The first book in the instant New York Times bestselling series, the Empirium Trilogy!
Furyborn is an epic YA fantasy about two fiercely independent young women, centuries apart, who hold the power to save their world…or doom it.
When assassins ambush her best friend, Rielle Dardenne risks everything to save him, exposing herself as one of a pair of prophesied queens: a queen of light, and … herself as one of a pair of prophesied queens: a queen of light, and one of blood. To prove she is the Sun Queen, Rielle must endure seven elemental magic trials. If she fails, she will be executed as the Blood Queen…unless the trials kill the queen first.
One thousand years later, the legend of Queen Rielle is a fairy tale to Eliana Ferracora. A bounty hunter for the Undying Empire, Eliana believes herself untouchable—until her mother vanishes. To find her, Eliana joins a rebel captain and discovers that the evil at the empire’s heart is more terrible than she ever imagined.
As Rielle and Eliana fight in a cosmic war that spans millennia, their stories intersect, and the shocking connections between them ultimately determine the fate of their world—and of each other.
Perfect for:
- Epic fantasy and dark fantasy YA readers
- Fans of To Kill A Kingdom and Ash Princess
- Lovers of dual POVs and epic world building
- Those who enjoy fiction about strong girls and women
The Empirium Trilogy:
- Furyborn (Book 1)
- Kingsbane (Book 2)
- Lightbringer (Book 3)
Praise for Furyborn:
“Set in an immersive world of elemental magic, legendary godsbeasts, and cutthroat assassins, Claire Legrand’s Furyborn is an addictive, fascinating fantasy.” — Kendare Blake, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Three Dark Crowns series
A BuzzFeed Most Anticipated Title of Spring 2018
A Goodreads Most Anticipated Title of Spring 2018
A Bustle Most Anticipated Title of Spring 2018
“A must-read.” —Refinery29
“A series to watch.” —Paste Magazine
“Visionary.” —Bustle
“One of the biggest new YA Fantasies.” —Entertainment Weekly
“Empowering.” —BuzzFeed
more
I really wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. The plot was there and could have been awesome, but really stumbled along the way.
The world building was sorely lacking and without much in the way of a back story it was very confusing at times.
The two main characters were also very lacking in, well, character. I just didn’t like Rielle. She wasn’t one of those characters you love to hate, she was just annoying and not likable. Eliana, I wanted to like but she was just, okay. Here is a woman who is known as “The Dread” because she is supposedly so tough, but loses more fights and battles than she wins.
All that being said, I don’t think the book was terrible, just not great. I will most likely read the next one in the series when it comes out to see what happens and I’m really hoping some of the flaws get worked as I think it has a lot of potential.
Writing: 4.5 Stars;
Characters: 5 Stars;
Plot: 4 Stars;
Entertaining: 4.5 Stars;
Read Again? Not likely. I think this is a one-time read.
Total: 4.5 Stars;
This is a good, solid fantasy story. It is a bit darker than the stories I like to read. It made me feel anxious most of the time. I was also frustrated with the story of two characters being told simultaneously. Knowing from the beginning that one ends in tragedy creates a bitter-sweet, melancholy theme throughout the book. I honestly would have preferred if the stories were written as separate books and if the mystery was kept alive.
As it is, there are no surprises.
I did enjoy the characters, the world building, and the chemistry. I also think the heroines are well-structured and complex.
I am looking forward to the next book.
This is the impressive start of a new series. The story of two queens over a century apart, Reille and Eliana. They both have magical powers and don’t know how to use them, and they don’t know where they come from. There is a prophecy of two queens rising and the angels coming back. Everyone is afraid of that. This is a great world to enter into. I can’t wait for the next one!
Furyborn, by author Claire Legrand, is the first installment in the author’s Empirium trilogy. Set in the fantasy world of Aritas, there is a prophecy: Two Queens will rise. One of blood. One of light. Generations ago in a war between humans and Angels, the angels were defeated and locked behind a gate. Due to their influence being taken from the world, magic slowly started seeping out of it. This is a story that alternates between two dynamic young women~~Lady Rielle Dardenne and Eliana Ferracora.
http://gizmosreviews.blogspot.com/2018/06/review-furyborn-by-claire-legrand-yalit.html
I’ll be honest at first I didn’t think I was going to like this book. I found quite a few of the beginning chapters confusing, I wasn’t liking the story and almost gave up. I’m so glad that I kept going as it became quite an interesting story. I finally began to get drawn into the main characters and didn’t want to stop. Also the intensity of the story and the need to survive kept me going too.
The world building, the “myths” and the fantasy of the story was well done. So was was the magic and all the horrible “tests” that Rielle had to go through. But that is only part of the story; there is so much more.
The world that Eliana now lives in is very well built as well, the harsh realities and even what she had to survive and keep her family safe.
I liked how there was a chapter for both Rielle and Eliana that switched back and forth, first one and then the other. It very made very clear whose life you were looking into. And both people had their very own really good secondary people in it. Rielle Audric, Ludivine had grown up together and they make for a tight group even years later.
Tal, and Corien are they friend or foe? As the story unfolds that will become VERY clear.
In Eliana’s part of the story she has her little brother, Remy, The Wolf who she is hunting and Navi comes into the story as well. There are also people she fears like, Rahzavel, The Emperor just to name a few.
As I look back, I can see that I’ve named quite a few people (but not all) but don’t worry as the story rolls along it’s not overwhelming.
For those that want to know, at the end of this book there is what I consider “A Victory for Now” ending. Now you can either see that as a cliffhanger or if this story has hooked you, it’s just the first adventure. Either way it is a really FULL book.
I give this 3 1/2 stars. It was hard for me to read because I didn’t care about Rielle and everytime it went back to her story I didn’t really want to read the book. I understand there was a reason for the going back and forth between Eilana and Rielle but I really wished the book was just about Eilana and her time. I did enjoy the story with Eilana. I will be interested to see what happens now in Eilana’s time. I know that this series will get better with the next book.
*Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this for my honest review*
Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team
Shelby –
4.5 Stars
Reviews are so difficult for me to write for Fantasy stories!
Furyborn was an epic adventure, based on the lives of two different women at two different time periods (approx. 1000 years apart). I’ve read many fantasy novels, but none like this!
I have to mention that this prologue was INSANE. If this doesn’t grab your attention, nothing will.
We follow the lives and trials, of Rielle Dardenne – otherwise known as Queen Rielle. We see how she obtains her power, and the important events in her life. I hate to say it, but I was rooting for her the entire story. She may have been my favorite character, for different reasons. I’m not going to tell you why because I really don’t want to give anything away.
Fast forward 1000 years, we see the same landscape but in a different light and meet Eliana Ferracora. She’s a complete badass, afraid of nothing, and ready to tackle anything. She’s on a quest to find her mother and protect her brother. She’s completely human, makes some bad choices, and pays the consequences. She feels deeply, but doesn’t show it. I love Eliana for her realness, her humanness.
Both of these women face dire consequences, pay terrible prices, and yet persevere. The support cast only added to the main story, and of course, were necessary.
I really enjoyed this book, it has everything you’d expect from a fantasy novel: it was funny and sweet at times, angsty and anxiety-inducing, scary and suspenseful, tragic and beautiful. Physical and mental strengths are at war with magic and the unknown! I loved that this story took right off, there was world-building, but it wasn’t boring pages full of just descriptions. There were some slow-moving parts, but I felt like they were sprinkled in to give you time to process everything else going on. I cannot wait to read the second book in the Empirium Series!
Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Furyborn (Empirium #1) by Claire Legrand to read and review.
I received this book in the end of December when it already had a huge hype about it, it still has to this day, so I went into the story with high expectation. I’m a bit disappointed that I didn’t love the story as much as others but there is a reason for it.
I didn’t know how rate this book because it basically two stories woven into one book, as the two POVs play out a thousand year apart and tell the tale of two different girls. And honestly I loved one of those point of views and I would give that one 5 stars in a heartbeat, while I kinda hated the other one and I would barley give it a 3 stars so that’s how the 3.5 rating happened. But let’s start at the beginning.
The writing is phenomenal, not overly flowery, but colorful, vivid and really engaging. The story sucked me in with the first chapter. It is a long book but it wasn’t a hardship to read at all.
The first chapter, which is basically a prologue kinda thing, is the little gems that connect the two POVs, however in my opinion at the same time it tells to much about the Rielle’s story. But it is necessary because other than this there is only an invisible thread connecting the two sides of the book.
As for the world building, the map at the beginning of the book was a huge help because the details of the world come into play really late considering their importance. For probably 20% of the book I had no freaking idea what was going on with a world so complex, where the plot builds so heavily on the workings of the society it can be a huge problem or as it was for me an irritating obstacle to fully immerse myself into story. However after thing regarding the world started to clear out and became more put together you could see the creative genius behind it. I loved every little detail of it and how they connected into an intricate and rich creation, especially with the cool elemental magic. Although I found it a bit strange that there weren’t definite indicators when it came to the world between the two times, I mean in a 1000 years not much changed technologically and such and that was just a bit unbelievable for me.
Before I get to the individual POVs I need to mention one more thing that bothered me. I understand that the author wanted to lead the two storyline parallel that’s why the alternating but the changes between them, was abrupt and almost always in the middle of some action or important even that it interrupted the flow of the plot in a bad way. Because of this the whole book felt bit like it’s stilted.
Rielle’s story
I didn’t like her POV, but mostly because of her character. After the ‘prologue’ where she already painted a bad picture about herself I still went into the story giving her the benefit of the doubt, feeling that there must be some good reason behind her actions. Unfortunately, her personality quickly soured my mood. And while the idea of a flawed heroine has a lot of potential but for me Rielle’s is just one that rubs me the wrong way, she is so arrogant, manipulative, conniving and shallow in a way, her sole focus is getting what she wants no matter who she prowls over for it. I got that she felt restricted and that was the fault of her father and teachers but the way she wanted everybody to love her and bow down to the all mighty and powerful Rielle was just annoying. She loved the spectacle around her, rejoiced because of it and ignored the obvious warning signals and clues in favor of her wants and needs. The best way I could describe her is a young child trapped in the body of a goddess who if doesn’t get her throws a world shattering temper tantrum. I tried to look for some redeeming qualities in her but didn’t find any.
“They will love me. All of them will.”
“I want……I want. I need. I crave.”
And don’t even get me started on the whole romance in it, that was just as equally bad as the rest of her character.
So there were things that I liked about her side as well. While the plot wasn’t overly complex or dynamic, it was more about the royal machinations, secrets and intrigue, it was a bit tedious for me, I found the descriptions of the trials quite enjoyable, colorful and imaginative.
Eliana’s story:
While neither of the heroines is easily or instantly likeable, they are both conflicting characters. I loved every minute of Eliana‘s part. She is just as flawed her counterpart but she is honest about it and I loved that. At first glance she is a hard ass, an aggressive, blood thirsty and somewhat cruel but after getting to know her better it turns out that she is just an angry and afraid girl who is willing to sacrifice everybody and everything to survive and save her family. She is the perfect representation of the most humane reaction. Every time her emotions come up she runs and tries to drown them she is a bit of a coward that way but she also goes through quite a character development along the way.
Her storyline is starts out a bit slower and has a completely different atmosphere and dynamism I still loved it more. For me it has more of an appeal, it was more interesting and complex. I also found the supporting characters diverse in personality and especially adored the rapport between Eliana and Simon which in my hopes later on going to turn into something more.
I received this eARC book through NetGalley. This is the first time reading a book by this author, I really enjoyed this story in all its characters and world building. In the first couple of chapters it took me a bit to understand that the chapters kept going from past to present and so forth, but after comprehending that, I completely fell in love with this story and the characters. I did not want to put this book down. I enjoyed this magical journey/adventure along with its angst and drama filled chapters. My favorite characters were Eliana and Simon. I am so ready for book 2 to see where this story takes me and wha happens next for these characters.
#fantasy #paranormal #YA with some sexual content