A review by ruineleint
The Broken Crown by Michelle West
4.0
This book ends really strongly. For readers like me who are reading the entire Essalieyan series, this book might feel a bit jarring after Hidden City due to the total change in setting, but things definitely get better after the midway point.
This book is about the people living to the south of the Empire depicted in Hidden City. Its a very different culture, with clans and families, a strongly patriarchal system, harems etc. This can be a bit of an adjustment for readers as instead of the very overt agency exercised by women in the Empire, we see how they use more subtle measures to exert some influence, though I think its still clear that they have nowhere near the power and influence they might have had in the empire.
This book is about the one young woman as she is growing up and the terrifying political conspiracy she finds herself at the centre of. There are multiple elements here - internal political intrigue, darker storylines that relate directly to the Hidden City storyline, larger scale politics involving both the south and the empire, as well as smaller, more personal stories that are the hallmark of Michelle West's writing
Overall, this book shows how West is able to maintain and continue a gigantic plotline over multiple huge books while continuing to craft political intrigue and character dynamics with the utmost skill
This book is about the people living to the south of the Empire depicted in Hidden City. Its a very different culture, with clans and families, a strongly patriarchal system, harems etc. This can be a bit of an adjustment for readers as instead of the very overt agency exercised by women in the Empire, we see how they use more subtle measures to exert some influence, though I think its still clear that they have nowhere near the power and influence they might have had in the empire.
This book is about the one young woman as she is growing up and the terrifying political conspiracy she finds herself at the centre of. There are multiple elements here - internal political intrigue, darker storylines that relate directly to the Hidden City storyline, larger scale politics involving both the south and the empire, as well as smaller, more personal stories that are the hallmark of Michelle West's writing
Overall, this book shows how West is able to maintain and continue a gigantic plotline over multiple huge books while continuing to craft political intrigue and character dynamics with the utmost skill