NetGalley Review: Poisoned Empire by Elyse Thomson

Hey all, Sam here.

I didn’t want to take the spotlight away from our posts about the Downtown Summer Market on our Facebook page, so I decided to post today’s review a little later than normal. Speaking of, if you aren’t already, find us on Facebook at Free State of Geek. It has cross posts from the blog and from David’s Instagram, so it’s a pretty cool place to follow…and it’ll probably be the first place to find exciting news about the future of Free State of Geek.

Okay, enough promoting our blog/social media accounts. Today I am here to talk about a soon-to-be-released book. This was one I found on NetGalley, and the premise, plus the striking cover, had me adding it to my most anticipated releases list. So, needless to say, I’m excited to talk about it today.

Let’s get started.

Cinderella (feral) meets The Lies of Locke Lamora in this lush romantic fantasy set in a world inspired by the Eastern Roman Empire.

Black-marketeer Selene has poison magic and the cynicism to match. When she and genius metals mage Iliana are arrested by the same scheming, noble fathers who tossed them out at birth, they suspect apologies won’t be forthcoming. Forced to either impersonate their half-sisters or die, the friends are stuffed into fancy dresses, packed off to the capital, and thrust into the perilous, glittering world of the imperial court.

Traitors lurk in Prince Belisarius’ court, and only his loyal strategos Marduk is above suspicion. As noble-born villains siphon away the souls of their daughters to magnify their magic in secret, Belisarius plots to expose them all—by inviting every noblewoman in the empire to compete for his hand in marriage. But two infuriating imposters in attendance quickly become his bane.

When the friends are discovered, they expect imprisonment—not a deal. Vast riches are on offer if Selene poses as fiancée to the handsome prince while Iliana simpers for the towering strategos—a ploy to lure traitorous enemies to the capital. Yet even as they help secure the throne, false affections flirt with real passions, and Selene and Iliana are convinced they’ll either lose their hearts… or their heads.

My Thoughts

Rating: 4.5 stars

I DEVOURED this book. Seriously, I think I ended up reading about 90% in one day while at work. It was just fun and intriguing and a bit chaotic (mostly because of one of the characters), and I was just having a lovely time. Actually, I’ll be honest. I had like three reads in a row that were just such a fun reading experience for me.

It has been such a privilege to be back in this mood, this obsession, with reading. I’ve missed it, and in trying to read all these new and upcoming releases, plus some reads from the past year or two that I just put off because of slumpiness…there are just so many books that I am reading and loving right now.

So this one is a fantasy world inspired by the Eastern Roman Empire, and that’s obvious by some of the names and titles and such. But what really interested me was the different forms of magic.

And, of course, following Selene and Iliana, especially after they got pulled into this political intrigue/political marriage competition (sort of) scheme. Because this introduces them to Marduk and Belisarius…and wow, was that entertaining for me.

Selene is basically just chaos. She is crass and forceful and doesn’t much care for the behaviors of the nobility, and doesn’t really care to pretend to be some preening damsel type. Plus, with her thieving ways and her poison magic, she can get away with a lot. Then there’s Iliana, who is sweet and compassionate, but also has this core of molten iron (which is appropriate because she is a metal mage).

I don’t know what else to really say about this. It’s not the first Roman inspired fantasy I’ve read, and it probably won’t be the last. But I’ve really been enjoying all the Middle Eastern and Asian and African and Latinx inspired fantasies that have been coming out with more frequency the past couple years.

Still, I’m glad I read this. I am adding the sequel to my TBR, and I’ll be picking up a finished copy after release day.

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Well, that is all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.