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lezreadalot's review
4.0
This book was definitely like, finding its legs, doing all the things that the first book in a new series needs to do. I also think this might be the author's first foray into fantasy, which does show. But it was entertaining and fun, has interesting world-building, and the beginnings of a slow burn romance which I think I'm going to love. (Jade/Lia would be great but I'm also thinking of Tala/Lia... you just KNOW they knew each other before, and I can't wait to find out how!)
I'm definitely a Siera Maley fan now, and I'm excited for the next book in the series.
I'm definitely a Siera Maley fan now, and I'm excited for the next book in the series.
rheam1224's review
3.0
3.5 stars out of 5
For the first book in a fantasy series, this has lots of promise. I really enjoyed the story and characters and the whole who-dun-it aspect. The atmosphere was spot-on in fantasy terms, I liked it.
This story follows a young woman who wakes up with amnesia of her past life and is thrust onto a path of divine fate where she is the final judge or Seer, chosen by the gods, to choose the next emperor out of the 12 heirs in 12 kingdoms of the empire. Her first task takes her to Sperath, one of the kingdoms, as a servant to get closer to the heir in order to gain her trust and help her find the other eleven heirs. Meanwhile, she must try to avoid the dangers who call themselves the Sincaeles, a rebel group who despise the divine works to choose the emperor for them, that assassinated the previous emperor and is working to assassinate the next heir and the Seer.
The plot was pretty alright. Personally, I'd think it would've been better if it was a bit longer? But then you risk the story dragging, so I'm not complaining too hard. Some parts were a bit convenient for the main character to figure out? Like finding the secret passage in the castle? Yeah, I don't think that would've been ideal, but again I'm not complaining too hard.
Lia is an alright character. At first, she felt very naive mainly for the whole "if I'm in danger then where's the danger?" in the beginning of the book which irked me so much! BUT as the story progresses, she learns and comes into herself. Kaleb is pretty decent as well. I don't know if it was intentional or not, but there's a part in the beginning of the book where Lia would be describing Kaleb and I thought to myself: "This is where many people would be shipping Lia and Kaleb if this book was hetero" and I laughed to myself cuz it aint that type of book. Jade was ...interesting? I felt there was much more of her character to flush out, though I retract because this is the first book in this series that may spread to eleven books? Since there are 12 heirs to be found, and only one was found, so . . . Hopefully in the future books, Jade grows more into herself.
Then the minor characters were charming in their own right, but very two-dimensional. Of course, I shouldn't be too harsh considering their role, though it was a bit convenient for them to be that way. Like Sivan. I wanted more...motivation from him? Especially concerning Jade, bc it didn't feel enough for him to just want to protect her bc they grew up together, like I wanted backstory. Also, I adore him but there wasn't enough from him that made me like think the position he was given at the end of the book to be very reasonable? Especially given his background experience in the castle.
A thing that irked me a little bit about the book was the ... formatting? I can't think of the word for it. It's where there's a scene that's happening and as it's closing up, it cuts immediately to another scene in a completely different setting. For example, when Sir Henrik, Kaleb, and Lia were discussing their next strategy outside in the stables. Then there's no transitional paragraph or phrase to indicate where the characters after and enters a completely new scene where Lia is going to talk to Jade in her bedchambers. It works for movies, bc it's visual so your mind can comprehend quickly, however with a book, it can be difficult bc your mind is already on that scene until it is told that the scene changes. Most times, if there's transitional phrase or paragraph, they'd put the standard *** middle set piece that something else is going on after that one scene. Alas, the author did not. It's not terrible, but it is something I noticed.
Mind you, it's not a perfect book, obviously. But its promise to grow into something more is too enticing that I'm yearning for the sequel. I CANNOT wait for the next book to come out. Who is the next heir? Will Lia found out more about her past? Will Tala come back? Will there be romance blossoming between Lia and Jade?
For the first book in a fantasy series, this has lots of promise. I really enjoyed the story and characters and the whole who-dun-it aspect. The atmosphere was spot-on in fantasy terms, I liked it.
This story follows a young woman who wakes up with amnesia of her past life and is thrust onto a path of divine fate where she is the final judge or Seer, chosen by the gods, to choose the next emperor out of the 12 heirs in 12 kingdoms of the empire. Her first task takes her to Sperath, one of the kingdoms, as a servant to get closer to the heir in order to gain her trust and help her find the other eleven heirs. Meanwhile, she must try to avoid the dangers who call themselves the Sincaeles, a rebel group who despise the divine works to choose the emperor for them, that assassinated the previous emperor and is working to assassinate the next heir and the Seer.
The plot was pretty alright. Personally, I'd think it would've been better if it was a bit longer? But then you risk the story dragging, so I'm not complaining too hard. Some parts were a bit convenient for the main character to figure out? Like finding the secret passage in the castle? Yeah, I don't think that would've been ideal, but again I'm not complaining too hard.
Lia is an alright character. At first, she felt very naive mainly for the whole "if I'm in danger then where's the danger?" in the beginning of the book which irked me so much! BUT as the story progresses, she learns and comes into herself. Kaleb is pretty decent as well. I don't know if it was intentional or not, but there's a part in the beginning of the book where Lia would be describing Kaleb and I thought to myself: "This is where many people would be shipping Lia and Kaleb if this book was hetero" and I laughed to myself cuz it aint that type of book. Jade was ...interesting? I felt there was much more of her character to flush out, though I retract because this is the first book in this series that may spread to eleven books? Since there are 12 heirs to be found, and only one was found, so . . . Hopefully in the future books, Jade grows more into herself.
Then the minor characters were charming in their own right, but very two-dimensional. Of course, I shouldn't be too harsh considering their role, though it was a bit convenient for them to be that way. Like Sivan. I wanted more...motivation from him? Especially concerning Jade, bc it didn't feel enough for him to just want to protect her bc they grew up together, like I wanted backstory. Also, I adore him but there wasn't enough from him that made me like think the position he was given at the end of the book to be very reasonable? Especially given his background experience in the castle.
A thing that irked me a little bit about the book was the ... formatting? I can't think of the word for it. It's where there's a scene that's happening and as it's closing up, it cuts immediately to another scene in a completely different setting. For example, when Sir Henrik, Kaleb, and Lia were discussing their next strategy outside in the stables. Then there's no transitional paragraph or phrase to indicate where the characters after and enters a completely new scene where Lia is going to talk to Jade in her bedchambers. It works for movies, bc it's visual so your mind can comprehend quickly, however with a book, it can be difficult bc your mind is already on that scene until it is told that the scene changes. Most times, if there's transitional phrase or paragraph, they'd put the standard *** middle set piece that something else is going on after that one scene. Alas, the author did not. It's not terrible, but it is something I noticed.
Mind you, it's not a perfect book, obviously. But its promise to grow into something more is too enticing that I'm yearning for the sequel. I CANNOT wait for the next book to come out. Who is the next heir? Will Lia found out more about her past? Will Tala come back? Will there be romance blossoming between Lia and Jade?
danaherrmann's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
halogrl's review
5.0
Review
Great book, I read it in a few hours and I can't wait for the next one in the series.
Great book, I read it in a few hours and I can't wait for the next one in the series.
emmascc's review
3.0
3.5 stars
I like the characters and the storyline was good but the world building could definitely use some work.
I like the characters and the storyline was good but the world building could definitely use some work.
rsgray's review against another edition
4.0
I'm going to start by saying that I was surprised and excited when I saw this book pop up in my recommendations list from Amazon. I've read a few other books from this author (mostly ya lgbt romance, which I really enjoyed), and when I saw a fantasy by her I was definitely intrigued. I unfortunately haven't run across too much traditional fantasy with lgbt characters. This is getting better but it's not by any means an easy thing to find.
Okay, where was I? Oh, right. I was excited. That excitement though was tempered by knowing this was Ms. Maley's (at least published) attempt at true fantasy. Which was a good thing because there were a few issues with this book. I still really enjoyed it and will be recommending it to friends.
The premise is fairly interesting: the empire (made up of several nations with their own kings and queens) is ruled by an Emperor. The title is passed from Emperor/Empress to Son/Daughter. In general everybody seems to be cool with this system because some gods called the Divines (don't really find out too much more about them) set it up and well... they're gods. IF the emperor/empress dies without heirs (or in this case, those heirs are also killed), the Divines call up a Seer to pick the next Emperor and Imperial bloodlines. who basically has their entire memories wiped so she's an impartial selector. Aaaand while most people as I said are cool with this there are a few very motivated folks that aren't. Which is pretty much the premise.
This does open up some interesting dramatic elements as Lia deals with not being as fanatical in her devotion to the mission, trying to find out who she was vs. finding the next Emperor, etc. And these are teased at and used to some degree.
But the issues... at 343 pages, this book felt more like a novella. We got a lot of surface information about the world, the 12 different kingdoms, the divines, the Oracle, etc but none of it truly gets too deep. Even the characters mostly stay fairly two dimensional. Not in a bad way, the story is still very enjoyable but not something that a possible 12 book series could be based around (I'm assuming here that there will be a book per nation..? maybe?) Which is actually another issue, I don't know if this is planning to be a massive epic 12 books or only a few. Given that there are 12 nations and there first book is named for one nation and takes place completely in that one nation, a guess could be made that there will be 11 others? Not sure here... The climax of this one also felt a bit rushed, with some mostly effective political building going on and then shenanigans followed by a quick resolution.
Okay, that all sounded pretty harsh. And I apologize. I really did enjoy this book, it was a relatively quick read and I was left afterwards crawling over the interwebs looking for a possible release date for the next one. So all of the above being said for an ebook and a first fantasy novel it was rather enjoyable. I got the book via the kindle unlimited so I didn't pay full price for it but even at 2.99 given my enjoyment of the author's other books, I still would have purchased it and felt the same way.
One piece I really did enjoy was thatthe relationship between Lia and Jade didn't start, breakup, and then return together all in one book. There are some hints of a mutual attraction but its more of a slow burn and not a MAJOR part of the story. I'm hoping we do get to see some more of them as a possible couple in the next few installments in the series.
Another element that I liked is that at least for now Kaleb appears to just be a friend. He's not secretly pining for her, getting jealous of others that hang out with her, etc. It's nice to show that a guy can be supportive of the woman he's helping without it being out of some unrequited romantic feeling.
So, if you're looking for an interesting premised ebook that you can probably read in a weekend or waiting in line for a few of this summer's blockbusters (Wonder Woman!), I would definitely recommend this one. If you're wanting something super nuanced with lots of political drama like Kushiel's Legacy or Song of Fire and Ice you might want to keep looking.
Okay, where was I? Oh, right. I was excited. That excitement though was tempered by knowing this was Ms. Maley's (at least published) attempt at true fantasy. Which was a good thing because there were a few issues with this book. I still really enjoyed it and will be recommending it to friends.
The premise is fairly interesting: the empire (made up of several nations with their own kings and queens) is ruled by an Emperor. The title is passed from Emperor/Empress to Son/Daughter. In general everybody seems to be cool with this system because some gods called the Divines (don't really find out too much more about them) set it up and well... they're gods. IF the emperor/empress dies without heirs (or in this case, those heirs are also killed), the Divines call up a Seer to pick the next Emperor and Imperial bloodlines. who basically has their entire memories wiped so she's an impartial selector. Aaaand while most people as I said are cool with this there are a few very motivated folks that aren't. Which is pretty much the premise.
This does open up some interesting dramatic elements as Lia deals with not being as fanatical in her devotion to the mission, trying to find out who she was vs. finding the next Emperor, etc. And these are teased at and used to some degree.
But the issues... at 343 pages, this book felt more like a novella. We got a lot of surface information about the world, the 12 different kingdoms, the divines, the Oracle, etc but none of it truly gets too deep. Even the characters mostly stay fairly two dimensional. Not in a bad way, the story is still very enjoyable but not something that a possible 12 book series could be based around (I'm assuming here that there will be a book per nation..? maybe?) Which is actually another issue, I don't know if this is planning to be a massive epic 12 books or only a few. Given that there are 12 nations and there first book is named for one nation and takes place completely in that one nation, a guess could be made that there will be 11 others? Not sure here... The climax of this one also felt a bit rushed, with some mostly effective political building going on and then shenanigans followed by a quick resolution.
Okay, that all sounded pretty harsh. And I apologize. I really did enjoy this book, it was a relatively quick read and I was left afterwards crawling over the interwebs looking for a possible release date for the next one. So all of the above being said for an ebook and a first fantasy novel it was rather enjoyable. I got the book via the kindle unlimited so I didn't pay full price for it but even at 2.99 given my enjoyment of the author's other books, I still would have purchased it and felt the same way.
One piece I really did enjoy was that
Another element that I liked is that at least for now Kaleb appears to just be a friend. He's not secretly pining for her, getting jealous of others that hang out with her, etc. It's nice to show that a guy can be supportive of the woman he's helping without it being out of some unrequited romantic feeling.
So, if you're looking for an interesting premised ebook that you can probably read in a weekend or waiting in line for a few of this summer's blockbusters (Wonder Woman!), I would definitely recommend this one. If you're wanting something super nuanced with lots of political drama like Kushiel's Legacy or Song of Fire and Ice you might want to keep looking.
halogrl's review against another edition
5.0
Review
Great book, I read it in a few hours and I can't wait for the next one in the series.
Great book, I read it in a few hours and I can't wait for the next one in the series.
chey_n's review against another edition
3.0
Not the most sophisticated or mind blowing fantasy series, but pretty good for what it is— the first in a YA fantasy series by an author who is, I believe, new to the fantasy genre. I think this book sets up the stage for a great adventure with a lot of possibility, and I look forward to the next one!
panichistory's review against another edition
4.0
This was hard to rate. It's written very differently than most fantasy novels in terms of style, which I think has to do with Maley's backgroung as a high school YA author rather than a fantasy author.
Though this is very stylistically different from what I'm used to in fantasy I still enjoyed it, though the first few chapters were incredibly heavy with exposition.
There weren't any shocking plot-twists or anything in here, it was more of a fun yet routine novel.
My real rating of this would probably be closer to a 3.5, but I'm rounding it up because of my fondness for Siera Maley's other works.
Though this is very stylistically different from what I'm used to in fantasy I still enjoyed it, though the first few chapters were incredibly heavy with exposition.
There weren't any shocking plot-twists or anything in here, it was more of a fun yet routine novel.
My real rating of this would probably be closer to a 3.5, but I'm rounding it up because of my fondness for Siera Maley's other works.
alliewithbooks's review against another edition
4.0
As with so many of the books I review, I had a hard time rating this one. I'll explain that later on in the review, but just know that the rating for this book changed so much in my head (mostly only from 5 to 4, or 4 to 5 stars), but it was certainly a conundrum for me.
The Noble of Sperath is a fantasy, though not really a fantasy with very much magic in it. The only sort of "magic" within this fantasy world is the religion that the people of this world follow that dictates the emperor of all of the kingdoms. It's a little confusing, but basically every kingdom has a royal family that rules over their people, but then there is an emperor that rules over all of them. It's certainly interesting and didn't feel strange or forced within the narrative, but it's certainly a strange concept, though I can understand how it works. I suppose the royal families of these kingdoms would be closer to what a Lord or Lady would be as they "rule" over their specific towns and such.
We follow the story of a nameless girl who has just woken up and realized that she has the huge task of finding 12 people from each kingdom and choosing between them to find the new emperor (these emperors can be either male or female and there doesn't seem to be any sort of sexism or preference towards a male ruler). She promptly names herself Lia with the help of her new friend Kaleb and is then sent on a mission to find her first contender for the role of emperor, Princess Jade from the kingdom of Sperath. Jade has five suitors all vying for her affection and the role as king when she is crowned as queen. However, Jade doesn't seem very keen on marrying any of the men, and there is a rumor around the castle that she prefers women to men. It's never explicitly stated whether she only likes women, or if perhaps she likes both men and women, but it's made clear in the text that and from Jade herself that she likes women. It is hinted at (not as explicitly) that Lia also likes women. However, though she flirts with Jade, it's not made clear whether she genuinely likes her or if she's merely using her to gain trust.
On that same note, I think it's pertinent to say that this is a VERY slow burn. I read a review for this book on Amazon saying that the two girls fall in love too fast, but there's literally nothing within the text that supports this claim. (Beware: this might be a spoiler) There are no actual, concrete couples in this book. I definitely ship Lia and Jade pretty hardcore, but by the end of the novel no one is in a relationship. This book focuses less on romance and much more on political intrigue and self-discovery. This is part of a series, so I suspect that the next book will focus more heavily on romance as Jade and Lia get to know each other better (or at least I hope so!).
I think it's also important to note that this book is ownvoices for the wlw representation as the author identifies as a lesbian. Despite the lack of relationships or couples or ships within the novel, I found that I wasn't very focused on it anyway, and the slow burn nature of the story made me excited for the next book.
Overall, I really enjoyed the book, and I feel as though my true rating is a 4.5 stars rather than just 4. To be honest, I'm still waiting for Goodreads to allow half stars, because that would make my life so much easier! Anyway, I really enjoyed this book and definitely recommend it to those of you who don't mind a bit of slow burn romance in your life. I found the fantasy elements really intriguing, and I was happy to find a fantasy that had women who love women in it, and it wasn't treated as strange or taboo or anything like that.
The Noble of Sperath is a fantasy, though not really a fantasy with very much magic in it. The only sort of "magic" within this fantasy world is the religion that the people of this world follow that dictates the emperor of all of the kingdoms. It's a little confusing, but basically every kingdom has a royal family that rules over their people, but then there is an emperor that rules over all of them. It's certainly interesting and didn't feel strange or forced within the narrative, but it's certainly a strange concept, though I can understand how it works. I suppose the royal families of these kingdoms would be closer to what a Lord or Lady would be as they "rule" over their specific towns and such.
We follow the story of a nameless girl who has just woken up and realized that she has the huge task of finding 12 people from each kingdom and choosing between them to find the new emperor (these emperors can be either male or female and there doesn't seem to be any sort of sexism or preference towards a male ruler). She promptly names herself Lia with the help of her new friend Kaleb and is then sent on a mission to find her first contender for the role of emperor, Princess Jade from the kingdom of Sperath. Jade has five suitors all vying for her affection and the role as king when she is crowned as queen. However, Jade doesn't seem very keen on marrying any of the men, and there is a rumor around the castle that she prefers women to men. It's never explicitly stated whether she only likes women, or if perhaps she likes both men and women, but it's made clear in the text that and from Jade herself that she likes women. It is hinted at (not as explicitly) that Lia also likes women. However, though she flirts with Jade, it's not made clear whether she genuinely likes her or if she's merely using her to gain trust.
On that same note, I think it's pertinent to say that this is a VERY slow burn. I read a review for this book on Amazon saying that the two girls fall in love too fast, but there's literally nothing within the text that supports this claim. (Beware: this might be a spoiler) There are no actual, concrete couples in this book. I definitely ship Lia and Jade pretty hardcore, but by the end of the novel no one is in a relationship. This book focuses less on romance and much more on political intrigue and self-discovery. This is part of a series, so I suspect that the next book will focus more heavily on romance as Jade and Lia get to know each other better (or at least I hope so!).
I think it's also important to note that this book is ownvoices for the wlw representation as the author identifies as a lesbian. Despite the lack of relationships or couples or ships within the novel, I found that I wasn't very focused on it anyway, and the slow burn nature of the story made me excited for the next book.
Overall, I really enjoyed the book, and I feel as though my true rating is a 4.5 stars rather than just 4. To be honest, I'm still waiting for Goodreads to allow half stars, because that would make my life so much easier! Anyway, I really enjoyed this book and definitely recommend it to those of you who don't mind a bit of slow burn romance in your life. I found the fantasy elements really intriguing, and I was happy to find a fantasy that had women who love women in it, and it wasn't treated as strange or taboo or anything like that.