Sage Empress II

Sagacious #3

by Sherwood Smith

Set in the tumultuous, magic-filled history of Tribute and the Phoenix Feather quartet…

The second half of the story of sixteen-year-old Lan Renti’s rise to the phoenix throne begins literally in the air, as she returns to her ship of wanderers, crying hard after leaving the brother she sought for four years. But her brother sees her as a young girl needing protection—a traditional role.

Ren begins a wandering life from one end of the Empire of a Thousand Isles to the other as she seeks to rescue her parents, unfairly imprisoned. It seems the only way to do that is to refashion the empire that has been riven by warring princes—in spite of vigorous objection by said princes. She is accompanied by Sagacious Blade, the talking sword, and a growing group of companions—leading to the discovery of romance.

The conflict between tradition and revolution, the threat of chaos and the yearning for order, is embodied in Ren, who struggles to bring to a traditional world the chance to be heard for those long kept silent. From the fires of war the phoenix is reborn … and this is her story.

Genres: Fantasy

449 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 4, 2024

About the author

I am a writer,( Patreon here) but I'm on Goodreads to talk about books, as I've been a passionate reader as long as I've been a writer--since early childhood.

I'm not going to rate books--there are too many variables. I'd rather talk about the reading experience. My 'reviews' of my books are confined to the writing process.

Reviews

[Sherwood Smith]

Finishes off the tale of my difficult heroine on the OCD spectrum--like a good part of her family. The bonds turned out to reflect some of my own family bonds, I guess inevitable given how many family deaths I've weathered this past couple of years. Writing has been a solacer, but it also needs to tell a vigorous tale. So I worked in the difficulties of paradigm shift, and so on. As always, only the reader can decide if it works for them or not.

The next--the last of the Sagacious Blade tales-- I mean to be way more light-hearted as I bring the arc full circle!

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tale of trust while violence and treachery prevail. Our heroes and heroines grow and ultimately prevail over corruption and malice. Sherwood Smith develops some very interesting characters with subtle traits. Imagine one day discovering you can simply become a crane and fly high. Ahh, but the charmed sword ultimately carries the day and empire.

I will play catch up next and go to the first book of the "Thousand Islands" series to see what I missed by coming so late to this party. Fledglings.

[Little Star · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the world which Sherwood Smith creates here - the plant, animals and birds, the weather and crops. One thing I always enjoy about her writing is the way that she considers how much labour it takes to grow food and make clothing, shelter and everything her characters use. I get the sense that her economic system is sensible, e.g. the 4/4 fields.

There is so much to enjoy in the magic, the characters and world laid out in this book.

Stop there if you don't want spoilers.



The middle of the book seemed long with similar repeated episodes of sailing and flying around gathering allies which, for me, lagged. I resorted to skipping sections.

The ending seemed abrupt. Our heroine lives by her admirable self-defence creed, but the ending depended on another character doing the (necessary) killing.

A variety of relationships were carefully explored in the book, parental, friendship, romantic including M/F, M/M and F/F. However I was unhappy with the polyamorous relationships particularly at the end. I felt this should have been flagged in the blurb.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are a lot of things I love about this world and about this book. MC Ren has a strong moral code and it's enjoyable to read about her trying to make her world a better place, first while operating within the bounds of tradition, then realizing that maybe tradition needs to change in order to achieve her goals. While I respect her dedication to nonviolence, I also wonder if she as a ruler would ever recognize the necessity for war? (I also hate war and want to avoid, but I also wonder what Ren would do if attacked by another nation, for instance, and would have liked to see this explored more.) I would have liked a bit more from the romances and more of a resolution at the end, but I enjoyed the story greatly. I also liked how Ren tried to put into perspective what was legend versus what was true. Looking forward to reading the final book in this series when it releases sometime next week!

[Howard Brazee]

This second half of "Sage Empress" is the newest book in a series of fantasies in a world with a empire that looks a lot more like China's than most other fantasies. (Except the empire is on 1000 islands). The first books in the series occur later than this book, and one book is earlier. I read them in publication order. The Sagacious Sword is a character in all of the books.

You want to read Sage Empress I first, where the girl grows up in the Emperor's shadow before having to flee a coup. She learns about the world, and with the help of the sword grows up while trying to figure out how to rescue her family. She does gain power and a reputation at a young age. The title indicates what the result will be.

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second half of Ren's story, this one picks up right after Sage Empress I ends. It could probably be read as a standalone, as Ren reflects enough on her past actions to fill in most gaps, but I would highly recommend them read together.

Sage Empress II takes place away from court, as Ren spends her creating alliances across the islands, helped by her Pangolins. Watching her gain perspective and experience about her place in the world felt natural, though I did get a little frustrated at how long she held onto old views about who should rule. But even that felt true to her character and early upbringing. The conclusion is a bit abrupt - I would have liked to see more of the putting the court back in order and enacting change, not just the empress's reflections on them afterwards.

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has to fit in so much to get the rest of the story in. It still makes time for some solid character development from Ren, but spends less time developing her companions. I love the amount of thought Ren ends up putting into her gender presentation, as a side note.
This does finish the story well with plenty of unexpected turns.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contains: some fighting and two fade-to-black sex scenes, polyamorous relationships

This is a beautiful conclusion to Ren’s tale! I did get confused from time to time who the characters were, especially since there were so many with the -ti generational name. I was touched by the recount of how On and Koi pass and I loved seeing YinYin again

[A_smila · Rating 3 out of 5]

long winded and not up to her usual standard

It was a struggle to finish this. I love her writing usually but this felt half-baked. The pace was off and you’d have long slow periods of not much happening with surface level introspection and then in the space of a few pages lots of action skimmed over. Very little of anyone’s point of view except Renti’s.

[Ric Wooldridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

As good as Inda, yet so different. I couldn't put it down. I didn't get anything done until I finished reading all the books