Empire of the Feast

by Bendi Barrett

In Empire of the Feast, we awaken with Riverson, 32nd ruler of the Stag Empire, as he attempts to govern without the memories of his previous lives. To survive the ever-sharpening gears of war, he will need to mend the political schisms threatening to tear his empire apart while maintaining the erotic rituals holding off the eldritch horror known only as the Rapacious.

Genres: Horror, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Queer, Space Opera, Novella, LGBT

98 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 25, 2022

Reviews

[S.A Reidman · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Eternity can be pleasure and consumption. We will eat the stars and drench the darkness in ecstasy.” - The Rapacious

I realized this now, sometimes good books just fall under the radar and are relegated to exist in their own quiet glory and within them, really great worlds and people and snafus are hidden. This is one of those books. What an interesting mindbend. So glad I stumbled on this.

My first 5⭐ read of 2024 on my main profile and it's a novella🤔 Well if something is mindblowing it can be mindlowing in 10 pages or 700.

Plot/Storyline/Themes:
Okay so what happens when a Space King almost a deity (in a world living in the bosom of the Sun, powered by a beast) has been reincarnated every single time as a woman, an empress and then, by some inexplicable fluke (or maybe it was the murder) is now a man, an Emperor?

Two Sentences, A Scene or less - Characters:
Leeds, The First Retainer sees the world as only the grand vizier, advisor, right and hand man of an omnipresent empire can- a bunch of planets on a screen, easily erased for the Empire's continued rule. Blot out a few million people as a warning like it's nothing before breakfast.

The Emperor Riverson is curious reincarnation.I wonder if the Empress was bloodthirsty or just allowed Leeds run of all affairs - this recent reincarnation out off his female form and into his male form has rewired his mind and he is different. I also wonder about his crown.

Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene:
Uhm..😳 The Feast? The Bacchanal😉not yet clutching pearls I tell you. I did not expect that and the hierarchy of participants and acts is actually legitimised ... like a magnetic court driven by and outright orgy.
"Over the next few hours Riverson conducts the feast. He finds that the debauchery doesn't strictly require his presence or attention. If he focuses, he can sense the arrangements and reconfigure them with a minor push of his will"🔥

Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
So many quotable lines, I had to rein my annotation craze and stick with just 1 key moment.

🖤 “Riverson shivers, balks at this power—unearned—dropped into his lap like a weight. He thinks a tiny treason, of what it would take to dismantle this engine, but abandons the idea immediately; how can he confront what he barely understands?.” (Riverson being entirely different to all his previous incarnations )

Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts:
■Staghead Empire: Corrected Center
■The River
■ The Feast
■ Empire Reincarnation
■ The Sun.The Rapacious. The Beast.
■General Celestin No-One

StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Science Fiction Books by 2025

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5

Another day, another spur of the moment queer read courtesy of Libby (not like I'm ever going to register an eBook on this ad-glutton of a site). I don't often get to indulge my penchant for la petite mort (in all senses of the phrase) these days, what with publishing still not quite catching up to fanfic and fanfic suffering from a dearth of worthy fandoms, so when this space opera of a horror sci fi erotica popped up in all of its majestically threatening glory (and a Black author to boot!), I couldn't resist. Reading it, I can say that Barrett has a nicely weighted prose style, and the world building was neither stodgy nor nonsensical despite this piece's brevity. Alas, if something is going to be this short, I expect it to go harder with its promised premise, and much as I imagine bisexuality and pierced genitals will do it for some, I was really hoping for the so-called Rapacious to be a tad more...rapacious, to put it mildly. Also, considering the galaxy-spanning body count this work amassed, I could have used a tone with less Marvel-quipness hedging in on all sides as well as an ending that was far less clean and tidy. Still, should I ever catch glimpse of Barrett winging his way through the queer speculative fiction stacks on my mobile device, the only way I'd see myself not giving him a second chance is if I had temporarily misplaced my pulse.

[A]

Some interesting ideas and world building here, but I think it needed more room to explore things.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read as part of my challenge to read the Short Story, Novelette, Novella and Novel: Adult shortlists for the 2023 Ignyte Awards.

Empire of the Feast is one of the most bonkers stories I've ever read, but I had a brilliant time with it. Gideon the Ninth is often used as a comp title for any queer or necromantic sci-fi and/or fantasy, but if what you loved most about Gideon the Ninth was its weirdness and its sense of humour then Empire of the Feast is a novella you need to get your hands on.

Part sci-fi, part fantasy and part eldritch horror, Empire of the Feast follows Riverson, who wakes up to discover he's the 32nd ruler of the Stag Empire. He should have woken up with the memories of his predecessors, the most recent of whom has just been assassinated, but something has gone a little wrong this time around, leaving the Empire with a ruler who doesn't fully understand the political machinations going on around him. While various factions scheme, Riverson also has to keep an eldritch enemy trapped in the sun at bay by overseeing what is essentially a big space orgy.

As I said, this book is bonkers.

As with most novellas I won't go into much more detail for fear of ruining the reading experience for anyone else, but I loved Barrett's writing - sensuous and moreish and oh so readable - and their characters were a delight. Riverson, in particular, was a refreshing ruler because of his naivety, which leads him to question things that clearly haven't been questioned by any of his predecessors for far too long.

It's beautifully written, it's entertaining and it's wonderfully weird. I'm so glad that challenging myself to read the Ignyte Awards shortlist got me to pick this one up!

[Ladz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read an eARC from the publisher
Content warnings: explicit sexual content, murder, body horror, gore

Empire of the Feast is a story of spaceship court intrigue in which a reincarnating emperor staves off an eldritch beast via a sex cult in a perpetual orgy. There’s a betrayal, there’s an army, and a transferal power that subverts genre tropes. Barrett efficiently packs so many compelling story elements into one taut work. If there are more stories coming out of the Stag Empire, I am here for all of them.

It was interesting to be reading this at the same time I’m reading Mervyn Peake because if you’re looking for a quick, dense read with lush prose but also an intense focus on the ritual itself written for twenty-first century sensibilities, this is it. It’s rapturous for the senses and Barrett does not let the reader look away either literally or metaphorically. Queer indulgence and sexuality are the literal center of this small universe. The focus on the spirit as a form of magic and physicality as the impetus and vessel of the ritual itself is particularly effective. Yes, it takes place in space, but the magic is super real, and aesthetic appeals to science fiction anime goths like yours truly.

I really liked Riverson as a narrator. He is at once a visitor and a denizen of the world of the Feast. Though he has none of his memories of his previous emperor lives, he still has decent leadership sensibilities and has no time for anyone’s bullshit. He’s aware of his circumstances and what’s at stake if he fails. I can’t speak more to the character arc because it will be spoilers, but Barrett shows a command of genre expectations in that exploration.

[Ada]

ANNOUNCING THE 2023 IGNYTE AWARDS SHORTLIST

Nominated for: BEST NOVELLA for speculative works ranging from 17,500-39,999 words

***Why a maybe***
Argh horror and political things... I'm not good with them. Still taking Lovecrafts eldritch horror stories and making them into something else is always a good thing in my opinion.

[Venneh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeously described short novella that manages to describe a party with weird vibes, lots of enemies getting flirty with each other, and walking into a room where everything is still on fire and things are about to get even worse. Just a fantastic slice of a world and honestly, I'd love to see more if Mr. Barrett chose to write more! At bare minimum I have a new author to follow from this.

[Victor Manibo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grand in scope and brimming with political intrigue, Empire of the Feast is a space opera in the truest sense of the term. With lush and sensuous prose, Barrett has created a fully realized world that lingers in the imagination long after you’ve turned the last page.

[Thomas Hale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wild erotic SF novella about a newly-awakened galactic emperor fending off amnesia, an attempted coup, and the rapacious hunger of ambition. With lots of sexy sex and bloody combat, and queer as hell. A good romp with a surprisingly sweet conclusion.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5

There was no monsterfucking in the eldritch orgy book :(

Loved what I read but with all the politics this really needed to be longer for the events to have impact

[Chris Bissette · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

I don't remember where I heard about this book, I just know that it's been on my TBR for well over two years at this point, so I finally decided to get it knocked off and now I'm mad that I waited so long.

This does a really remarkable thing of managing to pack the epic scope of the best space opera into a novella. The world feels massive, complex, and real, the politics feel layered and nuanced, and yet we really know very little about any of it. We're chucked into a world that we know nothing about and left to figure it out, and the story rattles past so quickly that there's no time for us to stop and think about everything we don't know.

Another magic trick this pulls off is making "main character wakes up with complete amnesia and needs to have everything about their world explained to them" actually work, and work well. We're treated to a lot of exposition in the form of characters explaining basic facets of how the world works to the main character, who is the literal Emperor of the world being explained to them, and yet it never feels forced or contrived. Riverson is just as frustrated about the fact that he knows nothing about who or where he is as we would normally be when faced with a character in this situation, and it makes for some very fun reading.

Because it's been so long since I was recommended this book I went into it with no idea what it was about or what to expect, and so the sheer amount of sexual debauchery present here was a complete surprise. A galaxy that only survives if people continue a massive, eternal orgy to placate the ancient monster that lives inside the sun is an absolutely batshit concept and it's executed brilliantly.

My only complaint here is that the combat scenes are noticeably weaker than the rest of the book. There's something about the way the action is written here that doesn't quite work. The staging is right, it all feels a little like round-by-round D&D combat for my tastes. But otherwise this was a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to reading more by Barrett.

[Vera Kabushemeye · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Disclaimer: I was given a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.)

I cannot explain how much of a joy it was to read this novella. As much as I took a big break between the first 10 pages and the rest, I read the last half in one go―and I never do that these days! I won’t say it took me out of a reading slump, but this book had me laughing―actually out loud! I was smiling and tossing my phone away and picking it back up. Barrett created a wonderful world filled with charming characters―a breadth of queerness―and did it all with wonderful prose.

In the end, I had a couple of issues with this story. Apart from Fabian’s characterization, there was also the final antagonist’s monologue. I understand its function in the narrative, but it still came off as forced and I would have been happy without it. The ending also felt a little too lenient towards the antagonists―but that’s just a personal preference.

All of that said, you might be surprised by how high my rating of this book is!

9/10!

I liked this story so much I want to read Barrett’s next book―whether we stay with Riverson, Celestin, or even the Rapacious. I highly recommend Empire of the Feast by Bendi Barrett.

To read the full review, check out my blog.

[Calvin Coqui]

An absolutely delightful space opera that mixes imperial intrigue with witchy sex magic. The latest cloned incarnation of an undying empress awakens- male and without the memories of his predecessor, whoops! He's immediately thrown into the disorienting work of running an empire, maintaining a magic orgy that keeps the end of the world from escaping its prison, and uncovering treachery aimed at him from all sides. It's dramatic, sexy, and all around fun. I would seriously recommend this to fans of The Locked Tomb series for a comparably disorienting romp through a rich, violent, melodramatic space empire powered by strange magic, sword fights, and healthy serving of queer enemies-to-lovers sexiness.

[Andre Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some wildly imaginative concepts in this book, but the writing is not easy to follow. It's almost as though the author used a thesaurus to come up with the most bizarre word choices imaginable. As a result, you spend most of the time being really confused about what's going on. Even though it's less than a hundred pages, reading this material is really a chore.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the acknowledgements, the author describes this as “a book grounded in sex magic and space politics.” This was actually a well written story and the sex isn’t very graphic, but a story about a space empire that only survives because of an everlasting orgy, where enemies have to stop mid-battle to have sex with each other, is never going to be my cup of tea.

[Ash Leaux · Rating 5 out of 5]

yes thank you Black queer space opera save me Black queer space opera.... can't believe I didn't hear about this whenever it first came out. there was nothing i didn't like. an emperor reborn with no memory. a fuck palace to keep a monster trapped in a sun... gender fluid monster always fingering its own nipples and pierced genitalia. great stuff

[Teddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars


I didn't hate it, but I also didn't love it at all either. It's too short for what it's trying to tackle, & the world-building makes absolutely no sense. A miss for me.

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, fun little read

[Madison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was fun, and I wish there was more

[Gealach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review coming soon on my blog.

[Dylan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully strange

[Vivian · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars rounded down to 4

[Lx Moon · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Emperor c*ms really quickly

[Theta Chun · Rating 5 out of 5]

9/10, but rounded up for good feelings.
Oh my god, when they say this story fucks, they truly did mean it. I thought they meant that it’s just cool, but no. It fucks and it fucks hard. The Empire of the Feast, at it’s core, is a story about the gluttony of empire, eldritch horrors, and destiny. The story centers around the new Emperor of an ever-expanding space empire, and his attempt to learn about his empire, all while fending off various political factions, and trying to figure out who he is as a person.

Barrett’s writing focuses on indulgence both as a good, and evil things, and how one must skirt the line of the two to make sure they don’t take more than necessary, but also that treating yourself and taking delight in things isn’t actually bad. It’s an incredibly well-written story, with delectable prose that truly helps reflect the tone of the story in it’s writing. I really enjoyed their writing style and handle on narration, as well as their characterization of their main character, Riverson. Riverson, despite having no memories, still comes across as a distinct and well-formed character. On top of which, the pacing and breadth of this story fantastically fits it’s size. Something novella authors often struggle to do is pace and scale their story correctly to a novella, and Barrett doesn’t struggle with that in the least. While I would’ve loved more to sink my teeth into, mostly because i just want more of Barrett’s writing, the story was exactly perfectly written for it’s length.

Now this story is incredibly queer, and it delights in that, and honestly so did I. The main character is depicted as being horny and queer, and there’s ultimately no demonization of that. Instead queerness is made to be just another factor of this universe, but an incredibly prevalent one at that. One thing I also really loved, was the depiction of an sex-repulsed asexual character. It would’ve been incredibly easy I think to make everyone in this book bisexual or queer and into sex, and I applaud the author not overlooking the fact that there were people who weren’t interested in the feast.

Likewise I enjoyed the world. It was weird and unusual and in someways hard to understand, but ultimately every little weirdness came together to form a world that was weird and sexy in the best of ways. The construction of the empire, and the eldritch horror, and everything that went into this slotted together in such a way that is honestly hard to critique. All in all, this was a fantastic and masterful read, and I can’t wait to read more from Barrett.

I will say my criticism of this is that there wasn’t any monsterfucking. I think there should’ve been. I really wanted to see someone fuck the eldritch horror in this book, we got so close, and it would’ve made it all the better.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent stuff! And there's so much stuff! We definitely could have had a whole novel of this.

[Siavahda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, how I wish this had been a full novel rather than a novella! Not because the story doesn’t fit its length – I’ve rarely seen a story that fit inside a novella so well. But damn, I want more of this world!

And the ending does leave room for sequels, so I’ll cross my fingers that we get some!

With one exception, nothing in Empire of the Feast goes as expected – Barrett very deliberately sets out to subvert the story beats we’re used to, so that the twists and reveals come as genuine surprises. (With, as I said, one singular exception that made my eyes roll, because X is always the traitor. But that can be at least partly forgiven, since X’s motivation is so interestingly weird.) This is on top of some of the oddest worldbuilding I’ve ever seen, which I have to admit I didn’t always understand (one reason I’d like more books in this setting!) But it’s fundamentally, objectively pretty damn cool: there’s a monster inside a sun, and the only thing keeping it from devouring the galaxy is…a never-ending orgy? Because sex magic? Which is controlled or focussed through the reigning Empress or Emperor? Who, by the way, is the same soul reincarnated over and over again, if I understood that correctly?

I’m not sure I did, but it was a lot of fun either way. I liked that the empire was called out on its flaws; I loved the dry, wry humour and the snark. I appreciated the ugly consequences of grand, dramatic gestures, and how every last one of the characters managed to surprise me; I lost count of how many times Barrett flipped the tables on me, how nothing at all went as l expected it to. And from a technical standpoint, I’m massively impressed with the pacing; I often complain that stories are moving too quickly, but the whole point of Empire of the Feast is that everything’s hitting the fan at once, so the speed of it all really worked. Besides, Barrett somehow managed to keep up the pace without sacrificing character development or wouldbuilding – how, I have no idea, but, just – WOW.

Barrett, I take my hat off to you, truly.

I think my only quibble is that it would have been nice to have more women in the cast – given that the empire has been ruled by a long line of Empresses up to this point, I would have expected there to be more women in positions of power, when in fact we didn’t see any. Why???

That aside, this is a brilliant, twisty, very weird little Science Fantasy novella that I enjoyed very much, and it has definitely catapulted Barret onto my list of authors to keep an eye on!

[Sween McDervish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bendi Barrett's page-turner erotic sci-fi novella grips you from the start as our protagonist, Riverton, wakes up to find he is the reincarnated heir to the throne of the galactic Stag Empire. The mystery of why he is reincarnated male in a previously matrilineal dynasty must take a backseat as he is forced to reckon with emergent threats. These include Revolutionary warships threatening the Imperial star-station and the symbiotic creature who lives in said star, The Rapacious, whose hegemony is kept in check only by the erotic energy of a non-stop orgy in the Stag Empire's throne room. Riverton's initial amnesia for previous royal lives ensures he must rely on the questionable loyalties of his Imperial advisors, a dour grizzled war chief, and an enigmatic major domo.

Barrett's aptitude for world-building and deft hand with action and sex scenes make this novella a pleasure to read and a sure sign of a talent to watch in the speculative fiction genre.

[Hailey Piper · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm in love with this daring space opera aswirl with sensuality, galactic politics, and cosmic hunger. Barrett is endlessly inventive, crafting a novella of anime-slick vision and dexterous storytelling. A lyrical, sorcerous kind of sci-fi.

[Thistle & Verse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great concept, but the story was busy. It felt like there were too many plotlines and too much subterfuge for a novella. Still a worthwhile read for the uniqueness of the concept and descriptions of rituals and interstellar beings.

[Amy K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Erotic, boundary-shattering, smart, challenging sci-if at its tightly written best. What a total trip!