Sisters Moria and Ashyn are the
Keeper and Seeker of Edgewood. Or at least, they were.
Their village is gone. Their friends
have betrayed them. And now, the emperor has sent them on a mission to rescue
the children of Edgewood—accompanied by Prince Tyrus and a small band of
imperial warriors. But the journey proves more perilous than they could have
imagined. With treachery and unrest mounting in the empire, Moria and Ashyn
will have to draw on all their influence and power to overcome deadly enemies—not
all of them human—and then avert an all-out war.
Sadly I must first
mention that this book did not, in any way whatsoever, live up to it’s
predecessor. While I still enjoyed Empire
of Night, I can honestly say it was not as good as Sea of Shadows. The problem with this book was that it read like a
filler book. It felt like the first book happened and then this one was only
written to move the characters to their final positions for the big finale. It
felt like Kelley Armstrong wrote the first book, then the third book, and
finally the second book. Clearly there were characters in the third book that
weren’t in the first so she had to jam all of that into this second “filler”
book. Of course, I’m not sure if this is true, it is just how it felt.
One of my
main questions is where did Tyrus even come from? He wasn’t in the first book,
and then suddenly he’s Moria’s love interest and BFF in the second? Did I miss
a chapter? While I loved Tyrus, I just didn’t see the point of introducing him
so out of the blue. His and Moria’s friendship and relationship could have
developing throughout this book instead of just existing on page one. Oh my
gosh, a plotline that could have been used? Well I never. Besides, Moria and
Gavriel belong together (no matter how perfect Tyrus and Moria seem!).
Some of the
things I really loved about Sea of
Shadows just didn’t happen in Empire
of Night. I loved the apparent personalities of Tova and DAIKO (???), but
they were lost in this book. Then there was Moria’s likening to a bard what
with her wide knowledge of lore and stories. I didn’t get that too much in this
book. Sure there were the hellhounds, but those are nothing new and exciting
like Thunderhawks and Shadow Stalkers! It was just a disappointment. All the
things I wanted to see again didn’t happen. I get that due to the events of the
last book the main characters have changed, but they shouldn’t be that
different.
One thing I
actually hated was the fact that I had to wait for Ashyn’s POV in chapter seven
to get even an inkling of a recap for the first book. It was so confusing
jumping into Moria’s character with all these new people and no recap. I
seriously thought I was missing chapters. And then when Ashyn ended up with her
birth tribe of sorts, I was all who are these people? I couldn’t remember
anything other that her living in Edgewood, so there really needed to be more
of a lead in for the introduction of that tribe. The last thing I hated was how
annoying Moria was with her sexual escapading. She was all “Oh it’s fine, we
can just have sex because that’s normal for me and I can have as many sex
partners as I want”. It was so weird and awkward to read about.
As for what
I loved…there’s of course Ronan and Ashyn. I was so sad to see them not
together but of course the plot must go on. I really enjoyed learning more
about Ronan’s background and the fact that he’s casteless. I also thoroughly
enjoyed the Emperor and his slight deviousness. I even relished finally getting
to truly meet Gavriel’s father! So good! The way this book played out just
makes me want a lot of things for the final book.
Now that
Ashyn is with her birth tribe of sorts, I want to become a fighter. While Moria
is stuck in enemy’s territory, I want her to become reserved. I want what their
roles have been so far in the series to just swap completely. Ashyn becomes a
fighter, and Moria becomes engrossed in politics and has to use her head more.
I think their strengths work brilliantly but they need to become more well
rounded if they’re going to save the empire and I think they’re in the perfect
positions to do so.
XOXO Tia
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