The Empire's Ghost

I rather enjoyed this novel, I found myself engrossed in the story and rather impressed with the author's ability to weave that many different stories into a cohesive whole. I enjoyed the writing style and the characters and would definitely read another if there were to be a second installment which seems to be the case from the ending.

The Empire's Ghost is the first book in a new fantasy series in which the great empire Elesthene rose and at the same time ended the use of magic. (If you want a more thorough summary, I definitely recommend you check out the Goodreads summary, as it will provide much more information.) Honestly, the more I think about this book, the more I love it, and I definitely plan to purchase a copy of this book for myself.

The most prominent thing about this book, in my opinion, is that there is a lot of dialogue. That might sound odd, but it really is true. Fortunately, I found Steiger's dialogue to be extremely entertaining and realistic, and I really enjoyed it. I have never been a huge fan of extensive action scenes in the first place, so the amount of action that was interspersed throughout this book was perfectly balanced. Plus, the actions scenes were wonderfully written, and every sword battle or confrontation was written with precise detail and an engaging narrative.

There is a lot of politics, strategy, and social play at work here, and I loved every second of it. The political interactions and discussions included so many subtle snide remarks and wisdom that I could not help but hang on to every word.

The characters in The Empire's Ghost are amazing. There is a wide variety of characters, which extremely impressed when I discover how distinct each character's voice was. Along with the many characters, there are also many alternating third person points of view throughout this book, and I - surprisingly - didn't really mind. Each character had such an interesting storyline and fascinating personality that I sincerely enjoyed each one. I'm tempted to go into more depth about some of the characters, but trust me when I say that if I did that, this review would be far too long, so I will not do that for this review for the sake of brevity. (You're welcome.)

The worldbuilding in this book is subtle in how it is told, but strong in the way in which it draws the reader in. There is no info-dumping (yes!), and there really isn't much of an exposition either. It took a little while to get into the world Steiger has created in this book simply due to being thrown right into the world, but her charismatic characters really help to lead the way kept me interested.

The best part of this book, in my opinion, is the sheer depth of history of the world and the character backgrounds that are presented. The attention to detail made this book so real and I could not draw myself away from it. Steiger has also proven herself to be incredibly deft at carefully writing in twists and elements that impressed me immensely.

I can already imagine that there are going to be two main camps for this book: those who love it because they enjoy slow character-building and a plot that is mainly focused on settings things up, and those that hate it because it is too slow-paced. I'm in the former category and I cannot recommend this one enough. Overall, I am giving The Empire's Ghost five stars!

An exciting, engaging read that was hard to put down. I loved the world, the fantasy, and the characters!

This was surprisingly a great read! It was fascinating and interesting at the same time!I loved how the story progressed slowly and every character had a back story.I would love to read the next book!

The Empire’s Ghost is epic on many levels. The massive empire of Elesthene is now history, fractured into separate lands. Magic has become fable, thought to be rooted in superstition rather than historical fact. The story gives viewpoints from several rulers, all with their own agendas and ruling styles. You also get the view point of many citizens and soldiers as well. It gives a sweeping view of what life is like across the board, giving the reader insights into the life and happenings for commoners as well as intrigue from within the palace. Though the perspectives are all unique, they become intricately intertwined as the story progresses.

Through perspectives on the struggles between adjacent lands that used to be part of the Empire, we meet the rulers of all three and three and see the contrasting styles of rule. We see hints of magic, enough for speculation. The story can be dark at times, but this is not a brutal and gritty story. It is epic with ups and downs, and definitely death and blood. It’s not a happy feel good story that glosses over battles, but it is not terribly graphic either (at least not by my standards).

Now, one of the hallmarks of many epic fantasies is often a large cast of characters and varying lands to keep up with, along with all the political maneuvering, etc. This book takes the epic number of characters to, well, an epic level. Even for a large cast epic fantasy, the number of people to keep up with could be overwhelming. This is not a bad thing, just go in prepared that you will be introduced to what may feel like at times to be a staggering number of characters. I did find myself at times working to keep them all straight, but I have to say, overall, I did. That said, I truly hope the publisher includes a Cast of Characters, perhaps even with a visual representation of people and relationships/alliances (a friend was joking it could use a flow chart, and honestly, I think it really could). I do worry readers may complain that they had a hard time keeping characters straight, or remembering all the details. Some kind of reference or aid to help keep them straight would be highly beneficial. Maybe I’ll create one myself 🙂 Another downside of so many characters is that I can’t say I found myself as attached to any of them as I would have preferred just because no single character had as much page time as a book with fewer characters. Time learning about another new character is that much less time to grow attachment to existing or primary characters. I certainly was not detached, but the more page time a character gets, the easier it is form emotional attachments to them.

Another forewarning for those that love fully contained stories that can stand on their own and have a hard time when that is not the case, you may want to wait for subsequent books to be released. This is an exciting and fun book, I know way more than I did in the beginning, and there were a ton of revelations (and some great opportunities for speculation), but I left it feeling like the story is really just getting ready to take off instead of feeling like there was closure of any type. That is not something that bothers me, particularly in a book 1 of an epic fantasy series. Just mentioning it because I know different readers have different preferences. Personally, I enjoyed the journey and am anxious for the next installment.

Overall, I think this was a very ambitious and good debut. Considering the page length (this is not the heftiest epic fantasy), it is crammed with information and people and a crazy amount of things going on. I may have talked about the number of characters being hard to keep up with, but sometimes epic stories require more perspectives to really give the reader a comprehensive understanding of the world and all its facets. For me, it was worth it. Without a doubt, I plan to read the next one. I need to find out what happens next.

This is very dense! It's very richly detailed and Steiger clearly has her characters' backstories well researched and plotted out. The imagery and world is very vivid, and really sets you right in the narrative. It's very lived-in.

I saw some very mixed reviews on this including a Could not Finish at 25% - well that person definitely missed out! This is an epic tale and whilst there are a number of threads that are woven, this is essential to provide the rich tapestry of the tale - as you immerse yourself in the book, those threads begin to converge more and more until you understand why each character needed to tell their own tale, in their own way.
With a stunning cast of diverse and interesting characters, intriguing rulers and several Main Protagonists, this was a hugely enjoyable read and the first of several in this world from how it ends- I am looking forward to the next one.
#TheEmpiresGhost

I was super excited to have received this book as an ARC! It was such a well rounded book, from the amazing and detailed worldbuilding, to the thought out and well executed plot, to the characters that drew you right in!

'The Empire's Ghost' is an epic fantasy adventure that centers around various kingdoms seeking control over neighboring lands, but with magic and cunning rulers, who will have the upper hand and who will be victorious? The imagery is quite exquisite throughout the novel and the locales seem to become characters themselves. There are a lot of characters, names, and places to remember, but don't let that dissuade you from starting this novel. The characters were a little hard to remember since they are called more than one name by different characters, but after sticking with the novel, they became clearer in my mind and I could picture each one in every scene. The characters slowly reveal more and more about themselves as the novel progresses to provide more depth and complexity to their choices and actions. Magic and the use of magic is a thread throughout the plot, but does not control the plot. The ending is definitely not a conclusion but opening to another book set in this epic world.
My reasons for giving 'The Empire's Ghost' 4 stars instead of 5 are primarily the time it took for me to get invested in the novel and the plot intricacies that were sometimes hard to follow. The second half of the book definitely seemed to come together more solidly than the first half. The action was easier to follow and the characters easier to delineate. I think a multi-faceted novel like 'The Empire's Ghost' would have benefited from a map and character list/tree at the beginning to give the reader some perspective.

A new fantasy world, great for the series reader who loves intrigue and endless trouble. Deep mysteries abound.

I will be honest: at first I really didn't know if I would end up liking the book or not because it seemed a bit draggy. But as I continued reading, I found myself unable to put it down and stayed up late to finish this book. The worldbuilding is very amazing and I adored the characters!

This was a great start to a new series. I thoroughly enjoy fantasy with large casts, complex plot threads, and switching perspectives. I dove into the world due to rich descriptions and latched onto characters easily. What is really wonderful about this novel, is that each character, good, bad, or in-between as most are, they were all well rounded and drawn with the keen eye of realism. When there is that sort of realism, the fantasy slips in unnoticed, feeling natural. I was lost in in the world in best possible way and loathe to put it down for real life. Everything about this is epic and I hope to get to read the next part soon.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I'm not the kind of person who usually likes novels that follow several characters and just as many kingdoms. However, I felt like Steiger did really well on this one. It took me awhile to get acquainted with all of the characters, but once I did - I was hooked! I really enjoyed Arianrod and her sassiness - I'm definitely rooting for her. Steiger has a nice writing style that is easy to follow and well thought out. The book did go a bit slow for me, but I don't think it made me enjoy it less.

Overall, I would recommend this to fantasy readers and readers who enjoy Game of Thrones but maybe want something a bit less complicated. While there was a lot going on in this book, I don't think there was too much happening so it's easy enough to follow. Can't wait to start Book 2!

I really enjoyed this book the characters have pulled me in and made me want to see a better future for them, I can’t wait to read the next book to find out what has become of all of these wonderful people. I love how all the characters are coming together in their stories and how their individual stories intermingle. This is the first book I have read by this author but I know I will be reading more. I definitely recommend this book.

Wow! Just… Wow. If you enjoy epic fantasy go get yourself a copy of The Empire’s Ghost by Isabelle Steiger and make sure to pre-order book two, The Rightful Queen, which comes out on July 21, 2020.

It’s been awhile since I’ve read an epic fantasy book. I think I was put off because I was reading the wrong ones. Ones where the women have big breasts and are scantily clothed. I should have known I need to seek out female authors. Authors like Steiger who has numerous strong female characters, not everyone is constantly thinking about or having sex, and where the men are allowed to have a feeling other than rage.

The characters are so well developed and I look forward to meeting up with them again. You have the usual tropes; magic is missing, quests for the royalty, hidden revolts, and more, but it doesn’t feel like you’ve read it before. Steiger takes a fresh approach that I really enjoyed.

And the world that is built is amazing. You feel like you’re actually there with her vibrant descriptions. You can smell the stew cooking in the tavern and feel the dampness of the prison walls seep into your bones.

Steiger masterfully had the story progress giving just enough information to have you believe you know what is going on with a particular character and then she gives you some more insight that has you second guessing yourself. This made me want to read faster to see how the different characters were intertwined and I was actually saddened when the book ended. But you know that’s a great book when an author leaves you wanting, no needing, to know more.

This book took me by surprise! The Empire's Ghost will appeal to high fantasy readers who like a more thoughtful, slowly-paced fantasy with excellent characterization and great writing. The story started slow, but by the end I was hooked. I enjoyed learning about the world and the characters, and I will definitely be picking up the sequel.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It took me a while before I was really engaged in this book - that happened about 20% of the way in.

For the most part the characters were well developed. However, I felt there were too many characters implanted in the story and it made it really difficult to remember who was who. Some of the characters seemed to be important to the story line, however they didn't appear often enough to make an impression or for me to form an attachment. I would have liked the book a whole lot better if it was written to follow just a few of the characters, rather than the large number presented in the book.

I really liked the story and found the plot engaging. The book ended with a number of mysteries that makes me want to continue with the series.

*** I received this book as a free copy from Netgalley and St. Martin's Press/ Thomas Dunne Books
in return for an honest review ***
Side note: Isabelle Steiger's new book is coming out next week, so St Martin's Press was offering a special download on her first book in exchange for a review. Unfortunately, the version they sent me was a protected PDF with horrible formatting. This mattered because the book has a lot of POVs and different characters and the POV in the PDF would shift from character to character with no warning whatsoever. Super confusing and annoying.

BUT ...
The good news is that I was enjoying the story, so I got a Kindle version (it's on sale at Amazon) and that was much better ... so on to the review.

This is a intricately-plotted novel with some excellent world-building. There are numerous characters all with their own POVs (did I mention that already?) The good news is that all the POVs belong to empathetic characters. There are no obvious villains or heroes in this book, just everyone trying to do the best they can to survive. There are no pitched battles, a couple of sword fights here and there (which can be good or bad news depending on what you are looking for). The not-so-good news is that it can get very difficult to keep track of everyone and all their relationships to each other. The bad news is that if you are looking for a clear plot-line with some idea of where the series is going, because of all these plotlines, you are pretty much screwed. Till the end, I'm still not sure where the author is taking this book.

Here is my sense of what is going on in the book: There used to be magic in the world, now its all gone. With the exception of the two of the protagonists, both rulers, Arianrod Margraine and her enemy, Imperator Elgar, who are sort of proto-mages with limited magic powers. There are a bunch of supporting characters, a gang of tavern hangers-on each with their own skills. There are a few soldiers/assassin who serve each of these rulers, but in many cases, have lost their memories, so have no idea what they are doing. Arianrod is trying to understand and restore magic, Elgar is trying to conquer the continent, but everything is very low-key.

I find this sort of refreshing because I've seen a lot of books with clear quests and clear goodies and baddies. I like Isabelle's lack of clear demarcation between good and bad (or indeed in her refusal to make anyone intrinsically bad). I like her world building, I like the way she describes her characters' issues and how they deal with them. I would put this down as a thoughtful book, quiet, understated and well-done. I would definitely want to read the next book - even if it is only to figure out where she is going with this.

The Empire's ghost is filled with a cast of very intriguing characters. Kelken stood out to me the most. He's very determined and passionate and that ultimately made him very likable and easy to route for. I like the world-building, although with the jumping back and forth between characters in different areas, I fear I might need a huge refresher by the time I can get to the second book.

this was a really good start to a series, the characters were great and I really enjoyed going through this world. I look forward to more from the author.

I loved this very much! The characters, the actions and even the plot itself! Very inspiring for my own book too!

The Empire’s Ghost is a solid entry into the epic fantasy genre. It does take bit of time and patience to realize the plans/path for all of the author's disparate characters and the great number of perspectives. I will definitely be reading the next book, now that the basic setup for the series is complete. I expect the sequel will be throwing us straight into the action, and I’m looking forward to more revelations and answers.
Thank you to Isabelle Steiger, St. Martin’s Press, and Netgalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

First of the series, this book create a rich world with complex characters that grab your attention and keep you engaged throughout the novel. Unlike many novels with world building you do not find yourself bogged down in details. The characters are so fully formed that you felt as if you were part of the world at times and it was easy to lose track of time while reading. A great work of adult fantasy perfect for those who have even sworn off the genre.

A great book and would highly recommend reading it. Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book.

This is an epic start to a new series by isabelle steiger. i read in order to prepare for the upcoming sequel. The history and characters of this world were greatly written. Filled with plots, intrigue, politics and lore, this book will be enjoyed by fans of George RR Martin and Morgan Rhodes.

A captivating and enchanting tale with all the makings of a thriller and escape fantasy. The author has done a wonderful fob of combining intrigue with imagery while still keeping the action moving and relevant. Character development and interaction was like watching things unfold on the silver screen while yet maintaining the intimacy of the shrouded times and challenges. An exhilarating time travel that is both relevant and modern in its twists turns

This is Book 1 of the Paths of Lantistyne Series. Elesthene was a powerful empire, but the rise of this empire meant that magic disappeared. This left the empire broken and struggling. As everyone fights for power, a group seeks to upend everything. Can they do it, or will the empire be lost forever?

The Empires Ghost (Paths of Lantistyne – Book 1) by Isabella Steiger

432 Pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, Thomas Dunne Books
Release Date: May 16, 2017

Fiction, Sci Fi, Fantasy, Magic, Medieval

This book is set in a world like medieval times. There are royals and commoners, and I enjoyed the different threads of stories. A dictator has taken over one kingdom and is trying to overthrow neighboring areas. He sends a group of commoners that were caught in the underground prison to find an artifact. It turns out to be a magical amulet to hold magic. There are many different characters, but each has his/her own personality. I look forward to the next book in the series, the Rightful Queen.

The book has a steady pace, the characters are somewhat developed, and it is written in the third person point of view. This is the first book in the Paths of Lantistyne series. I am sure the characters will grow in depth as the series progresses. If you like fantasy kingdom stories, you will enjoy reading this book.

I really enjoyed reading this book and from the moment that I started I knew that I was in for something special. The flow of the story makes for an enjoying and relaxing read, one in which you can lose yourself. The characters are amazing and you feel as though you have known them forever and you want to see them succeed no matter what. This is a must read book that will take you away from your everyday reality for a few hours. Fantastic.

I have been provided with a review copy of The Empire’s Ghost from NetGalley for an impartial review. This is the first book in the brand-new Paths of Lantistyne series and this was just a great way to start off a new series. I was just drawn into this wonderful story and I just couldn’t get enough of it. It was just so easy to get lost in this great story. I just didn’t want it to end. I just lost myself in and I just couldn’t get enough of these interesting characters. I can’t wait to see what’s next from this author.

This is an extremely ambitious book with a massively sprawling story, so many characters and plot threads that it takes some time to really get into the story. This whole first book was really just world building and introducing the many characters…it’s a lot, so much that it took most of the book to really be able to start keeping who/where/what (mostly) straight in my head. I’m hoping there will be more focus on character development in the next book now that the world is established, as they feel rather shallow thus far…most of them feel like caricatures of stereotypes so I’d really love to see them fleshed out. But even with all of that and some issues with the writing style feeling a bit clumsy and unpolished, by the end I’m feeling invested in the story and most of the characters, and I am looking forward to diving straight into the next book!

I (yet again) requested the third book in a growing series. I just plowed through the first two chonkers and call me crazy, but I'm loving these.

Paths of Lantistyne is an RPG inspired intricately faceted epic fantasy series. Magic is a mythical tale that whispers at the edges of the plot. War is knocking on the doors of neighboring lands and political ploys are digging graves and counting coin.

In the Empires Ghost, be ready for the character onslaught up front. There's actually a really excellent review by a fellow series lover who gives a well done layout of the characters, kingdoms and lands on Goodreads. I think the addition of something like that is needed in all epics but I digress. In short this is told from multiple POVs from rulers to common folk. The world building was excellent and easy to follow once the narrative settles into its flow. I personally didn't feel this dragged even though it weighs in over 400 pages. Each character, their personal struggles and goals kept me pretty riveted. By far, I have an undying love for Lady Margraine. I think she's the emotionless dark soul we all wish to be in our hearts. The climactic conclusion was the perfect bow tied on the merging paths and plot points.

In the first installment of the Paths of Lantistyne series, The Empire's Ghost, the readers is introduced to a new fantasy series by author Isabelle Steiger. We find ourself immersed into stories of its kingdoms, its leaders and the servants fighting for each. We also find a lonesome bar with a group of misfits quietly keeping the peace and thieving for survival.

This epic fantasy reads at a very slow pace, and takes a bit to understand all its characters. The ending pulls all the storylines together leaving you wanting book 2 to continue the journey through this place and its people.

Rating 3.5

Thank you St. Martin's Press, Thomas Dunne Books for the complimentary copy of this novel.

This book is everything I didn't know I needed to read and I loved it. The world building is clear and I can see myself in the scenes. I read this one and book 2 so quick which surprised me for how thick they are! Looking forward to continuing the series.