The Hands of the Emperor

Wow. Cliopher Mdang and his Radiancy had me riveted for days, and now that the story is over, I'm so incredibly sad. Easily the best book I've read this year. This book is beautifully written and has catapulted itself to becoming my top favorite book of the last 3 years, at least ... dare I say maybe my favorite book ever? You have no idea how sad I felt when I saw that this was a standalone (as stated in the book's backmatter) ... and how absolutely delighted I am when I see there's other stories in the series shown here on Goodreads. OMG, I'm so happy!

I can't wait to read the author's other books as well.

Really loved this, with a few reservations.

This book is so cozy and cute! I loved the characters and their friendships. I identified a lot with the concept of leaving home for the wider world, and the people at home not quite understanding (people at my parents' rural conservative church call me “Berkeley girl”

Liked: Cliopher, his friendship with the Emperor and others. Comfort atmosphere. Wanted to read more about Cliopher`s work but maybe his Grand Project to Reform the Goverment won`t stand up to close scrunity.

Disliked: 'Communists' and 'good' in one sentence. Romance drama (at least it was only for several chapters).

I vastly preferred the first half of this book to the second half; felt like it got repetitive, and . . . less plausible and nuanced, I suppose? I do believe the term ‘Mary Sue' often gets overused, especially when angry men are applying it to female characters, but I think by the end Cliopher was very nearly a male example of that trope. He was the best at everything, and everyone who criticized him was wrong, and even his flaws were actually strengths! Also the Emperor mostly vanished from the story, and I love him roughly a million times more than any other character. I don't regret reading the book, but it didn't get the five stars I once expected to give it.