Review: The Bone Shard Emperor by Andrea Stewart

The Bone Shard Emperor

Andrea Stewart

(The Drowning Empire #2)

Publication Date: November 23, 2021

Hardcover, 560 pages, Orbit

Genres: Adult, Fantasy

Goodreads

Andrea Stewart returns with The Bone Shard Emperor, the second installment of this unmissable, action-packed, magic-laced fantasy epic.

 

 The Emperor is Dead. Long live the Emperor.

 

Lin Sukai finally sits on the throne she won at so much cost, but her struggles are only just beginning. Her people don’t trust her. Her political alliances are weak. And in the north-east of the Empire, a rebel army of constructs is gathering, its leader determined to take the throne by force. 

 

Yet an even greater threat is on the horizon, for the Alanga – the powerful magicians of legend – have returned to the Empire. They claim they come in peace, and Lin will need their help in order to defeat the rebels and restore peace. 

 

But can she trust them?

My Review

The Bone Shard Emperor is definitely for fantasy lovers of mythology, creature companions (which are honestly the best creature companions I know of outside of Toothless the dragon), a little bit of slow-burn romance, mult-POV stories, unhinged villains, and even body horror/necromancy plotlines. (The body horror isn't super explicit, but it is there.) I said book one was for fans of The Poppy War and The Daevabad series, and that recommendation still holds up. The Bone Shard Emperor also has a little bit of Avatar: The Last Airbender and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings vibes as well.

As for the characters, there are five POVs again. Lin and Jovis are the primary protagonists. Lin is trying to keep her country together, and Jovis is trying to keep Mephi from stealing things. Well, more seriously, he's spying on the new emperor. Lin and Jovis's relationship is the type I love but hate at the same time. It's slow-burn! With secret keeping! And miscommunications! I just want more of them bumbling their way through liking each other in book three. But what I really want is more Mephi. I picture Lin and Jovis's companions as little otters, which totally doesn't work for some of the battle scenes, but that's just how they look in my mind. All cute and fuzzy and adorable. To the bad guys who mistreat the creatures, I hope you suffer in book three.

Phalue and Ranami are still around too, though their chapters in the first half of the book are a tad bit slower. Their plotlines did pick up at the end, however. And the final POV is kind of a major spoiler from the first book, so I won't give anything away. 

Now, the plot of the story isn't super unique, as some of the reveals and major beats have been done before fairly often, but the character interactions and smaller plot twists had me devouring the last half of this book when I should've been sleeping to wake up for work in the morning. The Bone Shard Emperor's POV characters start interacting more than in the first installment, which I definitely enjoyed, especially Lin and Jovis. If that wasn't already obvious. Oh, and that cliffhanger with my favorite character. UGH! They better be okay, Andrew Stewart, or I will curse your pillows to allows be warm and your socks to always be cold. Haha. Just kidding. But seriously, nothing bad better happen.

All in all, this sequel has action, godly powers, and mystical swords to keep many a fantasy reader happy. I would definitely recommend this series to anyone who wants a fast-paced high fantasy trilogy to binge.

*Note: I received a copy of this book to review from the publisher. This in no way affected my opinion/review.