Quick Review: Daughter of the Empire
Nine years after reading The Riftwar Saga, I feared that I’ll be at a loss, remembering so few specifics that I wondered what “mind-boggling” and “audaciously ambitious” scope and setting I was referring to in the quick review for A Darkness at Sethanon. However, Daughter of the Empire takes place entirely on Kelewan and stands completely on its own… And, with the exception of one moment from the end, it might as well take place in Feudal Japan, just with some strange animals… And even stranger natives, though the cho-ja are pretty much brushed aside after that one chapter. But the worldbuilding is actually decent, albeit with a narrow focus and mainly when it comes to traditions, rituals, ceremonies, and detailed descriptions. And I also appreciated the fact that the early part of the marriage, which would have otherwise been infuriating, was largely skipped over.
On that note, Bunto ends up little more than a caricature that’s far too easy to manipulate, and Bruli is even worse. But things play too much into Mara’s hands in general, and while she does expertly make use of any shred of an opportunity, I had the feeling that the authors were more interested in finding ways that would lead her to her goals instead of the ways in which she could carve her way there. And there’s also the fact that, until the actually quite exciting part taking place towards the end, there are only a couple of other tense moments, the rest being mainly a matter of politics, of playing the Game of the Council from a distance… Which isn’t necessarily bad in itself, but just not what I expected.
Rating: 3/5
