Reviews with content warning for Violence - Empire of Exiles

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Empire of Exiles by Erin M. Evans

6 reviews

sarrie's review

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adventurous funny hopeful mysterious reflective 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

4.75

TL;DR: A big win for me - I will be this series for sure and likely rereading this one as well. Loved this.

Empire of Exiles is, for me, probably the most under represented fantasy I’ve read in a while. For one, the cover does not do this justice. This book is a complicated, multi PoV story with a murder mystery at it’s heart. But you’d never guess that from the map and random objects we get. So take my advice, even if you read no further - ignore the cover. Read the blurb and if you’re interested dive in, it’s so good.

The mystery itself is fantastic. Our first PoV character is Quill who is in the city at the Archives to request material for someone in the royal family. The Archives works as a giant library of sorts for this empire’s races. Artifacts, books, records. It’s all housed here and managed by Specialists (those with magic that allows them to talk to these man made materials) and Generalists who assist the specialists. Think of them as magical librarians. Quill works in basically a legal assistant role. While in town waiting on those artifacts he sees a shocking and gut-wrenching murder occur involving his closest friend.

From there he works with Amadea, the head of the Specialists in the Archives, Yinii, one of the Specialists, and Richa who is a Vigilant (basically a cop). Slowly this turns into more than just a murder mystery as the players involved are and were involved in revolutions and the founding of this empire of exiled races, chased from their homelands by Changlings and kept safe by a large Salt Wall.

The one flaw I’ll point out is that this story is slow to start and slow to build the world. It doesn’t do a bad job but the beginning can feel a bit like a sink or swim situation. It took some time before I was able to fully grasp what things and why characters were in positions they were, but once I had a handle on what was happening I flew through this. The characters are interesting and flawed. The story is engrossing and I was glued to those last 200 and some pages like a feral person.

The magic system is also something I loved. The majority of it is based around the idea of people having affinities for man-made or manipulated things. Bronze, ink, glass, etc. Some people have affinities, low grade abilities to sense and see the materials. The next level up are Specialists who can communicate, manipulate, and sense the materials. However at this level the skill is dangerous as it’s possible to fall into an obsessive state where you simply become the material, inadvertently killing yourself. These states come in cycles and this is why these individuals work in places such as the Archives. The next level up is the Sorcerers, who are constantly on the cusp of that state. In a constant state of madness and tension and are terrifying beings that can turn into that material. Including other people. Such a clever and fascinating system, and thinking about it in conjunction with the Changelings… I have theories!

I can’t wait to read the next, I’ve already pre-ordered it and I can’t wait to see more people pick this up. Please give it a shot if you haven’t yet, it’s well worth it.

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fromjuliereads's review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

I really enjoyed this book! It had some fantastic twists and turns, there is a murder and mystery element that was a fun addition for a fantasy, and I really grew to be invested in these characters. I cannot wait to see where the series goes with the ending! I will note that while there is action and a driving force to the plot, I would consider this a slower-paced fantasy. Even though it read quite quick for me!

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dogearedbooks's review

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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? It's complicated

4.25

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pvbobrien's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious 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

4.75

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lunar_song's review

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

An absolutely fantastic, character-driven epic fantasy novel with a mystery plot on par with mystery genre greats. It has a truly unique magic system that seems almost like a panic disorder. Add to that fantastically well-written main characters and villains, and you’ve got one of my new favorite books. (Bonus points for being cliffhanger free, a good sense of humor, and having no petty antagonism between female main characters over men.)

MAGIC SYSTEM:

Each magic user has an affinity for a particular material: bronze, bone, ink, iron, salt, paint, etc. Magic-users can manipulate and connect with the material they have an affinity with, but this comes with dangers. During typically-cyclical episodes called alignments, their connection with their affinity material is so strong that they are vulnerable to panic-attack-like downward spirals where they can lose themselves in their material. They can lose themselves in their magic and even end up entombing themselves in their magical medium. But, their abilities are also temptingly strong during alignments. In addition, emotional turmoil can trigger an alignment out of the cyclical pattern. Finally, sorcerers have constant access to immense power over their affinity material because they are constantly in an alignment. Hence, they are constantly on the edge of a spiral and are constantly at risk of losing themselves in their affinity material.

This magical ability is very reminiscent of panic disorders. Some people are constantly on the verge of a panic attack. Some people get occasional panic attacks or clusters of panic attacks. Some people become prone to panic attacks in times of emotional stress. Some people aren’t prone to panic attacks at all. Except, in this book, magical power and emotion are entangled to the point in which emotional turmoil and magical strength are fused.

PREMISE:

The book followed an eclectic bunch of characters (including a young scribe, a few magic-users, an archivist, and a detective) caught up in a murder with mysterious ties to a failed coup two decades before. Despite there being half a dozen witnesses to the actual murder and a confession, the seemingly open-and-shut case just made less and less sense the more the characters investigated. Soon the characters found themselves on the trail of a very dangerous plot that could endanger their fragile society. A society protected from an outside world overrun with changelings by only an iron wall.

PLOT:

A fantastically twisty mystery plot with all the clues, misdirects, and detective work you’d expect from a great mystery writer. It started a bit slow, but it really picked up and had plenty of action once things got rolling. I was absolutely captivated by the mystery from the beginning, spinning numerous theories. There were so many twists that I never saw coming. The reader has a sporting chance at predicting some of the twists. Each twist made things make more and more sense as the pieces of the puzzle came together. Even the clues that seemed like red herrings at first turned out to be significant. The mystery ended up being quite complex, but it never came off as needlessly or excessively complicated. In the end, the solutions and explanations made sense and rang true.

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT:

I grew to love each of the many main characters (even the ones I wasn’t sure about at first). Even better, I ended up finding all the major characters impressive. Even the villains. Especially the villains. There were some brilliant and rather terrifying villains. The villains were so diabolically smart that it was just plain fun to figure out their schemes. Honestly, a lot of the good guys could be rather terrifying themselves. The main characters all turned out to have a bit of a morally gray edge. Yet, they never lost their likeability or empathy.

All the characters changed over the course of the story. Even the bad guys, in their own scary way. All of them made mistakes. Every character managed to surprise me without breaking character.

The main characters were both terrifyingly impressive and plagued with anxiety, panic attacks, PTSD, or heart-wrenching grief. The strongest main characters (female and male alike) were survivors of trauma, resilient, and sometimes deserving of a little extra care. Many of them were impressive because of their resilience in the face of these emotional struggles. To balance out all that heartache, the book had some wonderful examples of healthy and supportive attitudes regarding mental health. You saw characters employing calming, panic-attack-averting mental techniques. You also saw characters helping each other with empathy and understanding. There was a lovely theme of characters helping each other remember not to lose themselves. There was a lot of maturity, self-reflection, personal growth, and listening to the special kind of friends that tell you things you need to hear, but don’t want to hear.

I was so impressed by the skilled portrayal of panic attacks, anxiety/panic disorders, and PTSD in the main characters for this book. These psychological troubles were seamlessly worked into the story in a way that furthered the plot, without ever calling them out by name. Some of the characters even used classic grounding and management strategies to stave off panic attacks or flashbacks.

Peeks into the characters’ thoughts drew me into each characters’ state of mind better than any description could. Grief, panic attacks, anxiety/panic disorders, and PTSD were quietly incorporated into the story through the characters’ thoughts. Nothing conveys barely restrained panic quite like a character silently naming the colors of objects around them in their minds to stave off a panic attack. Nothing quite conveys empathy and kindness like characters reminding themselves (and each other) that everyone is deserving of a little extra care sometimes.

The most impressive part: none of the characters that struggle with grief, panic attacks, anxiety, or PTSD are portrayed as weak. All of them were portrayed as all the more impressive for it. For many characters, these struggles were tied to their strengths. For some, it was because of the sheer emotional resilience and strength of mind required to survive with their struggles. For some, it was because their anxiety/panic attacks and magic were entangled to the point of them being at their most magically powerful when on the verge of losing themselves in a psychological downward spiral (and vice versa). For all of these characters, much of their strength of character lies in their ability to pick themselves up and come back from a psychological downward spiral instead of completely losing themselves to it.

There’s nothing like a character that regularly fends off panic attacks being the only one able to keep their cool enough to competently handle the toughest and scariest crises because they have the most practice at successfully fending off panic. The particular brand of confidence that comes from knowing you can fend off panic is both beautifully ironic and incredibly compelling. I’ve never before seen an author believably make a character formidable because of their panic disorder, anxiety disorder, or PTSD. Typically, characters are portrayed as formidable despite their panic disorder, anxiety disorder, or PTSD.

WORLDBUILDING:

Great building, it just took a while to get there. You’re thrown right into the deep end of a high fantasy world with multiple species and a magic system unlike any I’ve read about before. The world got filled in as the plot progressed, instead of having big info dumps. It was occasionally a little confusing without having had all the different species (and their traits) explained upfront, but things never got too confusing. The world had a rich history. It had complex politics befitting a world that once held many, many countries. The world also expanded beyond the scope of the story’s immediate setting.

ENDING:

It didn’t end on a cliffhanger, but there are still antagonists undefeated. There were still dangers left. There’s plenty of material for the sequel and character arcs to be continued. Things didn’t end with a perfect happily ever after, but they also ended fairly happily. A few smaller mysteries were left open and all the revelations brough new questions. The ending was satisfying, but also left my itching for a sequel.

Warnings: death, violence, suicide, panic attacks, PTSD, flashbacks, mind control, kidnapping, drugging

I received a free eARC of this book via NetGalley. I am writing this review completely honestly and voluntarily.

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2treads's review

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adventurous mysterious 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? No

4.0

— He is many things pretending to be one —Turon

I had a lot of fun reading Empire of Exiles. Mixing fantasy with good old mystery and detective work and a character bunch that is spirited and who you can't help rooting for, all culminated in an engaging read.

I loved the cast of characters and how they interacted with each other: the budding romance, the tension between past lovers, the magic and affinities, the lingering pall of revolution, and the threat of it rising once more was just so good that pages kept flying by. Evan's is obviously a fan of mysteries and it shows in how she plots out the moves and counter-moves on the page.

The villain(s) too are great and smart, planning their comeback methodically and with their eyes on the win.

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