A review by zenithharpink
Empire of Dust by Eleanor Herman
5.0
Wow.
This book was amazing-there was also a lot to be impressed about. Told in a revolving sort of format, the story hops to key characters in each chapter, which kept me frantically turning pages to find out what happened next. Additionally, this book is thoroughly well-researched (not surprising, given Herman's background) and I found myself reading up on characters through Wikipedia occasionally, just to get a better understanding of where they fit in the political and geographical context-a most unusual circumstance for general historical fiction.
Being so firmly grounded in documented history, while still adding the depth of magic and mystery to the story was supremely entertaining, and I couldn't pick a favorite character. There seem to be an even split between "good guys" and villains, this is not a binary read of a single hero against a supreme baddie-at least not yet, we'll see where the story takes us.
I can't really think of anything I didn't like about this book, except for the occasional editing slip-up, which I found to be a bit more prevalent than in other books-this I chalked up to slightly sloppy editing, and it was minor. Otherwise, even the villains I found fascinating-wishing to see where there exploits would take them, all the while hating them and hoping that things ended badly.
I would recommend to any looking for a strong fantasy historical fiction, especially if you have already read Legacy of Kings, the first book in this series. I recommend reading the first book, but this books stands on it's own and I found it to be stronger than the first book. You'll be satisfied either way.
This book was amazing-there was also a lot to be impressed about. Told in a revolving sort of format, the story hops to key characters in each chapter, which kept me frantically turning pages to find out what happened next. Additionally, this book is thoroughly well-researched (not surprising, given Herman's background) and I found myself reading up on characters through Wikipedia occasionally, just to get a better understanding of where they fit in the political and geographical context-a most unusual circumstance for general historical fiction.
Being so firmly grounded in documented history, while still adding the depth of magic and mystery to the story was supremely entertaining, and I couldn't pick a favorite character. There seem to be an even split between "good guys" and villains, this is not a binary read of a single hero against a supreme baddie-at least not yet, we'll see where the story takes us.
I can't really think of anything I didn't like about this book, except for the occasional editing slip-up, which I found to be a bit more prevalent than in other books-this I chalked up to slightly sloppy editing, and it was minor. Otherwise, even the villains I found fascinating-wishing to see where there exploits would take them, all the while hating them and hoping that things ended badly.
I would recommend to any looking for a strong fantasy historical fiction, especially if you have already read Legacy of Kings, the first book in this series. I recommend reading the first book, but this books stands on it's own and I found it to be stronger than the first book. You'll be satisfied either way.