The Empirium Trilogy, book one
Sourcebooks Fire, 2018 - ARC received from PLA 2018, Signed, Finished copy now owned in my personal collection
Oh, do I love Claire Legrand's writing. She is a stellar talent that pulls me into her dark, imaginative worlds in the same ways as Neil Gaiman and Laini Taylor. I already highlighted her book Winterspell (see my review here) this year as one of my favorites that I've read as part of my 2018 Books I Already Own Challenge.
This book is a behemoth, but it flew by like I was reading a contemporary two-hundred page book. I fell deep into the worlds of Reille and Eliana, exploring how each worked and how different they were, though you know from the beginning that somehow they are connected. Connected, but with 1,000 years, a tragedy, and a takeover separating them.
As the chapters progressed, I found myself desperately turning the pages. Legrand is an EXPERT at these alternating chapters. Each would end with just enough of a cliffhanger that I would want to skip the next chapter to jump to the continuation of that particular character's story, but I also recognized how exquisitely she unfolded both stories in a way that tied them together and if you read one girl's story without the other, you would miss so much. This book was like the best kind of runaway train that I was sprinting to catch! And when it ended? Let's just say I CANNOT wait for book two.
Highly recommended to readers who like high fantasy, dark kingdoms, strong female characters, and plot lines that intertwine (eventually... LOL).Claire Legrand is now officially one of my all-time favorite authors. This is her second book to make it onto my top books read in 2018 list. I was super excited to get to meet her at this year's Book Expo, and though I already had a signed ARC (thanks Miss Kim!!!), I stood in line to get a signed, finished copy of this book, essentially so I could meet her and gush about how much I loved the book. I was so excited, I forgot to take a picture of HER, just this one of her signature on the title page. LOL.
Claire was asking everyone if they were a Sun Queen or a Blood Queen (based on the prophecy in the book) and then signing in the corresponding gold or red sharpie. When she asked me, knowing I'd already read the book, I told her I couldn't decide as both were created from great tragedy, only for one it became her downfall, and for the other it was her origin... Claire and the woman from Sourcebooks Fire decided I was a Sun Queen... and I think I'm okay with that. I won't tell you why, but if you read Furyborn, you can let me know if you agree!
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