice against each other. And that sometimes, the leaders just have to model inclusive behavior and keep at it, with the hope that people will realize the futility of being at odds in the long term. To conclude, I think this is a fun addition to the original trilogy but I definitely enjoyed it more because of my love for the world. It has good characters and great friendships and I’m actually happy that none turned into a romance. You should definitely check it out if you love Girl of Fire and Thorns like me, and if you haven’t read the trilogy, please pick it up immediately because it’s absolutely wonderful.

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This book was SUCH a surprise, and in all the good ways! I ended up loving this so much, way more than I anticipated. This was so good!