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A review by jennieartemis
Hollow Empire: A Poison War Novel by Sam Hawke
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.0
TL;DR: Another fun, albeit much messier, instalment of twisty fantasy politics and thoughtful social commentary
Hollow Empire was, for the majority of the read, just as riveting and well realised as the predecessor. Lots of conflicting politics, two great protagonists, and some good worldbuilding. But this book had a more expansive scope, and although that allowed for more ideas (a greater sense of different cultures, with the treatment of women across them a recurring theme), it also left a lot underexplored. The ending in particular feels such a rush, with revelations and climaxes all crushed in. Furthermore, I simply didn't like some of the narrative choices at the end: in the interests of being surprising, the book felt less grounded and meaningful (I again saw the most shocking twist coming, but this time really hoped I was wrong). The villains ended up feeling far more "villainous" than complex political entities - in another fantasy book, this would be standard, but book 1 was so good at showing the complexity of evil. I suspect that this is a duology that should have been a trilogy, and has suffered as a result of being streamlined, which is a shame, but, even so, they are a pair of genuinely modern and entertaining political fantasy books.
7/10 in personal rating system
Hollow Empire was, for the majority of the read, just as riveting and well realised as the predecessor. Lots of conflicting politics, two great protagonists, and some good worldbuilding. But this book had a more expansive scope, and although that allowed for more ideas (a greater sense of different cultures, with the treatment of women across them a recurring theme), it also left a lot underexplored. The ending in particular feels such a rush, with revelations and climaxes all crushed in. Furthermore, I simply didn't like some of the narrative choices at the end: in the interests of being surprising, the book felt less grounded and meaningful (I again saw the most shocking twist coming, but this time really hoped I was wrong). The villains ended up feeling far more "villainous" than complex political entities - in another fantasy book, this would be standard, but book 1 was so good at showing the complexity of evil. I suspect that this is a duology that should have been a trilogy, and has suffered as a result of being streamlined, which is a shame, but, even so, they are a pair of genuinely modern and entertaining political fantasy books.
7/10 in personal rating system