Eric Hoffer Book Award finalist, 2020
Empress & Soldier - Empire's Legacy 4
Ages: 18+
One seeks to save an empire. The other seeks to save his soul.
A cruel command from his merchant father drives sixteen-year-old Druisius from his home and into the front lines. A decade later, he is a man forged by the loss of his first love and the bloodiness of conquest, a soldier who has traded his humanity for survival.
Eudekia, a scholar’s daughter, was never meant for a crown. But in a city choked by famine and an empire bleeding from war, she has become an Emperor’s bride, a prince’s mother, and the throne’s last hope.
The arrival of a delegation from the lost West changes everything. Among them is a young captain—a man of honor who offers Druisius, now a city guard, something he thought he’d lost forever: a chance to move beyond his violent past.
As the Captain captures Eudekia’s heart and Druisius’s devotion, the three are woven into a dangerous web of intrigue. In the span of a few weeks, Druisius must decide if his loyalty belongs to his past, or to the man who offers a future he never dared to dream of.
A stand-alone novel that can be read as the fourth in the Empire's Legacy series, or as a second entry point into series.
Reviews
Thorpe is a very skilful storyteller and the read goes smoothly and easily. It’s a deceptive ease though: it is borne out of beautifully crafted prose, and a confidence in her characters and world. I found that my visualisation of the scenes was almost unconscious, and this really impressed me: I know how difficult it is to convey an atmosphere and physical environment together, but I feel I could navigate the palace, the city and the battlefield pretty easily! Also impressive was the skill with which two first person characters were sharply differentiated throughout the narrative. The two main characters, Eudekia and Druisius, are genuinely interesting and complex.
Empress & Soldier is an excellent standalone novel, telling the story of two characters that you will find soon attached. I totally recommend it to fans of historical fiction, because even if the world this story is situated in is imaginary, this novel feels like one of the genre; and I would also recommend it to people who prefer low fantasy settings. Certainly a perfect entry to Thorpe's worlds.
