Sequel to one of my favorite fantasies of recent years, <i>The Dead Man’s Empire</i> is a more-than-worthy next installment in the series.

Four women stand at the center of the action: Duna, the secret weapon coming into her powers; Syzenne, the unwanted princess struggling to keep her head above water in the moldering, decadent court of what was once the most powerful empire in the world; Anzola, the politician watching as her victory turns to ashes; and Elecy, the fanatic priest willing to burn the world with her faith.

A tale of dead -- and not-so-dead -- demigods, decaying empires, drug-pushing elves, secret powers, and incipient holy war intersects with questions of faith and identity to create a yarn with depth. I look forward to the next installment with eager anticipation!

My only real criticism is the lack of a map. I’m a sucker for a good map in fantasy books anyway, but in this case I really think it would help the reader visualize just where everyone is.

Unfortunately I will not be finishing this book, as much as I want to!

The writing is fantastic, I was instantly sucked into a world that I could almost fully picture in my mind, incredible world building by the author that had me along for the ride. What really was a disservice for the book (and it was completely my fault) is that it's a follow up and having not read the first book I found myself feeling like I was missing large pieces of the puzzle. I tried to push onwards, hoping to fill in the blanks with context clues but the missing pieces were much too large to ignore.

The new characters that were introduced into this book and the political drama is top notch, but without having read the first book continuing this one became more and more difficult. I still want to rate it 3 stars for everything I did read as this writer is one of the best I've seen in a long time and I will be reading the first book after having seen how fantastic this sequel is.

I must start this review by saying that I was not aware this was a sequel to The Last Blade Priest until after I had requested it, That said I really enjoyed this book and I did read The Last Blade Priest before reading this (and highly recommend others do the same). This book takes us back to the world that Wiles created in their previous book and reintroduces us to characters we met there while introducing us to some new ones too. While the world descends further into chaos, the long-standing friction between the League and the Mirolene Empire grows increasingly volatile. Enter our protagonist. Princess Syzenne who is hiding a secret power that could change things, but of course, she's not the only one. I really enjoyed the vivid world building in this novel, its descriptive and evocative. Thank you to the publishers, the author, and to Netgalley as always for this ARC.

Wonderful laid back writing style

Full of adventures + great world building

Fun unique story

This is book two in the Holy Mountain series, following Princess Syzenne and Duna as political tensions, religious collapse, and war spread across the world while rumors of a resurrected dead empire and blood-thirsty elves grow louder. It shifts between political intrigue, ancient powers, and two girls who might literally reshape the fate of empires.

It feels very grimdark but character-driven, with big stakes and messy power dynamics. I’m lowkey obsessed with the “teen girls holding the fate of the world” energy in a super bleak setting.