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meghanreadsmm's review
5.0
This was an excellent, engaging, fast-paced story! Fascinating main characters, interesting but dark dystopian world, well-written. It's a fast-paced, action-packed, espionage-filled science fantasy novel. So it works if you're expecting that. The main character is an assassin-for-hire and works for whoever pays him. He tries to avoid the politics. He has his small found-family and wants them protected. But he's about to be swept up in major political intrigue with a lot of action along the way. Psychic abilities exist in this world but have a heavy cost. Meanwhile the militaristic empire is getting worse.
I thought it was well-written because I was engaged pretty consistently. I didn't get bored of the scenes, the character interactions, the twists, any of it. If you're a crier (like me sometimes), have some tissue handy.
So there is a LOT of action and a lot of intrigue. Characters change and switch sides, relationships are in flux and uncertain. There were also a number of queer characters in here which I liked. But the way some of them are first worked in was a tiny bit forced. Afterwards it's not so much of a 'thing'.
Overall a fulfilling reading experience. Hopefully there's more to explore in this world.
I thought it was well-written because I was engaged pretty consistently. I didn't get bored of the scenes, the character interactions, the twists, any of it. If you're a crier (like me sometimes), have some tissue handy
Spoiler
, you will probably cry in some parts because this book also has a few very lovable side characters who end up ripped away in acts of devastating brutalitySo there is a LOT of action and a lot of intrigue. Characters change and switch sides, relationships are in flux and uncertain. There were also a number of queer characters in here which I liked. But the way some of them are first worked in was a tiny bit forced. Afterwards it's not so much of a 'thing'.
Overall a fulfilling reading experience. Hopefully there's more to explore in this world
Spoiler
especially with the new regime or perhaps it the evil medical researchers who need some take down. :Dmouseg's review
3.0
3.5 stars
I fell into a reading slump about 21% through this. No fault of this book, I was enjoying it, life just got crazy and reading became a chore. I picked this up again a few weeks later and fell right back into it.
The world building is simple, it just plays off our planet in the future, so it’s easy to imagine yourself there. My only issue was that I wasn’t sure if magic was present or not. There were parts where I thought it was and other parts where I thought the ‘abilities’ were science based. I wish that had been clearer.
I love, love, love the LGBTQ+ rep in this book. I can’t decide which character was my favourite as I enjoyed all of them. In all, a very solid first book from the author. I will seek out the sequels.
The author did a great job of listing any and all trigger warnings. It might have seemed like overkill but you never know what another has experienced.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I fell into a reading slump about 21% through this. No fault of this book, I was enjoying it, life just got crazy and reading became a chore. I picked this up again a few weeks later and fell right back into it.
The world building is simple, it just plays off our planet in the future, so it’s easy to imagine yourself there. My only issue was that I wasn’t sure if magic was present or not. There were parts where I thought it was and other parts where I thought the ‘abilities’ were science based. I wish that had been clearer.
I love, love, love the LGBTQ+ rep in this book. I can’t decide which character was my favourite as I enjoyed all of them. In all, a very solid first book from the author. I will seek out the sequels.
The author did a great job of listing any and all trigger warnings. It might have seemed like overkill but you never know what another has experienced.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
andiel's review
5.0
An absolute must read. Empire of light was everything I could ask for in a dystopian novel. There was tons of fast paced action, mystery, danger and a romance that broke my heart and pieced it back together. I loved the MC, and his story was unforgettable.
acqua's review
3.0
“Quiet moments? I don't know them”
― Empire of Light, probably
The author says they write "queerness with a chance of explosion" and - for this book at least - that's such an understatement. This is probably the most frenzied book I've ever read.
3.5 stars.
Empire of Light is the first book in a very queer futuristic sci-fantasy series. This first book felt like a fast-paced dystopian focused on a m/m/m love triangle to me, but I think that as the series goes on, "dystopian" could become a restrictive term to describe it. I love stories that blur the lines between genres.
As I mentioned before, what stood out to me the most about this book was how it never slowed down. The characters were almost always getting shot at, and when they weren't getting shot at, they were having sex. I haven't seen so many shooting and explosion scenes since Zero Sum Game, and just like I said about that book, I think Empire of Light would work well on a screen. However, as this book tries to pull off a lot of plot twists - some better executed than others, I have to say - the "getting shot at" parts got somewhat confusing sometimes.
I could say that this book would have benefited from slowing down, but every pacing choice has its own advantages: I'm in a slump, and I flew through this, and I managed to do that because Empire of Light is the kind of book that doesn't let you breathe. In spite of that, it manages to not become soulless like too many plot-driven, action-packed books do, because the main relationships are developed, dynamic and interesting.
This novel is mainly impossible to sum up because of spoilers and the amount of political intrigue, backstabbing and twists there are, but I can say that it is about Damian, an assassin for hire, as he grows apart from Aris, his higly-unstable magical lover, and gets closer to a mysterious revolutionary named Raeyn. I found the development of Damian and Aris' relationship fascinating. I have read many (and still not enough, because the "many" isn't "most") books that have an interesting storyline following two characters who get together, but I have never read a story about a relationship falling apart that felt so real and compelling at the same time.
However, I can't say the same about the side characters, and the aspects in which this book fell flat to me are all related to the side characters. They were flat, underdeveloped, and I didn't feel anything about them when they inevitably died.
Also: I really appreciated the diversity and I'm glad I found another mostly-queer if not all-queer book, with a demisexual main character and prominent supporting characters who are polyamorous no less, but... the fact that the queer black girl died sacrificing herself for the main character didn't sit well with me. The main character is a queer person of color himself and there are trigger warnings at the beginning which explicitly tell you that's going to happen, but I kept thinking that wasn't necessary at all.
Also, at some point I was really annoyed by the fact that all women were either evil or dead, and while that got somewhat better by the end of the novel, I'd like m/m books to remember that it would still be nice if they passed the Bechdel test sometimes.
On the rating: I'd give this book more than four stars for the enjoyment and less than three stars for the last paragraph, and that's I ended up at 3.5. This is the kind of novel I'd really need half stars for.
― Empire of Light, probably
The author says they write "queerness with a chance of explosion" and - for this book at least - that's such an understatement. This is probably the most frenzied book I've ever read.
3.5 stars.
Empire of Light is the first book in a very queer futuristic sci-fantasy series. This first book felt like a fast-paced dystopian focused on a m/m/m love triangle to me, but I think that as the series goes on, "dystopian" could become a restrictive term to describe it. I love stories that blur the lines between genres.
As I mentioned before, what stood out to me the most about this book was how it never slowed down. The characters were almost always getting shot at, and when they weren't getting shot at, they were having sex. I haven't seen so many shooting and explosion scenes since Zero Sum Game, and just like I said about that book, I think Empire of Light would work well on a screen. However, as this book tries to pull off a lot of plot twists - some better executed than others, I have to say - the "getting shot at" parts got somewhat confusing sometimes.
I could say that this book would have benefited from slowing down, but every pacing choice has its own advantages: I'm in a slump, and I flew through this, and I managed to do that because Empire of Light is the kind of book that doesn't let you breathe. In spite of that, it manages to not become soulless like too many plot-driven, action-packed books do, because the main relationships are developed, dynamic and interesting.
This novel is mainly impossible to sum up because of spoilers and the amount of political intrigue, backstabbing and twists there are, but I can say that it is about Damian, an assassin for hire, as he grows apart from Aris, his higly-unstable magical lover, and gets closer to a mysterious revolutionary named Raeyn. I found the development of Damian and Aris' relationship fascinating. I have read many (and still not enough, because the "many" isn't "most") books that have an interesting storyline following two characters who get together, but I have never read a story about a relationship falling apart that felt so real and compelling at the same time.
However, I can't say the same about the side characters, and the aspects in which this book fell flat to me are all related to the side characters. They were flat, underdeveloped, and I didn't feel anything about them when they inevitably died.
Also: I really appreciated the diversity and I'm glad I found another mostly-queer if not all-queer book, with a demisexual main character and prominent supporting characters who are polyamorous no less, but... the fact that the queer black girl died sacrificing herself for the main character didn't sit well with me. The main character is a queer person of color himself and there are trigger warnings at the beginning which explicitly tell you that's going to happen, but I kept thinking that wasn't necessary at all.
Also, at some point I was really annoyed by the fact that all women were either evil or dead, and while that got somewhat better by the end of the novel, I'd like m/m books to remember that it would still be nice if they passed the Bechdel test sometimes.
On the rating: I'd give this book more than four stars for the enjoyment and less than three stars for the last paragraph, and that's I ended up at 3.5. This is the kind of novel I'd really need half stars for.
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