A review by ellensbookishcollection
Heroes of the Empire Book 1: The Cavalier by Israel Azizi

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤, 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥. 𝐃𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬, 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝.

Heros Of The Empire has action, magic, gore, blood, quests, and morally grey characters. The story was fun, I was engaged and enjoyed the whole story. What more could you ask for in a fantasy?! I was pleasantly surprised with this one! It is a bit of a slower start, but it picks up quickly. If you like multiple POVs, this books has it! 

"𝐌𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧. 𝐀𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐈'𝐦 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬."

As is usual with fantasy, this is heavy world building and a ton of characters. At first it was a bit confusing, but as the story progressed it cleared up. The world building was fun, and we get glimpses into the different kind of magic the Shadow Manos have. We don't get info dumped, and it's all rolled out at a nice pace. 

𝐇𝐞'𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.

I will caution, that this ends on a major cliffhanger. I don't mind that, but I hope we don't have to wait too long for book 2. Because I am definitely reading it! In many ways, this is a typical fantasy story. But it was fun! And at the end of the day, those are the kind of books I want to read, ones that I'm having fun reading! 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5

𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘙𝘊, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.