When assassins ambush her best friend, the crown prince, Rielle Dardenne risks everything to save him, exposing her ability to perform all seven kinds of elemental magic. The only people who should possess this extraordinary power are a pair of prophesied queens: a queen of light and salvation and a queen of blood and destruction. To prove she is the Sun Queen, Rielle must endure seven trials to test her magic. If she fails, she will be executed…unless the trials kill her first.
A thousand years later, the legend of Queen Rielle is a mere fairy tale to bounty hunter Eliana Ferracora. When the Undying Empire conquered her kingdom, she embraced violence to keep her family alive. Now, she believes herself untouchableuntil her mother vanishes without a trace, along with countless other women in their city. To find her, Eliana joins a rebel captain on a dangerous mission and discovers that the evil at the heart of the empire is more terrible than she ever imagined.
As Rielle and Eliana fight in a cosmic war that spans millennia, their stories intersect, and the shocking connections between them ultimately determine the fate of their world—and of each other.
For more about the Empirium Trilogy, check out the series website!
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Claire Legrand used to be a musician until she realized she couldn't stop thinking about the stories in her head. A native Texan, she is now a writer and librarian living in central New Jersey.
Her first novel is THE CAVENDISH HOME FOR BOYS AND GIRLS, one of the New York Public Library's 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing in 2012. She is also the author of THE YEAR OF SHADOWS, a ghost story for middle grade readers, WINTERSPELL, a young adult re-telling of The Nutcracker, and SOME KIND OF HAPPINESS, a middle grade story about mental illness, family secrets, and the power of storytelling. SOME KIND OF HAPPINESS is a 2017 Edgar Award nominee and one of Publishers Weekly's Best Books of 2016. Her latest novel, FOXHEART, is a fast-paced fantasy-adventure and a 2016 Junior Library Guild selection. She is also one of the four authors behind THE CABINET OF CURIOSITIES, an anthology of dark middle grade short fiction that was a Junior Library Guild selection, a Bank Street Best Book, and among the New York Public Library's 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing in 2014.
Coming up for Claire is FURYBORN, the first book in the Empirium trilogy, due out May 22, 2018, followed by SAWKILL GIRLS in fall 2018, and THORNLIGHT, a companion novel to FOXHEART, coming in winter 2019.
Visit Claire at claire-legrand.com and at enterthecabinet.com.
REVIEW
Furyborn by Claire LegrandMy rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Title: Furyborn
Series: Empirium #1
Author: Claire Legrand
Release date: May 22, 2018
Cliffhanger: Yes
Her power was not an intangible thing, a trick of the mind. It was the power of the world itself, and all that lived inside it. And only I, she thought, can tell it what to do.
This is an epic fantasy unlike any you've read before. The plot is so detailed and incredibly fantastical, it will sweep you away from the very first pulse-pounding pages. The prologue throws you right in the middle of the action, and the desperation of the characters is so palpable, it will grab hold of you and refuse to let go. The struggle between good and evil is a strong theme; in the fight against the angels and the Empire, and the internal struggle within both of the heroines. Eliana and Rielle both grapple with the duality of their morals, their conscience, and their loyalty.
Rielle Dardenne is blessed with the ability to control all of the elements in the Empirium, but lives in fear of being discovered. There have been signs that the prophesy of the two queens is almost upon them, and the kingdom of Celdaria will look at her with suspicion and distrust if they learned of her unimaginable power. But she's impulsive, and simmering with impatience over being suppressed for so long by her father. One wrong move, and an attack on Prince Audric forces her hand in revealing her true self. Now she'll be forced to prove that her heart and intentions are pure.
During the Angelic wars, the seven saints defeated the angels by opening a doorway into the Deep, and sealing them behind a great gate. They were locked away, with many years of peace ahead, but they would not be imprisoned forever. Rielle will soon discover that one sinister angel in particular somehow has his sights set firmly on her and the potential of her power. In the privacy of her mind, he places doubts about her loved ones, and feeds the fire of her anger. Corien was a truly menacing and disturbing villain. I can't say I really understood her failure to tell someone that he was communicating with her once she knew what he was. Maybe it was his ability to see her weaknesses and exploit them. Or maybe the praise she received from him filled a hole that was left hollow for so long. But as she was put through seven trials to prove her skills and intent, that voice in her head only got stronger and louder.
I want… I want. I crave. I hunger.“I want so many things,” she whispered, “and none of them are very good.”
I've been seeing a lot of people say that their favorite of the two young women was Rielle, but personally, I was drawn to Eliana and her storyline the most. Eliana Ferracora was the Dread of Orline. A deadly assassin who sold her soul every day for the safety and protection of her family. Her mother and brother are the only things of importance in her ravaged world, She's lost hope for herself, but will never give up fighting for their future. If she has to lie, cheat, or kill, she'll do it. Without hesitation.
After her first kill at the age of 12, and since then, doesn't allow herself the luxury of guilt or remorse. Those weaknesses are tucked away in a neat little box never to be heard from again. Survival is her ultimate priority. Eliana was a cold and hard character, but understanding her motivations, and seeing the selflessness that she showed in those rare moments made me believe that the Empire hadn't hadn't completely ruined her. She would need faith to make the right choices, to use her gifts to fight for the weak and helpless rather than throw them to the wolves. And speaking of wolves....that brings me to the Wolf.
The Wolf is a character you can't help but admire, as the second in command to the leader of the resistance. He seems noble, strong, brave, but like both women, much more complex than he first appears, with layers that haven't even begun to have been pulled back.
“Dread,” he murmured, his breath caressing her cheek, “is only a feeling, easily squashed. But wolves, my dear, have teeth.”
It would be impossible to adequately describe the depth of the characters, or the intricacy of the world building. And I wouldn't want to. You need to discover this awe inspiring world for yourself. There will be terror, despair, heartache, and loss. But there is also love, hope, resilience, and courage. So why not five stars? That was my original rating, but I did have a minor issue with the alternating storylines feeling too jarring. It would have been easier to transition if we got to spend more time in each place, say three or four chapters instead of one before the switch. It was honestly a noticeable adjustment for a decent chunk into the book. However, that being said, this is still undoubtedly a top favorite for me this year, and after that action packed ending, I'm going to be counting down the days until I get my hands on the next installment. Don't walk....RUN now to get your copy of this book.
“We survived the end of the world, you and I, we’ll survive this too.”
**Note: There is romance in this book, and more sexual content than your average YA fantasy. The characters are in the 18 year old range, but it reads more like a new adult based on the explicitness.
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