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The Scorpion's Empress
After years of serving a corrupt government, Ser Videl, an idealistic paladin, learns that her younger sister is tangled in a dark scheme against Raj Mangala, the compassionate yet troubled empress of the city’s oppressed lowtown; the two women meet and are deeply drawn to one another, finding a shared sanctuary in their violently-divided city.
Videl’s loving devotion is just what Raj craves, but Raj is wary of letting her guard down while protecting her throne. Determined to prove her worth, Videl chases after Raj and works to unravel the mystery of the plots against the empress. Raj wants Videl to serve her emotional and sexual needs, and the two explore a meaningful relationship of dominance and submission that delves fully into their deepest wants. When the conspiracy against Raj comes to a head, Videl’s loyalties are tested when she is forced to choose between her past and her empress.
Videl’s loving devotion is just what Raj craves, but Raj is wary of letting her guard down while protecting her throne. Determined to prove her worth, Videl chases after Raj and works to unravel the mystery of the plots against the empress. Raj wants Videl to serve her emotional and sexual needs, and the two explore a meaningful relationship of dominance and submission that delves fully into their deepest wants. When the conspiracy against Raj comes to a head, Videl’s loyalties are tested when she is forced to choose between her past and her empress.
156 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 1, 2016
4 people are currently reading
108 people want to read
About the author
Yoshiyuki Ly
4 books162 followersYoshiyuki Ly's penname represents her multiracial heritage and outlook that reflects in her work. She is also a gamer inspired by thought-provoking stories in video games.
Her debut novel, The Scorpion's Empress , won the Lambda Literary Award in 2017 for Lesbian Romance. Her second novel, Venus and Lysander , was a finalist in the same category the following year.
Her stories feature unique and fully-realized characters, strong plots that challenge society's status quo, and a distinctly clear voice for her protagonists. The alluring atmosphere in her romance and erotica stories pulls the reader in for a vividly emotional experience. Her work often explores the dark psychology of human nature through unforgettable narratives.
Her debut novel, The Scorpion's Empress , won the Lambda Literary Award in 2017 for Lesbian Romance. Her second novel, Venus and Lysander , was a finalist in the same category the following year.
Her stories feature unique and fully-realized characters, strong plots that challenge society's status quo, and a distinctly clear voice for her protagonists. The alluring atmosphere in her romance and erotica stories pulls the reader in for a vividly emotional experience. Her work often explores the dark psychology of human nature through unforgettable narratives.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 19, 2016
I understand this is the author's debut novel, and it shows. I feel it would be dishonest to rate this book any lower, simply because it doesn't really feel finished, at least in the ARC I read and that I got through Netgalley. It simply needs a lot, lot more editing. The writing is messy, I couldn't understand the beginning, the setting is frankly awful, we have a brown/indianish lead that wears revealing saris and for some reason speaks african-american vernacular (I think the author wanted to go for "child from the street accent", but it's a terrible idea : accents are often simply too racially loaded to translate well into text— they invariably become offensive parodies of themselves), in some kind of medieval european setting with vintage radios (???) and knights that wield japanese swords????.
The names are frankly bad. I feel that it's the least you can do to have decent place or character names but this book treads awfully close to Ebony Dark'Ness Dementia Raven Way territory sometimes. Raj comes from Limerick? Her best friend is called Lady Nightingale, her ex is "Nyte" (I seriously wondered if this was parody at that point— but the terrifying fact is, it isn't), the ex's wife is called Miss Fury, and the girl Raj saved is called Luna. Other words thrown in because whatever : Slutgarden (a district. This town has like 10 district names), Maleficio (another discrict), Excalibur (I don't even remember what that is)... And I thought me naming all my RPG characters after myself was lazy and uninspired.
And frankly, the high point that made me request an ARC for this book in the first place was the sex. Dominant/submissive sex usually never fails with me, but this one does. It's clogged by some very tedious writing that blends silly euphemisms, downright wtf-inducing metaphores— it just sounds too amateurish to be sexy. My advice here would be to stop trying to equal sex with drowning while ascending the Mount Everest while a black hole pulls at you and just write sex. The rest is drowned in awkward dialogue that never quite feels normal.
This book could be so much more— the writing shows that it can be good at times, and it actually gets relatively better as the book goes. And I suppose one can excuse so many flaws by the fact that this is a debut work, but this simply needs better editing before it can be palatable.
Oh, and main characters raping another, even if he is himself a rapist, that's not okay. Rape isn't a weapon we can use on people we deem to be evil, and seeing it so casually dealt on someone without being called out for what it is lands this book straight in my rape culture list.
The names are frankly bad. I feel that it's the least you can do to have decent place or character names but this book treads awfully close to Ebony Dark'Ness Dementia Raven Way territory sometimes. Raj comes from Limerick? Her best friend is called Lady Nightingale, her ex is "Nyte" (I seriously wondered if this was parody at that point— but the terrifying fact is, it isn't), the ex's wife is called Miss Fury, and the girl Raj saved is called Luna. Other words thrown in because whatever : Slutgarden (a district. This town has like 10 district names), Maleficio (another discrict), Excalibur (I don't even remember what that is)... And I thought me naming all my RPG characters after myself was lazy and uninspired.
And frankly, the high point that made me request an ARC for this book in the first place was the sex. Dominant/submissive sex usually never fails with me, but this one does. It's clogged by some very tedious writing that blends silly euphemisms, downright wtf-inducing metaphores— it just sounds too amateurish to be sexy. My advice here would be to stop trying to equal sex with drowning while ascending the Mount Everest while a black hole pulls at you and just write sex. The rest is drowned in awkward dialogue that never quite feels normal.
This book could be so much more— the writing shows that it can be good at times, and it actually gets relatively better as the book goes. And I suppose one can excuse so many flaws by the fact that this is a debut work, but this simply needs better editing before it can be palatable.
Oh, and main characters raping another, even if he is himself a rapist, that's not okay. Rape isn't a weapon we can use on people we deem to be evil, and seeing it so casually dealt on someone without being called out for what it is lands this book straight in my rape culture list.
May 30, 2016
Book Review originally published here: http://www.iheartreading.net/book-tou...
The Scorpion’s Empress is a lesbian erotic romance about the sizzling hot romance between Raj Mangala, and Ser Videl. Ser Videl is a paladin, and Raj Mangala is the empress of the city’s oppressed lowtown. The two of them are almost immediately drawn to each other, and the book focuses on their relationship against the backdrop of conspiracies and political struggles.
Raj is wary of letting her guard down, and she has trouble trusting anyone, including Videl. Videl, on the other hand, has trouble deciding where her loyalties lie, and who she can and should trust, especially when she’s forced into a difficult choice.
The romance between both women has a BDSM aspect – dominant/submissive, which adds another interesting touch to the book. I also liked how the conspiracy/politics played an important part too. It wasn’t just romance, a lot was going on. The protagonists were interesting, and I must say, I liked Videl the most. Something about her personality just made her sound very realistic. Raj was all right too, I just liked Videl more.
An intriguing, sizzling erotic romance. I look forward to reading more books by this author.
The Scorpion’s Empress is a lesbian erotic romance about the sizzling hot romance between Raj Mangala, and Ser Videl. Ser Videl is a paladin, and Raj Mangala is the empress of the city’s oppressed lowtown. The two of them are almost immediately drawn to each other, and the book focuses on their relationship against the backdrop of conspiracies and political struggles.
Raj is wary of letting her guard down, and she has trouble trusting anyone, including Videl. Videl, on the other hand, has trouble deciding where her loyalties lie, and who she can and should trust, especially when she’s forced into a difficult choice.
The romance between both women has a BDSM aspect – dominant/submissive, which adds another interesting touch to the book. I also liked how the conspiracy/politics played an important part too. It wasn’t just romance, a lot was going on. The protagonists were interesting, and I must say, I liked Videl the most. Something about her personality just made her sound very realistic. Raj was all right too, I just liked Videl more.
An intriguing, sizzling erotic romance. I look forward to reading more books by this author.
March 9, 2018
Good story progression with interesting characters. Comprehensive writing style that makes dialogues easy to follow. Gang wars as a secondary theme with violence not being its main focus
August 4, 2018
Disappointing.
This book was on the "LGBTQ+ Recommended" shelf at my local library. It seems that someone probably just saw two women making out on the cover and didn't put a second thought into whether its content could truly be recommended.
I did not finish this novel. To be honest I found the plot/settings a little hard to wrap my head around. But that's not the reason I stopped reading. Spoilers ahead.
There is a scene in this novel where one of the main characters is It was entirely bizarre and completely unnecessary.
This character probably deserved all kinds of punishment, but that scene, in particular, was so cringey and felt so wrong that I put the book down and never picked it up again.
The cover image is also pixelated?? At least it was on the version that I read.
I think the author has potential but this book was not for me.
This book was on the "LGBTQ+ Recommended" shelf at my local library. It seems that someone probably just saw two women making out on the cover and didn't put a second thought into whether its content could truly be recommended.
I did not finish this novel. To be honest I found the plot/settings a little hard to wrap my head around. But that's not the reason I stopped reading. Spoilers ahead.
There is a scene in this novel where one of the main characters is It was entirely bizarre and completely unnecessary.
This character probably deserved all kinds of punishment, but that scene, in particular, was so cringey and felt so wrong that I put the book down and never picked it up again.
The cover image is also pixelated?? At least it was on the version that I read.
I think the author has potential but this book was not for me.
June 3, 2020
A review that has been a long time coming
After having been a fan of this author's writing for years when it came to fan fiction, she had messaged me saying her book was going to be released. Of course I was excited, and I of course got of as soon as I could only to have it sit unread in my library for years. But with everything happening right now, I needed the escape her writing had given me before, so I finally read it.
The story of Videl and Raj, alternating between their points of view helped me understand the characters a lot better and become more invested in their stories. There's a lot if things I want to say about this book but don't exactly have the words for. I was able to see a bit of myself in each of the characters and it helped draw me in.
The fact I read this in one day and I kept coming back to it for just a little more, and later for just another section, all until I had finished it should be a show of how enjoyable I found it.
After having been a fan of this author's writing for years when it came to fan fiction, she had messaged me saying her book was going to be released. Of course I was excited, and I of course got of as soon as I could only to have it sit unread in my library for years. But with everything happening right now, I needed the escape her writing had given me before, so I finally read it.
The story of Videl and Raj, alternating between their points of view helped me understand the characters a lot better and become more invested in their stories. There's a lot if things I want to say about this book but don't exactly have the words for. I was able to see a bit of myself in each of the characters and it helped draw me in.
The fact I read this in one day and I kept coming back to it for just a little more, and later for just another section, all until I had finished it should be a show of how enjoyable I found it.
April 12, 2018
this was not what I had been hoping for
August 30, 2016
4**** Well-written erotic fantasy
** I read this book with my Kindle Unlimited subscription**
As an avid erotica reader and a writer of erotic novels, I’m always on the lookout for new talents in this genre because we do need them. Yoshiyuki Ly does NOT disappoint. I found her voice remarkable and her style refreshing. That’s why I wish I could rate this as a five-star book; however, I couldn’t ignore some aspects.
Although the overall quality of the writing is quite good, it’s not consistently so. Some parts of the book are excellent whereas others are just good. For example, the way she writes the characters’ background stories is engaging; however, world building is a bit spotty, which is a shame because this seems to be quite an interesting fantasy world and I’d have liked to understand it better.
Another point I struggled with was wording. I for one don’t think it’s necessary to use eighteenth century English in fantasy books in order for royal characters to sound noble or their subjects to sound respectful. And Yoshiyuki Ly doesn’t do that in Scorpion’s Empress, which I appreciate. She uses formal structures, although not over-the-top ones mixed up with informal utterances. However, the formal/informal registers are unevenly distributed. For instance, Raj, who’s the Empress, will sound very formal when we read her reflections yet extremely informal when she’s addressing people in some dialogues. It gets to the point that she would use words and expressions such as “ain’t”, “gonna”, and “you sayin’ this shit to me”. It feels odd.
The Scorpion Empress possesses many positive points. The use of first-person POV always gives the reader a privileged seat from which to better enjoy a story. Here, the writer chooses to tell the story in alternating chapters from Raj’s (The Empress) and Videl’s (The Paladin) perspective. We go inside their fertile minds and have a chance to understand their motivations, fears, and weaknesses. I particularly appreciated the choosing of names for characters and places. Some are ironic, some poetic, and many carry a distinct double entendre. Some examples are Mistress Fury, Excalibur, Slutgarden, Eden and Nirvana.
As for the plot, it’s gripping and engaging with quite a few twists and turns, which despite being predictable, make sense in the story. Finally, character development is rich and believable both for main characters and secondary ones. I don’t write spoilers so I’ll be a little vague now, but one of my favorite moments is a poignant scene when Raj goes back to her hometown and Videl offers her support. Without getting into too much detail I can say it’s an extremely well-written, powerful moment for both characters. Kudos, Ms. Ly!
I always leave my favorite bit for last - erotica content. This is my area of expertise and I can vouch for The Scorpion’s Empress. It’s very well-written; however, I’d have used less metaphors in some key moments during the sex scenes. But that’s only me and I’m sure a lot of people wouldn’t agree with me. As far as BDSM goes, the author must have done a great deal of research about the topic because the scenes are believable and hot.
Finally, as far as I understand, The Scorpion’s Empress is Yoshiyuki Ly’s first novella, which means it wouldn’t be fair to expect perfection. Nevertheless, it is an excellent debut story and I look forward to reading more from her in the future.
** I read this book with my Kindle Unlimited subscription**
As an avid erotica reader and a writer of erotic novels, I’m always on the lookout for new talents in this genre because we do need them. Yoshiyuki Ly does NOT disappoint. I found her voice remarkable and her style refreshing. That’s why I wish I could rate this as a five-star book; however, I couldn’t ignore some aspects.
Although the overall quality of the writing is quite good, it’s not consistently so. Some parts of the book are excellent whereas others are just good. For example, the way she writes the characters’ background stories is engaging; however, world building is a bit spotty, which is a shame because this seems to be quite an interesting fantasy world and I’d have liked to understand it better.
Another point I struggled with was wording. I for one don’t think it’s necessary to use eighteenth century English in fantasy books in order for royal characters to sound noble or their subjects to sound respectful. And Yoshiyuki Ly doesn’t do that in Scorpion’s Empress, which I appreciate. She uses formal structures, although not over-the-top ones mixed up with informal utterances. However, the formal/informal registers are unevenly distributed. For instance, Raj, who’s the Empress, will sound very formal when we read her reflections yet extremely informal when she’s addressing people in some dialogues. It gets to the point that she would use words and expressions such as “ain’t”, “gonna”, and “you sayin’ this shit to me”. It feels odd.
The Scorpion Empress possesses many positive points. The use of first-person POV always gives the reader a privileged seat from which to better enjoy a story. Here, the writer chooses to tell the story in alternating chapters from Raj’s (The Empress) and Videl’s (The Paladin) perspective. We go inside their fertile minds and have a chance to understand their motivations, fears, and weaknesses. I particularly appreciated the choosing of names for characters and places. Some are ironic, some poetic, and many carry a distinct double entendre. Some examples are Mistress Fury, Excalibur, Slutgarden, Eden and Nirvana.
As for the plot, it’s gripping and engaging with quite a few twists and turns, which despite being predictable, make sense in the story. Finally, character development is rich and believable both for main characters and secondary ones. I don’t write spoilers so I’ll be a little vague now, but one of my favorite moments is a poignant scene when Raj goes back to her hometown and Videl offers her support. Without getting into too much detail I can say it’s an extremely well-written, powerful moment for both characters. Kudos, Ms. Ly!
I always leave my favorite bit for last - erotica content. This is my area of expertise and I can vouch for The Scorpion’s Empress. It’s very well-written; however, I’d have used less metaphors in some key moments during the sex scenes. But that’s only me and I’m sure a lot of people wouldn’t agree with me. As far as BDSM goes, the author must have done a great deal of research about the topic because the scenes are believable and hot.
Finally, as far as I understand, The Scorpion’s Empress is Yoshiyuki Ly’s first novella, which means it wouldn’t be fair to expect perfection. Nevertheless, it is an excellent debut story and I look forward to reading more from her in the future.
August 21, 2016
The Scorpion's Empress is definitely one of the more unique works that the current fantasy market has to offer, providing readers with an original yet relateable story, compelling characters and complex relationships. Set in a socially-divided city in the world of Tynan, the story focusses on the growing romance between Videl, a noble Paladin, and Raj, the ruler of the city's oppressed low town. Initially brought together by Videl's investigations into her sister's disappearance, the chemistry between the pair is immediate and it is not long before they begin to explore the darker aspects of their attraction to one another through the medium of BDSM. As the relationship develops, in the backdrop looms a dark scheme, not only threatening Raj's rule of Elysium, but also her life. When the depths of the conspiracy are revealed, Videl is forced to make the difficult choice between her duty and her love.
One thing that will be immediately obvious to readers is that this author knows how to paint a picture and build a visual environment. The beautiful descriptions of this fantasy city are incredibly immersive which added a lot to my enjoyment of the story and also helped me acclimatise to this foreign place and its unfamiliar customs. The author also puts a lot of work into the “voices” of each character, with the different POV chapters matching the personalities wonderfully. I would say the style of writing is certainly distinctive – mature and sometimes a little formal; this might prove to be a distraction for some readers, but for me, that style lended itself well to the tone of the story. A more casual one would have seemed misplaced or even careless.
I found myself compelled by the power dynamics between Videl and Raj and Ly clearly put the effort in to provide an accurate portrayal of a BDSM relationship. Whilst there are some explicit scenes, I think the author is very tasteful in the depictions and balances them alongside the advancing story, not forgetting there is a plot to continue. The chemistry between the pair would not have been so gripping if not for the careful writing of the memorable characters who are intriguing in their own rights – and electric when interacting with one another. Although I found Videl's nobility a little unrealistic, I can appreciate that in a fantasy world and in a Paladin order, such piety and selflessness could indeed exist and at any rate, her qualities fed into the plots of both the romance and conspiracy.
The Scorpion's Empress has a lot to love about it and has an undercurrent of challenging concepts in its story that are also real world issues. I feel like the author might be trying to draw attention to some of these and does it in a subtle way as not to throw it in the reader's face. I personally find it great when writers manage to do this but don't be too concerned about having “too much real world in my fantasy!” because as I said, it's handled in moderation with no deference from the plot and characters.
With its intriguing plot line and multi-faceted characters, this book has a high re-readable factor, with little nuances to pick up on that you may have missed first time around. Great work from a talented author!
One thing that will be immediately obvious to readers is that this author knows how to paint a picture and build a visual environment. The beautiful descriptions of this fantasy city are incredibly immersive which added a lot to my enjoyment of the story and also helped me acclimatise to this foreign place and its unfamiliar customs. The author also puts a lot of work into the “voices” of each character, with the different POV chapters matching the personalities wonderfully. I would say the style of writing is certainly distinctive – mature and sometimes a little formal; this might prove to be a distraction for some readers, but for me, that style lended itself well to the tone of the story. A more casual one would have seemed misplaced or even careless.
I found myself compelled by the power dynamics between Videl and Raj and Ly clearly put the effort in to provide an accurate portrayal of a BDSM relationship. Whilst there are some explicit scenes, I think the author is very tasteful in the depictions and balances them alongside the advancing story, not forgetting there is a plot to continue. The chemistry between the pair would not have been so gripping if not for the careful writing of the memorable characters who are intriguing in their own rights – and electric when interacting with one another. Although I found Videl's nobility a little unrealistic, I can appreciate that in a fantasy world and in a Paladin order, such piety and selflessness could indeed exist and at any rate, her qualities fed into the plots of both the romance and conspiracy.
The Scorpion's Empress has a lot to love about it and has an undercurrent of challenging concepts in its story that are also real world issues. I feel like the author might be trying to draw attention to some of these and does it in a subtle way as not to throw it in the reader's face. I personally find it great when writers manage to do this but don't be too concerned about having “too much real world in my fantasy!” because as I said, it's handled in moderation with no deference from the plot and characters.
With its intriguing plot line and multi-faceted characters, this book has a high re-readable factor, with little nuances to pick up on that you may have missed first time around. Great work from a talented author!
June 30, 2016
3.5 stars.
I received an ARC of this book from Inked Rainbow Reads in return for an honest review.
This is a pretty difficult book to review for me. I love the concept of this book. The ideas and characters captured my attention quite easily and intrigued me enough to keep reading. My problem is that some things left me feeling confused and lost. I will say that I read an ARC, and there must have been some formatting issues, because I would find passages out of order, where one sentence would abruptly move into one that didn't have much to do with the first, and after several more I would find the end of the interrupted sentence. So sometimes that was difficult to parse. But it was more than that. This is a whole new world that operated with its own rules and laws and customs. I understood that, and the characters obviously knew those rules, etc., but they weren't fully explained for the reader. The other thing was the language. There were times when the descriptions or passages were almost poetic in the way they were described, but the author used a lot of metaphor. Metaphor is okay, perfect actually, when it's in small doses. But this was so heavy with metaphor that I was left feeling that there was a whole other point being made that I just couldn't figure out. I hate feeling like that. Most of the time it makes me feel like I'm a bit stupid, which others tell me isn't so, and most of the time I choose to believe them. But then I don't get something like this and whack! there I am trying to figure out if I'm the dullest crayon in the box again. The language was also a bit formal in places; it seemed to me as though it was written to be read in a noble manner, but it's a little too stilted. It almost feels as though it has that oddly worded cadence of a translation that doesn't quite encompass the gist of the original language. That holds true when the knights are talking about their duty, mission, and tenets. And also when Raj and Vidal are thinking about or discussing their relationship. It just seems like the passages don't completely relate what's in Ly's mind. The relationship between Raj and Vidal is a little confusing. I'm not sure why each is resisting the other. Vidal admits that she wants Raj first, and admits she wants to serve her, yet has a problem for the longest time telling her that she loves her. And Raj has a problem allowing herself to become involved with Vidal, with showing Vidal all her dark secrets, but has no problem telling her that she loves her.
I liked the story, although I caution those that are offended by BDSM that this may not be for them. I just think that it would have benefitted from a bit of rewriting to deepen the reader's understanding of things.
I received an ARC of this book from Inked Rainbow Reads in return for an honest review.
This is a pretty difficult book to review for me. I love the concept of this book. The ideas and characters captured my attention quite easily and intrigued me enough to keep reading. My problem is that some things left me feeling confused and lost. I will say that I read an ARC, and there must have been some formatting issues, because I would find passages out of order, where one sentence would abruptly move into one that didn't have much to do with the first, and after several more I would find the end of the interrupted sentence. So sometimes that was difficult to parse. But it was more than that. This is a whole new world that operated with its own rules and laws and customs. I understood that, and the characters obviously knew those rules, etc., but they weren't fully explained for the reader. The other thing was the language. There were times when the descriptions or passages were almost poetic in the way they were described, but the author used a lot of metaphor. Metaphor is okay, perfect actually, when it's in small doses. But this was so heavy with metaphor that I was left feeling that there was a whole other point being made that I just couldn't figure out. I hate feeling like that. Most of the time it makes me feel like I'm a bit stupid, which others tell me isn't so, and most of the time I choose to believe them. But then I don't get something like this and whack! there I am trying to figure out if I'm the dullest crayon in the box again. The language was also a bit formal in places; it seemed to me as though it was written to be read in a noble manner, but it's a little too stilted. It almost feels as though it has that oddly worded cadence of a translation that doesn't quite encompass the gist of the original language. That holds true when the knights are talking about their duty, mission, and tenets. And also when Raj and Vidal are thinking about or discussing their relationship. It just seems like the passages don't completely relate what's in Ly's mind. The relationship between Raj and Vidal is a little confusing. I'm not sure why each is resisting the other. Vidal admits that she wants Raj first, and admits she wants to serve her, yet has a problem for the longest time telling her that she loves her. And Raj has a problem allowing herself to become involved with Vidal, with showing Vidal all her dark secrets, but has no problem telling her that she loves her.
I liked the story, although I caution those that are offended by BDSM that this may not be for them. I just think that it would have benefitted from a bit of rewriting to deepen the reader's understanding of things.
August 19, 2016
This is one of those books that I can't make my mind up if I really enjoyed it or not. It definitely kept me turning pages to see what was going to happen next. It kept me curious. I was intrigued by the look into a submissive mindset also. If you love a book that spends more time on the mental side of the action, this does a great job of exploring the thoughts and emotions behind the masks we wear.
As an independent reviewer for Romance Authors that Rock, I gave it the full four stars because it was so intriguing to me that I am still thinking about it days after I finished reading it.
As an independent reviewer for Romance Authors that Rock, I gave it the full four stars because it was so intriguing to me that I am still thinking about it days after I finished reading it.
January 15, 2017
This book is a chamber play. It revolves around Raj and Videl, everything and everybody around them is sketchy.
The divided city consists of the rulers, the nobles, the low life, and then nothing. No workers, no farmers, nobody creates anything. The city is surrounded by desert, where does the food come from?
Also it is an odd mixture of medieval and modern. Knights with swords vs. jeans and plastic.
The rulers and nobles are corrupt, the poor suppressed. And in between we find our two leads. But they don't resolve anything themselves - til the end. And even that resolve doesn't make sense. Not fleshed out the whole city doesn't make sense.
The divided city consists of the rulers, the nobles, the low life, and then nothing. No workers, no farmers, nobody creates anything. The city is surrounded by desert, where does the food come from?
Also it is an odd mixture of medieval and modern. Knights with swords vs. jeans and plastic.
The rulers and nobles are corrupt, the poor suppressed. And in between we find our two leads. But they don't resolve anything themselves - til the end. And even that resolve doesn't make sense. Not fleshed out the whole city doesn't make sense.
November 26, 2016
2016 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: The Scorpion's Empress by Yoshiyuki Ly
Awesome read. Loved the entire storyline. Kept my interest throughout, couldn't put it down. Unique storyline and an author who knows how to paint a picture, felt like I was right in the scenes as I was reading them. Totally loved the well developed characters in this story, especially Raj.
Awesome read. Loved the entire storyline. Kept my interest throughout, couldn't put it down. Unique storyline and an author who knows how to paint a picture, felt like I was right in the scenes as I was reading them. Totally loved the well developed characters in this story, especially Raj.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews