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A review by spiringempress
Mistress of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist, Janny Wurts
4.0
“He likes to humble our foes by making them seem ridiculous. As he said to me the other day, ‘Kill a man, and you cede him honor in the eyes of the gods. Laugh at him and you shame him'.”
This is the final installment in The Empire Trilogy, where Mara faces ultimate loss and must deal with enemies that slowly surround her. All the events start when an assassin murders Mara's son instead of her. Grief-stricken, Mara attempts to go to war with a rival house and long-standing nemesis but finds she is outnumbered by Assembly and hunted by the Black Robes. Paralleling the first book, Mara ventures into the far reaches of civilization to find alliances and befriends those forgotten by the powers in the Empire.
Similar to the first two books, Mistress of the Empire follows the entanglement of the Great Game, where different political rivals vie for power. In the first book, Mara was a girl, who was thrust onto the board when her father and brother died. She quickly mastered the Game and displayed her ability to cunning plan and win honor and glory for the Acoma House. This book illustrates Mara's true master of the Game and her place as the Lady of Acoma. It is marvelous to see the character progression and how the character has evolved.
However, this book and the entire series primarily focuses on political maneuvering and intrigue. It follows the characters as they set up various moves and then follow them through. The story is about Mara, but it's more about how she wins and succeeds at the Great Game. As a result, this book is not as character-heavy as other fantasy titles. With that said, Mistress of the Empire portrays Mara's grief in a realistic and believable manner that establishes her motivation to move forward in the Game. Despite this, it sometimes felt like Mara solely focused on the politics and neglected her issues even when they later became major players. I wish Fiest and Wurts had carried through Mara's strong emotions in the first half of the book to characterize and flesh out her relationship with her remaining children.
The other thing that I adored about this final book was the portrayal of Hokanu. I remember loving him from the start even when he was passed over in favor of Mara's first husband and then her barbarian lover, Kevin. At the conclusion of the second book, I was excited when Mara finally agreed to marry him and Fiest & Wurts did not disappoint, which brings me to a general critique that I have about fantasy novels. Why are the strong and steady relationships disregarded in favor of the ones filled with passion. Sure, Mara had a nice time with Kevin, but he really never did anything to help her politically or even to strategize. Not only did Hokany have a title and power, but he believed in Mara and her abilities, which allowed her to play the Game even better. However, the book is filled with constant wistful thinking of Kevin and it drives me crazy. It also made me pretend the entire ending did not happen, but at least I got something.
This is the final installment in The Empire Trilogy, where Mara faces ultimate loss and must deal with enemies that slowly surround her. All the events start when an assassin murders Mara's son instead of her. Grief-stricken, Mara attempts to go to war with a rival house and long-standing nemesis but finds she is outnumbered by Assembly and hunted by the Black Robes. Paralleling the first book, Mara ventures into the far reaches of civilization to find alliances and befriends those forgotten by the powers in the Empire.
Similar to the first two books, Mistress of the Empire follows the entanglement of the Great Game, where different political rivals vie for power. In the first book, Mara was a girl, who was thrust onto the board when her father and brother died. She quickly mastered the Game and displayed her ability to cunning plan and win honor and glory for the Acoma House. This book illustrates Mara's true master of the Game and her place as the Lady of Acoma. It is marvelous to see the character progression and how the character has evolved.
However, this book and the entire series primarily focuses on political maneuvering and intrigue. It follows the characters as they set up various moves and then follow them through. The story is about Mara, but it's more about how she wins and succeeds at the Great Game. As a result, this book is not as character-heavy as other fantasy titles. With that said, Mistress of the Empire portrays Mara's grief in a realistic and believable manner that establishes her motivation to move forward in the Game. Despite this, it sometimes felt like Mara solely focused on the politics and neglected her issues even when they later became major players. I wish Fiest and Wurts had carried through Mara's strong emotions in the first half of the book to characterize and flesh out her relationship with her remaining children.
The other thing that I adored about this final book was the portrayal of Hokanu. I remember loving him from the start even when he was passed over in favor of Mara's first husband and then her barbarian lover, Kevin. At the conclusion of the second book, I was excited when Mara finally agreed to marry him and Fiest & Wurts did not disappoint, which brings me to a general critique that I have about fantasy novels. Why are the strong and steady relationships disregarded in favor of the ones filled with passion. Sure, Mara had a nice time with Kevin, but he really never did anything to help her politically or even to strategize. Not only did Hokany have a title and power, but he believed in Mara and her abilities, which allowed her to play the Game even better. However, the book is filled with constant wistful thinking of Kevin and it drives me crazy. It also made me pretend the entire ending did not happen, but at least I got something.