Book Review: Emporer of Mu by Jason Beveridge

 

Publishing Date: June 2017

Publisher: Booksgosocial

ISBN: 9780648508205

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 4.4/5

Publisher’s Description: Doomed to die at the hand of a hidden foe, the Emperor prepares to meet his fate. On the eve of war, Emperor Constantine discovers a hidden foe; one that has manipulated from behind the scenes for centuries. In secrecy, the emperor dispatches a letter to the Sorceress of the Powers, but the news arrives too late. Constantine is murdered, and Mu is thrown into turmoil as the rulers of the six realms decide who is to become the next emperor.

Review: This was a looooong novel. Not long in a bad way, where the characters are thinly painted and the story line contrived, but where the world building is so expansive that it boggles.

As a preface I would normally lightly outline the main characters and the plot and then go to town on it. With Mu it is impossible to grasp any one thing. There are multiple story line threads, weaved by characters that stand alone in their own right while merging with the principle- Empire ending threat. Every story is lent it’s fair share of depth in order to build something cogent, especially where the characters are concerned. There is constant movement that builds visualization to a marked degree.

The not-so-good aspects of this novel were some of the characters and the plethora of Kings, Dukes, Princes, Princesses, Chancellors, Mages, Demons, Elves, Dwarves and Dragons all exhibiting enormous amounts of high brow rhetoric (buffoonery).  I mean you really need 7 realms with their own rulers to stir the confusion pot? Just keeping the names and stories of the three Guild Masters was hard enough.

What really sucked parts of this novel down the shjtter was Delseer. A guild/mage/farseer/hottie that can do no wrong. She does all the right things while fighting demon thingies while loving her man hunky guy. Everyone defers to her in matters of importance with no basis in fact to support that trust.  And wow, wouldn’t you know, she can talk to dragons. She really should have been consumed by a ravenous giant condor at the get-go so save us from her righteous mewlings and smug delivery.

All told I had a good time with this. A very ambitious attempt at creating expansive fantasy that to me, was entirely successful. (Except Delseer……bad accident next novel. Hint, hint.)