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Savage Empire #1
Savage Empire
The Aventine Empire. seat of civilization, is crumbling under the attacks of powerful savages aided by a. renegade telepath. Master telepath Lenardo feels responsible—the renegade is a former pupil—and vows to track him down into the strange lands of the Savage Empire.
There, mankind has evolved with different powers: able to perform surgery without a knife. able to move objects through the air without touching them. These are the abilities Lenardo considers "magic:' while the savages hate and fear the prying telepaths who can see into their most private thoughts.
And it is there that Lenardo is captured by Aradia. beautiful witch-queen of the White Wolf.. The sorceress has a plan of her own—one that will involve the reluctant Lenardo in a more fearsome. battle than he ever imagined!
There, mankind has evolved with different powers: able to perform surgery without a knife. able to move objects through the air without touching them. These are the abilities Lenardo considers "magic:' while the savages hate and fear the prying telepaths who can see into their most private thoughts.
And it is there that Lenardo is captured by Aradia. beautiful witch-queen of the White Wolf.. The sorceress has a plan of her own—one that will involve the reluctant Lenardo in a more fearsome. battle than he ever imagined!
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 29, 2010
4 people are currently reading
75 people want to read
About the author
Jean Lorrah
65 books65 followersJean Lorrah is a science fiction and fantasy author. She has produced several Star Trek novels and often collaborated with Jacqueline Lichtenberg. Her most recent work with Lichtenberg is on the Sime - Gen Universe. Her fantasy series The Savage Empire, from the 1980s, is mostly solo work. She is also a professor of English at Murray State University and received her PhD from Florida State University.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 6, 2020
This is a fun, quick fantasy with an interesting twist on psychic powers, a type of magic, sort of. There are Readers & Adepts separated into warring nations. The story follows one Reader as he finds out that not everything in the world is what he believes. He's quite naive & that's shown well, although I think the point really comes home in the following books. This one stands well by itself, though. I'm stopping here this time.
I read this book years ago & had the first 3. The second one doesn't start out very well, but picks up in the second half according to my wife who just finished reading all 7. She also thought it was a good fantasy series. Not fantastic, but definitely a good, light read.
I read this book years ago & had the first 3. The second one doesn't start out very well, but picks up in the second half according to my wife who just finished reading all 7. She also thought it was a good fantasy series. Not fantastic, but definitely a good, light read.
January 19, 2016
Not a bad 1st book in the series, interesting use of Psionic powers as magic. It will be interesting to see how the series progresses. Nice quick read. Recommended
December 20, 2024
Amazing story
The first time I read this book, I was in high school. Yeah, LONG time ago. I've easily read it 30 times since then. It is my favorite fantasy story.
There is a world that's very much like Earth, but, say, of the 1300's as far as technology. In an area that could be Rome, there's an empire known as Aventine. They have a group of psi-ability folks called Readers. These people are trained to mentally Read things - thoughts, for example (though only under strict guidelines and situations), search for people and items, communicate over great distances. If you think of the standard Telepath, you've got the idea.
Leonardo is one of those Readers. Readers are kept secluded from the rest of the Empire, in schools they call Academies, where older or more powerful Readers teach younger ones. They even seclude the genders, with males Academies far from female ones. Leonardo has just risen to the rank of Master Reader, which means he could head an Academy, his life is set.
Except ... there's a student of his, Galen. He was banished from the Empire some time ago. He tried to tell folks in the Empire that maybe, just maybe, peace was possible with people from outside the Aventine. Oh gosh no, the horrors. Say anything like that, and you get to join those darn savages.
Well, he did, and he comes back to aid those Savages in an attack on the Empire. It is the belief of these folks that everyone in the Savage Lands is an Adept. Adepts are the other Psi-enhanced people. They have physical abilities - they can heal a body, they can set things on fire, they can move clouds, or crush boulders, there are any number of possibilities.
Thanks to Leonardo, the attack fails. He is given an assignment by the head of the Readers - he is going to do the same thing Galen did. He will speak out, and be banished. His assignment will be to go into the Savage lands and find Galen, return him to the fold.
That's the plan, anyway. But when do things ever go according to plan?
He's going into these foreign lands with assumptions of the people who live there, thinking they are all hostile, Savage folks who would kill him as soon as look in his direction. Amazing how often assuming turns a b-hole into the person doing the assuming.
This is the beginning of a seven-book series written by Ms. Lorrah. Two of the later ones are co-written by Winston Howlett. I love this series, and while it may go over the heads of some readers (see what I did there?), it's well worth your time.
The first time I read this book, I was in high school. Yeah, LONG time ago. I've easily read it 30 times since then. It is my favorite fantasy story.
There is a world that's very much like Earth, but, say, of the 1300's as far as technology. In an area that could be Rome, there's an empire known as Aventine. They have a group of psi-ability folks called Readers. These people are trained to mentally Read things - thoughts, for example (though only under strict guidelines and situations), search for people and items, communicate over great distances. If you think of the standard Telepath, you've got the idea.
Leonardo is one of those Readers. Readers are kept secluded from the rest of the Empire, in schools they call Academies, where older or more powerful Readers teach younger ones. They even seclude the genders, with males Academies far from female ones. Leonardo has just risen to the rank of Master Reader, which means he could head an Academy, his life is set.
Except ... there's a student of his, Galen. He was banished from the Empire some time ago. He tried to tell folks in the Empire that maybe, just maybe, peace was possible with people from outside the Aventine. Oh gosh no, the horrors. Say anything like that, and you get to join those darn savages.
Well, he did, and he comes back to aid those Savages in an attack on the Empire. It is the belief of these folks that everyone in the Savage Lands is an Adept. Adepts are the other Psi-enhanced people. They have physical abilities - they can heal a body, they can set things on fire, they can move clouds, or crush boulders, there are any number of possibilities.
Thanks to Leonardo, the attack fails. He is given an assignment by the head of the Readers - he is going to do the same thing Galen did. He will speak out, and be banished. His assignment will be to go into the Savage lands and find Galen, return him to the fold.
That's the plan, anyway. But when do things ever go according to plan?
He's going into these foreign lands with assumptions of the people who live there, thinking they are all hostile, Savage folks who would kill him as soon as look in his direction. Amazing how often assuming turns a b-hole into the person doing the assuming.
This is the beginning of a seven-book series written by Ms. Lorrah. Two of the later ones are co-written by Winston Howlett. I love this series, and while it may go over the heads of some readers (see what I did there?), it's well worth your time.
July 22, 2025
I'd never heard of this series (or indeed this author!) until I spotted the title on the shelf of a used bookstore. And even then, it took over a year for me to open it- a shame, because it's a treat of rapid pace and lush worldbuilding, a bit pulpy but carrying solid emotion to its story. Among a broad spectrum of pulp fantasy that I've read, this one feels like it has unique character- and it makes me wonder about how many of these wonderful little novels sit unknown on bookshelves so long after their publication.
It's not a long book- I would've finished it much faster if it wasn't designated as my "on the job" book for the ten-minute breaks when I didn't want to be on my phone- and the enjoyment I got from it during those bursts kept hitting me with something to appreciate being done in a fashion that felt new.
I know that this is kind of a meager review- I won't apologize for it. It's genre fantasy fiction and all that entails, and had me charmed for the duration- what more can I really say? I'm tempted to head down to the Book Barn and see if they still have the rest of the series.
It's not a long book- I would've finished it much faster if it wasn't designated as my "on the job" book for the ten-minute breaks when I didn't want to be on my phone- and the enjoyment I got from it during those bursts kept hitting me with something to appreciate being done in a fashion that felt new.
I know that this is kind of a meager review- I won't apologize for it. It's genre fantasy fiction and all that entails, and had me charmed for the duration- what more can I really say? I'm tempted to head down to the Book Barn and see if they still have the rest of the series.
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October 23, 2025Lenardo, one of the most powerful Readers in the Aventine Empire, can read thoughts and sense details about objects and people miles away. His abilities are crucial, since the Empire is being attacked by savages with immense psychic powers. When he discovers that one of his former students, Galen, has turned traitor, he's sent on a mission to retrieve the turncoat. Instead, he encounters Lady Aradia, who dreams of ending the conflict. But most of the savage Adepts are allied with Lord Drakonius, whose only interest lies in conquest. Can Lenardo and Aradia find some means together to end the war? The first volume (out of seven) of The Savage Empire Series. Great fantasy adventure!
May 25, 2025
The book has some interesting world-building, it's a quick read, but the writing is just OK.
March 19, 2010
MADE ME GO LOOK FOR MORE BY THIS AUTHOR!!
March 22, 2014
Interesting read - sort of a throwback, old-fashioned. Reads very fast. Going to continue reading the series.
April 25, 2016
pretty decent, i didn'; expect much from it but i'm hopeful the rest of series gets better
June 14, 2009
I wanted to like this because there are several in the series but I just didn't care for it.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews