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awesomesara3's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-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
luminositylibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
kay_h64's review against another edition
adventurous
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
chloetaida's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
brittney_tyler's review against another edition
4.0
Star Rating: 4 stars
Note: This is the third and final installment in the Drowning Empire trilogy so this will not be an in-depth review.
As I have mentioned in a previous review, I have a ton of new releases that are coming out over the next few months, and I was just able to get to the first of them, The Bone Shard War by Andrea Stewart, the final book in the Drowning Empire trilogy. This book tells the conclusion of Jovis, Lin, Phalue, and Ranami’s story as they struggle to save their empire from multiple different threats, both internal and external.
My favorite thing about this book is the world-building as it was very unique and not something that I had seen a thousand times. Stewart is the daughter of Asian (I believe Chinese) immigrant parents and the mythos and lore of her culture directly influences her writing in fun and exciting ways. She was also really good at spacing her revelations about the world at an interesting pace. The world of the Drowning Empire has been under the control of an all-powerful dynastic empire that uses magic that only it has access to subjugate the populace and one that has erased any history that may lead to an uprising or even the idea of one, and that includes a lot of information about how the world even works. Over the course of the narrative, this information is slowly revealed and Stewart, as previously mentioned, does an amazing job of pacing these revelations.
Another thing she does amazingly well is characters and how she explores certain ideas with them, ideas that should be explored more, in my opinion, ideas such as PTSD, especially related to heroism, and abusive and manipulative relationships. I don’t see these topics discussed, at least not in this way, in very many books and I am glad that Stewart decided to include them as I thought it both refreshing and maybe, something someone needed to here, as I find learning about issues through the lens of a story can be least daunting and overwhelming for some people.
Finally, I really liked the themes she decided to tackle, particularly the one of generational trauma. Because of the myriad of different events that are revealed over the course of this narrative, a lot of different forms of generational trauma are revealed, and I really liked how Stewart dealt with as she showed a lot of promise. Although she didn’t go as deep into her exploration as I normally would like, for a debut author, she exhibits great promise, and I’m really excited to see where she goes from here. 4 stars and a solid debut series!!!!!!!
Note: This is the third and final installment in the Drowning Empire trilogy so this will not be an in-depth review.
As I have mentioned in a previous review, I have a ton of new releases that are coming out over the next few months, and I was just able to get to the first of them, The Bone Shard War by Andrea Stewart, the final book in the Drowning Empire trilogy. This book tells the conclusion of Jovis, Lin, Phalue, and Ranami’s story as they struggle to save their empire from multiple different threats, both internal and external.
My favorite thing about this book is the world-building as it was very unique and not something that I had seen a thousand times. Stewart is the daughter of Asian (I believe Chinese) immigrant parents and the mythos and lore of her culture directly influences her writing in fun and exciting ways. She was also really good at spacing her revelations about the world at an interesting pace. The world of the Drowning Empire has been under the control of an all-powerful dynastic empire that uses magic that only it has access to subjugate the populace and one that has erased any history that may lead to an uprising or even the idea of one, and that includes a lot of information about how the world even works. Over the course of the narrative, this information is slowly revealed and Stewart, as previously mentioned, does an amazing job of pacing these revelations.
Another thing she does amazingly well is characters and how she explores certain ideas with them, ideas that should be explored more, in my opinion, ideas such as PTSD, especially related to heroism, and abusive and manipulative relationships. I don’t see these topics discussed, at least not in this way, in very many books and I am glad that Stewart decided to include them as I thought it both refreshing and maybe, something someone needed to here, as I find learning about issues through the lens of a story can be least daunting and overwhelming for some people.
Finally, I really liked the themes she decided to tackle, particularly the one of generational trauma. Because of the myriad of different events that are revealed over the course of this narrative, a lot of different forms of generational trauma are revealed, and I really liked how Stewart dealt with as she showed a lot of promise. Although she didn’t go as deep into her exploration as I normally would like, for a debut author, she exhibits great promise, and I’m really excited to see where she goes from here. 4 stars and a solid debut series!!!!!!!
beckys_books's review against another edition
5.0
Bone Shard War picks up two years after the events of Bone Shard Emperor and life for Lin and the Empire hasn’t got any better. Facing mutiny from multiple sides as well as having to battle the Shardless Few, Nisong and Ragan the rogue Alanga, she is constantly at a loss as to how to save the Empire and the people who live there. But there is always hope, and this time it lies in an ancient history of Seven swords that are claimed to be able to harm Alanga like no other. The only problem, Lin isn’t the only one who knows about them, and she will have to test her skill against Alanga and human alike if she, and the Empire, are going to make it out of this battle unscathed.
Lin is a character I have loved from book one. She is someone who wants to see the best in everything and everyone, but also someone who, as Emperor and an Alanga, finds that she has few people she can truly place her trust in. We see this even more in this book thanks to the loss of Jovis in the book two, Lin just wants someone she can talk to, someone unafraid of her title, someone willing to tell her the truth, no matter the cost, but the lack of this person leads Lin to rely more in herself in this book, growing as a person and an Emperor and realising that, as much as she wants to save the Empire, she might not be who the Empire needs.
Jovis, my sweet and lighthearted Jovis goes through some emotional trauma in this book. He and Mephi take one hell of a journey, having to do some dubious things a long the way and he definitely suffers from PTSD for his actions. He still tries to be his humorous, never quite serious self, but the weight of his actions means that it never quite works, not to those who know him best anyway and it’s only Mephi who can manage to make him break out of his moods, Mephi and Lin who he fights for that make him try to break free of his bonds. Jovis and Mephi have always been my favourites, their relationship absolutely makes this story for me, so their scenes, especially when Jovis was under the control of Kaphra and doing unspeakable things made me so sad & I just wanted him to get back to Lin and live happily… is that too much to ask?!?
Lin and Jovis are still by far the main characters are our main POV’s, but we do get more Phalue and Ranami in this book which I loved. They spend the majority of the book apart which really allowed Stewart to let them grow as individuals, Ranami especially. Their actions and POV’s play such a huge part in the storyline and I enjoyed seeing them grow as characters. As well as these we have Nisong, our final POV, but by no means the least important. Throughout the series, Nisong has played a pivotal role in Stewarts storytelling and this doesn’t change with the final book, but we do see changes in Nisong herself. She finds herself questioning her memories, as well as her current predicament with Ragan, wondering if she is repeating the same toxic relationship she had previously and she plays a crucial part in whether the Empire will be saved or not.
I’m always amazed by how much information Stewart fits into these books, and how I never get board of learning about the magic, be it Bone Shard or Alanga. She weaves threads throughout each of the books, dropping little hints and clues that I’ll admit, I didn’t see coming one little bit, so when the big reveal hit, it hit big time. I, like Lin, couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen this coming and had to give credit to Stewarts expert foreshadowing. We delve more into the Alanga magic in this book, thanks in large to our main characters having powers and learning through the story how to use them effectively. Some of my favourite scenes were the battles between the Alanga, seeing the magic in action and seeing the stark difference in levels of power. It definitely lead to some ‘sat on the edge of your seat’ moments and I couldn’t get over how expertly brought to life they are, almost playing like a film in your head Stewart describes them that effectively.
This series a whole is filled with politics, and this book is no different. We see Lin, someone so unprepared to rule, now in charge of a slowly crumbling Empire, facing mutiny from her own governors, as well as fighting battles on multiple sides from The Shardless Few and Dione their ruler and Alanga, as well as Nisong the construct who tried to take her throne in book two, who is now working with Ragan the rogue Alanga who has nothing but power in his sights. What Stewart does incredibly well is writing a cast of characters who, although very heroic in their own rights, aren’t heroes. They aren’t the good guys. Every single one is fighting for their own goals in some way, and she allows her characters to come to that realisation on their own and gives them the decision on how they want to deal with that, will they continue to fight against people because they dislike, or will they take the chance to try and fix the Empire for good.
The ending of this book broke me, and then re-made me all over again. Stewart expertly rounded up the story-lines from all three books and gave us the most perfect, if not heartbreaking & bittersweet ending. Honestly it was just *chefs kiss* and I feel like it was left just open enough for us to re-visit the world at some time in the future *cough* hint, hint *cough*. This series as a whole has been spectacular and definitely features amongst my all time favourites, everything from the world building, the magic systems, the characters and their relationships has been brilliantly brought to live and as sad as I am to be leaving this world, I absolutely cannot wait to see what Stewart has in store for us next.
Lin is a character I have loved from book one. She is someone who wants to see the best in everything and everyone, but also someone who, as Emperor and an Alanga, finds that she has few people she can truly place her trust in. We see this even more in this book thanks to the loss of Jovis in the book two, Lin just wants someone she can talk to, someone unafraid of her title, someone willing to tell her the truth, no matter the cost, but the lack of this person leads Lin to rely more in herself in this book, growing as a person and an Emperor and realising that, as much as she wants to save the Empire, she might not be who the Empire needs.
Jovis, my sweet and lighthearted Jovis goes through some emotional trauma in this book. He and Mephi take one hell of a journey, having to do some dubious things a long the way and he definitely suffers from PTSD for his actions. He still tries to be his humorous, never quite serious self, but the weight of his actions means that it never quite works, not to those who know him best anyway and it’s only Mephi who can manage to make him break out of his moods, Mephi and Lin who he fights for that make him try to break free of his bonds. Jovis and Mephi have always been my favourites, their relationship absolutely makes this story for me, so their scenes, especially when Jovis was under the control of Kaphra and doing unspeakable things made me so sad & I just wanted him to get back to Lin and live happily… is that too much to ask?!?
Lin and Jovis are still by far the main characters are our main POV’s, but we do get more Phalue and Ranami in this book which I loved. They spend the majority of the book apart which really allowed Stewart to let them grow as individuals, Ranami especially. Their actions and POV’s play such a huge part in the storyline and I enjoyed seeing them grow as characters. As well as these we have Nisong, our final POV, but by no means the least important. Throughout the series, Nisong has played a pivotal role in Stewarts storytelling and this doesn’t change with the final book, but we do see changes in Nisong herself. She finds herself questioning her memories, as well as her current predicament with Ragan, wondering if she is repeating the same toxic relationship she had previously and she plays a crucial part in whether the Empire will be saved or not.
I’m always amazed by how much information Stewart fits into these books, and how I never get board of learning about the magic, be it Bone Shard or Alanga. She weaves threads throughout each of the books, dropping little hints and clues that I’ll admit, I didn’t see coming one little bit, so when the big reveal hit, it hit big time. I, like Lin, couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen this coming and had to give credit to Stewarts expert foreshadowing. We delve more into the Alanga magic in this book, thanks in large to our main characters having powers and learning through the story how to use them effectively. Some of my favourite scenes were the battles between the Alanga, seeing the magic in action and seeing the stark difference in levels of power. It definitely lead to some ‘sat on the edge of your seat’ moments and I couldn’t get over how expertly brought to life they are, almost playing like a film in your head Stewart describes them that effectively.
This series a whole is filled with politics, and this book is no different. We see Lin, someone so unprepared to rule, now in charge of a slowly crumbling Empire, facing mutiny from her own governors, as well as fighting battles on multiple sides from The Shardless Few and Dione their ruler and Alanga, as well as Nisong the construct who tried to take her throne in book two, who is now working with Ragan the rogue Alanga who has nothing but power in his sights. What Stewart does incredibly well is writing a cast of characters who, although very heroic in their own rights, aren’t heroes. They aren’t the good guys. Every single one is fighting for their own goals in some way, and she allows her characters to come to that realisation on their own and gives them the decision on how they want to deal with that, will they continue to fight against people because they dislike, or will they take the chance to try and fix the Empire for good.
The ending of this book broke me, and then re-made me all over again. Stewart expertly rounded up the story-lines from all three books and gave us the most perfect, if not heartbreaking & bittersweet ending. Honestly it was just *chefs kiss* and I feel like it was left just open enough for us to re-visit the world at some time in the future *cough* hint, hint *cough*. This series as a whole has been spectacular and definitely features amongst my all time favourites, everything from the world building, the magic systems, the characters and their relationships has been brilliantly brought to live and as sad as I am to be leaving this world, I absolutely cannot wait to see what Stewart has in store for us next.
_rhea's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-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
4.5
thero159's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
willowshield8's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
5.0