We Lie With Death
Ratings4
Average rating3
15
Ratings4
Average rating3
The empire has fallen and another rises in its place in the action-packed sequel to We Ride the Storm, Devin Madson's brutal and breathtaking epic fantasy. Into Kisia's conquered north, a Levanti empire is born. Loyal to the new emperor, Dishiva e'Jaroven must tread the line between building a new life and clinging to the old. But his next choice will challenge all she thinks she knows and everything she wants to believe. Now empress of nothing, Miko is more determined than ever to claim her empire, yet as her hunt for allies grows increasingly desperate, she may learn too late that power lies not in names but in people. Abandoned by the Second Swords, Rah must choose a new path. Will honor be his salvation, or lead to his destruction? Sold to the Witchdoctor, Cassandra's only chance of freedom is in his hands, but when her fate becomes inextricably linked to Empress Hana, her true nature could condemn them both. There is no calm after the storm.
Featured Series
4 primary booksThe Reborn Empire is a 4-book series with 4 primary works first released in 2018 with contributions by Devin Madson.
Reviews with the most likes.
Second books in series are undeniably challenging. The characters are there, the world is created. By nature they tend to be explorations rather than completely new things. We Lie With Death is definitely in that character. It definitely feels like a middle book in a series.
Three main plots are followed, although they do interweave a bit, especially towards the start and ends of the novel. The first one follows the deposed empress and one of the disgraced invaders. This plot is kind of a typical questing journey type thing. It meanders somewhat, but we do learn a bit more about two key characters from the first book and get to see a bit more of a part of the world that was not really delved into previously. The second main plot is more on the politicking of the conquerors. Here we see the influence of a nefarious outside presence starting to have a malign influence on things. This ties into our final plot that dives a bit more into the source of this malign influence.
The book does wander around quite a bit and parts of it are a bit bloated, but there is definitely a sense of build towards something more climactic. The characters are definitely delved into more. Some of the more interesting cultural conflict established in the first book is lost a bit which is a shame. This is a solid middle book in a series. Nothing spectacular but definitely leaves me intrigued towards continuing
Still superb! Still brutal and heartbreaking! Still need more!
Huuuuuuge disappointment. The first book was absolutely great, 5/5, but this is just a slug. I gave up at 50%, bored and annoyed since absolutely nothing happens. Nothing! No action, no character development, no worldbuilding... just useless, endless talk.
Here we follow the same perspectives as the first book, with one addition; Miko, the now-deposed Empress on the run. Rah, the twice-exiled devout of the Levanti culture. Cassandra, failed assassin, whore, host and prisoner. We are joined by Dishiva, follower of Gideon and the new Levanti Empire. We start in the wake of the fall of the Ts'ai Empire and the rise of the Levanti Kisian Empire.
I struggled a little bit with Rah's actions and words not meeting in the first book and he opens up a bit better here. His perspective becomes one of the more interesting ones this time around due to effectively being directly opposed to the new Emperor; Gideon. Conversely, Cassandra falls to being much less interesting initially for effectively the same reasons we seen with Rah. She has failed to live up to even half of what she's said and spends a lot of time just being dragged along on other people's agendas, all the while being separated from the main action as she finally meets the Witchdoctor, whom she believes can help with her issue of hosting another entity. This promises to be interesting in time to come, but suffered a bit of a lull here. Miko poses the most interesting perspective, as she comes off of the losing of not only a battle, but her Empire. Left to retreat with only a single bodyguard and seek allies in now-hostile territory where the political landscape is equally as treacherous. Dishiva is an interesting one, as she brings to the fold a second perspective on the Levanti, people who had originally seemed victims of this whole affair, now suddenly among the prime powers. Dishiva has to deal with how much of the Levanti culture Gideon is willing to throw away “for the best interest of his people” and ask herself whether the cost is worth it.
The best part of this book is the exploration of not only cultures, but the blending of cultures and how much compromise of your own cultures and beliefs is the correct amount to make when we see new societies rise from the mix of existing ones. We have Rah on the one side holding tight to his original beliefs, but softening to some degree when confronted with Miko. Miko mirroring Rah. Gideon who seems to be making absolutely any compromise required to keep power. Dishiva in the middle completely unsure, but certain that other cultures are poisoning Levanti tradition.
If I had to point at one weakness for this book, it would be Cassandra's viewpoint which I felt was one of the stronger elements in the first book. We get some revelations on what she is and why she holds two personalities, but while every other viewpoint in the book has now fully converged, Cassandra's still mostly away on the side not really meshing completely with the rest of the story and slowly unfolding what is actually happening there.
Overall this was a great read and promises more with the remaining books in the series so long as they stick the landing.
