Tearmoon Empire: Volume 8

It's been a while since I read vol. 7 of Tearmoon Empire, but the series remains as fun as always. Similarly to several of the previous books, vol. 8 starts by wrapping up the previous arc of Mia's visit to Perujin before moving on to a new adventure. However, the book also contains a bonus short story that delves deeper into the food research Mia has been trying to push. Of course her intention isn't as pure as wanting to feed everyone well even during the impending famine, but at this point no one can stop the Mia cult from worshiping her LOL.

After Perujin, it is now time for Mia to visit Sunkland... because the Princess Chronicles now says Sion is going to die very soon. First from a bandit attack, then from poisoning. At the same time, Esmeralda is facing an arranged marriage to Sion's 10 year old brother, Echard, who has massive inferiority complex towards Sion. Since Mia is on very good terms with Sion, Duke Greenmoon seems to be planning to secure his own political alliance and opposition to Mia's empress faction. So when Esmeralda leaves for Sunkland in the hope of turning down the arranged marriage, Mia decides to tag along to hopefully save Sion's life. Plus, there are some questionable rumors about the Equestrian Kingdom circulating in Sunkland.

Due to all these things happening at the same time, this particular volume is pretty heavy on the politics. Now that Citrina is free from the Chaos Serpents' grasp, she proves to be exceptional in information gathering and works really well together with Dion. A good portion of the book is spent on collecting data and setting up the plot, but due to the scale of the issue, we don't actually get to see the climax and resolution here. While this one does feel like it has the middle book syndrome, it's still a highly enjoyable read because Mia just keeps on being Mia. She can be so graceful and eloquent while wolfing down her food at the same time, as food remains her top priority as always.

Kinda glad I didn't have the time to read back when this was released, because now I have three more Tearmoon Empire volumes to binge and that's the best thing ever.