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A review by thatcherisaac
Mistress of the Empire by Janny Wurts, Raymond E. Feist
2.0
ok. so i finally finished it. i’m free.
i have a lot of thoughts and i’m going to air them here and now while they’re fresh in my mind.
i did enjoy some parts. i liked learning more about the cho-ja and the magicians and the world of kelewan beyond the empire. i liked hokanu as a husband (for the most part). i’m glad the ending was mostly happy etc. etc.
but i have some other thoughts that i’m also going to air.
first. DON’T try to make me feel bad about what happened to her first husband from book one. he deserved it. he wasn’t good or full of potential or whatever. he was an abusive pos and deserved what came to him. that’s it. the end.
second, couldn’t stand that half the conflict at the start of the book is just her pointing mara fingers at the wrong people when even she knows she’s wrong.
the end making her immune to the magicians and somehow chosen by the gods when until now we’ve had no indication that they were actual physical entities capable of doing something like that was WAY too convenient. if gods actually intervene in society tell me about it before now. she didn’t need to be chosen by the gods to do what she did and it just made it seem less impactful.
also did not like arakasi’s relationship with kamlio. one second it wasn’t there and the next he’s completely in love with someone he’s barely met? huh? and her emotions are constantly belittled and made fun of when she’s a traumatised young woman who has barely been given the chance to learn about herself for herself.
making a 10/12 year old get married was super weird and creepy i don’t care what your justification is.
the unravelling of mara and hokanu’s relationship was beyond stupid i’m sorry. INFERTILITY DOES NOT A RELATIONSHIP BREAK! he literally said he had cousins who could take over the mantle! he had heirs! and dude i liked hokanu until this point but he can teach his daughter to sword fight and do boyish things like it’s not that hard! he’s just sexist idc what the book’s justification is. and taking a literal ‘CHILD BRIDE??’ I’M SORRY DID I READ THAT CORRECTLY?
the whole thing was only brought about so feist and wurts had a reason to bring kevin back, who is apparently happy just to get back with the woman who didn’t bother telling him he had a son, ordered him around because he was literally her SLAVE, and sent him away so unceremoniously. their relationship sucks and kevin was so obviously an orientalist archetype to show that the fantasy western setting is less ‘barbaric’ or whatever than the fantasy eastern setting. there could have been a number of other ways for mara to realise her society had big issues it needed to fix other than through him and bringing him back was just rushed. he should have come in earlier imo if he was going to be part of the story at all and not just a reward.
i would have liked a more thorough assurance that the slavery and sexist laws etc. etc. entrenched in tsurani society had been abolished at the end of the novel but all it mentioned were the ‘great laws of freedom’. would also loved some more conclusion for the cho-ja. way too vague and unsatisfying for readers.
basically this book was stronger at the beginning/middle and the epilogue and last chapter or two just got confusing and wayyyy too convenient. i get why the start had to be so dark but as it went on the personal/romantic conflicts sucked and just frustrated me beyond everything else. liked exploring the world and would have appreciated more of that, less moaning and groaning about how hokanu isn’t going to have a son now. orientalist (though NOWHERE near as bad as the last book i’ll give it that much), creepy at times and just frustrating.
it’s certainly been a ride, and i did enjoy exploring more of the world of kelewan in this trilogy. but it was just too much of a mess for me to enjoy properly.
i have a lot of thoughts and i’m going to air them here and now while they’re fresh in my mind.
i did enjoy some parts. i liked learning more about the cho-ja and the magicians and the world of kelewan beyond the empire. i liked hokanu as a husband (for the most part). i’m glad the ending was mostly happy etc. etc.
but i have some other thoughts that i’m also going to air.
first. DON’T try to make me feel bad about what happened to her first husband from book one. he deserved it. he wasn’t good or full of potential or whatever. he was an abusive pos and deserved what came to him. that’s it. the end.
second, couldn’t stand that half the conflict at the start of the book is just her pointing mara fingers at the wrong people when even she knows she’s wrong.
the end making her immune to the magicians and somehow chosen by the gods when until now we’ve had no indication that they were actual physical entities capable of doing something like that was WAY too convenient. if gods actually intervene in society tell me about it before now. she didn’t need to be chosen by the gods to do what she did and it just made it seem less impactful.
also did not like arakasi’s relationship with kamlio. one second it wasn’t there and the next he’s completely in love with someone he’s barely met? huh? and her emotions are constantly belittled and made fun of when she’s a traumatised young woman who has barely been given the chance to learn about herself for herself.
making a 10/12 year old get married was super weird and creepy i don’t care what your justification is.
the unravelling of mara and hokanu’s relationship was beyond stupid i’m sorry. INFERTILITY DOES NOT A RELATIONSHIP BREAK! he literally said he had cousins who could take over the mantle! he had heirs! and dude i liked hokanu until this point but he can teach his daughter to sword fight and do boyish things like it’s not that hard! he’s just sexist idc what the book’s justification is. and taking a literal ‘CHILD BRIDE??’ I’M SORRY DID I READ THAT CORRECTLY?
the whole thing was only brought about so feist and wurts had a reason to bring kevin back, who is apparently happy just to get back with the woman who didn’t bother telling him he had a son, ordered him around because he was literally her SLAVE, and sent him away so unceremoniously. their relationship sucks and kevin was so obviously an orientalist archetype to show that the fantasy western setting is less ‘barbaric’ or whatever than the fantasy eastern setting. there could have been a number of other ways for mara to realise her society had big issues it needed to fix other than through him and bringing him back was just rushed. he should have come in earlier imo if he was going to be part of the story at all and not just a reward.
i would have liked a more thorough assurance that the slavery and sexist laws etc. etc. entrenched in tsurani society had been abolished at the end of the novel but all it mentioned were the ‘great laws of freedom’. would also loved some more conclusion for the cho-ja. way too vague and unsatisfying for readers.
basically this book was stronger at the beginning/middle and the epilogue and last chapter or two just got confusing and wayyyy too convenient. i get why the start had to be so dark but as it went on the personal/romantic conflicts sucked and just frustrated me beyond everything else. liked exploring the world and would have appreciated more of that, less moaning and groaning about how hokanu isn’t going to have a son now. orientalist (though NOWHERE near as bad as the last book i’ll give it that much), creepy at times and just frustrating.
it’s certainly been a ride, and i did enjoy exploring more of the world of kelewan in this trilogy. but it was just too much of a mess for me to enjoy properly.