James Nicoll Reviews

2024’s The Gods Below is the first volume in Andrea Stewart’s Hollow Covenant epic fantasy trilogy¹.

Vast Numinar trees were the basis of the world’s ecology. However, the wood of vast Numinar trees supplied the magic on which mortal civilization depended, a resource for which demand exceeded supply. End result: a world transformed into an impoverished desert.

The mortal Tolemne appealed to the gods to save mortals from their folly. The gods refused… all save Kluehnn. Kluehnn agreed to save mortal-kind… for a price. Part of the price was that Kluehnn would become the only god.

Almost six centuries later, most of the other gods are dead but Kluehnn is still working on Restoration.

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The Bone Shard Emperor is the second volume in Andrea Stewart’s The Drowning Empire series.

Lin Sukai outmaneuvered her abusive father, killed him, and took his place as emperor. Eschewing the old man’s dubious methods, she is determined to be a just, kind ruler rather than rule as did her father. The Empire’s problems are solved!

Or are they?

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2020’s The Bone Shard Daughter is the first volume in Andrea Stewart’s projected Drowning Empire secondary-universe fantasy trilogy. It’s just published!

The Emperor protects his people from the Alanga, godlike beings who once plagued the Empire. All he asks is total obedience and a small token of his subjects’ gratitude. A trifle, really, just a small shard of skull bone, which grants the Emperor access to their life energy. He uses that to power the automatons through which he rules the Empire. Otherwise his subjects are free to pay their taxes and do as they are told until such time as they die from the side-effects of being used as a living battery. 

The Emperor is growing old and it isn’t clear what will happen when he dies.

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