I haven't read many series where in the second book is actually better than the first book, but Servant of the empire is definitely a book which manages to outshine the first book.The story in this book basically continues from where we left it in the last book, where in Mara had at that time manage to survive the Minwanabi.If the last book was regarding Mara's survival, this book is regarding her ascension to power, but it is not a smooth ascension but she has to use all the resources available at her behest and also many of her loved ones gets sacrificed in the process.This book is one of the biggest books page wise I have read this year, so as it is very much difficult to summarize the story of the book in this review, I am going to cover the major events in this book.The major events in the book for me where1.Mara purchase of Midkemian slaves.2.Desio and Tasaio plotting against Mara to finish her off in the desert.3.Ichindar's proposal of peace with Midekemians4.Tasaio's plot against Mara.5.Mara's ascension to power.Mara purchase of Midkemian slaves.The book basically starts when Mara goes to Silan-Q in order to purchase some midkemian slaves for her estates, she basically takes the decision to purchase the midkemian slaves due to the fact that they are cheaper by the dozen.This start of the book was not lost on me because towards the end of the book we come to see how Mara's attitude changes towards slaves, and this happens due to Kevin, who is described as By the gods, will you look at him!’ exclaimed Lujan in astonishment. ‘He acts as if slaves were born with the right to argue. If they’re all as brazen as this fellow, it’s no wonder a slave master must beat their skins off to get half a day’s work from them.Kevin is one of the most important characters in the book, due to the fact that not only he entices Mara to his charms but also due to the fact that, he brings to her notice many short comings of the tsuranni culture.Kevin laughed bitterly. ‘What good is honor to a dead man?’Mara blinked, as if struck by harsh lights in a dark room. ‘Honour is… everything,’ Mara said, not believing anyone could ask that question. ‘It is what makes living endurable. It gives purpose to… everything. What else is there to live for?Desio and Tasaio plotting against Mara to finish her off in the desertAfter the death of his father Jingu, Desio is in a pathetic state where in he is trying to spend all his time in the company of alchol and women, his adviser Incomo fears that this will bring a ruin to the minwanabi name.But we have Tasaio stepping in to help his cousin counter Mara, Tasaio is a feared warrior and cunning player of the great game.Both of them concate a plan where in they will be creating disruption in the border lands of Xacatecas with the help of desert tribes, they know that Xacatecas is one of the most powerful supporters of Mara, what they want to achieve is to trap Mara in the desert and kill her, and with her family property un guarded, they can destroy the acoma natami one they are done with Mara.Desio goes as far as to pledge the acoma blood or his blood to the red god god Turacamo.Their plan goes perfectly to the point but the last part of killing Mara gets spoilt due to Kevin's intuitiveness.Ichindar's proposal of peace with Midekemiansalthough we get a shot glimpses of the emperor Ichindar at the end of the book, but he is also a cunning and subtle player of the game like Mara, and he too knows many of the tsuranni short comings which he is bold enough to subvert.one of those shortcomings is the riftwar which is going on with the midkemians, but Ichindar proposes that there must peace between midkemia and tsuranni, and goes as far as to take many noble lords with him to the peace meet, but the meeting is disrupted when they get attacked in the midkemia.At the same time we have Mara in the capital city staying in royal quarters, as soon the news comes that Ichindar has been wounded all hell breaks loose in the royal place where a bloody game starts between the tsuranni nobles to usurp power.Mara just manages to survive the many assisination attempts in the royal palace.The final conclusion of this bloody struggle is that lord Almecho's cousin rises to power as the new warlord.Tasaio's plot against Mara.after the failure of desert plot,Desio confines his cousin to rule in the far isles, but once Desio gets killed in the peace talk meet we have Tasaio rising to the power as the new Minwanabi lord.during their intial plotting both the cousins make use of the fact that they know who acoma spies are in their household.Tasaio uses a different technique this time by sending proxy lord with a marriage purposal to Mara.the proxy lord agrees to meet Mara in a secluded location, although her first adviser Nacoya advises Mara agaginst such a meet, she goes forward with the plan trusting Arakisi info that he has not heard anything from his spies in minwanabi household.But she just manages to escape from the ambush with help of Kevin, although with a doubt on Arakasi's loyalty.But Arakasi again gains her loyalty,Arakasi slowly straightened. His eyes grew penetrating, disquietingly, uncomfortably direct. Through the sun’s glare, and the dusty scent of the flowers, he appeared to see through flesh and read her invisible spirit. ‘You are not like the other rulers in this Empire,’ he said, the velvet restored to his voice. ‘If I could dare to venture an opinion, I’d say you were quite dangerously different.Mara's ascension to powerAfter coming to know that the new warlord has been hanged for betraying the emperor, Mara rushes to capital as she knows Tasaio is going to bid for the position of new warlord and starts playing a game which will finally lead her to the highest title in tsuranni land.The book manages to tie all the plot lines from the previous book is a must read.I give it 5/5stars.
This was another riveting story, though it different from the first book in several notable areas. Unfortunately I personally found the deviations jarring and it slightly detracted from my enjoyment, but they also were more reminiscent of the form of the original riftwar books, so they are understandable. It perhaps reveals a heavier involvement by Feist than with the first volume. The focus still remains with Mara as she deals with the fallout, good and bad, from the previous book. It also introduces a Midkemian slave, Kevin, who ends up taking a very prominent position as the house goes through political and military conflicts. Kevin’s presence as an outsider lets the authors use him instead of Mara as the reason to explain what’s going on in Tsurani politics, since Mara is supposedly mostly an expert by now, but he takes a significant and active role in the story as well, so the conceit is not an issue. Point of view in the story drifts back and forth between him and Mara, often without any indication beyond contextual, but it’s mostly done well and sensibly, for instance when we need to stick with Kevin while Mara’s laying out a secret plot. Battles, personal and at the army-level,show up more often and in more detail than in the previous book, which suggests to me that Feist had more of a hand in writing this volume. Those additions are not unwelcome, though two others that I attribute to him were not as entertaining for me.Firstly, the point of view jumped to the first advisor in the Minwanabi household, Mara’s sworn enemies. I thought the first book held up well enough on its own without resorting to the jumping, and apart from one point of intrigue early in the story, the switching added very little. It may have been done in order to highlight certain flawed traits of the other house, but I felt it was too much. Secondly, time jumping happens a lot more often in this book as well. Very often a turn of the page would cause six months to go by, and sometimes it was worrying, particularly because Mara’s child is present, so he grows considerably during that period. The story never goes off the rails as a result, and the timing makes sense, but I couldn’t help feeling there were significant events and developments that were “skipped” by fast-forwarding through so much time, even though that’s obviously impossible.The final complaint I have relates to the end of the book. (view spoiler)[ Kevin’s arc, to me, was ended very abruptly with no real resolution. Perhaps that was on purpose to put us in the same frame of mind as Mara, but given the amount of time and attention paid to him through the rest of the story, the perfunctory dismissal seemed like a waste. (hide spoiler)]
Do You like book Servant Of The Empire (1990)?
A thoroughly enjoyable read. Four and a half stars, really.The addition of Jenny Wurts seems to have tempered Feist's previous weaknesses - compression of time, and a female perspective. There are still a few traces of Feist's "blunt" plotting, but for the most part is a marked improvement to flow and readability. My only serious frustration with this series is the lack of attention paid to signposting the passing of time, which I feel is important if you're going to span a story lasting any more than a year.Sensing that the 2nd and 3rd books would be good, I went ahead and bought them (I only buy books if I judge them worthy of re-reading). Loved this one, looking forward to the third!
—Glitterfairy
I couldn’t finish this sequel because I found it slow, predictable, and boring.One hundred pages into its predecessor, Daughter of the Empire, Mara had survived an assassination attempt, saved the life of a trusted family retainer, and pulled off a plan to recruit gray warriors to her house. By the same point in this book, however, Mara has just kind of shuffled around the house and fell in love with a barbarian slave. I saw the romance coming from the very first scene, where Mara purchases him, and it progresses predictably.I also got tired of the author(s) telling me exactly how every character was feeling. There’s no room for me to participate in the story if I’m told exactly what everyone’s actions mean. Imagine playing a game of checkers where your friend moves both his pieces and yours, because he doesn’t trust you to make good moves. It’s boring and demeaning.What really killed the story for me, though, were the long scenes spent with Mara’s enemy, the Minwanabi. None of the Minwanabi characters were particularly interesting, and knowing exactly what the enemy was planning took away all the suspense. There was some dramatic irony as Mara wondered what they were up to, but that wasn’t enough to fuel my interest.If only Feist and Wurts had kept up the tempo from their previous book!
—Carson Kicklighter
This is the second book in the Empire Trilogy by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts. I really enjoyed the first book. I loved how a young and innocent girl was thrust into the deadly games of politics where any wrong move could be met with her death as well as the death of her loved ones and shame for anyone associated with the name of her family the Acoma. In book one Mara is 17, becomes Ruling Lady of the Acoma facing powerful enemies with only 37 warriors to protect her and her hard to defend estate lands. Through cunning, the help of her beloved advisors and a quick grasp of the Games of Council, Mara outwits one of the five most powerful families in Kelewen. Survives attack and marriage with a violent man to restore lost honor to the Acoma. This book laid the foundation needed to understand this world and it's people. At the same time it was exciting and fun. I didn't feel like it was an introduction used to prepare for the rest of the trilogy and was absorbed at page one.Book two knocked my socks off. It starts right after book one ends and you fall seamlessly back into the world Feist and Wurts created. Not only that, the pace picks up and the stakes are raised even higher as Mara and the Acoma are faced with an even more ruthless enemy. Surprisingly, this conflict is no longer the center of the story. In a world steeped in tradition, the face of things begin to change. Life as the Empire knows it is torn apart by the effect of interaction with the 'Barbarian World Midkemia'. As Mara and the highest of rulers start to question tradition the resulting consequences are epic. We see our heroine, Mara, make decisions in haste that cause more conflict and we cannot predict how this story will play out.I was completely invested in this book. I could not put it down and I am anxiously looking forward to reading the third one.
—Tammy
