A review by viiemzee
How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It by K.J. Parker

adventurous funny inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Admittedly this took me a while to get into, but when I did I sped through the whole thing. In a fantasy world where a civilization called the Robur used to rule the world, they are currently under a siege that has been going on for about seven years. Nokter, a two bit actor who makes most of his money doing impersonations of famous political figures in the city, is enlisted when one of these political figures is killed, but his colleagues don't want the Public to know about it. Using Nokter as their mouth piece, they get him to impersonate the dead general for as long as possible, resulting in Nokter eventually manging to rule the empire (just as it says on the tin) and saving everybody from the siege that has been plaguing them for years. 

What I particularly liked about this book is that it takes us into the view of the people who are being attacked, rather than the view of the people doing the attacking. Most of the time, these books will revolve around the civilization that was plagued by the empire and then decides to rebel; this time, the story is told by the colonizers as they slowly start to lose their footing on the world that they held a firm hold over. I also liked that the Robur are a race of black people who have taken over the known world, and are now losing it to the 'milkfaces'. It's not often you see black characters being the conquerors for obvious reasons, and it's not often you see so many of them as main characters without their race being a point of contention. 

I really did enjoy this book. Highly recommended to fans of fantasy and slight alternate histories.