Slowburn romance in a high fantasy candy coating!
Guardian of the Drowned Empire
Drowned Empire
Fantasy
Seven Queens Press
June 27, 2022
Ebook, Paperback, Audiobook
494
Now that Lyr has survived the Imperator's cruel punishment, she has only three months to prepare for the test that will decide her fate. Despite Rhyan's promise of additional training, her life has never been in more danger. Enemies known and unknown get closer every day. While the Imperator's soldiers occupy the city, the Emartis rebels grow bolder, marking Lyr as their target. Staying safe means more time under Rhyan's protection. But the closer they become, the more their desire ignites, the harder it becomes to resist temptation. Secrets can only remain hidden for so long. Even ones Lyr bled for. As new threats arrive at the Bamarian border, Lyr delves deeper into solving the mystery of her power. But revealing these secrets and surviving the Emperor's test may cost Lyr more than she can bargain for. Loyalty will be tested. Lines will be crossed. Ancient promises will be reforged. And most dangerous of all: as passion burns, oaths will be broken.
“You are the fire.”
This book has had a huge negative impact on my sleep schedule because I couldn’t put it down! Guardian of the Drowned Empire is the second installment in Frankie Diane Mallis’s stunning Drowned Empire series. So many twists and turns that had me in an absolute chokehold. Panic does not begin to describe the feeling of finishing this book on a plane and not being confident that I had the next one downloaded.
We hop right back in with Lyr and Rhyan where we left off at the end of Daughter of the Drowned Empire. The Ka Kormac’s wolves are still circling and the tension between these two is still building. The deadline for the emperor’s test is drawing closer with only Rhyan to help her prepare and failing is certain death. So is giving into their feelings, though, if anyone were to even make the accusation. Balancing her training, protecting her family, and her heart might be an impossible task.
Mallis will not stop ending chapters in shocking reveals that steal any semblance of chill I have in a way that is brutally life-affirming. I loved watching Lyr grow strong and confident over the course of this book. She’s been developed to the point of almost being tangible and I’ll read as many stories about her as I can. Reading Mallis’s writing you feel Lyr’s crushing responsibility and her budding feelings for Rhyan. Speaking of, we’re also allowed to start seeing behind Rhyan’s walls. He’d always been a secret softy, we knew that when he’d sit with Lyr and talk her through her panic attacks, but we’re getting to watch Lyr discover him properly and my gosh am I rooting for him.
“Remember who you are. A title change does not change you.” “I don’t think I can do it.” “You can, and you will. It’s all going to change, and the sooner you accept that, the easier it will be. And,” he bit his lip, his green eyes still on his hand between my breasts, “just remember that one thing remains constant. My love.”
Since the first in a series always requires a degree of exposition, Guardian of the Drowned Empire really gave Mallis the opportunity to play with this world she built in a way she couldn’t before. The world-building is truly top-tier, making the Drowned Empire a series to be compared to the greats of the genre. This series is so immersive and with a story that bends in ways that consistently catch me off guard. This series is undoubtedly one of the best I’ve read and if it continues at this rate it might just kill me.
Frankie Diane Mallis could make a retelling of the phone book gripping and I won’t stop jumping up and down until people finally notice!
(be cool guys, I have bad knees and a stubborn streak)
Gabi grew up moving around the world with her family, making books in English a bit of a luxury that had to be rationed. Nowadays she lives in East London, where books can be read as voraciously as she likes. Fantasy books will forever be her first love, and she’s always looking for the next series to consume both of her brain cells. Her days generally consist of working as a software developer, squeezing in a chapter at her desk, and pining after the Picadilly Waterstones.
