Oct 31

Oct 31 The Bone Shard Emperor (The Drowning Empire, #2)

Author: Andrea Stewart
Publisher: Orbit
Goodreads | The StoryGraph

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Note: Content and trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the full review.

Cover Description

***Description is spoiler for The Bone Shard Daughter***

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 the north-east 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. They claim they come in peace, and Lin will need their help in order to defeat the rebels and restore peace.

TL;DR Review

The Bone Shard Emperor was a great sequel to The Bone Shard Daughter. There was quite a bit of worldbuilding in the beginning, but the ending was really good. I can’t wait to read the last one!

For you if: You like fantasy trilogies set in sprawling other worlds (and read the first book).

Full Review

I’ve been waiting for The Bone Shard Emperor ever since I read The Bone Shard Daughter last year. (Thank you, Orbit, for the e-ARC! It comes out November 23.) This one has all the same great world-building, imagination, and excitement, and the ending was so good.

TBSE picks up pretty much right where TBSD leaves off. No spoilers for either book here, but I will say that this one turns its attention to the question of the Alanga in a way that I was SO ready for. It’s essentially tackling a whole new mystery, so there was a lot of information and continued world-building in the first half, plus a whole new stretch of character arcs (that I was at first a little skeptical of but am now on board for). So it started a bit slow, but I wasn’t mad about it.

The ending, though, is where this book really shines. Can I just say that Andrea Stewart knows how to RAISE THE STAKES? Just when you think the situation can’t get any more complicated or complex…it does. So many pieces in play, so well woven together.

I’m hooked and so intrigued about how this is all going to get resolved. Third book, where are you?