Review: "The Emperor's Edge Series" By Lindsay Buroker
Here's the official synopsis:
Imperial law enforcer Amaranthe Lokdon is good at her job: she can deter thieves and pacify thugs, if not with a blade, then by toppling an eight-foot pile of coffee canisters onto their heads. But when ravaged bodies show up on the waterfront, an arson covers up human sacrifices, and a powerful business coalition plots to kill the emperor, she feels a tad overwhelmed.
Worse, Sicarius, the empire's most notorious assassin is in town. He's tied in with the chaos somehow, but Amaranthe would be a fool to cross his path. Unfortunately, her superiors order her to hunt him down. Either they have an unprecedented belief in her skills... or someone wants her dead.Here's my synopsis: Amaranthe Lockdon is a fast-talking, savvy woman of prinicples--whose adherence to her principles puts her on the wrong side of the Turgorian political game and the law she was sworn to uphold. Thrown together with laconic assassin Sircarius, Amaranthe must come up with a plan and a crew to save the empire and clear her own name--in two weeks.
I said before that I finally read this because Lindsay's books have been haunting my browser for some time now, due to something we have in common: readers. Many of my readers also read her works. Before I even finished The Emperor's Edge, it became quite clear why we share a readership.
This series features a crew of characters with shady pasts. Check. This series is also about redemption for these characters. Check PLUS. This series has a lot of witty, often crude, banter. Check. (Though mine has more gleeful tormenting, less innuendo. Though I would LOVE for Sheridan to meet Maldynado--and Sicarius. Partially because I'd love to watch Sheridan and Maldynado's egos wrestle for dominance. But more so because Sheridan would revel in poking at Sircarius, and he couldn't kill her before she popped away to continue tormenting from a safe distance.)
Remember how I said the story is an otherworldly fantasy set in a recently industrialized society? Sound familiar. It should if you've read my Children of Man series. Much like my books, the technology is more setting and less iconic or theme driven as the steampunk genre tends to be. (Not that I'm getting down on steampunk, mind you. I love me some airship shenanigans and goggles and corsets. See my steampunk blog post here and my steampunk recommended reading here. Yes, I did classify these books as 'steampunk' for my goodreads shelves and the labeling of this review. Hush, I'm well aware of my contradiction and that this is way too long for a parenthetical statement. MOVING ON.) While there are parallels between our overarching themes, characters, their interactions, and the mix of technology and magic, our stories and worlds do differ quite a bit.
The Emperor's Edge has a cast of seedy and entertaining characters who are not your typical white knights. Amaranthe is as close as they come to having one. But they are characters working toward their own exoneration as well as saving the empire. While I read this book, my mind kept picturing this:
Can't you just see Amaranthe in a dragon costume? (Man, I love the old school BSG reference in that intro. Okay, I need to stop dating myself in this post...) There were numerous A-Team parallels in the books, and they are Amaranthe's crew after all. Eh, eh, get it? *rimshot* (I apologize for how horrible that was. We shall never speak of it again.) After I finished the first book, I discovered that someone else drew the same connection and dubbed them the "A-Team of Steam." Agreed, good sir, agreed.
To say I enjoyed this book would be insufficient, I inhaled this series. I started it last Thursday evening. After I finished The Emperor's Edge, I immediately downloaded book two, Dark Currents. Suffice it to say, I've already finished Dark Currents, the third book Deadly Games, the short story Ice Cracker II, and I just downloaded Encrypted after I learned it's in the universe of The Emperor's Edge. I plan to start it after I finish my daily writing tonight.
These books are really fun adventures with characters that made me laugh and made me cheer for them. I really can't give a book much higher praise than that. I look forward to the next book in the series, because the developments and complications at the end of Deadly Games has me itching to read more. Oh, and I'm a sucker for laconic assassins, and you don't get more laconic than Sircarius. Good gravy, y'all.
I'm really excited to give another indie fantasy author some more exposure, because she deserves it. Check out Lindsay Buroker's work, you won't regret it.
Her Website
The Emperor's Edge on Nook
The Emperor's Edge on Kindle
(Oh, and did I mention that she did an AUDIOBOOK as an indie, and that it's FREE? She's inspired me, y'all.)
The Emperor's Edge Audiobook
Comments
How are your novels doing? You just released the second one, didn't you? I remember seeing your first in the Amazon free ebooks last year and wondering how the heck you'd managed to get a free ebook listed over there. I'm slowly learning the ins and outs... :P
Thanks for asking! Shatter's doing very well. It's just under 185k for sales/downloads. The fact that a quarter million is in sight boggles my mind. I never thought those kinds of numbers would be possible as an indie. I thought I was dreaming big to hope for 5k, even with offering it for free.
I did just release the second book, Render. I'm really happy with how it's doing. Despite all of Shatter's sales/downloads, I decided I would be happy if I sold 1k. I'm a realist. I have no delusions that all of those downloads mean even half of them actually read the book. I've already surpassed my expectations, and sales keep rolling along.
I wish I could say that I finagled amazon into offering Shatter for free back then. I simply received an email from amazon telling me they were going to drop its price to free, because I was offering it for free through other retailers, and if I wasn't okay with this, I needed to change my price elsewhere. For some unfathomable reason, I think I was one of the guinea pigs for free indie books. The ways of amazon are mysterious and somewhat terrifying at times.
My guide to the indie world was my friend, Deih, known better as Randolph Lalonde. He writes the sci-fi, space opera series "Spinward Fringe." He's the one who nudged me into indie self-pub and helped me navigate its muddy waters. He's awesome.
I was really inspired by your audiobook for Emperor's Edge and look forward to hearing the others. I LOVE audiobooks, and I've wanted to pursue producing Shatter and Render as audiobooks. You finally pushed me over the edge to pursuing it more seriously, instead of just daydreaming about it. So, thank you for that, too!
Hah, yes, you were probably the first indie Amazon "Price matched" to zero. Giving away a freebie really does help a lot with sales of the rest in the series, so it's not a bad deal. ;) I'm debating whether I want to keep EE free indefinitely or put it back to 99 cents until it's time to release the next book.
The audiobooks are a lot of fun. I think the fact that it's a lot of work (or money, if you're lazy like me and pay someone) keeps many authors from doing it, so there's less competition over in iTunes. Quite a few folks have told me they first found out about my books through the podcast.
That's exciting to hear about the audiobooks. I'm jumping into that whole new medium in January. I can't wait for the others to come out after EE1 is completed! I finished Encrypted since I posted my review. Really enjoyed Tikaya and Rias and the twists. Also enjoyed seeing seventeen-year-old Sircarius and getting more of his backstory. More Sicarius is always better. And I'm also eager for EE4, obviously.
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