Published 25th November 2021 by Orbit.
From the cover of the book:
Magic. Revolution. Identity.The Emperor is Dead. Long live the Emperor.
Lin Sukai finally sits on the throne she won at so much cost, but her struggles are only just beginning. Her people don't trust her. Her political alliances are weak. And in a far corner of the Empire a rebel army of constructs is gathering, its leader determined to take the throne by force.
Yet an even greater threat is on the horizon, for the Alanga - the powerful magicians of legend - have returned to the Empire. Lin may need their help to defeat the rebels and restore order.
But can she trust them?
The Bone Shard Emperor is the unmissable sequel to The Bone Shard Daughter, one of the biggest fantasy debuts of recent years - a captivating tale of magic, revolution and mystery, where a young woman's sense of identity will make or break an empire.
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Welcome back to the Phoenix Empire, a land of floating islands ruled over by new Emperor Lin Sukai, after defeating her father in a battle of wills and bone shard magic. Lin intends to become a very different kind of ruler than her secretive father, and her first move in showing her hand as a benevolent and caring emperor has been to cease the Tithing ceremonies, outlaw the constructs created by her father to run his empire, and start to return bone shards to the people from which they were taken. She is determined to change the nature of the empire, transforming it into one which no longer relies on constructs powered by cruel bone shard magic.
Despite Lin's good intentions, her position is weak. Brought up in seclusion, her subjects are wary of her, her political alliances are shaky, and rebellion is now in the air in more than one part of her empire. The Shardless Few are demanding she abdicate in favour of a new council controlled by the islands themselves, and in the distant north an army of constructs is rising unwilling to be dismissed as easily as their new emperor demands.
With former smuggler Jovis, as Captain of the Imperial Guard, drawing magic from his companion Mephi, Lin sets off to gather support from the governors of the islands - taking with her Thrana, her own bonded magical creature, as she starts to learn how to master the powers she now finds she can also control. The people are scared, worried by talk of islands sinking into the waters, rumours of rebel armies on the march, and the belief that the Alanga, an enemy of old, has returned to threaten their existence. What does all this mean for Lin's hopes to keep the empire intact, and be the kind of emperor she wants to be?
The Bone Shard Emperor picks up almost seamlessly from where the first book in this brand new series, The Bone Shard Daughter, ends. As in the first book, there are four strands to the story - Lin, Jovis, Phalue Governor of Nephilanu Island and her wife Ranami, and Sand/Nisong who we now know to be a construct of Lin's own mother.
After defeating her father, Lin is determined to reshape the empire into one which no longer relies on bone shard magic, but she has some hard challenges ahead on a number of fronts: gaining support; quelling unrest; mastering diplomacy and the weight of responsibility that comes with ruling an empire; learning how to use the magic that Thrana has brought her; and finding out all she can about the secrets her father kept from her - all while making sure her own secrets stay hidden. Since Jovis is now Captain of the Imperial Guard his story mostly follows that of Lin's in this book, although he has plenty of diversions of his own, caught as he is between divided loyalties to her and the Shardless Few, and debts owed to his former masters the Ioph Carn - he is also struggling with the feelings that he finds himself developing for Lin.
On Nephilanu, Phalue and Ranami have problems too. The Shardless Few are making threats that force Phalue into a corner, and when Lin comes to try to persuade Nephilanu to join her cause there are some difficult decisions to be made. And if all this wasn't enough to be going on with, Sand has now recovered the memories of Nisong, including how to wield bone shard magic herself, and is building an army of constructs to challenge Lin for the imperial throne. Oh, and more islands are starting to disappear into the briny sea for reasons unknown...
Andrea Stewart really comes into her own in this book, weaving the threads together to create a story that holds you spellbound for every second of its 549 pages, which is no mean feat. This is a masterclass in plotting, and the way the threads all come together in an explosive climax that blows everything apart going into book three is incredible - and oh my, does she know how to write a gripping battle scene or two. Building on what we know of the players in this tale from the first book, the characters develop beautifully, filling out in a way that delves deep into their separate agendas, beliefs, motivations... and their secrets. Some of them firmly cement their place in your heart this time around, and some transform into terrible monsters that I cannot wait to see defeated in the next book. There is also a sprinkling of new characters thrown into the mix who serve to keep things fresh, with a cracking little surprise at the end to draw you into book three - one which made my hair stand on end...
This series has everything you want in a fantasy saga - great characters, thrilling backdrops, intricate world building, and immersive storylines. This is one of the best series I have had the pleasure to read in recent years and I cannot wait for the next book, The Bone Shard War.
The Bone Shard Emperor is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats from your favourite book retailer.
Thank you to Orbit for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review, and to Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers Tours for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the author:
slayer didn't pan out, she instead turned to writing books. She now lives in sunny California.
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