An ancient prophecy foretold the coming of two queens with the power to control all seven types of elemental magic - a Blood Queen who could destroy the world and a Sun Queen who could save it. Furyborn alternates between the perspectives of Rielle Dardenne, a noblewoman who reveals her stunning powers while saving her friend the prince from an assassination attempt, and Eliana Ferracora, a fierce and lethal bounty hunter living centuries later. The action-packed narrative draws readers in right from the prologue and leaves them wanting more at the end. I can't wait to reenter the world of the Empirium with the next installment in the series!

[Excerpt]:

First of all, I realize I’m VERY late with this reveiw. The book was released on May 22nd of this year, but a) it took me MUCH longer than anticipated to read it all and b) I was in a bit of a slump when I first started the book, and I never got out of it.

However…..[spoilers ahead!!!]:

The opening chapter was PHENOMENAL. If ever there was a way to get me hooked, it was by introducing the story this way. This beginning was an A+++++++ in my eyes. Unlike so many books, especially fantasy but also mysteries and YA stories, a lot of the circumstances of the book, and likely the series, are somewhat explained in this prologue chapter. It’s revealed that:

Rielle is twenty years old and births a baby girl.
Her husband, the former crown prince and then king, Audric, is dead by her hand.
Audric was a “Lightbringer” so he obviously used some kind of famed light power.
Rielle is the Sun Queen and has been recognized as such for 2 years.
Rielle has some connection to the angel Corien, who has come to kill her infant daughter.
A young boy named Simon hates Rielle because she murdered her husband, the king, and used her powers to wage war.
Simon’s POV shows that Rielle is universally hated in the kingdom of Celdaria, although how accurate a young child’s perspective can be is yet to be determined.
Eliana is most likely Rielle’s daughter, who by some accident (caused by Simon, who can travel long distances in a blink, and possibly through time), wound up 1,000 years in the future rather than in a neighboring country in present time.
Rielle is more powerful than 99% of people + angels (it’s hard to say she’s definitively more powerful than everyone considering this is the opening scene).
By the end of the chapter, it’s unclear but seems as if Rielle, the supposed protagonist and main character of this trilogy, dies.

There’s obviously so much information given to readers within these 20 or so pages. We have characterization, some history, relationships among characters, who’s dead and who’s alive and why, and the state of the royal family. I’m used to finding out information a little bit at a time, and although some of the “mystery” may be spoiled, I think the way in which Legrand did it was very clever and beyond intriguing. Plus, there’s no doubt a lot of twists and turns before the story got to this point. I was shocked and immediately enthralled by this world, and my interest and appreciation for the independent and strong-willed Rielle only grew stronger as I continued into the first chapter.

Things inevitably become more complicated. It’s revealed that, in Eliana’s time, Rielle is known as the Blood Queen, so the question becomes, is Rielle really the Sun Queen or the Blood Queen? And as for whichever Queen she isn’t, well…..who else is supposed to hold one of these titles? Could it be her daughter, Eliana? To me, it seems like Rielle is the Sun and Eliana is the Blood Queen.
[Full review on my blog!]

Two strong heroines, a an engaging plot, and a fascinating world. What's not to like? The novel kept giving me The Queen of the Tearling vibes, one of my favorite fantasy trilogies ever. In fact, I liked this book so much, I bought a finished hard cover - something I have not done for any of the books I've gotten from NetGalley so far.

As soon as I heard about this book, I knew it was something I needed to read. Claire calls it the “book of her heart” and it’s obvious why. She puts passion into every word and page, something that gives it an undeniably addictive quality. Once I started, I wanted to finish this book so, so bad. Who needs to work or go to the gym or eat when there are wonderful books to devour?

Rielle and Eliana exist a thousand years apart in time, but their journeys intersect in exciting ways. I found Eliana’s story slightly more intriguing, maybe because we don’t know how it will end, but there was never a moment during Rielle’s chapters where I was bored. I couldn’t be bored, not when Furyborn has magic and romance, danger and assassins, angels and foretold queens.

I can’t wait for 2019 and the continuation of the Empirium story!

This simple, yet elegant cover caught my attention right away, though the synopsis is what really pulled me in. I love how subtle the inferences to the two queens are on this cover. The Queen of Light and the Queen of Blood. The dark cover choice for this was great, making the golden corners and white lettering stand out. I could only see this as an e-book but I could imagine how stunning this book cover is in person.

"The emperium lies within ever living thing, and every living thing is of the empirium. Its power connects not only flesh and bone, root to earth, stars to sky, but also road to road, city to city. Moment to moment."

This story switches between the stories of two women from two different times. Each chapter alternates between the point of view of Eliana and Rielle as they experience similar events. Each chapter is labeled with the name of the character whose POV it is from. In some stories it becomes unclear, Claire avoided any possible confusion here.

This method of story telling allows the reader to compare and contrast how these characters approach and deal with the problems thrown at them. They each harbor incredible power and admirable self-confidence. I loved seeing how differently each Rielle and Eliana approached each situation. Though these women are what the story primarily focuses on, I find that it brings so many more well-developed characters to our attention as well.

"Dread,' he murmered, his breath caressing her cheek, "is only a feeling, easily squashed. But wolves, me dear, have teeth."

There is romance between characters, but I was relieved to discover that it is not a major driving factor of the story. The story is driven by the trials Rielle is facing and the lengths to which Eliana goes to find her mother. I really enjoy these types of books. Romance is nice to see between characters, and often most times inevitable, but it should not take over the story unless it is a romance novel.

The book does present many action-packed scenes, but it took me a bit to get into initially. I felt that the beginning was slow. It did pick up and keep a fast pace through the rest of the story though! I was pulled into the story, invested in the characters and their perils. Some of the plot twists were predictable, I was hoping for more shocking twists...ones I would never see coming. At times the story can become confusing. There were often so many different things going on that details could be confusing. This might be cleared up by rereading the book. This is the reason I am rating it four books.

I enjoyed so many parts of this book, but I do not want to give anything away. I just know that I personally dislike spoilers about books I might read, so I try to avoid them in my reviews. I can say that I really enjoyed this book and if you enjoy fantasy novels packed with action, you might as well. This is the first book in the series and from my understanding, there will be 2 more. I do look forward to them! I just need to know what happens next.

"By the moon, by the moon. That's where you'll find me. By the moon, by the moon. We'll hold hands, just you and me. We'll pray to the stars and ask them to set us free. By the moon, by the moon. That's where you'll find me."

First, as trivial as this is, I really did love all the names in the book especially Prince Audric i.e. Rielle’s love interest. There are so many examples here – Rielle, Bastien, Evyline, Navana and so on. Call me silly but I just like these character names.

The odd chapters of Furyborn follow Rielle’s story and the even ones follow Eliana. I actually did like Eliana as a character but I found her story slightly boring at times. Rielle on the other hand was just okay as a character. I also hoped for more involvement from Audric in the story which I really couldn’t see. The alternate chapter writing was slightly cumbersome at first but soon grew on me as it tied the story together nicely and made for quite a few cliffhanger.

*Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for sending me this ARC!*

It's been a while since I've read a new-to-me fantasy series, and I've been completely blown away by Furyborn. Usually I don't like alternating viewpoints, but the ways Rielle's and Eliana's stories intertwined even with centuries between them intrigued me.

Rielle's story does feature a possible love triangle, but I appreciate how Legrand chose not to go the route of girls hating other girls for no reason, and instead gave Rielle a true, strong friendship. She also has a complex relationship with her feelings about her magic and its intersection with her family life, which I would enjoy the possibility of exploring in the future.

Eliana's cold, hard "Dread of Orline" exterior duels with warm feelings for her mother and brother. I admire her tenacity in the face of her entire world changing, and, in the end, her willingness to accept a new reality. I enjoyed Rielle's parts more than Eliana's in the beginning, because of the allure of the elemental trials and the magic, but by the middle, I had come around to Eliana's story.

These two women were fierce and independent each in their own ways, but I do think I enjoyed more of the story after we began to see more of the connection between them and how that will come into play.

I was also interested in the elemental system of magic and its intersection with the Saints. In order to prove herself as the Sun Queen, Rielle had to prove that she had mastered all seven elements by undergoing a trial for each. I've always liked trials, and seeing what distinguishes Furyborn’s magic from other books’ was a treat.

The plot was enthralling, if a bit slow in the beginning. I do think that some elements were unnecessary, such as some of the science-fiction-esque creature-creation in later chapters, and Eliana’s beginning dragged a bit. I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery about Eliana’s history, and the suspense of Rielle’s terrifying trials.

Well done, Legrand! I am waiting on the edge of my seat for book 2.

furyborn seems to be the book of the moment, the fantasy book that's getting all the hype. I can see why, but the hype was a bit much for me. I felt like I had already read a lot of these things that were happening in this book, which is never what you want to focus on when reading a new it-fantasy read.

At first this book took me a little longer to read. That’s not because I didn’t like it, but because it was filled with so many introductions and intricate descriptions that I took longer to read each page. But it wasn’t long until I was familiar with the world and characters and I was soon sucked into this book to the point that my family went to great pain to try to drag me out of it again for meals/sleep/socialising and other aspects of daily life.
This is an epic fantasy, and boy is it epic. Not just in the sense that the world is so beautifully crafted, but in the sense that I just really enjoyed this book and it has become on of my new favourite reads. There was a moment when I got to chapter five, that I suddenly had to go back and re-read the prologue again as it took on a whole new meaning which made my heart really happy (you’ll understand what I mean when you read it). The plot and the characters are woven together so well in this book, there are tiny pieces of detail that make you exclaim in excitement such as ‘OH SO THAT’S WHAT THAT MEANT’ or ‘OMG IT’S THAT CHARACTER’ as everything Claire writes has meaning, and all of it leads towards something, usually character development or relationships. It reads like fate and it makes you so happy when you finally start to puzzle out the plot and all the pieces start to fall together to make so much glorious sense.
By the midpoint in this book I was so invested in the characters, and so invested in their plight that I nearly forgot to leave the house for my doctor’s appointment. I don’t recommend that. But this book is purely addictive, you are permanently on the edge of your seat. So much happens in each page, there is never a dull moment and every time you put the book down to do something else, you are left aching for more, needing to find out what happens next.
The thing I loved most about this book though, was the way that Claire didn’t have a clearly defined ‘good’ and ‘evil’ like you find in most fantasy books. Every character had layers, there was no clear hero or antagonist, and even the side characters had fully designed backgrounds, plotlines and deep personalities. Each character was written into this book like they belong there, they all have purpose and they all feel real. Every one of them is flawed, and all of them having redeeming points as well, and it leaves you feeling really conflicted on how to feel about a character. You still find yourself invested in them when they are doing terrible things as much as you do when they are being heroic. They are believable, and you can really understand their needs and desires. A good character can make a book, and this book has an abundance of wonderfully crafted characters that makes this book spectacular.
The romance is believable and I am rooting for all of them all the way, I ship every pairing Claire crafted, but I especially ship Eliana and her love interest. Eliana was my favourite character in this book, but both protagonists are strong, independent and intelligent women who know what they want and do anything they can to get it. I love a badass female lead, and this book has two. The family and friend relationships are also really sweet and relatable, and their backstories are so well written. You feel everything with the two protagonists, their obstacles are painful, their love is warm, their happiness is infectious and you feel the sadness too. Some moments nearly bringing me to tears. Reading this was truly an emotional roller-coaster but it was worth every minute of it.
This book ends just as seemed to be beginning leaving way for a sequel that I need in my life desperately. We leave the book in the perfect place. The same the main plots that we needed resolved, are resolved, and some are left open so we long for more.
I really loved this book. It was fantastic and I am going to be the first person in the queue as soon as the sequel is released.

4.5 stars from me!

Furyborn was such a such an enjoyable read! The writing was excellent, the characters were distinct, the world was original, and the plot was creative.

Furyborn starts with the queen, Queen Rielle giving birth to her daughter. Only seconds after, the doctor realizes that someone else is in the room, Corien, and thus, a super intense escape scene begins.

From the start, I was enthralled. One of my favorite qualities that this book has is the fact that it jumps between time zones. At first, it was hard to keep track of the two different storylines as I didn't know enough about the characters to fully distinguish them. However, I soon was able to differentiate between the two different time settings, and I soon had no more confusion.

The book moved at a very swift pace; even when the time jumps occurred, each character was always in the middle of the action. While this made me read the book faster, I wanted to see what happened next, I would have enjoyed some more down moments at the ends of chapters. I feel like that would have helped me to enjoy and savor each character's development and story more.

Something that I wish was included was more of a background. While the time-jumps helped to fill in the gaps actively, I would have liked more information about the origins of elements and how people came to control them and the saints and what happened them. While there was never a super good part in the book to discuss this, I feel like it could have been included in the prologue or the beginning when we learn the people are praying at the seven temples.

One of my favorite parts of the writing was the fact that from the prologue, we know the Rielle is the Blood Queen. However, when the story starts, we meet Rielle before she is given the title. This makes it so much more interesting to see how she became the Blood Queen. For me, one of the best lines in the book is, "They will love me. All of them will." These two simple sentences show Reille's determination not to be someone that is feared, but instead to be someone seen as the protector of the kingdom. I think that her commitment to become the beloved Sun Queen makes her transition to Blood Queen even better.

For me, this book alternated between being super predictable and super surprising. There were parts that I legit rolled my eyes when characters FINALLY realized something important. But, on the flip side, there were moments where I was left flabbergasted, and everything clicked into place.

The ending of the book was satisfying and only fueled my need for the next book! I loved how it ended, well it was a love-hate, but it was so good!

In conclusion, I would highly recommend this book to people who love time jumps, distinct characters, a creative world, and an addicting plot. The fast-paced nature of this book meant that it was a quicker read as the chapters almost always ended on a cliffhanger. I have already recommended this book to so many people! I need to have the next book now!

This was a great addition to the world of fantasy, my favourite thing about it being the strong female protagonists. It was fast paced, intricate, and the world building was really well developed. I would recommend to readers who enjoyed books like Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake, or anyone who likes an adventurous tale that will keep you guessing.

Sometimes, I think I really dislike hype. I mean, yes, okay it pushes me to read a book WAY faster. Then, however, I have all these outsized expectations like with Furyborn by Claire Legrand. With the way that people were talking about it, I guess I was expecting the second coming. Although I did enjoy Furyborn a lot, I found myself slightly disappointed while reading it for essentially two reasons — pace and just being SO confused and lost.

The plot of the first book in the Empirium trilogy follows a dual storyline. In the past is Rielle who has control over all of the elements in her use of the empirium. Rielle is in love with the king’s son, Audric. Except he’s engaged to her best friend Ludivine. Meanwhile, Rielle has to undergo different trials with the elements to prove she’s the sun queen come to save everyone. Then, set in the future is the storyline of Eliana. Eliana is a bounty hunter for the Empire and will do whatever it takes to keep her family safe. Only, one day her mother, Rozen goes missing. Eliana then ends up journeying with her brother and this guy named Simon. Secrets are revealed.

So, I kind of get the sense that Rielle was supposed to be set up to eventually be a character we don’t like? Maybe I interpreted that all wrong. However, despite all her ridiculous mistakes including one where it is like HOW COULD YOU EVEN DO THAT — I still liked her. Out of the two storylines in Furyborn I found Rielle’s to be the most compelling. She has this tragic history with her mother. There’s some forbidden love. Hell, she even gets to be ostentatious in her costumes as she does the trials. I just thought she was so interesting. Although, there’s times where I found myself questioning why she didn’t just use Empirium magic to save the day at different points. Overall though, I would be glad to read more about her.

Eliana, the future storyline character, is kind of intriguing too. I guess we get this hint of who she actually is, but as a reader who is not a first timer, I figured it out immediately. I will say it drove me up the wall that it took SO LONG to get to that reveal. Like, we all already know who she is, why keep dragging it out. And then, I kept expecting her to be able to use empirium kind of like Rielle but she doesn’t. So, consequently I was a little disappointed. Like, this book is hyping two queens WHERE IS THE OTHER QUEEN. I also thought she was kind of a dick to Simon and all these other people who are just trying to help her or if not trying to help her, live their lives as refugees.

Okay so I guess where I found myself disappointed is that I expected to immediately gel with Furyborn by Claire Legrand and write love songs about it and join a fanclub after reading because it was supposed to be SOOO good. And, okay, yeah it is a decent read. But goodness, it is so freaking slow for anything to happen. There’s a race with assassins in the beginning which is exciting a little bit, but I just felt a little bored after that. Whenever it would start to get good, we would get a perspective shift. I just want to lean into the good parts, not get switched to another character.

I also didn’t 100% love this because I felt a little lost on the world building. For example, I wanted to know more about the magic. It did not entirely make a ton of sense to me. Plus the future timeline kept bothering me because I just wanted to know why everything was the way that it was and how it got to be so different. Yet, the reveals felt like they took forever.

Of course, I do plan to continue with this series and maybe am chalking a lot of this up to me as a reader. Right now I am so particular in what I read and have to be immediately and continually engaged. Maybe when I am less particular I will be ready for the next of Legrand’s new series.

Rielle Dardenne is the promised queen of the sun. Hidden away by her father, making sure she is protected at all costs. That is until she reveals herself to the public. Rielle craved to be accepted for who she was, loved unconditionally.

While Eliana "The Dread of Orline" the most notorious assassin in the realm of Orline is trying to live day by day making sure her family is taken care of.

These two women were raised differently, but they will both be crowned as queen. One of great evil.... and one of light.

Furyborn was a thrilling fantasy novel that was filled with mystery and suspense. A prophesy has been forsaken... and blood will be shed.

Overall this book was a fantastic start to the Empirium series!

"Resurrections. Our return, and our revenge"

LOVED this book. The characters are all well developed and not typical. I really enjoyed that this fantasy novel didn't follow the same ole, same ole plot that has been seen over and over again.

Wow. This was good. Gritty, gripping and kept me reading and wanted to know what was going to happen. Claire writes very well, and I will definitely be recommending this to Fantasy readers.

This is book 1 in the new series Empirium. I never really got into the swing of this story. I would lay it down and a few days later I'd think I better try again to finish. I love the concept of parallel time lines and two women experimenting with their magical powers. Rielle and Eliana are the two heroines in this fantasy tale that is geared to teen readers. Maybe they can find something a little more substantial or likable about them. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

A great start to a new fantasy series. Perfect for readers who enjoy strong female characters, rich and well-developed stories, and imaginative realms. It definitely left me eager to read the next installments.

What to say about this book?

It has this magical and mysterious feeling to it, but at the same time the problems the characters go through are so real and relatable. The only problems I had with this book were that it felt like forever to finish, it is really short paced, and sometimes I didn’t care for Eliana’s part, just Rielle’s. Overall, I would give this book 4 stars.

An original classic.
Furyborn takes things we are familiar with in fantasy, like prophecy and elemental powers, re-imagines them and weaves them into a beautiful sweeping tale.
The main characters are complex and as far from black and white as you can get. Both young women are strong and fierce, they make us question what is just and what is good, the difference between what we believe is right for others and what is really right.
A world so detailed and well imagined you can feel the sunlight catching your feet as you curl up on that cosy window-seat and hear the sweep of huge feathered wings.

Furyborn also includes representation and is very aware in it's equality and it's valuing of female friendship.
If you love magic, heroines who will hold you at dagger point and richly intricate fantasy worlds definitely read this book!

Thank you to SOURCEBOOKS Fire for the digital arc!

This one wasn't for me. The first chapter hooked me, but then when the second chapter switched POV, all of the tension dissolved and I couldn't get into it. The writing was good but the story didn't make me need to keep reading.

2-1/2 stars