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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Gripping read, but . . ., June 11, 2002
This review is from: Mistress of the Empire (Empire Trilogy, Bk. 3) (Paperback)
This book brings to an end the saga of Mara of the Acoma, and her political rise through the Empire of Tsuranuanni. It begins with a tragedy that leads a grief-stricken Mara to realise that she has a new enemy, the awesomely powerful Assembly of Magicians. The story follows Mara through a new series of plots, near-death encounters, revelations, and personal struggles as she once more fights to protect her loved ones and family honour. Mistress of the Empire is as well-written as its two prequels, and as the tension mounted towards the end, I couldn't put it down. Yet the book did leave a sour taste in the mouth, and that is because Mara ends up with everything. Yes, we know she's lost many people she loved. Yes, we know she's suffered greatly. But at the end of the book she has more power and wealth than ever, the literal protection of the gods, and the love of her life returned. Some balance on this score would have been preferable. In contrast to the other books, it didn't seem to me that Mara really learnt anything in this book, either - it's hard to believe that she's acting for anyone other than herself, no matter how moving her struggles can be. Her supposed concern for the underprivileged just doesn't seem to shine through in this book. The Assembly of Magicians was an unsatisfactory enemy; its portrayal in other books seemed at variance with its portrayal here, and I did wonder how well the concept had been thought out. And it certainly gave up far too easily in the end. The priests, too, were problematic. They never seemed to care about the cruelty in the empire before, so why start now? There was too much plot contrivance of this sort, and it did undermine Mistress of the Empire. Other annoying contrivances that furthered specific plot ends were the poisoning, the divorce of Hokanu, and the death of Ayaki. The book was also let down by its ending. The showdown before the emperor's throne was silly, with all its stops and starts, the constant raising of the stakes, and its contrived resolution. And as for the epilogue, that read like wish fulfilment on the part of the authors, rather than being consistent with what had gone before - sorry, I just don't believe that social change would have come that fast. Feist and Wurts have perhaps caught a disease that is unfortunately becoming more common amongst fantasy authors: total control of their imaginary world from creation to destruction, with nothing left unresolved and nothing left for anyone else to play with, even readers. Yet it was nice to see in this book how much came about through the actions of characters other than Mara, particularly Arakasi and Lujan. The change in Arakasi (always my favourite character) was especially welcome and well done. If you liked Daughter of the Empire and Servant of the Empire, you'll no doubt enjoy this, too. It's not as good as Servant of the Empire, but it's still a fun read. You might find it best not to think on it too deeply, though.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful characters, engaging plot (review for the entire trilogy), January 7, 2006
This review is from: Mistress of the Empire (Empire Trilogy, Bk. 3) (Paperback)
I first read this when it was published and I still come back to it every year or two, because the story of Mara's struggle for survival never gets old. She's truly a woman in a man's world, reminiscent of Queen Elizabeth, albeit in a culture whose inspiration is obviously from the Orient. And yet, as other readers have mentioned, Mara doesn't take on mannish traits to win, she's always purely female. And she uses that, at times, ruthlessly.
The culture in which she exists is so stagnate, so utterly drowning in pointless tradition that seeing Mara figure out ways to both work with it and around it in order to *change* her people's entire way of life never ceases to be a joy. She proves herself to be a tactical genius and yet she still makes mistakes, she has prejudices to overcome, ways of thinking that she has to force herself to change, she's still so very human and you can identify with her. Her sorrows, regrets, fears, they're all very real and you can't help but feel for her, worry that maybe this one time she and her House won't survive.
Such wonderfully well-developed characters, even the minor ones, beautifully described culture and Machiavellian politics. The entire trilogy is a feast for someone looking for books heavy on the plot while still being character driven. When you've turned the last page, read the last sentence, you'll find yourself wishing that there were books more to devour, because you won't want to let go of Mara or her world.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Trilogy, March 14, 2005
This review is from: Mistress of the Empire (Empire Trilogy, Bk. 3) (Paperback)
Mistress of the Empire is the exciting conclusion to an amazing trilogy (Daughter of the Empire and Servant of the Empire are the 1st two books).
Once again Mara must fight to save her family, the Acoma, from obliteration by enemies. She must use all of her resources to the fullest and learn to think outside of the traditional Tsuranni ways of thinking in order to survive, and for the good of the stagnant Empire.
While some parts of this book DO seem to drag somewhat, the end result is more than worth it. The book starts with a bang, and has some very moving/touching twists at the end.
Feist & Wurtz have outdone themselves with this trilogy, creating characters that you come to love. You fear for their lives when they are in peril, and cry and laugh along with them.
I finished re-reading this book yesterday, and I still feel the emotional impact of it, and I'm sad that the book doesn't continue on.
If you liked Raymond Feist's Riftwar saga, definitely give this series a try. This trilogy contains 3 of my top 10 favorite books of all time.
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