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Emperor of the Borderlands #1
Emperor of the Borderlands (Book 1): A Historical Progression Fantasy Series
The next book of the series!
Emperor of the Borderlands (Book 2):
Emperor of the Borderlands (Book 3):
“Honor is the true measure of a man.” On this principle I built a powerful empire, united disparate lands and destroyed the greatest threat to our world. I died as a true warrior in battle. But instead of being granted a well-earned rest, I awoke on the border of a foreign kingdom, in the body of a noble-born outcast—with a noose around my neck.
Never mind if all that remains of my former greatness is a memory. Give me any backwater farm and I will turn it into a formidable stronghold! Give me any scruffy band of scoundrels and they will become the backbone of my new army! My experience, my knowledge and my memories remain with me.
Still, time is pressing. In the forests of this world, I encounter old the same creatures that once nearly destroyed my kingdom. They have infiltrated even here. And only I, who know their nature, can stop them before it is too late. A new empire must rise, or this world will fall.
Emperor of the Borderlands (Book 2):
Emperor of the Borderlands (Book 3):
“Honor is the true measure of a man.” On this principle I built a powerful empire, united disparate lands and destroyed the greatest threat to our world. I died as a true warrior in battle. But instead of being granted a well-earned rest, I awoke on the border of a foreign kingdom, in the body of a noble-born outcast—with a noose around my neck.
Never mind if all that remains of my former greatness is a memory. Give me any backwater farm and I will turn it into a formidable stronghold! Give me any scruffy band of scoundrels and they will become the backbone of my new army! My experience, my knowledge and my memories remain with me.
Still, time is pressing. In the forests of this world, I encounter old the same creatures that once nearly destroyed my kingdom. They have infiltrated even here. And only I, who know their nature, can stop them before it is too late. A new empire must rise, or this world will fall.
367 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 26, 2025
412 people are currently reading
65 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
December 15, 2025
Russian writers are a bit different. I think that makes it interesting. The MC is a decent character but who can be brutal when he has to be. There’s also not 50 pages of teenage boy sex fantasy bullshit. I like the progression of the story so far
September 6, 2025
Another great Russian isekai story.
I really enjoy these stories which are so different from the stale Western tropes. Men are men, women are women and people act realistic. Eastern stories seem much less naive and childish and also less predictable in some aspects than their Western counterparts, therefore i really enjoy them.
I am looking forward to reading the next book!
I really enjoy these stories which are so different from the stale Western tropes. Men are men, women are women and people act realistic. Eastern stories seem much less naive and childish and also less predictable in some aspects than their Western counterparts, therefore i really enjoy them.
I am looking forward to reading the next book!
December 6, 2025
Good read
It's a good read. I recently started reading books of this time and I enjoyed this book as well like others. It has a hero, his loyal servant, sentient bird/magic animals, a village with problems to improve on, enemies to tackle.
And cliff-hanger ending or hook to the next book.
It has everything.
It's a good read. I recently started reading books of this time and I enjoyed this book as well like others. It has a hero, his loyal servant, sentient bird/magic animals, a village with problems to improve on, enemies to tackle.
And cliff-hanger ending or hook to the next book.
It has everything.
September 15, 2025
Good start to a series.
Fast moving. Theme of reincarnation. For my taste, at times, a little bit too much background information. Overall, enjoyable read. Have ordered the next two books..
Fast moving. Theme of reincarnation. For my taste, at times, a little bit too much background information. Overall, enjoyable read. Have ordered the next two books..
September 15, 2025
Excellent story
Well written with likeable characters. I enjoyed the story and interactions between the characters.
I like Alex Toxic stories, and will research Eugene Astakhov for more great stories
Well written with likeable characters. I enjoyed the story and interactions between the characters.
I like Alex Toxic stories, and will research Eugene Astakhov for more great stories
October 2, 2025
KINDLE UNLIMITED
I had no complaints with this book and enjoyed the MC, who was likable and had principles. The secondary characters (bad guys) were fairly simple, but the Sluce were interesting.
I had no complaints with this book and enjoyed the MC, who was likable and had principles. The secondary characters (bad guys) were fairly simple, but the Sluce were interesting.
August 27, 2025
Really good
I really liked this book. Good action, interesting characters, and a pretty well-done plot.
The only problem is that the ending is just sort of there. You are just reading along, and BAM, it's over. This might just be a me thing, but others might find this annoying, too.
Highly recommended, but with one caveat.
I really liked this book. Good action, interesting characters, and a pretty well-done plot.
The only problem is that the ending is just sort of there. You are just reading along, and BAM, it's over. This might just be a me thing, but others might find this annoying, too.
Highly recommended, but with one caveat.
August 28, 2025
Great book
Great book I can't wait to read the next book in the series I would recommend this author to anyone
Great book I can't wait to read the next book in the series I would recommend this author to anyone
August 28, 2025
Excellent
Nice start to a new series. A bit of regressor LitRPG combined with a bit of cultivation. Lots of action.
Nice start to a new series. A bit of regressor LitRPG combined with a bit of cultivation. Lots of action.
November 21, 2025
Familiar Story With No Real Point…
I don’t like to be negative, and I often enjoy stories by Russian authors, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find the story has been completely written by AI… It’s your traditional trans migration trope except there’s really no explanation for the transmigration, the main character has really no redeeming qualities, other than desire to grow more powerful, And overcome all challenges by being amazing… so no real plot development by the end of book one, and then of course you’re encouraged to buy books 2 through five… it could have easily been fixed by giving the character, a motivation beyond himself and allowing for some character development
I don’t like to be negative, and I often enjoy stories by Russian authors, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find the story has been completely written by AI… It’s your traditional trans migration trope except there’s really no explanation for the transmigration, the main character has really no redeeming qualities, other than desire to grow more powerful, And overcome all challenges by being amazing… so no real plot development by the end of book one, and then of course you’re encouraged to buy books 2 through five… it could have easily been fixed by giving the character, a motivation beyond himself and allowing for some character development
September 21, 2025
Just didn't grab me. The protagonist was pompous and the story was a bit tedious.
January 15, 2026
The premise/plot is very similar to other books I've read so felt extra tropey. That said it isn't bad.
I liked the historical backdrop/inclusion for the area so we the readers can guess that the MC's prior life was lived sometime between the years 800-1100. That is in a time prior to this settings conversion to some form of single god orthodox Christianity.
Character interactions/behaviour/actions feel slightly descriptively awkward. I do not know if its only a translation issue or a combination of that and the base text.
I gave the audiobook a try and it suffers from narrative flow issues as if the narrator read it off a line prompter that at times only supplied partial sentences, or as if he had a hard time shifting to the next line below in a book without dead air pauses. In essence it is as if extraneous commas or periods have been added.
The narrator should have corrected these pauses during the narration process imho and such errors as slipped past him should have been fixed in audio editing.
A few memorable ones happen during the first fight against a soulless during the MC's initial inspection of the forest surrounding his assigned village.
It broke the immersion of an already drawn out fight and I found myself rewinding the audio more than once to make sense of the scene. It didn't help that there were some oddities in the text like the shifting between calling a rifle a gun and mentions of buckshot when it seems like the weapon in question is supposed to be some sort of, outdated, single shot long rifle. Made me think I'd missed mention of a shotgun. Its descriptively iffy and disrupted the scene even more.
The narrator also mispronounces names to the point that my mind had decided that the names must've, mostly been made up/modified for story purposes. That is until one characters name, that of Fidor.. Fidor... Fidor just grated too much and I came to the conclusion that the narrator just couldn't or didn't care about how to pronounce Fyodor. 🤣 also the name: A Ke Key A Ke Key'evich.. I honestly considered getting an e-book version of the story to make sense of things at this point.
The monetary aspects of the story seem a bit loosey-goosey and probably better ignored. That said I hope the issue doesn't compound with future books in the series. Same goes for what little that is said of the magical aspects/system in this setting.
Now we get to the plot post introduction of the setting. The MC's actions are illogical if one takes into account his supposed background.. It becomes very obvious that he is used to whip up drama and theatrical progression at the cost (and instead) of continued building realism of a more drawn out in-depth story format, cutting things short as they were.
I liked the historical backdrop/inclusion for the area so we the readers can guess that the MC's prior life was lived sometime between the years 800-1100. That is in a time prior to this settings conversion to some form of single god orthodox Christianity.
Character interactions/behaviour/actions feel slightly descriptively awkward. I do not know if its only a translation issue or a combination of that and the base text.
I gave the audiobook a try and it suffers from narrative flow issues as if the narrator read it off a line prompter that at times only supplied partial sentences, or as if he had a hard time shifting to the next line below in a book without dead air pauses. In essence it is as if extraneous commas or periods have been added.
The narrator should have corrected these pauses during the narration process imho and such errors as slipped past him should have been fixed in audio editing.
A few memorable ones happen during the first fight against a soulless during the MC's initial inspection of the forest surrounding his assigned village.
It broke the immersion of an already drawn out fight and I found myself rewinding the audio more than once to make sense of the scene. It didn't help that there were some oddities in the text like the shifting between calling a rifle a gun and mentions of buckshot when it seems like the weapon in question is supposed to be some sort of, outdated, single shot long rifle. Made me think I'd missed mention of a shotgun. Its descriptively iffy and disrupted the scene even more.
The narrator also mispronounces names to the point that my mind had decided that the names must've, mostly been made up/modified for story purposes. That is until one characters name, that of Fidor.. Fidor... Fidor just grated too much and I came to the conclusion that the narrator just couldn't or didn't care about how to pronounce Fyodor. 🤣 also the name: A Ke Key A Ke Key'evich.. I honestly considered getting an e-book version of the story to make sense of things at this point.
The monetary aspects of the story seem a bit loosey-goosey and probably better ignored. That said I hope the issue doesn't compound with future books in the series. Same goes for what little that is said of the magical aspects/system in this setting.
Now we get to the plot post introduction of the setting. The MC's actions are illogical if one takes into account his supposed background.. It becomes very obvious that he is used to whip up drama and theatrical progression at the cost (and instead) of continued building realism of a more drawn out in-depth story format, cutting things short as they were.
October 12, 2025
Definitely deserves a bit more than the rating I gave it. Somewhere between 3.5 and 4 by my standards.
The writing and descriptions are well done, the actions are generally coherent, and the characters behave in believable ways. Russian authors rarely disappoint me on that front.
That said, there are a few logical inconsistencies that annoyed me more than usual. For example, when he trains his magic (unsurprisingly) in the first part of the book, he describes the process as if he's discovering magic and its methods for the first time—even though he's portrayed as a "master" in the field by the middle of the book. I suspect that section was rewritten and poorly proofread or edited, because it makes no sense. His reincarnation advantage should obviously mean he already has the knowledge and is simply practicing.
The economy and magic system, in my opinion, are on the lower end of average. I stopped paying attention to avoid getting hung up on the costs and the author's choices.
For the sake of the story, I won’t go into the exile part that puts him in charge of a village, nor the soldiers who are supposed to protect him—but not too much. It’s a bit shaky, but I accept it.
So why not give it a higher rating? Simply because with every plot development, I could predict with 90++% accuracy what was going to happen—sometimes even before a character was introduced. It felt like a mix of clichés and easy writing that, after years of reading, I can only describe as bland. If it had been AI-generated, I wouldn’t even be surprised—that says it all.
All in all: coherent and easy to read, but too conventional and bland for my taste in a first volume. Book 2 is coming out by the end of the month—fingers crossed!
The writing and descriptions are well done, the actions are generally coherent, and the characters behave in believable ways. Russian authors rarely disappoint me on that front.
That said, there are a few logical inconsistencies that annoyed me more than usual. For example, when he trains his magic (unsurprisingly) in the first part of the book, he describes the process as if he's discovering magic and its methods for the first time—even though he's portrayed as a "master" in the field by the middle of the book. I suspect that section was rewritten and poorly proofread or edited, because it makes no sense. His reincarnation advantage should obviously mean he already has the knowledge and is simply practicing.
The economy and magic system, in my opinion, are on the lower end of average. I stopped paying attention to avoid getting hung up on the costs and the author's choices.
For the sake of the story, I won’t go into the exile part that puts him in charge of a village, nor the soldiers who are supposed to protect him—but not too much. It’s a bit shaky, but I accept it.
So why not give it a higher rating? Simply because with every plot development, I could predict with 90++% accuracy what was going to happen—sometimes even before a character was introduced. It felt like a mix of clichés and easy writing that, after years of reading, I can only describe as bland. If it had been AI-generated, I wouldn’t even be surprised—that says it all.
All in all: coherent and easy to read, but too conventional and bland for my taste in a first volume. Book 2 is coming out by the end of the month—fingers crossed!
November 15, 2025
A highly successful emperor is killed and wakes up in the body of a man standing on the gallows waiting to be executed. Since the book doesn't end in the first chapter, I don't think it is giving anything away to say that he avoids his execution but still has substantial enemies that wish he had hung. So, given an impossible job as governor or a small border village, the "emperor" must learn about his new world while rebuilding his magic and physical skills on his quest to take over again. Since there are so many bad guys in power, he's a very sympathetic character. While he is clearly in favor of his own personal aggrandizement, he believes he will get there by genuinely helping and building up the people he rules and his allies. There are a type of vampire and lots of magic adding to the tension.
My only problem with the book is the dialogue. For the most part, it's okay, but the authors loved to throw in phrases that felt jarringly anachronistic to me which shook me out of the flow of the story. But this is a small complaint in a very enjoyable book. I'm looking forward to the sequel.
My only problem with the book is the dialogue. For the most part, it's okay, but the authors loved to throw in phrases that felt jarringly anachronistic to me which shook me out of the flow of the story. But this is a small complaint in a very enjoyable book. I'm looking forward to the sequel.
August 29, 2025
This was one I struggled to get through. The review is for the ARC copy that I received and the only reason I struggled through was because the nice young lady at Magic Some sent me the book.
The start of the book is very confusing. First they try and hang him. Then they banish him, but they put him in charge of a village... wait they just banished him. Guards that don't gaud, the hope is the MC gets killed on the way or by the residents. BUT! They have also tasked him with raising one million gold from the village or they will kill him again!
MC constantly talks about being so weak yet he never really seemed to be in any danger at any point.
Conversations seem odd and slightly off. The MC seems to think fear equals respect.
I'm hopeful that book two will be better as the groundwork has been laid.
5/10 Hard for me to get through.
The start of the book is very confusing. First they try and hang him. Then they banish him, but they put him in charge of a village... wait they just banished him. Guards that don't gaud, the hope is the MC gets killed on the way or by the residents. BUT! They have also tasked him with raising one million gold from the village or they will kill him again!
MC constantly talks about being so weak yet he never really seemed to be in any danger at any point.
Conversations seem odd and slightly off. The MC seems to think fear equals respect.
I'm hopeful that book two will be better as the groundwork has been laid.
5/10 Hard for me to get through.
October 7, 2025
Emporer of the Borderlands is the first book in this series, and while it's not entirely unique, it's close enough that it's a worthwhile read for those who like beginner characters showing up in a new world who needs to learn everything about the world, also while filling in for the character they've become without knowing what kind of person that was. It's a well done book, and hille it can be slow in a couple places, for the most part, the story flows well, and definitely made me want to read more in this series when the book was done.
January 10, 2026
Slow but solid, a bit predictable starting trope.
Needs editing and very basic story starting point, but by the end of the book it started to world build itself into an interesting storyline. The main character repeatedly reminds us a basic character past skill set, to where you're using it as filler to remind us that you lived another life before. I didn't dislike it but I didn't rave about it either. The book ended with some solid plot lines building out, but very common trope. If you like this genre then this is the middle of the road beginning.
Needs editing and very basic story starting point, but by the end of the book it started to world build itself into an interesting storyline. The main character repeatedly reminds us a basic character past skill set, to where you're using it as filler to remind us that you lived another life before. I didn't dislike it but I didn't rave about it either. The book ended with some solid plot lines building out, but very common trope. If you like this genre then this is the middle of the road beginning.
January 20, 2026
I thought this was an excellent story, mixing the ‘present’ day into a feudal fantasy was an interesting idea, although I found it didn’t always work for me. The world had a range of ‘modern’ items, e.g. ‘smart phones’, guns, cars and the internet. Presumable the author picked the items they wanted for the story but I couldn’t help thinking of all the missing technology that should have sat along side these items.
October 17, 2025
Good read
Not a bad story. Fast paced and keeps you involved. Like always seems to happen the epilogue absolutely needs improvement. We've handled the main issues but not given a chance to breathe before we hit the cliffhanger.
Not a bad story. Fast paced and keeps you involved. Like always seems to happen the epilogue absolutely needs improvement. We've handled the main issues but not given a chance to breathe before we hit the cliffhanger.
November 28, 2025
Only because he was too flashy in the city
I like that he took care of his enemies two of them already. But like I said he was too flashy with the sword I think and dealing with the Relic Bureau guy
I like that he took care of his enemies two of them already. But like I said he was too flashy with the sword I think and dealing with the Relic Bureau guy
September 9, 2025
Okay
Nothing new but quite enjoyable , it ended on a cliff hanger which encourages me to read book two , but as it isn't on kindle unlimited I probably won't both
Nothing new but quite enjoyable , it ended on a cliff hanger which encourages me to read book two , but as it isn't on kindle unlimited I probably won't both
December 13, 2025
Not much I can say about this. Its ok. Just not able to grab my attention in the least. DNF 30
December 19, 2025
Cliffhanger
No doubt it will work out, but no one likes a cliffhanger, well no one sane. Great book otherwise.
Filler
Meow mix, dogs don't know it's not bacon
No doubt it will work out, but no one likes a cliffhanger, well no one sane. Great book otherwise.
Filler
Meow mix, dogs don't know it's not bacon
January 8, 2026
Decent start reminds me of "How I built a magic Empire" by Konstantin Zubov. These Eastern European authors have a grim and realistic view of society. 4.4/5
November 1, 2025
This review refers to the Kindle edition.
A highly successful emperor is killed and wakes up in the body of a man standing on the gallows waiting to be executed. Since the book doesn't end in the first chapter, I don't think it is giving anything away to say that he avoids his execution but still has substantial enemies that wish he had hung. So, given an impossible job as governor or a small border village, the "emperor" must learn about his new world while rebuilding his magic and physical skills on his quest to take over again. Since there are so many bad guys in power, he's a very sympathetic character. While he is clearly in favor of his own personal aggrandizement, he believes he will get there by genuinely helping and building up the people he rules and his allies. There are a type of vampire and lots of magic adding to the tension.
My only problem with the book is the dialogue. For the most part, it's okay, but the authors loved to throw in phrases that felt jarringly anachronistic to me which shook me out of the flow of the story. But this is a small complaint in a very enjoyable book. I'm looking forward to the sequel.
A highly successful emperor is killed and wakes up in the body of a man standing on the gallows waiting to be executed. Since the book doesn't end in the first chapter, I don't think it is giving anything away to say that he avoids his execution but still has substantial enemies that wish he had hung. So, given an impossible job as governor or a small border village, the "emperor" must learn about his new world while rebuilding his magic and physical skills on his quest to take over again. Since there are so many bad guys in power, he's a very sympathetic character. While he is clearly in favor of his own personal aggrandizement, he believes he will get there by genuinely helping and building up the people he rules and his allies. There are a type of vampire and lots of magic adding to the tension.
My only problem with the book is the dialogue. For the most part, it's okay, but the authors loved to throw in phrases that felt jarringly anachronistic to me which shook me out of the flow of the story. But this is a small complaint in a very enjoyable book. I'm looking forward to the sequel.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews