Empire’s Legacy
By Marian L Thorpe
Book
1: Empire’s Daughter
Book
2: Empire’s Hostage
Book
3: Empire’s Exile
For
twenty generations, the men and women of The Empire have lived separately, the
women farming and fishing, the men fighting wars. But in the spring of Lena’s
seventeenth year, an officer rides into her village with an unprecedented
request. The Empire is threatened by invasion, and to defend it successfully,
women will need to fight.
When the village votes in favour, Lena and her partner Maya are torn apart. Maya chooses exile rather than battle, Lena chooses to fight. As Lena learns the skills of warfare and leadership, she discovers that choices have consequences that cannot be foreseen, and that her role in her country’s future is greater than she could have dreamed.
When the village votes in favour, Lena and her partner Maya are torn apart. Maya chooses exile rather than battle, Lena chooses to fight. As Lena learns the skills of warfare and leadership, she discovers that choices have consequences that cannot be foreseen, and that her role in her country’s future is greater than she could have dreamed.
“Could history
ever be accurate? Who decides what stories are told?”
History had never really interested Lena
of Tirvan, that was until Casyn had ridden into their village. It was unheard
of, you see, for a man to live in the village, let alone to work in the
village. Many years ago it had been decided to partition the people of The
Empire. The women farmed and provided the food, while the men fought and
defended the kingdom’s large border. The men and the women of this great nation
only came together twice a year at The Festival for reproductive purposes only.
So Casyn’s arrival upset the order of things.
However, Casyn’s true intention was not to
live in the village. He had been sent by the Emperor himself with a grave and
dire warning. War was imminent, and all had to be ready to fight for their
Emperor, their country and their freedom.
If they were to vanquish this foe, then
they had to fight — together. At first, Lena had felt nothing but excitement at
the prospect, for she longed for adventure. But changes to the law were not so
easy for others, and Lena finds herself in an impossible situation. Does she
stay and learn how to fight and defend her home? Or does she refuse? Her
partner, Maya, has already made her choice. Now all Lena has to do is make
hers.
However, all choices have consequences.
For some, it meant death, for others banishment, but for Lena, she is to learn
the most valuable of lessons — nothing is assured in times of war, and everyone
is seemingly expendable.
From the tranquil beauty of the fishing
village of Tirvan, to the harshness of life as a Guard for the Emperor. The
Empire’s Legacy by Marian L. Thorpe is the mesmerising and unforgettable story
of one young woman’s fight to save her home, her family, her relationship, and
her kingdom.
With energetic prose, lavish attention to
detail and a fantasy world that feels both familiar and foreign, The Empire’s
Legacy series is as impressive as it is triumphant. Not only did it captivate
me from the very first sentences, but it also continued to enchant until the
very last full stop. Thorpe has depicted a hardworking community where everyone
knows their place, and no one questions it — the law is the law. With the
arrival of Casyn, Lena is forced to become someone she never dreamed she could
be, and although Lena always longed for adventure, she finds herself on a path
that will take her far away from everyone she ever knew and ever loved. Lena’s
story is powerful in its simplicity. She has to fight, of that, there is no
choice, but she also has to find out who, underneath it all, she really is.
Lena embarks on an unpredictable and unprecedented journey from which as a
reader it is near on impossible to turn away from.
The harshness of the battlefield and the
tender moments of a love found in the unlikeliest of situations set this
trilogy somewhat apart. As we follow our intrepid heroine through a war-torn
country, we are also reminded that Lena is a young woman who simply wants to
love and be loved. In between the relentless training and the battles, there
are moments of tenderness that are breathtaking as well as heartbreaking. But
all of the passion and the tears and the deplorable pain can be forgotten in
the arms of a man who had guarded his heart so diligently, but who cared so
deeply that all other loves paled in comparison. I have to be really careful
not to give the plot away, as many characters in this book are part of the
incredible journey of discovery that Lena finds herself on, but there is one
that stands head and shoulders above the rest. Thorpe’s depiction of Cillian is
outstanding. Initially, I wasn’t too sure about him, he is reticent and comes
across as very angry towards Lena because of who she is and where she comes
from, but as we move from Book 2 to Book 3, Cillian really came into his own. I
absolutely adored him. Through him and Lena, Thorpe shows a tremendous
understanding of human frailty, and indeed, the fragility of the heart — love
can conquer all, but it also has the power to destroy, and we see this in both
Lena and Cillian. Their relationship is complicated and at times uncertain, but
it could never be accused of being dull. It is pure and honest and true —
utterly irresistible.
Not only is this series a gripping account
of love and war, but it also illustrates the political struggle that the
Emperor of the West faces as he desperately tries to hold his country together
in a time of constitutional crisis. Although Emperor Callan is very much a
secondary character in this series, his decisions drive the story forward. I
thought Callan came across as a just ruler who only wants what is best for his
people, but surprisingly not at the greater expense of the individual, which
makes him somewhat unique. And although he is tied to the laws of the land and
to the treaties he has signed, he is astute enough to know when to push the
political boundaries to get what he wants. Thorpe has certainly presented her
readers with a leader that commands respect and I enjoyed reading about him.
Thorpe states that she has a life-long
interest in Roman and post-Roman European history, and this certainly shines
through in this fantasy world that she has created. Thorpe has depicted a land
which is rich on the one hand, but desolate on another. The land is as vast and
as beautiful as Tolkien’s middle earth but without the sentient beings that
Tolkien’s books are so famous for. I thought it was a superb setting for this
war and these characters. The land evoked a time long ago and a world
forgotten. The Empire’s Legacy is an example of historical fantasy at its very
best.
The
concept of having a kingdom where men and woman are divided is one that I have
not come across before. Thorpe has asked and answered the question — how would
the dynamics of such a community work? It is an exciting notion and one that
came across very realistic in the telling. When the dynamics are changed, and
men and women find themselves together for an extended period, it was
interesting to see how the characters coped. In Book 2, Lena finds herself in
another kingdom where such restrictions are not in place and have never been in
place. Here it is normal for a woman to fall in love with a man, and have a
family together which made Lena’s bisexuality a little, maybe not taboo but
something very close. Lena struggles with the foreignness of this, but her
compassion and her understanding of heartbreak and love give her a sense of
ancient wisdom — love is, after all, love.
I cannot praise this series enough. It is
absolutely dazzling, and I am a now a huge fan of Marian L. Thorpe. The
Empire’s Legacy would undoubtedly appeal to readers who loved Veronica Roth’s
fabulous Divergent trilogy.
The Empire’s Legacy is without a shadow of
a doubt, a box-set that commands your attention and deserves your respect.
I Highly Recommend.
Review by Mary Anne Yarde.
The Coffee Pot Book Club.
Pick
up your copy of
Empire’s
Legacy
Marian L Thorpe
Not content with
two careers as a research scientist and an educator, Marian L Thorpe decided to
go back to what she’d always wanted to do and be a writer. Author of the
alternative world medieval trilogy Empire’s Legacy, Marian also has published
short stories and poetry. Her life-long interest in Roman and post-Roman
European history informs her novels, while her avocations of landscape
archaeology and birding provide background to her settings. As well as writing
and editing professionally, Marian oversees Arboretum Press, a small publishing
imprint run as a collective. Marian is currently writing Empire’s Reckoning, the
next book in her series.
Connect with Marian:
Website • Twitter • Goodreads.
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See you on your next coffee break!
Take Care,
Mary Anne xxx