I have to say, I was greatly disappointed in this. It started well, with the story of Hekat's purchase into slavery and her travels through the lands of Mijak, and other story details, which I won't spoil. But then the book began to drag, with countless repetitions of blood drinking, animal sacrifice, people developing mysterious powers not really explained, flat character development, overuse of phrases like "The god see you in his eye", etc. The plot dragged as well, with some predictable elements leading to an unsurprising conclusion. I did finish it, but after the halfway point, I could not wait to get done with it, though I really wanted to like it. Not recommended.

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I had to drag myself through the first half, thinking, "It must get better, it must get better. Hekat must love someone, or develop a personality, or... something." This did not happen. I hoped throughout the entire book for some character developement, and came away disappointed. Not a good read, and definitely doesn't hold a candle to Miller's first two books.

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My Rating: B+

My Review:
This starts out as a story about one character, Hekat, but by the time the story is done, there is a group of characters to fall in love with. It's a very character driven story, and very interesting. It will keep you enthralled until the end. The author has a complete grasp on whipping up a world around you.

The reason I gave this book a B+ was because I felt that there was a bit too much repetition. Most of the phrases that are repeated have a purpose, and there is an over all effect, that shows how strict the society is. But it still gets a bit old.

One other aspect of the book that was disappointing also has a lot to with the society, and that is the complete lack of compassion. There are times where you just want a character to break down and let there emotions out, and there's nothing. I'm looking forward to the second in the series so that I can find out if there's any compassion in the series at all.

I do recommend this to those who've read the authors first two books, or hard core fantasy fans.

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The author has provided her readers with a somewhat long winded account of Hekat who rises from a lowly she-brat to Empress of all Mijak. Along her journey I found myself rooting for her and then sometime later disgusted with her.
The book is long and large portions of it are very slow. I would have liked to see more "magic" and less devotion to a blood thirsty god. I found myself somewhat glad to be finished with it. I think Miller is an excellent writer and I enjoyed The Innocent Mage. I have no doubts that fans of the âDarkerâ side will find the book enjoyable. I have no intentions of continuing with the series.

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Have hope - the next two books in the series are better than this one! This book, which I don't think was actually written first, is the depressing, bloody, ponderous backstory of Hekat. It tries to explain why she's not a very nice person, as well as introducing us to her sons. We'll see more of them all in the next two books, but will also see some other parts of the world that Mijak is a part of. Not all of the planet is covered in a desert full of scorpions! There will be some explanations too. This series is still not my favorite of Karen Miller's work, but interesting.

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I liked her Mage series, but this has alot of blood and sacrifice, too much for me

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I wanted to review this book to provide some perspective on this book in the context of all 3 books that make up this trilogy. Some reviewers have stated that they did not continue with the series. The second and third books are vastly different from Empress and completely change the context and understanding of the first book.

The trilogy itself is the story of the rulers of two lands ... Mijak and Ethrea, the completely different political and religious systems that they have evolved, and the war that they eventually fight.

Empress concentrates only on Hekat, who becomes the Empress of Mijak. The second book concentrates 98% on Rhian, a princess of Ethrea. The third book concentrates on the war between the countries, mostly from the perspective of Rhian and others in Ethrea.

I thought Empress was very interesting as a study of how evil looks from the inside, and how religious fervor makes certain actions seem OK. (You don't really understand this perspective completely until you read books 2 and 3 and you gain additional information about Mijak which is not known to Hekat in the first book.)

No matter how you feel about the first book, I strongly recommend at least picking up the second book and giving it a try before you give up on the series, as the different perspective in the second and third books radically changes the understanding of the first book.

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It was hard to find a character to like in this book, or a reason to finish reading it. I will definately NOT be reading the second book, as this one was quite horrid. I have read her scorcer series and enjoyed it so I was quite surprised to find no reason to like Empress.

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this is fantasy at its worst. I didnt enjoy the character, or the world that was created, Do i have to like everything about a book to like it? definately not, but its got to be challenging and appealing, and unfortunately for me it was neither.

I cannot understand alot of Karen Millers writing, it was long and drawn out in spots where it should not have been then it was too quick and non descriptive in parts where it should have been more detailed.

I stopped reading towards the end, I felt like it was a waste of time, and i hate feeling like that about a book. But i really didnt like it at all. Boring and not original.

I give this book 1 star out of 5

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Many of the other reviewers are basically correct in their assessment of this book (lack of compassion, lack of personality, etc), but some of this is explained in the next book in the series (The Riven Kingdom) in which the source of the religion in Mijak is explained. To me, this explanation made the first book even more fascinating in retrospect.

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I LOVED this book! It is certainly not for everyone, as it is very dark and bloody throughout. The little girl who later becomes Empress starts out as abused, neglected child in a land where females are not valued AT ALL. So when she is sold into slavery by her worthless father, she does not grieve, not even for her pitiful mother. I admit, when I started reading this book I was hoping for my usual good triumphs over evil plots. But this child, whom I felt so sorry for at the beginning of the book, makes up for her horrific background in spades. She is ruthless. My sympathy changed from her to the son she eventually gives birth to, who somehow manages to grow up with a heart. I found the book riveting, but I can certainly see how some would be turned off by it. I guess I have enough of the sociopath in me to relate to her character...muahahah!
OH and YES I did read the rest of the trilogy and loved them all, but this first book is still the most memorable for me (read it years ago).

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I've read the reviews saying your not suppose to like the main character in this book.....Well, I didn't so it worked!! There where a lot of predictable parts, maybe some surprises. I didn't finish this one. I didn't keep my interest.

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Started out great but Hekat didn't develop. I thought she might start when she gave Vortka her food or when she went to him to produce offspring.

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I really enjoy the characters that Karen Miller created for this series. I could have used a little less bad language, it felt like it was used to make the book feel more "mature," but wasn't really necessary.

Other than that one criticism, I really enjoyed the starting of the series, and the culmination of the first conflict. Lots of intertwining characters to bring together, good beginnings of events, and a nice resolution (for a first book of a trilogy).

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I really enjoyed this book. This book is about a young girl being sold into slavery and come to find out that she is one of God's chosen people. This book will keep you on the edge of your seat. I had a hard time putting this book down it is full of action and emotions (yours) will be put to the test.

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When I first began reading Empress, I was intrigued. I was eager to get into the story and often found myself unable to put it down. However, as the story progressed, I found myself caring less and less. When the book ended, I was sorely disappointed and wanted to throw the book across the room in frustration. I may try to read other works by this author, but book one in the Godspeaker series will be the last book of this series for me.

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