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The Annals of Drakis #3
Blood of the Emperor
From the New York Times bestselling co-author of the Dragonlance novels...the stunning conclusion to The Annals of Drakis .
It appears that an ancient prophecy is about to be fulfilled as the human named Drakis—formerly one of countless warrior-slaves to the elves of the Rhonas Empire—returns from his quest in the North. Flying into the rebel camp with his surviving companions on the backs of the legendary dragons that were once humankind's most powerful allies, Drakis is hailed as the champion of all the slave races. But it is not a prophecy that drives Drakis in his war against the elves and their emperor. Rather it is his burning desire for revenge against the cruel ruler whom Drakis believes has stolen any chance he has for finding peace. And this hatred will set Drakis and his rebel army on a path that may not only bring down the emperor, but Drakis and his entire world as well....
It appears that an ancient prophecy is about to be fulfilled as the human named Drakis—formerly one of countless warrior-slaves to the elves of the Rhonas Empire—returns from his quest in the North. Flying into the rebel camp with his surviving companions on the backs of the legendary dragons that were once humankind's most powerful allies, Drakis is hailed as the champion of all the slave races. But it is not a prophecy that drives Drakis in his war against the elves and their emperor. Rather it is his burning desire for revenge against the cruel ruler whom Drakis believes has stolen any chance he has for finding peace. And this hatred will set Drakis and his rebel army on a path that may not only bring down the emperor, but Drakis and his entire world as well....
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
14 people are currently reading
255 people want to read
About the author
Tracy Hickman
452 books2,727 followersNYT Best-selling fantasy authors Tracy Hickman, with his wife Laura, began their journey across the 'Sea of Possibilities' as the creators of 'Dragonlance' and their voyage continues into new areas with the 'Drakis' trilogy, 'Wayne of Gotham', a Batman novel for DC Comics and his
'Dragon's Bard' collector's series
. Tracy has over fifty books currently in print in most languages around the world. A record of both Tracy and Laura's DNA currently orbits on the international space station and he is the writer and editor of the first science-fiction movie actually filmed in space. Follow us on
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
December 5, 2012
Hickman does a great job of maintaining his epic story to a satisfying conclusion. By this time I was used to his unorthodox treatment of the standard fantasy races. But the unpredictable twists were a pleasant surprise even as he moved into the conclusion of the trilogy. The foreshadowing laid down in prior volumes gave an "I guess that makes sense" feel to even the most outlandish turns in the story. Really enjoyed the whole experience.
April 4, 2018
Star Rating: 4.5 stars
Note: This is the 3rd book in the Annals of Drakis series so this will not be an in-depth review.
Recently, I was perusing my shelves looking for something to read, and I discovered that I never finished the Annals of Drakis series by Tracy Hickman, even though I adored the 1st 2 books. I decided to pick up book 3, Blood of the Emperor, and fall back into the unique, complex world that exists between its pages. I can’t give a synopsis of this particular book as it is the final book in the series, but I can give a quick overview of the series as a whole. This book tells the story of Drakis, a human slave of House Timuran, located within the elven Rhonas Empire. The elves have systematically brought every other race on the continent of Aeria to heel expect the dwarves, so they decide to send their slaves, including Drakis, to the dwarven halls to complete their absolute conquest. While there, Drakis starts to hear a mysterious melody, and spurred on by the call of this melody, he will go on an adventure that may just lead to him discovering who he really is. Is he the prophesied man destined to bring the Rhonas Empire crashing down?
As you read this series, you will discover that although this book has many of the troupes/motifs that we associate with epic fantasy, it does have some critical differences as well. First off, it features creatures that we don’t normally see in traditional epic fantasy stories, at least in my experience- manticores and chimerians. Manticores are giant bi-pedal lion men and chimerians are giant four-armed creatures who are able to shape-shift into other creatures and in some cases, can mimic them exactly. This added an interesting change to a story that I expected to feature only our traditional epic fantasy characters. Also, the elves that grace these pages are drastically different than the individuals that we have come to know and love. These elves resemble aliens instead of the gorgeous, ethereal beings that we are more familiar with from the Lord of the Rings, for example. Actually, because of the aforementioned fact, I have come to wonder if maybe this was more a post-apocalyptic story than a fantasy one. If you assume that the elves are actually aliens that at some point have come to Earth and conquered the humans race to the point where we are almost extinct and that the manticores, chimerians, and various other creatures are the result of either forced or natural evolution, then you should be able to see why I feel why this may be post-apocalyptic instead of fantasy. Either way, however, I love this world and these characters!
Speaking of characters, this book breaks the mold in a different way. The main character of Drakis has been told throughout this entire trilogy that he is the man of prophecy, destined to bring down the Elven Empire. However, what if he isn’t? What if he is just an average guy that just ended up associated with this prophecy through a twist of fate? Even if he is the prophesied one, what if he doesn’t want to be? For instance, throughout this 3rd volume, he repeatedly says that his only mission in this rebellion is to find a place for these people following him to be safe and free, and that he doesn’t want to fight the Empire. I thought it was cool that we got to see the struggle between what Drakis is expected to be and what he wants to be as we normally don’t get that from our heroes. Most of the time our heroes just take on the mantle of the prophecy and they don’t even act like it bothers them, although if someone sprung that on me suddenly, then I have to say I would go through the same thing that Drakis does in this book.
All in all, this was an epic conclusion and cemented this series as one of my favorites. The only reason that I docked it a ½-star is because there were some slight editing mistakes, but beyond that, it was amazing. 4.5 stars!!
Note: This is the 3rd book in the Annals of Drakis series so this will not be an in-depth review.
Recently, I was perusing my shelves looking for something to read, and I discovered that I never finished the Annals of Drakis series by Tracy Hickman, even though I adored the 1st 2 books. I decided to pick up book 3, Blood of the Emperor, and fall back into the unique, complex world that exists between its pages. I can’t give a synopsis of this particular book as it is the final book in the series, but I can give a quick overview of the series as a whole. This book tells the story of Drakis, a human slave of House Timuran, located within the elven Rhonas Empire. The elves have systematically brought every other race on the continent of Aeria to heel expect the dwarves, so they decide to send their slaves, including Drakis, to the dwarven halls to complete their absolute conquest. While there, Drakis starts to hear a mysterious melody, and spurred on by the call of this melody, he will go on an adventure that may just lead to him discovering who he really is. Is he the prophesied man destined to bring the Rhonas Empire crashing down?
As you read this series, you will discover that although this book has many of the troupes/motifs that we associate with epic fantasy, it does have some critical differences as well. First off, it features creatures that we don’t normally see in traditional epic fantasy stories, at least in my experience- manticores and chimerians. Manticores are giant bi-pedal lion men and chimerians are giant four-armed creatures who are able to shape-shift into other creatures and in some cases, can mimic them exactly. This added an interesting change to a story that I expected to feature only our traditional epic fantasy characters. Also, the elves that grace these pages are drastically different than the individuals that we have come to know and love. These elves resemble aliens instead of the gorgeous, ethereal beings that we are more familiar with from the Lord of the Rings, for example. Actually, because of the aforementioned fact, I have come to wonder if maybe this was more a post-apocalyptic story than a fantasy one. If you assume that the elves are actually aliens that at some point have come to Earth and conquered the humans race to the point where we are almost extinct and that the manticores, chimerians, and various other creatures are the result of either forced or natural evolution, then you should be able to see why I feel why this may be post-apocalyptic instead of fantasy. Either way, however, I love this world and these characters!
Speaking of characters, this book breaks the mold in a different way. The main character of Drakis has been told throughout this entire trilogy that he is the man of prophecy, destined to bring down the Elven Empire. However, what if he isn’t? What if he is just an average guy that just ended up associated with this prophecy through a twist of fate? Even if he is the prophesied one, what if he doesn’t want to be? For instance, throughout this 3rd volume, he repeatedly says that his only mission in this rebellion is to find a place for these people following him to be safe and free, and that he doesn’t want to fight the Empire. I thought it was cool that we got to see the struggle between what Drakis is expected to be and what he wants to be as we normally don’t get that from our heroes. Most of the time our heroes just take on the mantle of the prophecy and they don’t even act like it bothers them, although if someone sprung that on me suddenly, then I have to say I would go through the same thing that Drakis does in this book.
All in all, this was an epic conclusion and cemented this series as one of my favorites. The only reason that I docked it a ½-star is because there were some slight editing mistakes, but beyond that, it was amazing. 4.5 stars!!
March 21, 2022
The series of Drakis comes to an end with a series of epic plots and twists. Somehow, that's a bad thing.
The best part of a good twist is the sudden realization, that rush when you the final piece is placed and you put together all the disparate clues. The problem is that these clues barely link together, or don't exist in the first place. Instead of "Woah, that's awesome!" we're left feeling "Oh, I guess that's a thing now."
Similarly, the plots are deviously complicated, and yet...they aren't? Each character has their own agenda with the fate of their peoples and nations hanging on them, yet the agendas almost never interact. The plots exist in their own chapters, disappearing when the narrative shifts character. What we're left with is a series of very clever stories with almost no connections between them, other than being part of the same book.
The best part of a good twist is the sudden realization, that rush when you the final piece is placed and you put together all the disparate clues. The problem is that these clues barely link together, or don't exist in the first place. Instead of "Woah, that's awesome!" we're left feeling "Oh, I guess that's a thing now."
Similarly, the plots are deviously complicated, and yet...they aren't? Each character has their own agenda with the fate of their peoples and nations hanging on them, yet the agendas almost never interact. The plots exist in their own chapters, disappearing when the narrative shifts character. What we're left with is a series of very clever stories with almost no connections between them, other than being part of the same book.
August 10, 2018
Just when you think you know who all the bad guys are, Hickman turns things around and does a splendid job. I enjoyed the entire series.
February 23, 2025
I never expected to enjoy this series, but after reading it for the second time, I have come to appreciate the characters, the plot twist, and the very positive and cheerful ending. It is fast paced but has enough substance to carry a story.
June 14, 2013
A good book that builds from the two before it and vaults the story to a predictable, yet enjoyable end. The story isn't amazing, but the book is a good read and it is certainly a gift to the fantasy genre which I love.
July 16, 2013
I started it but dropped it after an hour. I found the writing painful and when I saw that Drakis was gonna play the emotional wreck I decided I did not care enough about the world to subject myself to the story, characters and writing.
March 12, 2014
Loved it, although it is a bit harsh at times (didn't bother me). The concept of a whole people being enslaved through magic, where worship is used to renew the bonds of slavery.... best not read too much into that and stick to enjoying the story of Drakis.
March 31, 2014
decent, not great
June 17, 2013
Great conclusion to the series.. I am glad Drakis got his wish. I was getting tired of the seeming "failure" of his "quest"
January 8, 2015
It was a dull end to a series. I pushed my way through it and was happy with the satisfying ending.
August 21, 2014
Solidly woven plot lines. Good, interesting, and subtle twist on the typical epic world adventurers D&D style fantasy. I enjoyed it overall.
November 1, 2014
Too little happened and it happened too fast. Not enough explanation as to what was going on. Almost like a 12 year old finished the book. Sad to end on that note.
July 5, 2015
Very good book. Ending totally blew me away!!! Must read all three books in the trilogy. One of Tracy Hickman's BEST!!!
August 4, 2015
Slightly more engaging than the previous volume of the series, this conclusion ties up many of the remaining mysteries rather abruptly. It also takes a strangely philosophical turn at the conclusion.
December 31, 2013
Excellent series...
July 30, 2015
only ok
May 1, 2017
Disappointing ending to the series. The tale was patchy, lacking details at critical moments throughout the book as if the author was trying to fit too much in the last 150 pages. Characters were introduced and then removed without any relevance to the story. There was some good points such as Jugar's storyline but not enough to save this book.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews