Image from the internet of the book cover.

The Emperor’s Edge series is seven books long – sort of. Book six was split into two books, literally called Forged in Blood I and Forged in Blood II. Of course, then the author, Lindsay Buroker, returned to the world and characters with at least two more books, but they are not part of the main series arc.

I want to start by saying that I really liked the Emperor’s Edge series. I think the writing and in particular the characters were really strong. I was fond of the way Buroker dealt with sexism in the world. Yes, there was a role for women. Unlike so many stories that have oppressed females tied to hearth and home, women’s role was that of businesswomen. They were the owners and managers of companies. The main villainous female wanted to create some powerful bank that would rule the world through its economy! While women are not part of the military base, a significant exclusion for a culture based around fighting and war, they were part of the city’s law-enforcement (granted that was a recent development in the world). I liked the way the author dealt with racism with her use of other cultures in that world.

While many would argue the dialogue used by the characters is not authentic to everyday speech, I would say: excellent! Have you listened to people talk to each other? It usually very boring and highly repetitive. Fortunately the author was far more creative in her use of language. The expletives may be a bit silly at times, but overall I really liked the character’s speech patterns. I enjoyed the witty, fast-paced banter. I actually liked that the author used words even I am not familiar with. I think using a bigger vocabulary than your audience does is a positive attribute. The words are easily understood through context and they have the potential to expand the vocab of the reader (or not as the reader chooses).

Most importantly I really liked the characters. Amaranthe, our feisty female lead was the only voice that was the same throughout the entire series. Buroker made an excellent decision to have the second voice in each book a different important character, a member of Amaranthe’s group of misfits. The different perspectives provided an engaging second window into the characters. It made for a very interesting read as we dealt with different perspectives and side quests.

That said, there is much of the world I didn’t like. I really am not a fan of the alien technology. I cannot say way, other than it feels so foreign (hehe, alien – get it!?) and disconnected from the rest of the world. I also am not a fan of the magic. They talk about it as though it is a skill, a Science, to be learned. Yet at the same time you seem to be either born with this ability or not. Further, magic can do anything it is seemingly limitless. Perhaps it is this lack of clear limitations to the magic and how it works that rubs me the wrong way. Or perhaps I am too akin to the Turgonians and their anti-magic prejudices. While I may not be able to articulate my dislike for the magic in this otherwise interesting, steampunk world, I was not a fan.

I suspect that my disinclination for the magic and aliens is related to the apparent power creep that happened over the series. As the heroes got stronger, the author felt the need to have bigger and scarier villains. Hence, the incongruous use of alien technology (the aliens have been gone for 50 000 years – the vast amount of time did not help endear me to these ancient space going peoples) and unrefined magic systems. Yes, it made the opponents more deadly, but was that really necessary?

While I liked the base concept of the last two books, I found the story steps more clichéd and less interesting to read than the earlier books. I feel that these last two books suffered from too much trying to happen. There was a lot of political manoeuvring and downright intimidation. Even the author struggled to find ways for our lovable band of misfits to stay relevant in the dramatically changing political landscape.

Further the introduction of Starcrest and his family, clearly characters from another story in the same world, also pulled attention away from the main caste. It was rather late in the series (which was in theory wrapping up) to have new faced shoved in taking centre stage. I have not read the other books related to Starcrest and his wife, so I was not inclined to love their ruthless inclusion into the rest of the story. I am sure their introduction could have been handled with a bit more tact.

If nothing else, if the author really wanted to finish on such a grand massive war stage, then don’t force the team together for smaller side quests. Have them split up and integrated into the larger fight. Instead, we had some strange struggle between our familiar core of main characters, bouncing about rather haphazardly, and this revolutionary plot occurring at the same time. It was messy. As a result, the author created smaller problems for our loveable main heroes to overcome. Unfortunately, mind controlling the assassin was silly. Blaming and burying Amaranthe in guilt for disastrous results of events largely outside her control was a bit forced. Books death would have been predictable, if I had been thinking about it in any way. Really, what other character could you kill off by the wise, old man; the voice of learning, experience, and sage advice? He is expendable for that clichéd emotional pull at the end to show that even our noble heroes must make the ultimate sacrifice (with one of the more tangential character’s deaths). When the rest of the series had felt so new and engage, the end was a trifle flat.

Conclusion to this seven book journey: I liked it. Even with all the flaws at the end, I thought it was fun, highly enjoyable read. I prefer earlier books to the later ones. This is largely because the earlier books have less alien technology and I can more easily ignore the magic. The later books rely too heavily on both these elements for my tastes. But the characters are compelling and strongly written. I would recommend the series, at least to the conclusion of the main arc. I am not yet convinced revisiting the world was the best choice, or one that will result in me getting the books.