The worldbuilding and characters were really well done but something didn't click with me in the story, it felt like it didn't connect.

I thoroughly enjoyed the depth of this story and the characters. The story-telling was incredible although I would not recommend this as an entry book into David Hair's writing as it assumes that you have read the other books despite it being the first in a new series.

Interesting read but felt that the story was too fragmented. The story felt like it was actually 3 stories put together and they never really felt like they joined however this is the first book in the series so maybe they will progress together more on the next book.

Empress of the Fall (book one in a four part series) has so many of the things a great fantasy novel should have; an epic, sprawling storyline, a world rich in history and mythology and a myriad of characters. It's got warring political allegiances, fantastical beasts, a well-constructed magical system and plenty of double crosses, political games and forbidden romances.
Yet it fails in one vital element. Readability.
For all its promise Empress of the Fall a dull chore of a tome that fails to capture your attention like the novels it seeks to emulate, the Fire and Ice series by George R.R. Martin and Robert Jordan's Wheels of Time.
The writing is slathered in exposition and its action scenes are dull and lifeless. The characters – and there are so many – lack original voices, tending to blur into a mass of sameness.
It’s the type of novel you soldier through; waiting for the story to take hold – but it never grips you by the horns and takes you along for the ride.
There’s so much promise in this world but it’s a book that never delivers.

There were about 5 pages (on kindle) of lore and explanations and history before you even get to chapter one. And then when we got into the book, there were about 50 different names, titles, places etc to get to grips with. And as a person who mostly reads at night, tucked up in bed, where the tasks of the day can't take me away from me-time, I lost track very quickly.

Like, I don't know why I need to know every single player so early on, or the world in names. Give me the world in sights and feelings first, interactions. Give me more than just "Bravaa of the inter-sectional troupe of Delivarr, who answers to Numpty Dora..." (it wasn't as bad as that example but so. many. names).

Lord of the Rings has tons of names, right? And lore and history. But the way Tolkien delivered those names - ie, taking his time and making sure we understood where we were at the start of it rather than throwing around the entire Middle Earth's information at us - eased us in so we felt more involved.

I felt the same with Empress as I did with Game Of Thrones. so I guess in that example it's pretty accurate - I did not care at all about any of the names thrown at me. And I DNF'ed that one pretty quickly.

Make no mistake, apart from the onslought of information, the writing is good and I appreciated the threads of story I got in the end, but the beginning left a lasting impression of confusion and I ended up DNF'ing this at 29%.

Empress of the Fall was advertised by saying it was similar to the Song of Ice and Fire series. I didn't really take that personally but I'm a huge fan of the series and I though, ' Will this really be as good as Song of Ice and Fire?'

I decided it was not. There are only a few reasons for this, though.

I really enjoyed the writing style and it kept me at it even though I really didn't understand anything of the first chapter. I was in the mood, so I went on reading and it was really good that I did.

I loved the characters. They were so divers and interesting. The cultures I got to know were really fascinating even though it did resemble our current situation around Europa and the Middle East pretty much. So it wasn't really anything new culture-wise, but the characters and the royal courts, the schemes and wars were fascinating.

What kind of made me give it only 3.5 Ribbons is that there wasn't really any plot. I was over half of the almost 700 pages and I still couldn't see where this was going. It seems to me that this book will be part of a bigger series but I still felt a little discouraged by tha fact that the first book was only establishing all the characters.

Even though I enjoyed the characters and their struggles and schemes, my heart wasn't really in it.

But I can recommend the book to anyone who likes complex settings and places and lot's of characters. Classic immersive fantasy here. The book will be released on March 9th so go and get yourself a copy and try it out ;)

Nonostante le premesse interessanti per ambientazione e tema, il romanzo in sè si è rivelato una delusione. infodump come se piovesse (e, sebbene capisca che è legato a una precedente trilogia, ci sono modi decisamente più eleganti di gestire la cosa), dialoghi mediocri e personaggi stereotipati.
Il tutto dà una sconfortante impressione di prevedibilità, frammista a una costante sensazione di già visto.
Forse valido per chi ama il fantasy tradizionale, o per chi ne abbia letto ancora poco, ma non per chi, come me, lo frequenta da decenni e cerca originalità di temi e soluzioni.

I was wary of this title as it is part of an established universe, but it was made clear that you don't need to read <i>The Moontide Quartet</i> to enjoy <i>Empress of the Fall</i>. So I dove in, but sadly I have to admit that it made it to my DNF pile.

I'm an experienced fantasy reader and have read and enjoyed books with some of the more complicated worlds and histories. However, I just couldn't keep up with this one. The first chapter crams several hundred years of complicated history and conflict into a very small amount of space and ends up being more convoluted and unclear. The following chapters assume you're crystal clear on what has happened in the past, but to be honest I was not.

I powered ahead and it all just fell flat. I couldn't connect with the characters. They were just not particularly interesting and felt very generic, almost like a set of tropes were chosen and the characters were shaped around that. The fight sequences felt a little sloppy and unclear as well. I kept pressing myself to go on, but in the end I decided to put it aside. For me, it was just a bit of a jumbled mess that required a lot more groundwork.

However, I will say that fans of David Hair's <i>Moontide Quartet</i> should absolutely give this one a shot. I feel like my reading suffered because I had no prior knowledge of this world, which would have helped me a lot.

Rating: 2/5

A grand start to a new epic fantasy, by turns dark, humorous and action packed, with great world building and some truly standout characters, fans of Game of Thrones or The Wheel Of Time will no doubt love this book.. Well worth a read, looking forward to the next one.