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The Empire Wars #2
War Hunt
Not yet published
Expected 23 May 26
War Hunt
is the second thrilling installment in the acclaimed Empire Wars trilogy, set in a brutal world where one girl’s magic may hold the only hope for humanity’s survival.
Coa Rangecroft, survivor of the deadly Great Hunt, has been taken into custody by the American Armed forces. Now she is to be sold at auction to the highest corporate bidder. In return, America promises to keep her family safe and free from the genocidal Allied Force and to give Coa the opportunity to become an enhanced soldier.
Servitude, of course, requires swearing allegiance to the newly reborn nation. Coa must take a solemn oath to preserve America’s social order and to eliminate its enemies. Soon, she’s back where she fighting against her will on behalf of a brutal empire. Worse, the Allied Force has been humiliated by her “rescue” and plans to exact terrible revenge. Which means that Coa’s fate once again rests in the hands of Chief Princess Ife—the only one who can prevent a catastrophic attack that will render all of America’s promises to Coa meaningless.
Coa Rangecroft, survivor of the deadly Great Hunt, has been taken into custody by the American Armed forces. Now she is to be sold at auction to the highest corporate bidder. In return, America promises to keep her family safe and free from the genocidal Allied Force and to give Coa the opportunity to become an enhanced soldier.
Servitude, of course, requires swearing allegiance to the newly reborn nation. Coa must take a solemn oath to preserve America’s social order and to eliminate its enemies. Soon, she’s back where she fighting against her will on behalf of a brutal empire. Worse, the Allied Force has been humiliated by her “rescue” and plans to exact terrible revenge. Which means that Coa’s fate once again rests in the hands of Chief Princess Ife—the only one who can prevent a catastrophic attack that will render all of America’s promises to Coa meaningless.
350 pages, Paperback
Expected publication March 24, 2026
72 people want to read
About the author
Akana Phenix
4 books114 followersAkana Phenix is an award-winning Harvard alum, author, and screenwriter. She loves reading translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey in her spare time. She is a nostalgic 2000s kid, a film fanatic, and a fan of the Office. She’s based in the United States.
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January 22, 2026 Important Update on Jan 2026: ARC Delays & New Pub Info
It's official! I met with my publisher and we will begin marketing for War Hunt this summer 2026. Due to severe health issues, I haven't been able to fully provide all the goodies planned. But I am excited to update you all this summer!
For now, the ARCs are not the correct ARCs. As with ARC reader expectations, of course, please do not share or post quotes yet, because it could confuse readers. Particularly in my specific case. They will be updated very soon in early spring. Then, feel free! I will have surprises and goodies hopefully in May 2026. So please check this space!
Feel free to pre-order as well. That is unaffected, thankfully.
For now, I ask that you all please respect my health while I'm on medical leave. I will answer any questions as possible!
Thank you all for your support and well wishes. 🌸
Warmly,
Akana.
-------
Happy Black History Month! 🫶🏽
As many of you know, I first wrote The Empire Wars series in high school. It's been a vulnerable experiment to share my teenage self and her creative work with the world — the characters, plot ideas, even the twists! I felt an obligation to publish the book as closely to how it was originally written, even though there are (many) things I wish I'd done differently. Above all, I don't regret the experiment. I am honored to fail as much as succeed. I even won an award! Which is more than I ever thought I'd accomplish or could even ask for as the child of immigrants back then.
The experiment continues with book #2 and it is still wild to share my old work. I had a lot of imaginative ideas in the past and I've always wanted to publish them, so I'm just grateful to be here. While I don't recommend publishing your old work to anyone, this was a moving experience. I get emails tearing me apart and I love it. I get emails of people being so encouraging and I love it. I love every one of you. I admire the hell out of you.
Also, I have the memory of a goldfish, so before I forget, I wanted to mention my future upcoming projects are some of the very first novels I've ever written as an adult. I can't drop any more hints yet, but I will update soon! 🫶🏽
I don't use IG, Threads, TikTok, etc. I'm working on that!! Follow me on Bluesky or Twitter: @akanaphenix for any questions.
My email is akanabooksofficial@gmail.com.
It's official! I met with my publisher and we will begin marketing for War Hunt this summer 2026. Due to severe health issues, I haven't been able to fully provide all the goodies planned. But I am excited to update you all this summer!
For now, the ARCs are not the correct ARCs. As with ARC reader expectations, of course, please do not share or post quotes yet, because it could confuse readers. Particularly in my specific case. They will be updated very soon in early spring. Then, feel free! I will have surprises and goodies hopefully in May 2026. So please check this space!
Feel free to pre-order as well. That is unaffected, thankfully.
For now, I ask that you all please respect my health while I'm on medical leave. I will answer any questions as possible!
Thank you all for your support and well wishes. 🌸
Warmly,
Akana.
-------
Happy Black History Month! 🫶🏽
As many of you know, I first wrote The Empire Wars series in high school. It's been a vulnerable experiment to share my teenage self and her creative work with the world — the characters, plot ideas, even the twists! I felt an obligation to publish the book as closely to how it was originally written, even though there are (many) things I wish I'd done differently. Above all, I don't regret the experiment. I am honored to fail as much as succeed. I even won an award! Which is more than I ever thought I'd accomplish or could even ask for as the child of immigrants back then.
The experiment continues with book #2 and it is still wild to share my old work. I had a lot of imaginative ideas in the past and I've always wanted to publish them, so I'm just grateful to be here. While I don't recommend publishing your old work to anyone, this was a moving experience. I get emails tearing me apart and I love it. I get emails of people being so encouraging and I love it. I love every one of you. I admire the hell out of you.
Also, I have the memory of a goldfish, so before I forget, I wanted to mention my future upcoming projects are some of the very first novels I've ever written as an adult. I can't drop any more hints yet, but I will update soon! 🫶🏽
I don't use IG, Threads, TikTok, etc. I'm working on that!! Follow me on Bluesky or Twitter: @akanaphenix for any questions.
My email is akanabooksofficial@gmail.com.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
the day after i technically finished this book, akana phenix announced that it was being delayed two months. this is my review of the copy provided for the march 2026 date. i am not sure how much will be changing or if i will be given an updated copy.
what even is there to say. it’s truly awful in a way i could not have predicted. while the first empire wars novel left me with a lot of questions about the construction and internal logic of the story world, war hunt is just abysmally written on the craft level. i’m almost at a loss for words.
the plot doesn’t matter. nothing in this book actually matters. the story world remains entirely frictionless with no real shape to the story. eventually it starts barreling towards a climactic wedding like the world’s shittiest romcom, and it doesn’t even happen. we’re locked in the perspectives of two characters who are outsiders to anything interesting, so we don’t even get the benefit of seeing any of the fuckass ill conceived schemes that are bandied about.
phenix attempts to have her own “there is no war in ba sing se” moment. there is no emotional context. it doesn’t even make any sense. coa and hazen creed (ex-military) have to pretend to be enthralled to each other. there’s no sensible reason to do this. it’s obviously trying to emulate katniss and peeta in the hunger games, but has no understanding of why they had to perform for the capital. the book honestly has no understanding of itself.
allegedly this book had three whole editors. i don’t know if it would be worse to disbelief the statement or to think that three whole editors read this book and thought it was ready for publication.
these characters think in ten dollar words that are distractingly out of place, especially coa who was raised feral in the wild marshlands of former-america. she would not say “minatory”. be serious. in the previous book, ife, who ran away from home at age 13, never thought in overly complicated language, which is a completely understandable character choice. why then is she now breaking out final round spelling bee words, “enervated” “consonance” “incarnadine” “insensate” “arrogated” “vertiginously” “bellicose” “caliginous”. it reeks of a writer trying to prove their intellect without any regard for character consistency.
on a truly granular level, word to word, sentence to sentence, thought to thought, i’ve run into scores of grammatical gaffs. minefields of malapropisms. passages that compromise comprehension for the sake of certain word choices. i would put quotes but that would be a faux pas.
this is why most high school manuscripts aren’t published. i hesitate to call the whole thing unsalvageable, i think a talented enough editor with a discerning eye who’s unafraid to be honest can perform miracles. but they need to be paired with a writer whose work is open and malleable. phenix claims in the preface and author’s afterword that the most important part of bringing this project to completion was absolute fidelity to her original teenaged idea, at the expense of a story that works at all. a mistake.
i want to say something to akana directly right now, if she’s reading. i am not a purist about authors reading reviews, i don’t think it’s some unforgivable sin. curiosity is after all the most human of impulses. so. hello akana. you are welcome to message me here through goodreads. i am open to talking to you, because it feels like during this book you were at times talking directly to me and my now-hidden review of the empire wars 1. there’s nothing personal on my end. no hard feelings. let’s both of us chat like adults instead of some green light gatsby shit. no pressure. next move’s all yours.
thank you and i’m sorry to netgalley and blackstone.
what even is there to say. it’s truly awful in a way i could not have predicted. while the first empire wars novel left me with a lot of questions about the construction and internal logic of the story world, war hunt is just abysmally written on the craft level. i’m almost at a loss for words.
the plot doesn’t matter. nothing in this book actually matters. the story world remains entirely frictionless with no real shape to the story. eventually it starts barreling towards a climactic wedding like the world’s shittiest romcom, and it doesn’t even happen. we’re locked in the perspectives of two characters who are outsiders to anything interesting, so we don’t even get the benefit of seeing any of the fuckass ill conceived schemes that are bandied about.
phenix attempts to have her own “there is no war in ba sing se” moment. there is no emotional context. it doesn’t even make any sense. coa and hazen creed (ex-military) have to pretend to be enthralled to each other. there’s no sensible reason to do this. it’s obviously trying to emulate katniss and peeta in the hunger games, but has no understanding of why they had to perform for the capital. the book honestly has no understanding of itself.
allegedly this book had three whole editors. i don’t know if it would be worse to disbelief the statement or to think that three whole editors read this book and thought it was ready for publication.
these characters think in ten dollar words that are distractingly out of place, especially coa who was raised feral in the wild marshlands of former-america. she would not say “minatory”. be serious. in the previous book, ife, who ran away from home at age 13, never thought in overly complicated language, which is a completely understandable character choice. why then is she now breaking out final round spelling bee words, “enervated” “consonance” “incarnadine” “insensate” “arrogated” “vertiginously” “bellicose” “caliginous”. it reeks of a writer trying to prove their intellect without any regard for character consistency.
on a truly granular level, word to word, sentence to sentence, thought to thought, i’ve run into scores of grammatical gaffs. minefields of malapropisms. passages that compromise comprehension for the sake of certain word choices. i would put quotes but that would be a faux pas.
this is why most high school manuscripts aren’t published. i hesitate to call the whole thing unsalvageable, i think a talented enough editor with a discerning eye who’s unafraid to be honest can perform miracles. but they need to be paired with a writer whose work is open and malleable. phenix claims in the preface and author’s afterword that the most important part of bringing this project to completion was absolute fidelity to her original teenaged idea, at the expense of a story that works at all. a mistake.
i want to say something to akana directly right now, if she’s reading. i am not a purist about authors reading reviews, i don’t think it’s some unforgivable sin. curiosity is after all the most human of impulses. so. hello akana. you are welcome to message me here through goodreads. i am open to talking to you, because it feels like during this book you were at times talking directly to me and my now-hidden review of the empire wars 1. there’s nothing personal on my end. no hard feelings. let’s both of us chat like adults instead of some green light gatsby shit. no pressure. next move’s all yours.
thank you and i’m sorry to netgalley and blackstone.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
January 22, 2026Out of respect of the author's wishes, I will hold off on my full review because the author announced there have been publishing delays until summer. I will circle back to this in May.
Does anyone know if there will be a third book? I can't find anything anywhere about it. Sorry to hear about the author's health complications.
Does anyone know if there will be a third book? I can't find anything anywhere about it. Sorry to hear about the author's health complications.
Want to read
January 27, 2026I hold this series in the same regard as Molly X Chang's "To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods." That being, it's so goddamn ridiculous and nonsensical that I can't help but laugh my entire soul from my body. So like the TGUWG's upcoming sequel: I'm seated, I'm beyond sat, and I got the popcorn at the ready. Which sequel will be comedy of the year for me? WHO KNOWS! But I am so excited for it.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews