The Hands of the Emperor

What a JOURNEY this book was. I had absolutely no idea what I was getting into with it but let me tell you I IMMENSELY enjoyed the ride! The strongest point in this book was definitely the atmosphere of the world itself. 900+ pages really gave us the room to stretch and explore this world and it is absolutely gorgeous. Vast and sweeping and so culturally rich it simply must have taken the author YEARS to write this one book alone! It feels like there's so much to explore and, even though the story is confined to one person and the people closest to him in life, I didn't feel tied down by just following him. We still got to see so much even just with him and his travels!

As for the characters: I just adore them. Cliopher himself is so near and dear to me. I rarely read older protags because of my own anxieties but it didn't bother me so much this time which I'm sooo grateful for. I found him endlessly fascinating as a character, from his steady determination and competence in making the world a better place to his complicated but absolutely loving relationship with his family. There was so many jaw-dropping moments just with him specifically in this book that I would love to yap about but would hate to spoil; you just really need to experience them yourself.

His relationship with the Emperor alone was so incredibly touching and heartwarming, let alone all of his other friends and even the people who worked under him. He truly has my heart and soul and he made 900 pages of a slow-paced book (something that would usually have me DNFing) endlessly entertaining and interesting. This is part of an apparently much wider universe outside of it's direct sequel so I'm definitely going to be diving into that!

C.A.P.E Rating:Characters - 5/5Atmosphere - 5/5Plot - 5/5Enjoyment - 5/5