An epic, multi-POV political fantasy with rich world building and a unique magic system.

Blood and Empire was a bit of a divergence for me from my usual choices, heavily focussing on the intricate political system of the world Maxwell has created and the journeys that our main characters go on. The book started out with slightly-slow pacing but was nevertheless interesting, urging me to learn more about the Diviners and their unique magic powered by intellect and science. It's a new take on gateway/portal magic to any I've seen before and definitely hooked me - especially given the rigorous requirements to train in this art and Bethany's unlikely credentials.

However, my main gripe with this book is less about the story itself but more about the way its marketed. Having read the description, I was fully expecting to follow Bethany's journey and was somewhat perplexed when multiple other POVs popped up that didn't really seem to converge until nearer the end of the book. Similarly, the book being listed under the romance category (alongside Sci-fi & Fantasy and New Adult) is somewhat perplexing - it seems to me more of a political, epic fantasy with romantic elements but not enough to list it in that category.

The first book seemed to lay a lot of groundwork for future instalments and while it does this well, I wasn't hooked enough by the content to venture outside of my preferred genres and pick up future sequels. I do appreciate that this is often the case in epic fantasy, as there's a lot to establish, but I think revisiting the description and categorisation upon publication could avoid it missing the mark for those who are expecting something else.

With detailed world building, a complicated political landscape, and great groundwork for future books, this would be a suitable choice for fans of Game of Thrones.

The overall premise of this book was fantastic. I love how through the many points of view you see the complete picture of what’s going on within this world. Where it fell a little flat for me was all the angst surrounding the upcoming events you read throughout the book but they never actually happen. It felt like a very long setup for book two (which I am so stoked for) but needed more climatic events in this one.

I received this book for an honest review from NetGalley

Bethany shows us how determination can get us where we want to be. With no education and wealth, Bethany’s dream of becoming a diviner seems almost impossible. With help she is shown an opportunity that she thought could never be. The story was very interesting, kept me wanting to read more and find out what would happen next. I feel it was a little slower paced in the middle but still a solid book. Would suggest this book to my friends most definitely

This book feels mostly like a setup for future books. It didn't really hold strong for me on its own. I was surprised to see the multiple POV, as I expected the only narrator to be Bethany, given the description.

Honestly, James' books are a breath of fresh air and this one was no different to all of the previous books of his that I have read. The character arc of the main character, Bethany, was such fun to follow along with, as she went from simple roots to what appears to be potentially one of the most powerful characters in this world. The parallel threads of war and struggles for power with the impending mysterious threats following not far behind really kept me coming back for more. I honestly looked forward to getting into bed with this one and reading every night, sometimes far later than i should have. I cant wait to see what happens next.

Thank you netgalley and publishers for this arc.

This was my first book by this author but I will be looking into his previous work now.

The synopsis of this book is about Bethany Sylvanna going to school to be a diviner. However there are multiple POVs in this one, in the beginning while learning the characters it was almost too much.

I did feel that the story focused more on the other views than Bethany's, especially for the first half.

The world building and character development is great. And I look forward to learning more about the empire and the history of those before their time.

Overall I enjoyed this one and look forward to book 2.

Thank you net galley for this arc.i really like how the story has a in depth feel to it. the writing style is good and the world building felt solid and stood out. maybe because i'm new to fantasy, it took me a while to get into it. but i do like the characters like julian. i felt it was a good start to new fantasy series.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC, I'm excited to share my thought below.

The world building we got was fantastic, I wanted more! I did expect to see different realms from the description being " gateways that unite the empire." I'm sure these will come later in the series but I, personally, needed it in the first book to stay engaged to the story.

The POVs were so good. The inner monologuing was one of my favorite things about this book. On the other hand, there were too many POVs. I originally thought we would be reading solely from Bethany's pov but then it continues to add three others. It felt a bit tedious at times. I would finally become invested in one of the characters to have to wait three more chapters to continue their story. It made it hard for me to stay engaged with each person's story.

The ending didnt feel like the conclusion of this story. It felt like we were at least four chapters away from the end. The finale just wasn't it for me.

This was my first book by this author and I loved the thought he put into descriptions. It made it very immersive and we love that. I could totally see myself picking up another book from them with less POVs and maybe a stand alone if the series all have these type of conclusions.

What I Loved/Enjoyed About The Book:

Story/Writing/Structure:

* Simple while effective style of writing throughout
* No jargons


Background/A Bit Of The Plot Without Giving Anything Away:

* Story revolves mainly around the main character which is Bethany. She is a lovely matured, intelligent and brave woman
* The story does fit in well with the characters and there is twist to it

I Highly Recommend This Book I Will Give This 5 Out Of 5 Stars

Thank you netGalley and Everlast Books for the eARC.

Blood and Empire is the first in the series following a few characters, Bethany, Queen Zhuana, Kendrick, and Julian on their respective journeys.
Now the world building was pretty interesting, and the exposition had my attention, but there were some flaws that almost made me want to shut the book at several points. The different povs gave us a lot of insight into the world, but frankly a lot of them were unfinished arcs and most did not appear to cross over each other until the circumstances provided one. In some ways I almost wish we just kept to one main protagonist, I felt like I was getting jerked about a bit between what was going on in the plot, but it was a choice that was made. There was the insinuation of a greater darkness coming upon the land, but that really hit the back burner when it maybe shouldn’t have.
Last gripe, but the huge time-skip where we don’t get to see the rise of Queen Zhuana is kind of a shame, but it might be it’s own standalone, I don’t know. It irked me that the prologue was all of that runaway queen and we got nothing after that except some vague paragraph about 18 years of her life that apparently wasn’t important enough to talk about. I would have liked to see Bethany and Zhuana have the engaging povs with their struggles.

First, the writing style is very enjoyable and easy to read and enjoy. The book is marketed as a story about Bethany but is actually a multi-POV book with characters who come together. Although I found most of the book great I did feel like the ending was not great, it left me very unsatisfied as if the story wasn't actually finished properly. I also felt that much of the book just fell flat. However, due to the writing style and the ease of reading I still found the book enjoyable.

As the opening to a new series, Blood and Empire dropped ample breadcrumbs to attract different kinds of sci-fi fans. Unfortunately, while the potential is great, I think the scope is too vast for such a short book. It needed more world building details because the scarce details made it difficult to vest in the story. Nonetheless, it was still an enjoyable read and I look forward to seeing how the plot unfolds.

Despite the ensemble of first person POVs, the strongest voice is Bethany’s. Her relationships and motivations are the most fleshed out and believable. She attends a magical school for most of the novel which suffers from minimal descriptions. You don’t really know how much time passes between events or even how they’re spending their time. Her tests come abruptly, and the relationships she makes there seem shallow and forced upon us. Where her story shines is her interactions with her mother and Charlton.

The other POVs offer very different perspectives that make the characters more multi-dimensional. That said, this is a double-edged sword: while this makes the main POVs more human and complex, the supporting characters seem like dull caricatures in comparison.

Most importantly for me, I really want to learn more about their magic system. Maxwell’s attempts to expound thus far seem disjointed, confused, and designed more to give the impression of complexity, rather than being intelligible. The idea of using star systems, materiality, gateways, hallucinogens, etc. is intriguing and I hope his later novels can elaborate more.

Grazie a @netgalley e Everlast Books per la copia in anteprima in cambio di un'onesta recensione.
⭐⭐⭐.5
EArch richiesto a caso perché la sinossi mi intrigava, non avevo mai sentito nominare l'autore nonostante sia evidentemente prolifico. Bl00d and Empire è il primo libro della sua nuova saga "Gateway Saga" di cui il secondo volume è già programmato per quest'anno, ulteriore motivo che mi ha spinto a richiederlo.

Nella quarta di copertina non viene menzionato che si tratti di un multi POV, non è niente di scioccante, ma destabilizzante sorprende nel momento in cui la narrazione deraglia. Ci viene presentato come la storia di Bethany, una giovane sarta che sogna di diventare una "diviner", ovvero uno di quei pochissimi prescelti in grado di viaggiare attraverso enormi, misteriosi archi sparsi per il mondo. Squattrinata e senza educazione, questo sogno le sta sfuggendo di mano, finché entra in scena Charlton, un chierico che vede le sue potenzialità. Allo stesso tempo seguiamo, la rivalsa e la vend3tt4 di Julian, principe ereditario al trono; di Zuhana, regina di un regno distrutto e di un popolo in fuga; e di Kendrick, eroe di guerra che cerca la pace e una vita semplice. All'inizio questi quattro filoni narrativi sembrano totalmente slegati, ma nella seconda metà del romanzo - a mio avviso la più forte - trovano il modo di amalgamarsi decentemente.

Il punto forte di questo romanzo è il sistema magico, originale ed intrigante, ma non sufficientemente approfondito. L'idea che un popolo mitico abbia lasciato in eredità questi enormi archi che permettono viaggi spazio/temporali quasi istantanei è molto affascinante. Inoltre, la componente scientifica e lo studio approfondito di spazio/tempo - abilità e conoscenze fondamentali per navigare questi archi - rende tutto più credibile, realistico

James Maxwell se la cava benissimo con le descrizioni di scene dettagliate, ma quando si apre il grandangolo, sembra tutto molto frettoloso e superficiale. Ciò rende l'apprezzamento della narrazione altalenante. Inoltre, la trama in sè è molto lenta ed è come se fosse un prologo in cui creare l'ambientazione che non viene sviluppato al massimo delle sue potenzialità. Il finale non è molto accattivante e fa perdente un po' di mordente per i volumi a venire, però gli elementi che si potrebbero potenziare ce ne sono tantissimi.
Sul fuoco abbiamo intrighi politici, la minaccia di un'oscurità imminente, viaggi spazio/temporali, vendetta e rivalsa. Un bella grigliata succosa! (detto da una vegetariana).

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the change to read this in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the cover before I even saw the synopsis! I did find the book slow to start and had trouble getting into it, additionally the change in pov was confusing. The first few times I read Zhuana chapters i thought maybe they were a mistake and accidentally included until they mentioned Everlast. Once I realized it made more sense and I enjoyed the book. I was confused about the time line as well, sometimes weeks had passed but I only caught that from context clues, I think dates in the chapter heading would have helped that. How long did it take Bethany to become a diviner? How long did it take Zhuana to get to the border? I feel like the time line is important.

All that said this was a great book, I enjoyed the characters and the different pov chapters. I hope the next book gets more indepth with the black plague that's coming towards the empire, I'm very invested in seeing how Julian messes up at the feilding or with Zhuanas people. I do wish we hadn't skipped around so much because I feel like we could have gone more into many of the things I'm this book! I would like to see less time skipping in the next book so I don't feel like I'm missing so much.

I was drawn to Blood and Empire due to the cover and blurb, sounding exactly like the books I love when reading fantasy.

I did find the story a little slow to get into but after that thoroughly enjoyed the differing points of view and storylines that finally joined together.

The world and character building was good, and can't wait to find out what happens with Bethany and Queen Zhuana.

Really looking forward to book 2.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of Blood and Empire.

I was drawn to this book because of the synopsis which left me very intrigued, as the author was not one that was known to me.

I don't mind a book that is told in multiple POVs as we tend to get more information from them that adds to the overall story. It did throw me off in the start because I was expecting it to be more focused on Bethany due to the description of the novel. In this novel in particular there are four different POVs- Bethany (a seamstress looking to become a diviner), Zhuana (Queen of Veldria), Julian (Crown Prince of the Dymantine Empire) and Kendrick (a military hero who once served alongside Julian’s father).

This book does a lot to build up for future events but is also relatively fast paced. Although for me it was a little slow moving in the beginning. I did find though once I was further into the story I was enthralled in the story, needing to know what was happening next.

I would definitely deem this book to veer towards the side of a political fantasy book but was not disappointed in reading it. The author shows us a world of political intrigue, an impending darkness that threatens people, while giving us a glimpse into the lives and unique journeys of the different characters. I will definitely be looking for book two when it comes out.

This book was exciting and entertaining. I enjoyed the world building and the dual POv was a unique way to keep the story going. I thought we were seeing flash backs but then realized it was during the same time but different places. I'm excited and ready to the next book!

Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the e-arc!

I liked this book more than I thought I would. I found the banter between characters and the action and adventures within the pages captivating. I also resonated with Bethany fairly early on which made it that much better for me to enjoy the story.

First of all, multiple POVs, sold,

The premise of this being an epic fantasy was what had my invested. I was intrigued by the world building and potential plot but felt it dropped off toward the end, it was somewhat anticlimactic but I feel like this was purposeful to set up for the second book.

Thank you for the arc.

An heir with something to prove, a queen and her people fleeing an unknown darkness, and a girl battling the odds to achieve her dream. As their stories began to weave together I got hooked!

The world-building felt well thought out and I loved the role of the Diviners with the blend of science/logic/mysticism they use.

This was a great start to a series, and I'll be looking out for the next book to see what's in store for these characters.