In a world where demigods and demons walk among mortals, the Emperor of the vast Burnt Empire has died, leaving a turbulent realm without an emperor. Two young princes, Adri and Shvate, are in line to rule, but birthright does not guarantee inheritance: For any successor must sit upon the legendary Burning Throne and pass The Test of Fire. Imbued with dark sorceries, the throne is a crucible—one that incinerates the unworthy. Adri and Shvate pass The Test and are declared heirs to the empire… but there is another with a claim to power, another who also survives: a girl from an outlying kingdom. When this girl, whose father is the powerful demonlord Jarsun, is denied her claim by the interim leaders, Jarsun declares war, vowing to tear the Burnt Empire apart—leaving the young princes Adri and Shvate to rule a shattered realm embroiled in rebellion and chaos.... Welcome to the Burnt Empire Saga
The Review
I tried so hard to push through this one, but I just couldn't go on at about the halfway point. The thing is, it isn't that this is a bad book, I enjoyed what I read when I wasn't confused. The problem I have is that I was confused a lot. Like, a lot. There is no real distinction to time; the princes were boys and then suddenly they were men. My head was spinning. I related to the villain in the beginning, the very beginning, and then he was just suddenly way worse than he seemed to be initially. My head spun so hard I got whiplash. I can imagine myself fighting battles for my daughter if she had a rightful claim to the throne and wanted it. It's completely understandable but then he's this murderous snake-demon-bird-thing that can split himself into millions of tiny pieces and I just wasn't there for it.
It's really a shame because I did enjoy the writing, it was immersive and interesting. The characters were people that I liked meeting, until they very abruptly stopped being likable. But I think that's my main qualm with this one: I liked the characters on one page but then they were assholes on the next, almost to the point of being a different person entirely. Like I said before, I did not finish this one so I'm rating it one out of five for that reason. I didn't hate it, it wasn't bad writing, maybe a little sloppy but not even close to being the worst book I've ever read. I just didn't like being jerked around so much.
