The Bone Shard Emperor

 Book Title: The Bone Shard Emperor

Author: Andrew Stewart

Series: The Drowning Empire #2

Date Started: October 18th 2021

Date Completed: November 7th 2021

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Mystery, Romance

Quality Rating: Five Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Five Star

Final Rating: Five Stars

Review:

◆ Thanks to NetGalley for this eBook copy for review ◆

The Drowning Empire (love that new series title) has quickly become one of my favourite ever series thanks to its rich world-building, complex mysteries, tricky politics, compelling characters and stunning prose. It's one of those books that makes you desperately excited to devour, but then welcomes you into its universe so well that you slow down completely unconsciously just to be immersed in every moment.

I loved that The Bone Shard Emperor mixed up the structure from the first book a little bit. If you didn't know they were written by the same person you would definitely be able to tell with Stewart's distinctive ability to play on character and place, but there's a new way of exploring these characters and their vices in this novel. Each plot line intersects a lot more than in the first book as well, but each person very much remains the protagonist in their perspective which is so cleverly done.

Once again, the mysteries are found out slowly by picking up clues that the reader gathers alongside the characters, and yet more are laid out for the next (last?) instalment. I loved that The Bone Shard Emperor followed the shock waves of the first book's events but introduced new politics and doom for Lin to handle. While absolutely telling its own story arc in one book, the plot reaches across into the past and future as well, creating a sense that the story we are reading is a sprawling epic that still has plenty to surprise us with.

As mentioned in my review of The Bone Shard Daughter, these books are wonderful, varied, complex casts of characters. From emperors to smugglers, gutter orphans to rebels; I adore having a protagonist who is a magical scholar and (unwillingly) a politician, as well as side-characters who are mothers, warriors and conquerers. There is no tokenism and no gratuitous titles: these are who these characters are and strongly influence the way they impact the world. It's amazing how steadfast Stewart is able to keep them in their characterisation, never flinching from making things difficult for our beloved cast because, let's face it, that's exactly what the person would do.

I wish Andrea Stewart all the best in writing the next one because I am desperate for it. I'm so grateful to have been given both The Bone Shard Daughter and The Bone Shard Emperor for review, although I'm now aware I'm going to have to wait even longer for the third instalment in the series and I don't know if I can take it.