Table of Contents

Magic and murder engulf the realm of Kelewan.  Fierce warlords ignite a bitter blood feud to enslave the empire of Tsuranuanni.  While in the opulent Imperial courts, assassins and spy-master plot cunning and devious intrigues against the rightful heir.  

Now Mara, a young, untested Ruling lady, is called upon to lead her people in a heroic struggle for survival.  But first she must rally an army of rebel warriors, form a pact with the alien cho-ja, and marry the son of a hated enemy.  Only then can Mara face her most dangerous foe of all–in his own impregnable stronghold.  

An epic tale of adventure and intrigue.  Daughter of the Empire is fantasy of the highest order by two of the most talented writers in the field today.

-Goodreads

Book Information

  • Title: Daughter of the Empire
  • Series: The Empire Trilogy #1
  • Author: Raymond E. Feist, Janny Wurts
  • Page Count: 421
  • Genre: Fantasy
  • Rating: 4.5/5.0
  • Date Read: October 15th, 2024

Opening Thoughts

Daughter of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts hit the TBR for October for two reasons. The first was it being part of my month of Empire theme and the second was just how much I’ve been enjoying the Riftwar Saga reads in previous months. I’m not sure if I’m mentioned before but I actually own nearly the entire series in physical form in my home library. This was a bit of an impulse collection as I had never read Raymond E. Feist but it was constantly recommended to me when I was getting back into reading in 2019. I didn’t start to dive into these books until just this year and I’ve been having a blast.

Pacing

As for the pacing this one did take me a short time at the start to settle in. I’m not sure exactly why this was as looking back the storytelling seemed smooth to me. I am not sure if in my own head I was struggling to figure out how this series worked in with the Riftwar Saga (Cycle). I did eventually make the connection and then was off to the races with enjoyment! There is a lot of locations and characters to keep straight. I’m not sure if I’d recommend reading this series without starting with the Riftwar Saga but I suppose it’s possible. This is a rather large world to explore even without any rift traveling taking place in this read. There are also a lot of new and perhaps a couple of returning characters to keep track of as well.

I did end up going with the audiobook read for Daughter of the Empire even if I do own a physical copy. This was mostly due to time constraints with reads this month. The narration was performed by Tania Rodrigues who did a really good job. This was another new to me narrator which might also have contributed with my early struggle getting off the ground. I mention this early struggle but for an almost 20 hour listen this struggle was probably an hour or less into this book.

World Building

The worldbuilding is exactly what I’m coming to expect from this overarching series. Even though this read focused on a single world or realm without the traveling through rifts to alternate locations, it was still described in great detail allowing me to become absorbed. Even though this book does include some magic that was introduced in the previous series this one seemed to focus much more on subtle stealth and general martial combat. I’m not sure if this was just a personal perspective but it reminded me a lot of stories from feudal Japan.

This story was heavy on the political scheming and I loved it. Instead of a lot of traditional fantasy including large scale battles, magic and great fantastical beasts, this one was far more cloak and dagger to me.

Character Development

The character development was simply amazing. The primary protagonist Mara grew on my quickly and might be one of my favorite characters I’ve read in quite some time. She might not be the nicest hero ever written but her strength and intellect certainly won over this reader. In this read we find out she does not live the easiest life but her teachings have taught her how to understand these situations and find ways to come out on top even against the wishes of her most trusted allies and advisors at times.

Even though the focus is on Mara there were some amazing supporting characters both on her side and opposing her. These characters have made for quite the story being shared. I’m excited to continue this trilogy as well as the Riftwar Cycle in general.

Roundup & Recommendation

As previously mentioned I’m not sure how well things would work for me if I had picked up this trilogy and read it before the Riftwar Cycle. It certainly seems very complete without that information but I feel the knowledge from those reads adds so much more to this world. Such as the sudden arrive of some characters. Those characters would be great regardless but the feeling out got when they were introduced in Daughter of the Empire would have been very different without that experience.

If you haven’t read any of the Riftwar Cycle and this series sounds interesting to you, I’d still recommend going back and starting with the Riftwar Saga books (Magician) and work up to this one. If you’ve already started that series I’d certainly encourage you to continue onto this one.

Scoring

World Building 4.5/5
Pacing 4/5
Character Development 4.75/5

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Chad Barnard

Owner/Operator of The Hiking Reader Blog. Sharing thoughts on books and hiking trails and trying to find ways to continue to incorporate both hobbies together.

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