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A review by theshaggyshepherd
Empire of Exiles by Erin M. Evans
4.0
Empire of Exiles attracted me with a combination of a great name, a cool cover, and an awesome premise. While I have some small gripes with the book, I did overall really enjoy it and definitely recommend it.
I started out a bit confused because there are a lot of different names to keep up with for places and people. Eventually though you get used to that. It continues throughout the book but in time you start to pick out which ones are more important to keep track of and which ones aren’t quite as important.
The archives make a very intriguing center point for the story to revolve around. Between the information found there, the people being trained or coming to get help there, and the relationships forming there, there are always more layers of intrigue being peeled back. It’s also the place where we experience and learn about much of the magic, which is different to me from anything else I’ve read. I’ve always loved magic having a cost to the user and this one is quite interesting.
I really liked the characters. Quill feels pretty realistic. His age shows through his overeagerness and righteousness in a way that experience burned out of some of the other characters. He is excitable in a way that doesn’t always benefit his character and steers him wrong a couple of times but that just endeared him even more to me and made him feel more lifelike, which is important in more ways than one in this story.
He isn’t the only character that makes mistakes sometimes but what I love about this book is that this is often pointed out by others or makes sense in the situation due to the emotions the characters are experiencing. They’re so deeply affected that it’s difficult to see past their fears or other feelings in a way that feels relatable. The frantic energy of spiraling in particular is conveyed really well.
I did sometimes find this book a little bit too convoluted. There is a lot of intrigue and I loved learning about the political machinations but sometimes it was really difficult to keep up with the small details that seem to make all the difference. I also felt that sometimes the characters focus on clues that feel rather flimsy in the situation but it is convenient to do so to move the story forward. In contrast to that though, it also stunned me a couple of times in a good way. I love it when a book takes me off guard and makes me go OOOHHHH out loud. This one actually managed that more than once.
So while there were a couple of things that didn’t completely work for me, overall the positives heavily outweighed those. I wanted to read this book any chance I got because I had to know what would happen next. I love how the action is mixed up with the intellectual in this story and can’t wait to read the next one.
I started out a bit confused because there are a lot of different names to keep up with for places and people. Eventually though you get used to that. It continues throughout the book but in time you start to pick out which ones are more important to keep track of and which ones aren’t quite as important.
The archives make a very intriguing center point for the story to revolve around. Between the information found there, the people being trained or coming to get help there, and the relationships forming there, there are always more layers of intrigue being peeled back. It’s also the place where we experience and learn about much of the magic, which is different to me from anything else I’ve read. I’ve always loved magic having a cost to the user and this one is quite interesting.
I really liked the characters. Quill feels pretty realistic. His age shows through his overeagerness and righteousness in a way that experience burned out of some of the other characters. He is excitable in a way that doesn’t always benefit his character and steers him wrong a couple of times but that just endeared him even more to me and made him feel more lifelike, which is important in more ways than one in this story.
He isn’t the only character that makes mistakes sometimes but what I love about this book is that this is often pointed out by others or makes sense in the situation due to the emotions the characters are experiencing. They’re so deeply affected that it’s difficult to see past their fears or other feelings in a way that feels relatable. The frantic energy of spiraling in particular is conveyed really well.
I did sometimes find this book a little bit too convoluted. There is a lot of intrigue and I loved learning about the political machinations but sometimes it was really difficult to keep up with the small details that seem to make all the difference. I also felt that sometimes the characters focus on clues that feel rather flimsy in the situation but it is convenient to do so to move the story forward. In contrast to that though, it also stunned me a couple of times in a good way. I love it when a book takes me off guard and makes me go OOOHHHH out loud. This one actually managed that more than once.
So while there were a couple of things that didn’t completely work for me, overall the positives heavily outweighed those. I wanted to read this book any chance I got because I had to know what would happen next. I love how the action is mixed up with the intellectual in this story and can’t wait to read the next one.