This was a solid sequel to The Bone Shard Daughter. The characters, the plot, the building on upon the previously set up lore and world-building. Chef's kiss.

The magic of this world continues to be unsettling, the characters were the perfect balance of hard-to-like and unrelatable but redeeming. I did want to punch Jovis a handful of times though, and I do wish he'd had more character growth but it was nonetheless in line with his character. I do like Lin a lot, as well. It was very enjoyable seeing her navigate the fragile political scenario. And I also felt so sorry for her, her situation is just so lonely and I truly felt that.

I also really liked the way the romance panned out. I hate it when authors make the noticing, the breathlessness and heart skipping so painfully obvious that it feels forced. Here, while it was obvious, it was obvious without being cheesy and forced and I really liked it. I'm not sure how well the pairing can actually work going forward but I do think it has potential.

The stakes this time were higher, and the last section of the book was tense and I flew through the pages. Nisong was an interesting antagonist but I did find her motivations unconvincing. She has this drive to her which can only be explained due to what she is, but I'm just not sold on it. It was very annoying to me.

Lastly, I'll say that the book was very well-paced and was over too quickly for my liking--there's no second book syndrome here, y'all.

All in all, so excited for the last instalment.

The Bone Shard Emperor by Andrea Stewart is an excellent follow up to a solid debut.

After the events of the final pages of "The boneshard Daughter" Lin is desperate to make new alliances and trying to control the empire. When you don't know who you are and surrounded by two different rebellions with an ancient power awakening, it is a difficult task to lead an empire while learning how to rule. Andrea Stewart clearly tackles this issue and we are always kept on guessing what will happen next and the author showed the scope of the issue in the final pages of this book. I am excitedly waiting for the final book to come.

Eventhough we don't get that much of Bone Shard Magic in this book as of the first one, the author explored a new magic system in this book. We are always given lores attached on each step and always kept known for us what is everything meant. These helped mostly in the action scenes of this book.

Lin Sukai spent book 1 creeping about on rooftops, trying to find out the secrets her father was keeping from her – secrets like the bone shard magic that lets her family create and control ‘constructs’ and maintain control of the Empire. Well, she found out a few more things than she’d bargained for, forcing her hand into something of a coup.

Gaining the throne, at however terrible a cost, is soon to seem the least of Lin’s worries, however. Keeping the throne, exerting her influence over the Empire, might be more than she can handle, even with the help of former soldier and smuggler, Jovis. He, of course, has woes of his own, with so many different factions demanding his loyalty or at least his – strange and newfound – strength.

As with Daughter, we have multiple viewpoints here, most told in first person. There were a few moments I had to quickly check the chapter heading to remember who we were following, especially now that characters’ stories overlap, but for the most part there’s no confusion. The characters are a huge strength here, perhaps even better than the excellent world building, facing trials and dilemmas with aplomb. Each seems tested by events, and no one gets an easy way out. Lin, Jovis, Phalue and Ranami somewhat mirroring Lin’s story, and of course, the still somewhat mysterious Nisong.

Still, I wasn’t quite as taken with the sequel as I was with the first book, largely I suspect because we go from slinking about unlocking secret doors, or pirating across the many islands, to well, politics. Interesting politics, to be sure, with so much intrigue and pitfalls and frustrations. And we do have the fuzzy joy of Mephis and now Thrana to add extra scampering – love these beasties 🙂

Better yet, we start to get a whole lot more information about the Alanga – deep lore kind of stuff – as Lin and Jovis continue to explore their new powers. Oh – and they might not be alone on that front…

Still, this suffers just a little from ‘middle book syndrome’ – still lots happening, and lots of revelations – but we’ll all just have to wait to find out how it all wraps up. Recommended, nonetheless, and roll on that finale!

Lin is struggling to prove herself as the Emperor and gain the support of Islands. She's decided to end the tithing festival and use of constructs. Islands are sinking one by one and an army of constructs, who want revenge, are attacking and taking over islands. Not to mention the threat of the Alanga returning. Jovis is caught between the shardless few, Ioph Carn and Lin unsure where his loyalties lie.

So, it turns out that Lin and Jovis are Alanga. I love the relationship between Jovis and Mephi. They were are my favorite. The romance between Jovis and Lin was unnecessary. It was set up really weirdly and kind of randomly, especially because, the reason Jovis was drawn to her in the first place was that she literally had the eyes of his dead wife. A strong friendship would've worked just fine. Phalue and ranami adopted a child 👀

Random, but I love how Lins's title is Emperor not Empress.

I really enjoyed the bone shard daughter and was looking forward to reading this. It was just as good as I expected. Highly recommend

A sequel that expands on the world Stewart established in new ways- some as expected (note- this is not a bad thing!) and some unexpected. I was gratified to see how Lin, especially, developed- I loved seeing her struggle with her identity and also trying hard not to follow the legacy of her father. It would be easy to make her unlikable, but she never comes off that way- just determined, isolated, and more than a little traumatised. Instead, you find yourself rooting for her and the final act's twists do feel genuinely gutting as you realise what this means for her.

The same balance holds, more or less, for the others, though I got a bit frustrated with Jovis as he seems to be allergic to just telling the truth occasionally (again, this is justified, but it does wear kind of thin), and of course I am always down for cute Mephi shenanigans.

All in all, this is a satisfying sequel, competently executed. Do you want more Bone Shard goodness? This is it! If you liked the first one, You'll like this one.

A must-read for fans of the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik, or anyone who just loves an epic adventure with a delightful nonhuman companion.

I found the first book of this trilogy by chance earlier this year and absolutely fell in love with it. I devoured it and the second, and I am eagerly awaiting the third. It is one of the best series that I have read in recent years - diverse characters with wildly different lives and goals, a strong through line that links them all together, and plenty of high stakes. And who can forget dear Mephi, the most delightful, faithful sidekick?

Andrea Stewart draws you deeper into this rich world with some superb writing and more fantastic worldbuilding. While it can be hard to remember which island is which or who rules it, you are never left confused about which characters you're reading about or why they are where they are.

Each character's goals are also fleshed out and easy to believe. I even found myself sympathising with the "villain" quite a lot - her motivations are so easy to understand, and it's so easy to believe that if I were in her shoes, then perhaps I would be making some of the same decisions. Our heroes, too, are not completely faultless or without blame - they have their flaws, and they have made decisions that are, at times, morally grey at best.

I love how there are several different things going on as well - there's what is essentially a three-sided war around the bone shards, there's the Alanga, there's the fact that islands are sinking because of the mining of the relied upon Whitstone, there's the Emeperor's secret....

I'm looking forward to the release of the third book, which quite honestly cannot come soon enough! I have a feeling that we will see some heroic self-sacrifice from a few of the supporting characters.

If you have read and enjoyed the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik, another of my favourites, then I can very easily envision you enjoying The Drowning Empire by Andrea Stewart. The relationship between Jorvis and Mephi reminds me a lot of the relationship between Laurence and Temeraire. Their personalities play off each other so well, and they both help each other to grow in new ways.

Classic second book syndrome.

They cut out all the secondary characters! Well, mostly! The ONLY part in third person!! PAINFUL.
AND WHAT IN THE SARAH J MASS WAS THE LOVE INTEREST CHANGE? I get attached. I was attached to all the side characters who got cut… Not even the dignity of getting killed off!

This book annoyed me and it annoyed me even more that the last part was SO SO SO good that I still need to give this book 3 stars. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again-my time is precious and I can’t wade through something med to get to something good. Yet here I am…

I MIGHT be finishing this series. Only for the magic though!

The middle book of a trilogy is always a tricky one. You have to keep things moving but make sure that enough is saved for the final volume. The Bone Shard Emperor achieves both of these.

Lin is trying to gain support for the empire with the help of Jovis who is now her chief guard. She wants to keep the empire safe without using the bone magic that her father used to rule. However, she is beset by problem upon problem. Islands are sinking, an army of constructs is being raised in the north and the islands are all reluctant to accept her as emperor. Added to all of this are the mysterious Alanga who seem to be reappearing.

The book is quite slow to begin with as all of the characters resume their stories but it picks up pace about half way through and the final third is nothing short of exhilarating. There are multiple point of view and the author does a good job of keeping us invested with all of the characters. I especially liked the parts involving Phalue and Ramani who have both really grown over the two books. And of course Mephi continues to steal the show. I loved the new details that we learn about his species and its relationship with people.

This was a great sequel to The Bone Shard Emperor’s Daughter and I can’t wait to read part 3.
Thank you to Net Galley and Little Brown Book Group for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book exceeded my expectations in all ways imaginable! The first book in the series, The Bone Shard Daughter, was good. This was great.

The Bone Shard Emperor picks up where the last book left us, with Lin being the new Emperor and Jovis as her Captain of the Guard. Of course, Mephi is with Jovis and we also get to know Lin's companion, Thrana. When an army of constructs gathers at the edges of the Empire, Lin needs to find allies if she wants to keep her throne. Meanwhile, Jovis' is struggling to figure out where his loyalties lie - with Lin or with the Shardless Few?

This had several points that majorly improved the book in comparison to its predecessor:
- an expansion of the worldbuilding
- more mature story-arcs for our main characters
- a clear-cut antagonist
- more lore and revelations about the magic system

Now, Lin's and Jovis' relationship was the highlight of the book for me. Judging from the first book, I never would have guessed these two would work together so well. But they truly were a stellar team - Jovis' dry humor mixed with Lin's strength was a great combination. Jovis' narration is also hilarious and I laughed out loud several times. Both Lin and Jovis did a lot of growing up in this book and it made the story so much better. They both learned to trust each other and to let people in and it was really beautiful to read about. Lin really went from being a young adult who's desperate for attention and validation to becoming the ruler her Empire needs.

Of course, Mephi and Thrana were absolutely precious, I'll forever be mad I don't have an ossalen.

Finally, Nisong was a stellar villain, I loved every single one of her chapters. It was really refreshing to see a female villain in a fantasy book that has agency and isn't a femme fatale. I'm a sucker for narrative foils and the way she was a could-have-been version of Lin was so interesting on so many levels. The way she was basically what Lin's father wanted her to be - a copy of his wife- and she turned out to be a bloodthirsty monster while Lin is a genuinely good person that cares for her people? Superb.

We also found out so much more about the worldbuilding in this installment which I was thankful for. Instead of bone shard magic, we learn a lot about the Alanga and their power. The magic system reminded me of Avatar: The Last Airbender a bit, which I liked. The Alanga were very fascinating to me and I liked how we learned about them.

The battle at the end of the book was truly epic and has some of my favorite tropes - namely big monsters. There were also some plottwists - some more shocking, some less so - that I thought were really well done. One moment especially had me in tears. The ending also nicely sets up the conclusion to the series and I can't wait to get my hands on The Bone Shard War.

Thanks to Netgalley for the eArc of The Bone Shard Emperor in exchange for an honest review.
+++Contains light spoilers+++
•
I really liked the first book in the series. I found the magic system innovative, the politics, the world and its connections interesting and exciting. Unfortunately, the second part of the series couldn't carry me away at all. Despite the fact that the characters are already in their early to mid-20s, the story reads very young. Also, nothing really happens for a long time. The plot meanders along, the characters try to establish their positions and unfortunately the same problems and thoughts are repeated too often. Character development also came up short for me. The romance that was introduced came out of nowhere for me and was not necessary in my opinion. Not that it happened too quickly, I just can't understand how Lin and Jovis could be interested in each other, there was no chemistry. The last 100 pages became more exciting again, but I don't know yet if that's enough for me to want to read the third part.

I geuinely had a fun time reading this book. I really enjoyed the book. Perfect for those looking for an interesting fantasy read.

I really need to start reading books in the order they appear, i started this not realising it was part 2, my bad, I have now rectified this and bought book 1 but that was just to flesh this book out more, did I enjoy this book? A resounding yes! Will I buy book 3? Absolutely

A really great and imaginative continuation to the first instalment, i thoroughly enjoyed it and cannot wait for book 3.

In my review for the previous book in this trilogy, The Bone Shard Daughter, I wrote that there was a promise of more surprises and twists to come and The Bone Shard Emperor delivered, I didn't expect the one at the very end. Again, the world building was creative, we got to see more of Nisong's memories and the awful things that Lins father did before he died.

Although there's a little more detail regarding the magic systems I would love to see more and get some answers to the many questions I have.

This book was also slow paced and took some time to get to the battle everyone was waiting for but the pieces of new information, tension and the hint of romance kept me reading.

Overall, this books was done well considering it is the 2nd in a trilogy and I look forward to reading the next installment.

*Thank you to @netgalley and the publishers for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review*

4.5/5 stars

I loved the eerie concept of the Bone Shards. The magic system involved and the lore between the mysterious Alanga descendants. Bone Shard Daughter ended with finesse while Bone Shard Emperor picks up the aftermath of Lin's rebellion against her father.

Take note that this series has multiple POVs and stories that draw into a specific motive, to win the empire. Jovis and Lin's character development is great and Phalue and Ranami's POVS is also good.

I do hope we have Gio's POV (I think we will have this to the final book) since he is the leader of the Shardless Few.

Sand surprises me in this sequel! Hands down to her storyline.

There are certain downhill parts in the story. There are things that are stretch and quite dragging.

Super pumped for the final book!

The bone shard emperor is a must read if you love highly intricate fantasy novels

Lin is a badass person and I cannot wait for the third book!

"The Emperor is Dead. Long live the Emperor."

This book was nice, a little too slow paced at first, but loved it has many POVs.

Thank you NetGalley for providing digital advanced copy in exchange for honest review.