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wardenred's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Well, I always wanted to go out with ‘Fuck you,’ but whatever.
What I knew about this book going it made it sound like the perfect read for me. I mean, enemies to lovers? A love triangle with a poly solution? A demisexual MC? Screwed-up found families? Sci-fi adventure with magical/psychic powers? Give me all of it! Needless to say, I was super excited to read this.
Unfortunately, reality didn't exactly live up to my expectations. I wouldn't call this book bad; maybe it's just not for me, despite being built out of the tropes I usually love. But it just failed to keep my attention and I often struggled to figure out what was even going on. The way the worldbuilding was presented often made me feel like I was reading book 2 in a series and desperately lacked the knowledge of what happened in book 1. To be honest, many aspects of the plot made me feel the same. It didn't help that transitions between scenes often felt choppy and a lot of the side characters felt same-ish (with the exception of Jay who was hands-down my favorite character). As for the romance part, I never got invested into any part of it either. I just... didn't feel like any of these people were good for each other in the long run. Also, about 1/3 in I started feeling like there's just too much violence for violence's sake and trauma for trauma's sake, and that feeling only kept intensifying as I read on.
Honestly, I hate giving this book a low rating. It's wonderfully, wonderfully diverse. Everything I know about the author makes me feel they're a really cool person. The premise of the story is fantastic. There are a lot of exciting moments. I'm still in love with the idea of this story. It's just that the execution really wasn't for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Sexual violence
crobbins's review
5.0
Empire of Light by Alex Harrow
5 of 5 stars
This review was originally posted on yarnowlreads.wordpress.com.
I received an eARC from the author in exchange for my honest review.
REP: The main character is a Person of Color (POC), gay, and demisexual. One of his love interests is pan, and the other is pan, polyam, kinky, and a sex worker. They are all three amazing beans that I love with my whole heart. Supporting characters include a badass old lady who’s blind and a WOC, a whole variety of gender identities, sexualities, and other ways of existing, and a run-down spaceship called Shadow (it’s a character and you can’t tell me otherwise).
CWs: There’s a lot. This is a dark book. There are many graphic depictions of violence, several executions (some attempted, some successful, varying from hanging to burning to shooting), and some of this violence is against kids, queer folks, and POC. There are some intense trust violations and several instances of unwanted/non-consensual groping. The main character is a survivor of sexual abuse and there are both flashbacks to that and lots of him dealing with those feelings in the present day. One of the love interests has an intense fear regarding fire (I’m not sure if it would be considered a phobia when this fear is 1000% rational… more like PTSD, I think). The author offers very detailed warnings at the beginning of the book as well, which can I just say I LOVE AND APPRECIATE.
In June of 2018 I participated in a daily Twitter challenge called #LGBTWIP. It was there I met Alex Harrow, who was discussing their 2019 debut and described it as gay Firefly with magic. We ended up becoming friends and Empire of Light jumped to my most anticipated read of 2019 (tied with Mason Deaver's I Wish You All the Best).
I think this was the first time I was this hyped for a first book in a series. I threw my heart and soul into being excited for this book, which was definitely a little scary. I had moments of worrying: what if I was building it up too much in my head? What if I just didn't click with Alex's writing? Was I setting myself up for failure with this book? I am so incredibly grateful that wasn't the case and I ended up loving it just as much as I had hoped.
Though there are many amazing parts of this book, the crowning jewel was the characters. The three main characters (heretoafter referred to as The Murder Boys*) all stood on their own with compelling backstories and unique voices. While the secondary characters didn't get as much development (yet! Alex is working on some short origin stories), they still added to the story in important and enjoyable ways.
While this is a darker book (see CWs above), it also had an amazing, dry humor that spoke to my soul. From witty banter to snarky one-liners, I giggled much more that I expected to while reading. Some of my favorite lines included:
"I would ask if you had any last words, but I prefer we cut the theatrics, don't you?"
"Well, I always wanted to go out with 'Fuck you,' but whatever."
Chapter 8
Ferris blinked at the heap of guns, knives, and spare clips I piled in front of her. Aris gave me a look and a nudge. I sighed, adding a beat-up pocket knife on top of it all.
Chapter 11
A crow perched high on some of the Shadow's rusty piping. Its head cocked to one side, then it slowly righted itself again as it stared at me with flat, beady black eyes...
"At least wait 'till I'm dead, damn it... 'S bad manners. Staring at your food while it's still twitching."
Chapter 17
Alex is also the reigning monarch of tropes. They talked about how they incorporated and subverted tropes in a blog post soon after Empire came out. There are several overarching tropes they did well, such as enemies-to-lovers and hurt/comfort. A few smaller tropes we saw in individual scenes were leave-all-your-weapons-at-the-door-wait-one-more (see quote above) and the fake-out-make-out. Alex wielded these to create humor, vulnerability, and relatability in each moment.
I would recommend this book to readers who like:
* science fiction that's not set in space
* dystopians set in post-America
* stories with some magic thrown in
* fast-paced stories with lots of action and explosions.
You can pick up your own copy of Empire of Light from the publisher (e-book), Amazon (e-book and paperback), or from Alex themself (signed paperback).
*P.S. I'm sorry I didn't actually refer to Damian, Aris, and Raeyn as The Murder Boys again in this review, but I call them that often enough that I felt I should leave it in.
5 of 5 stars
This review was originally posted on yarnowlreads.wordpress.com.
I received an eARC from the author in exchange for my honest review.
REP: The main character is a Person of Color (POC), gay, and demisexual. One of his love interests is pan, and the other is pan, polyam, kinky, and a sex worker. They are all three amazing beans that I love with my whole heart. Supporting characters include a badass old lady who’s blind and a WOC, a whole variety of gender identities, sexualities, and other ways of existing, and a run-down spaceship called Shadow (it’s a character and you can’t tell me otherwise).
CWs: There’s a lot. This is a dark book. There are many graphic depictions of violence, several executions (some attempted, some successful, varying from hanging to burning to shooting), and some of this violence is against kids, queer folks, and POC. There are some intense trust violations and several instances of unwanted/non-consensual groping. The main character is a survivor of sexual abuse and there are both flashbacks to that and lots of him dealing with those feelings in the present day. One of the love interests has an intense fear regarding fire (I’m not sure if it would be considered a phobia when this fear is 1000% rational… more like PTSD, I think). The author offers very detailed warnings at the beginning of the book as well, which can I just say I LOVE AND APPRECIATE.
In June of 2018 I participated in a daily Twitter challenge called #LGBTWIP. It was there I met Alex Harrow, who was discussing their 2019 debut and described it as gay Firefly with magic. We ended up becoming friends and Empire of Light jumped to my most anticipated read of 2019 (tied with Mason Deaver's I Wish You All the Best).
I think this was the first time I was this hyped for a first book in a series. I threw my heart and soul into being excited for this book, which was definitely a little scary. I had moments of worrying: what if I was building it up too much in my head? What if I just didn't click with Alex's writing? Was I setting myself up for failure with this book? I am so incredibly grateful that wasn't the case and I ended up loving it just as much as I had hoped.
Though there are many amazing parts of this book, the crowning jewel was the characters. The three main characters (heretoafter referred to as The Murder Boys*) all stood on their own with compelling backstories and unique voices. While the secondary characters didn't get as much development (yet! Alex is working on some short origin stories), they still added to the story in important and enjoyable ways.
While this is a darker book (see CWs above), it also had an amazing, dry humor that spoke to my soul. From witty banter to snarky one-liners, I giggled much more that I expected to while reading. Some of my favorite lines included:
"I would ask if you had any last words, but I prefer we cut the theatrics, don't you?"
"Well, I always wanted to go out with 'Fuck you,' but whatever."
Chapter 8
Ferris blinked at the heap of guns, knives, and spare clips I piled in front of her. Aris gave me a look and a nudge. I sighed, adding a beat-up pocket knife on top of it all.
Chapter 11
A crow perched high on some of the Shadow's rusty piping. Its head cocked to one side, then it slowly righted itself again as it stared at me with flat, beady black eyes...
"At least wait 'till I'm dead, damn it... 'S bad manners. Staring at your food while it's still twitching."
Chapter 17
Alex is also the reigning monarch of tropes. They talked about how they incorporated and subverted tropes in a blog post soon after Empire came out. There are several overarching tropes they did well, such as enemies-to-lovers and hurt/comfort. A few smaller tropes we saw in individual scenes were leave-all-your-weapons-at-the-door-wait-one-more (see quote above) and the fake-out-make-out. Alex wielded these to create humor, vulnerability, and relatability in each moment.
I would recommend this book to readers who like:
* science fiction that's not set in space
* dystopians set in post-America
* stories with some magic thrown in
* fast-paced stories with lots of action and explosions.
You can pick up your own copy of Empire of Light from the publisher (e-book), Amazon (e-book and paperback), or from Alex themself (signed paperback).
*P.S. I'm sorry I didn't actually refer to Damian, Aris, and Raeyn as The Murder Boys again in this review, but I call them that often enough that I felt I should leave it in.
jjcrafts's review
3.0
(free ebook in exchange for an honest review)
Super queer, fast, action packed science fantasy. Sometimes the characters lack of forethought/communication annoyed me, the writing could have actually benefited from slowing down a bit to add some more depth but I liked the characters and needed to find out what happened next. It's perfect for people looking for a more actiony and exciting adult sci fi.
Rep: demisexual gay MC, bi and gay love interests. Nonbinary and lesbian minor characters.
Trigger warnings are in the authors review
Super queer, fast, action packed science fantasy. Sometimes the characters lack of forethought/communication annoyed me, the writing could have actually benefited from slowing down a bit to add some more depth but I liked the characters and needed to find out what happened next. It's perfect for people looking for a more actiony and exciting adult sci fi.
Rep: demisexual gay MC, bi and gay love interests. Nonbinary and lesbian minor characters.
Trigger warnings are in the authors review
literarycavy's review
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
candidceillie's review
4.0
juliusmoose's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book was okay. The main character was a dumbass who never did what he was supposed to and messed things up and that annoyed me. Also I feel like the pacing was a bit off, like too much kept happening without enough about why I should care. That being said, there were some interesting ideas here, and I do kind of wonder what will happen in the next book.
mlvalard's review
4.0
3.5 stars
This one was a ride. I'm honestly not exactly sure where to start with this review. There was so -much- crammed into this that I'm not sure I'll feel any assessment quite does it justice.
The pros:
-I enjoyed the world building. It was an interesting sort of sci-fantasy dystopia. Definitely really intriguing and well put together.
-The atmosphere. This one was gritty and I felt it. Very sensory, sounds, smells, tastes. It was immersive dragged me into it and washed me along for the ride.
-The story itself was a wild sort of political mess with a lovely enemies to lovers arc right in the middle of all the rest.
-I really enjoyed Raeyn. I felt for him, perhaps in a way more than I did for Damian even though with first person the entire thing was seen through Damian's eyes.
The cons:
-Wow a lot happened. This was good in that it kept me there a bit on the edge of my seat but a con in that it was almost too much. This was fast paced and though my reading has been spotty and slower than usual so far this year it was still almost exhausting to read.
-Violence. There's lots of it and no shying away from it. It's as vivid and immersive as the rest of it so though I didn't personally mind much it was almost hard to cope with.
-There were parts of the twists and turns that were nearly confusing, and things that I really would have liked to see better explained. As it looks like this is the beginning of a series, though, I will expect those to be dealt with as it progresses.
Overall, I liked this one. It was not at all the light pick-me-up sort of read I might have needed just at the moment but there was never any question at all of not finishing it. Slow reading and all I did quite enjoy it. I do like this sort of thing: the action, the intrigue, the tense relationships were all right up my alley.
I will definitely be keeping an eye out for future books. I'd really like to know what happens next. And hopefully see more of Raeyn and Damian. So to me this was a solid 3.5 stars, not flawless but definitely very enjoyable.
I received a free ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This one was a ride. I'm honestly not exactly sure where to start with this review. There was so -much- crammed into this that I'm not sure I'll feel any assessment quite does it justice.
The pros:
-I enjoyed the world building. It was an interesting sort of sci-fantasy dystopia. Definitely really intriguing and well put together.
-The atmosphere. This one was gritty and I felt it. Very sensory, sounds, smells, tastes. It was immersive dragged me into it and washed me along for the ride.
-The story itself was a wild sort of political mess with a lovely enemies to lovers arc right in the middle of all the rest.
-I really enjoyed Raeyn. I felt for him, perhaps in a way more than I did for Damian even though with first person the entire thing was seen through Damian's eyes.
The cons:
-Wow a lot happened. This was good in that it kept me there a bit on the edge of my seat but a con in that it was almost too much. This was fast paced and though my reading has been spotty and slower than usual so far this year it was still almost exhausting to read.
-Violence. There's lots of it and no shying away from it. It's as vivid and immersive as the rest of it so though I didn't personally mind much it was almost hard to cope with.
-There were parts of the twists and turns that were nearly confusing, and things that I really would have liked to see better explained. As it looks like this is the beginning of a series, though, I will expect those to be dealt with as it progresses.
Overall, I liked this one. It was not at all the light pick-me-up sort of read I might have needed just at the moment but there was never any question at all of not finishing it. Slow reading and all I did quite enjoy it. I do like this sort of thing: the action, the intrigue, the tense relationships were all right up my alley.
I will definitely be keeping an eye out for future books. I'd really like to know what happens next. And hopefully see more of Raeyn and Damian. So to me this was a solid 3.5 stars, not flawless but definitely very enjoyable.
I received a free ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
thiscubed's review
For those curious because goodreads doesn't have a page count, this book is 280 pages. 280 pages of a pretty great plot, well written characters, and enough violence to shake a stick at. There's also some explicit sex scenes but those are well written and not drawn out. They only total about 12 pages when you add up the different scenes. I appreciated the content warning in the beginning because this book does get pretty gruesome. I didn't really mind it at all, but I still appreciated the heads up.
So with so much violence you may be asking yourself what this book is about. Well, it's about an assassin for hire in a world where people have magic (called "voyance" in the book) and said magic will eventually kill you but also helps you heal? It's strange, but it works. Said assassin has a lover with magic (they call them voyants in the book) and the government is out to kill anyone with magic. As you might guess there's lots of political intrigue but it's more of an assassination plot than anything.
Anyway, it's pretty fucking good to be honest? I didn't feel like anything was gratuitous but I also didn't feel like anything was rushed. The pacing felt balanced between the action and the other non-action-y scenes.
Like I said before the characters were well fleshed out, especially the main character. You really get to learn why he does what he does and he does a lot of stupid shit. The other characters may not be as fleshed out but they never once felt like caricatures.
The romance in this book is also pretty great if I'm being completely honest. I'm not a huge fan of explicit sex scenes, but I didn't mind them too much because I liked the characters and understood their relationship dynamics. Also, I really liked what ended up happening at the end when it came to the romance plot.
My only real complaint is that I felt the world building could've been a bit better. We're dropped into a world that is supposed to be our own after presumably another world war, but despite seeming to be what would've been the US, everything has a French name? And people actually speak French when someone dies? I would've liked clarity on that. Also, it took me about 100 pages to get used to them using "hells" instead of "hell." It really bothered me initially, but as the story progressed I found myself caring about it less and less.
Overall, if you're okay with gruesome violence, explict and not necessarily vanilla sex scenes, then I would recommend this book.
So with so much violence you may be asking yourself what this book is about. Well, it's about an assassin for hire in a world where people have magic (called "voyance" in the book) and said magic will eventually kill you but also helps you heal? It's strange, but it works. Said assassin has a lover with magic (they call them voyants in the book) and the government is out to kill anyone with magic. As you might guess there's lots of political intrigue but it's more of an assassination plot than anything.
Anyway, it's pretty fucking good to be honest? I didn't feel like anything was gratuitous but I also didn't feel like anything was rushed. The pacing felt balanced between the action and the other non-action-y scenes.
Like I said before the characters were well fleshed out, especially the main character. You really get to learn why he does what he does and he does a lot of stupid shit. The other characters may not be as fleshed out but they never once felt like caricatures.
The romance in this book is also pretty great if I'm being completely honest. I'm not a huge fan of explicit sex scenes, but I didn't mind them too much because I liked the characters and understood their relationship dynamics. Also, I really liked what ended up happening at the end when it came to the romance plot.
My only real complaint is that I felt the world building could've been a bit better. We're dropped into a world that is supposed to be our own after presumably another world war, but despite seeming to be what would've been the US, everything has a French name? And people actually speak French when someone dies? I would've liked clarity on that. Also, it took me about 100 pages to get used to them using "hells" instead of "hell." It really bothered me initially, but as the story progressed I found myself caring about it less and less.
Overall, if you're okay with gruesome violence, explict and not necessarily vanilla sex scenes, then I would recommend this book.
adapted_batteries's review
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gore, Blood, Sexual content, Death, Drug use, Alcoholism, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Vomit and Sexual assault
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
Assisted suicide, depictions of a hanging, death by burning,jpjackson's review
5.0
Every now and again you come across a book where you swear the author set about creating a list of words, a vernacular guide for their novel. It’s almost as if each word used within the story was carefully selected to fit the feel and style of the world being created in the book. This is how I felt reading Harrow’s Empire of Light.
Damian is our main character and a perfect example of a diamond in the rough. He’s a gun for hire, an outlaw, and madly in love with Aris – a relationship that constantly gets him into more trouble than seemingly it’s worth – but then, love conquers all, right?
There are twists and turns, political intrigue, gunfights, violence of all sorts, explosions, betrayals, deaths galore, all taking place in a broken down section of society that is described perfectly as nowhere you’d ever want to be. Harrow’s world-building skills are to be commended. The scenes in my head as I read the book were picture perfect and I have no doubt this would make a most entertaining visual should it ever be made into a Netflix original.
And then we have The Voyance. Throughout the story, we are treated to small snippets of wondrous, out-of-control magic (psionic abilities?), that seem random and unfocused until we progress through the book and find that those trained can tap into their abilities and accomplish great feats. Harrow has been clever with this element of magic. There’s always a danger that magic can solve all problems. In Empire of Light, the Voyance is to be feared as a dangerous disease. Those who have it are hunted and exterminated, or ‘cleansed’ leaving the individual a former shell of themselves (think lobotomy). Having the ability is also a death sentence, as the magic burns through your body, using it up. However, Harrow never really tells us where this ability arose from, or the history of it. We don’t really have a full understanding of its limitations or its strengths. Normally that’s a thorn that will stick in my side and drive me wild, but in this tale, it works. There’s a yearning now to know more.
Empire of Light is an extraordinary dystopian story. It is gritty and raw, and from the list of trigger warnings listed above, definitely not for the faint of heart. But if broken-down sci-fi set in a political nightmare, focusing on the most marginalized community, and seeing heroes arise is your jam, then get the peanut butter and bread, because this is one hell of a tasty sandwich.
Damian is our main character and a perfect example of a diamond in the rough. He’s a gun for hire, an outlaw, and madly in love with Aris – a relationship that constantly gets him into more trouble than seemingly it’s worth – but then, love conquers all, right?
There are twists and turns, political intrigue, gunfights, violence of all sorts, explosions, betrayals, deaths galore, all taking place in a broken down section of society that is described perfectly as nowhere you’d ever want to be. Harrow’s world-building skills are to be commended. The scenes in my head as I read the book were picture perfect and I have no doubt this would make a most entertaining visual should it ever be made into a Netflix original.
And then we have The Voyance. Throughout the story, we are treated to small snippets of wondrous, out-of-control magic (psionic abilities?), that seem random and unfocused until we progress through the book and find that those trained can tap into their abilities and accomplish great feats. Harrow has been clever with this element of magic. There’s always a danger that magic can solve all problems. In Empire of Light, the Voyance is to be feared as a dangerous disease. Those who have it are hunted and exterminated, or ‘cleansed’ leaving the individual a former shell of themselves (think lobotomy). Having the ability is also a death sentence, as the magic burns through your body, using it up. However, Harrow never really tells us where this ability arose from, or the history of it. We don’t really have a full understanding of its limitations or its strengths. Normally that’s a thorn that will stick in my side and drive me wild, but in this tale, it works. There’s a yearning now to know more.
Empire of Light is an extraordinary dystopian story. It is gritty and raw, and from the list of trigger warnings listed above, definitely not for the faint of heart. But if broken-down sci-fi set in a political nightmare, focusing on the most marginalized community, and seeing heroes arise is your jam, then get the peanut butter and bread, because this is one hell of a tasty sandwich.