Mistress of the Empire

The third in the trilogy started out so strong that I wanted to rage, weep, and throw the book against the wall.

I really hate it when books tear me to shreds. The tragedy in the opening was a real nightmare for me and the characters in here, but more importantly, it drove a lot of the massive change to come.

We are, after all, sitting on a trilogy that completely upends the entire society. Civil War, massive change for the Cho-Ji, and even the Council who are above the law, the High Magicians, and the Emperor will have to bow before it.

Moreover, I should mention that this particular trilogy places fine emphasis on showing every single step, every important building block from a young girl just trying to save her house, to become show more indispensable to the Emperor, to become The Power of the whole land. It's impressive, and no doubt. This isn't some simple tale. It's all about politics, power bases, economics, spy networks, mortal enemies, revenge, deception, and total social upheaval. So yeah, it's impressive as hell.

My only complaint was for a few of the slow bits. And I wasn't all that interested in the spymaster's love life. It might have been something cool but it just didn't turn out all that great for me. *shrug* But everything else was fantastic! :) show less

A fairly satisfying conclusion to the Empire trilogy. The middle part did feel a bit padded, like a video game where the character seems to do a series of quests just to waste time. But the authors execute fantasy tropes fairly well and the main and supporting characters are well-drawn. It is well plotted and thwarts the reader's expectations as to where the story goes. They probably could have spent less time on Mara and a bit more on the characters who turn out to be the main antagonists.

The final book in the Feist/Wurts collaboration, and it ended in grand style.

I will admit that I was a little begrudged on how "wordy" things became mid-book-but after that finale, I get it now. There was just so much to cover so many lives to tie together.

From about chapter 22 on, I did not want to put it down. Once again Feist comes through with battle scenes that take you right there-omg, the action on the road to the Holy City-guilty of a few tears at the section.

..and the final chapters with Mara/Hokanu/Kevin-again, not ashamed to admit I cried. When a fantasy writer can put me in the action and pull such feelings of sadness from me, well, they have done their job. A 5 star read for me.

Mistress of the Empire is the final book in The Empire Trilogy. As I’ve mentioned before, I first read this about 20 years ago. I remembered very little of it, particularly from the later books, just that I had really loved it at the time. My reaction was similar this time around. It was a great read.

I had a bit of a rough start with this book, and struggled a little through the first 100 pages or so. Mara took some actions early on that I didn’t like. I don’t think her actions were unrealistic given the circumstances and her personality, but I found them frustrating to read about and I missed her more calculated choices from the earlier books. Once that started to turn back around, my interest was caught again. I thought the book show more grew steadily more exciting as it approached the end.

This was a satisfying conclusion to the story, and I really enjoyed how everything worked out politically. I thought the last little bit at the very end was a bit too convenient, but I didn’t necessarily dislike it, I was just a little apathetic about it. I loved seeing the progression of Mara’s character as she re-examined her culture and her own decisions throughout the story, although there was one decision I wished she had thought back upon with regret at least once. I enjoyed all the political intrigue, and the occasional battle scenes were also written well and fun to read. It’s not an uproariously funny series, but there are nice bits of humor sprinkled throughout that made me laugh. There are several great characters, some poignant moments, and difficult choices that I thought added depth to the story. I’m rating this at 4.5 stars, but rounding down to 4 on Goodreads, mostly due to my difficulties at the beginning.

I want to elaborate on my above comment about the decision Mara should have thought back upon with regret. I’ll have to put that in spoiler tags:
Mara spent quite a bit of time regretting her part in Bunto’s death, and I do think that was something she should regret. However, I thought something that she should have regretted even more was the time in the first book when she had several slaves killed for nothing more than being in the wrong place at the wrong time and hearing information she didn’t want others to know. Bunto at least had some role in his own downfall and was a generally scummy person, but the slaves were innocent so far as we knew and represented several lives lost. I enjoyed seeing Mara’s views on honor and freedom evolve over the series, but I think it would have added some weight to her newfound convictions about slavery to see her remember and regret that particular decision. show less

After three months, I am done with the Empire Trilogy and am looking forward to diving further into the Riftwar Cycle. If you're at all interested in Feist's work and the rest of the Riftwar Cycle, start with the Riftwar Saga Trilogy before you read the Empire Trilogy. It'll provide background info, I was lacking while reading it. It's not absolutely necessary but it'll add depth to the world.

I would hate to spoil anyone on this lovely trilogy, which is why I'll keep the plot info to a minimum.

The trilogy is set in a world inspired by Asia. There's not a lot of magic, instead it's all about intrigue and politics.

Mara is possibly the best female fantasy character I've encountered so far. She kicks ass, is intelligent, cunning and the show more entire tale is one big chess game filled with politics and betrayal. Mara does not use strength and violence to win this game but her wit.

The entire cast of characters is well developed. The villains are intriguing and relatable.

I enjoyed every part of this trilogy, even the romance. In fact this had a romance that warmed my heart and made me happy. (Rare, I'm usually grumpy!)

Recommended to everyone who likes either Feist or Wurts, and who enjoys witty politicians betraying each other. show less

Vast, epic conclusion to the Empire series tying up all the loose ends so dramatically ripped free by Pug in Magician so long ago.

After her promotion to Servant of the Empire, Mara has been enjoying a few years of peaceful life. Still missing her barbarian lover Kevin, she has married and is comfortable and secure. Her heir is growing up and enjoying the freedoms she has one for him. When he is cruelly murdered in an obscure act of politics, Mara realises that she can no longer ignore the contradictions inherent in the Tsuarmi codes of honour - Kevin's irreverent point of view begins to make sense. However her acts are bulked by the Great Ones who don't uphold change. Mara considers what no-one else in the Empire has ever done, is it show more possible to defy the Great Ones and survive?

This is a very long book, but unlike the preceding volume, it never feels like it. Completely gripping all the way through. Intricately detailed, absorbingly complex, wonderfully told it has everything, struggles, greed, honour and redemption, and a great big massive climactic finish. There are one or two very minor plot issues - why don't the Great Ones notice Mara being saved from the Cho-Ja hive? and a couple of other instances of the Great Ones not being either as clever or as powerful as a reader might expect - but this is probably deliberate because they are intended to be only human, unlike Pug. The other discordant note is that our westernised concepts are inherently better than other world views held by other cultures - I don't think that this series, unlike some fantasy, intends to cast a shadow against the real world, but if it did the message would be clear.

Don't be scared by the number of words. Go and read it. show less

The authors first provide a moment of respite for Mara of the Acoma after everything she's been through in the two earlier books. And then almost cruelly create event after event of catastrophe in ever frequent waves. The conclusion is mostly anticipated (although with a deus ex machina moment) but it does wrap up all remaining threads.