Daughter of the Empire

See the Riftwar from the other side of the Rift. Journey to Kelewan and meet a people previously known to the readers as invaders. Meet Mara of the Acoma and experience the trials and tribulations of this young woman as she grapples with the testing nature of ruling her house and managing the machinations of the great political game within the Empire of Tsurannuanni. Watch her transform from a naive former religious trainee to a skilled ruler with a high level of political nous. On this journey you will meet a vast range of characters, both those extremely loyal to Mara and those harbouring great hatred and ill-will towards our main character.

Having being exposed to the land of Kelewan during Feist's Riftwar saga it is lovely to see a greater exposition of this land through the eyes of natives rather than the characters from Midkemia. The reader gets a greater sense of what drives these peoples, where their will to conquer comes from and this makes the Riftwar saga all the more rounded as a whole. At its heart, this is a story of growing up in the midst of hardship and loss, while also being a story of progression and endeavour while being beset with troubles.

The combination of authors, Feist and Wurts, appears to be a match made in heaven. While retaining the fast paced action and storyline progression of the earlier Feist works, this book (and series) exhibits the exemplary characterisation that one has come to expect from Janny Wurts. The story flows through the characters rather than around them. The characters are three dimensional and appear to leap off the pages as you experience their individual journeys.

I can't recommend this book (and series) highly enough. The authors have created a masterpiece that on the whole is greater than the sum of its individual parts. I thoroughly recommend this book, it is one of the greatest completed fantasy stories written.