Lin, The Emperor’s Daughter: A Story of Memories Lost and Knowledge Found in a Palace of Creepy Secrets My favorite part of The Bone Shard Daughter is the characters (especially the adorable animal companion) and getting to see the Empire from a variety of viewpoints, although I did find some perspectives more engaging than others. However, I do think that’s more a personal preference than a major issue with the book, which succeeds at being an immensely fun, well-paced novel with a wonderful world, cast of characters, and story. This is a novel that keeps moving in fact, one of my little quibbles with it is that I actually would have liked for it to slow down a bit to deepen the character relationships and worldbuilding.
It hooked me immediately from its opening lines, and I appreciated that the characters started in the midst of interesting stories that rapidly became even more compelling. The Bone Shard Daughter explores this world from five different perspectives, two of which are closely intertwined and only some of which come together by the end-but all of which work together to show a lot about the Empire. Some have banded together with the intention of overthrowing the Emperor and his governors, who are-in not-so-shocking news-neither kind nor fair to the common people of the Empire, even aside from the bone shard tithe and its consequences. But with their threat long confined to the annals of history, many people do not see why they are still beholden to the risk and sacrifice required for the creation of constructs. There was a time when this bone shard magic protected the Empire and its residents from a powerful people, and it’s said that they may return one day. Even if they are one of the 96% who survive this procedure, they may still die prematurely: once a bone shard with commands engraved on it is inserted into a construct, it feeds off the life force of the one it was taken from.
The Emperor’s network of constructs is made possible by Tithing Festivals, during which each eight-year-old child is required to “donate” a bone shard to the Empire. He creates beings known as constructs, which are sewn together from an assortment of animal parts and animated by bone shard magic powered by his subjects. These vary in complexity ranging from those ordered to follow straightforward commands to complicated structures that regulate different aspects of the Empire and report to the Emperor, allowing him to spend more time mastering the bone shard magic, working on mysterious projects, and monitoring the contest between his two potential heirs. The Bone Shard Daughter is the first book in Andrea Stewart’s Asian-inspired debut epic fantasy trilogy, The Drowning Empire, set in an archipelago ruled by a mad-scientist-like Emperor. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
0 kommentar(er)
