Daughter of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist & Janny Wurts

Blurb:

Book one in the magnificent Empire Trilogy by bestselling authors Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts, now available in ebook format.

Enter the mysterious and exotic world of Kelewan…

Mara, the youngest child of the ancient and noble Acoma family, is about to take her pledge of servitude to the goddess Lashima when the ceremony is disrupted by news of her father and brother’s death in battle.

Despite her grief, as the only surviving member of her house, Mara must now take up the mantles of Ruling Lady. But she soon discovers betrayal at the heart of her family’s loss, and the Acoma’s enemies have brought her house to the brink of utter destruction.

Daughter of the Empire is the magnificent first book in The Empire Trilogy by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts.

Mara, an inexperienced political player, must draw on all her wit, intelligence and cunning to navigate the ruthless Game of the Council, regain the honour of House Acoma and secure the future of her family. But with assassins waiting around every corner, it might take everything Mara has simply to survive.

Daughter of the Empire is the first in Feist and Wurts’ wonderful epic trilogy – one of the most successful fantasy collaborations of all time. The trilogy continues with the second book, Servant of the Empire.

Review:

Let me start this review by stating that this (at least to me) is the best portrayal of a strong female lead character in a classic fantasy novel you are ever likely to read. I’m not talking about your ‘sword in hand Viking warrior goddess or brooding young assassin stalking the night’ type character either, I’m talking about a woman living in a world dominated by men who has just lost both her brother and her father in a brutal betrayal and is thrust into the role of ruling Lady at the young age of just 17 and must rely on nothing but her wit and cunning to out manoeuvre her enemies and bring her family name back into notoriety by playing the vicious game that is the Game of the Council. 

This book doesn’t just change the tone of the series, it changes the rules. Where in the original Riftworld trilogy we are on the world of Midkemia and follow the feats of Pug, Thomas, Arutha and Jimmy, here, we technically follow the same timeline, but we’re in Kelewan. The entire environment is different, the world and lifestyle is even more brutal. The honour system is just all kinds of messed up. You bow wrong, you die… You marry wrong, you die… You trust the wrong person… well you get the picture. 

Right in the middle of this, and the Lady I was speaking about, is Mara of the Acoma. You can clearly see through Mara’s character the influence Janny Wurts had on Feist’s world. Where it could be stated that some of the female characters in Feist’s earlier works were a little underdeveloped or even non-existent, here, it’s a completely different story. Mara is fascinating to me because she isn’t a warrior. She isn’t even pretending to be. Now, I usually like my stories full of bloodshed and epic battles, but for me this is an exception. That’s not to say there is no bloodshed and battles… there are, but they just take a back-seat here and in their place is a woman who uses her brain and her nerve to manipulate alliances, bend traditions and change from a nervous/innocent young girl into a cold and ruthless general of her house. 

If you’re one of those readers who enjoy the political side of fantasy such as that in Game of Thrones, then you’re in for a treat here. I mentioned this briefly before but on Kelewan, all that matters is the Game of the Council. This involves all important houses seeking to improve their influence and uphold their honour, and throughout the game is a whole tirade of spies, duels, etiquette, honour, vengeance, and betrayals. Any moment could result in the complete ruin of your house, which kept me on my toes while reading because I love high stake novels. 

The side characters are very well done as well here. While we do (mostly) stick with Mara the whole way through, I definitely found myself with my hand on my heart more than a few times wondering if certain characters would pull through. 

All in all, if you liked any of what I just said, then this is simply a must read. Although I have read the original trilogy before this, technically this can be read before it, so if you’re reading this and wondering whether you have to sit through the other three books beforehand and find yourself not wanting to but still feel like this would be more your style, then I recommend just skipping the first trilogy and trying this. However, I personally absolutely love the original Riftwar cycle books, if that will mean anything to you.