The Bone Shard Emperor

The dank sense of decay in this empire continues to permeate the story as we continue into the second novel. The Bone Shard Daughter was one of my favourite debuts and this sophomore effort develops the story in satisfying ways. When an empire is built on a certain power trying to retain control whilst removing the oppression that that power was based on is certainly a challenge and the politicking is very satisfying in this entry in the story. All our main characters are flawed, hiding things from each other in dumb ways, but this acts as a humanizing element and works well in the story.

I am anxiously awaiting the final installment - this remains one of my favourite ongoing series!

2nd read:

i enjoyed this more the second time knowing the majority of everything that was going to happen. i understand the magic system so much more after this reread and i'm really excited to get to the final book in the trilogy!


1st read:

3 stars!!!

After reading the first book in this series I was really looking forward to continuing in this world. The magic system is super cool and unlike anything I've read before even though I don't quite understand how it works. As someone that's been having a hard time reading fantasy, I found this book and series very easy to get into and not at all dragging. It was great to see the main character's development throughout this book and I'm excited to see where the next book goes.






Thank you to Orbit Books and NetGalley for providing me with an eBook copy to review.

Jan 2023 update - finished this book. Shouldn't have retried...I do not understand what it is about this series that I absolutely don't like at all. It should be cool! The world should be cool. The animal companion should be cool! There's a sea serpent! But none of it matters. This book felt like the author accidentally sent the first draft to the publishers and they went with that version instead of the completed one. That sounds very mean, but I can't even point to a specific reason I feel that way. The world just feels incomplete. Hollow. The characters don't feel real. The stakes don't feel fleshed out. People just wanna do things for reasons because I guess. I can't say this book is bad but I can't think of anything good about it. This whole experience vexes me.


DNF @40%

Writing style just doesn't work for me, I guess. I can't put my finger exactly on what doesn't click with me for this series.