Servant of the Empire

This book is awesome.

Near the end of the book, some characters are proclaiming their loyalty to Mara, and I'm sitting there like “me too!!”. Mara is one of my favorite protagonists ever. The way she uses her cultural upbringing, her own perspective and intelligence, and the perspective of others to challenge the status quo and fight her enemies in ways they don't expect is just SO good.

I'm giving this 9.5/10 because it did feel a bit overlong in spots and there was a minor issue I had with the ending. But without a doubt one of the best political fantasy books I've ever read.

If it's even possible, the second book felt even more powerful than the first! The first book saw Mara defeat the noble Lord that caused the downfall of her father and brother, and who almost crushed her House. The second book saw the stakes rising to the point of endangering the Empire itself, involving the Emperor, and the very way of life of the Empire's citizens. Incredibly well-crafted and very exciting to read, this is a superb piece of literature; especially the finale - it was a very touching and a very good ending.

This series is so good! I'd give it 5 stars, but there are too many loose ends. Hopefully these are addressed in the 3rd and final book.