Furyborn: The Empirium Trilogy Book 1

I have absolutely LOVED reading this book! Every page of it has had me smiling, laughing, or excited to see what will happen. This is easily my Favourite Read of the year for Young adult and Fantasy. Now consider that this year I discovered Sarah J Maas, and that I have reread the ACOTAR series several times, that will give you some indication of how much I have enjoyed this book. By the time I was halfway through, I had preordered Book 2 which is due out in May. I already know I will be impatiently waiting for the next books arrival! And what has made me enjoy this book so much? Well... let’s just consider that for a few moments. The writing style - not only is the writing style fun and exciting, engaging as you would expect any book to be, but it’s so easy to read and enjoy, neither too heavy on descriptions nor lacking, the Author has done a brilliant job of creating short Chapters that make it effortless to place yourself in the middle of each situation. Not one chapter was slow or unnecessary to the storyline, and that was a surprise. Every chapter in this book has something HAPPEN, and that is no small feat. I can’t even imagine the amount of time and thought that must have gone into creating this story! The Layout - Again. The short chapters. They made this a fun and engaging read, and the shortness of the chapters made this maintain a sense of excitement throughout the story. The tale alternates between two Main Characters, set over 1000 years apart, and the opening scene is in fact the ending for one of those Characters. So although we know of one persons end, normally this would frustrate me. In this case, I found it intriguing to learn about the Person, to see the lead up to the end we knew was coming. The Characters - I love them. Seriously, I haven’t come across a story before where I enjoy reading about every character, I usually find there are a couple I’m not really interested in reading about, instead, I found myself looking forwards to reading about each Character and seeing what would happen next. Eliana and Rielle are both intriguing Characters, a perfect mix of strong and weak, they both make bad decisions at times but their choices are very human and very believable. At times throughout this book, I have felt sorry for them both, wanted to slap them both, and felt happy for them both. Normally I find that in this kind of situation with alternating viewpoints, it partly irritates me, and I wind up completely disconnected from the Characters. Instead, I found the opposite was true. I enjoyed reading about Audric and Ludivine with Rielle, and I equally enjoyed Harkan, Simon, Navi and Remy with Eliana. I even enjoyed reading about Rahzavel and Corien. I like the all for different reasons, even when I don’t truly ‘like’ them, I find myself appreciating the Character, and enjoying reading about them, even when I sit there hoping they get stabbed in the face. What can I say, I like my bad guys, but I also like it when they get their asses handed to them by the Main Characters. The revelations towards the end of the storys, and the Characters we came across along the way, were interesting and at times shocking! One of the reveals was expected, but it was intentional for the reader to know I think, and the story is more about the Character finding out. But, that is more easily understood once you have read the book. I all honesty, If you enjoy Young adult and/or Fantasy, and you don’t pick this up, you’re missing a treat. This was so much fun to read! I can only hope that the second book is as good or better!! If you enjoy Sarah J Maas books, Pick this up. You may find, that like me, you suddenly find yourself with a new Series you NEED the next book for. And in all honesty, the women in this story blew Aelin out of the park for me. well done Claire Legrand! A Brilliantly told story, that has me itching to nag you for a faster release of Book 2!

I ordered the hardback which has deckled edges, if you aren’t familiar with deckled edges (I wasn’t until a few months ago when I was watching a booktuber), deckled edges are where the pages are different widths. It looks so good, but I found it could make turning the pages a bit tricky. The dust cover design is stunning, pictures do not do it justice at all. The book is also a chunky 512 pages long. Furyborn is the first book in the Emporium trilogy, I already own the second book Kingsbane and have the final book Lightbringer on pre-order. Furyborn follows the story of our two main characters Rielle and Eliana, two women separated by a thousand years. What this means to you and me as the reader is we are following two plot lines, which are connected in some ways, across two timelines. Now this is where my main criticism of the book comes into play and it isn’t really a criticism just took some adjusting too. With the narrative you switch between the two timelines/two characters each chapter, so you have a chapter on Rielle, then a chapter on Eliana and then a chapter on Rielle etc. For the first maybe quarter of the book it kinda blew my mind trying to get it around both timelines and remember what’s happening. Once I got into both plotlines across the two timelines the constant back and forth didn’t really bother me anymore. The chapters are quite short though which may add to the difficulty of getting into a reading rhythm with Furyborn, it may have been easier on the reader to have longer chapters but like I said once you’re into it you stop noticing and automatically jump into the into each timeline where you left off. This is a typical first book in a trilogy, we have a lot of world building, setting up of the characters and wider story so when we get to the nitty gritty in books 2 and 3 we have enough information to understand what is happening and why. Both plots are slow burners, with the short chapter lengths giving you just enough information in the first half to keep you reading on. Don’t let the slow start of this book fool you, it is a build-up book and you are going to want to get to the end once you reach the half way mark and carry on with the series the more you read. One of the things that really got me hooked was that prologue, like what a way to start. I’m not going to tell you why it got me hooked because I don’t want to give it away, you need to read it when you’re reading the book for real! But it gives you a reason to read on, so you can understand the prologue more. The characters, from reading this with the club we had a same question pop up a few times in our group chat we read, who do you prefer Rielle or Eliana. The prologue definitely tinges your view on one of the characters but as you read you become conflicted with that view on her. Well I did. Rielle is our MC from the older time period, she is extremely powerful but has had to hide it since she was 5 as her Father worries that she may be classed the Blood Queen from the prophecy spoken by a dying angel and executed. I think a lot of us can related to Rielle’s need to feel loved, having to keep her true self a secret she fears what will happen when others find out. We follow Rielle through trials designed to prove she is the Sun Queen, her relationship with her best friends and her affect for Prince Audric (one of sed best friends). Also, her internal conflict with who she is. From this time line I wish there was more time spent on Rielle and Audric’s relationship, based on the prologue there is an event including both that is quite the thing but we actually see very little of Audric. There’s also an introduction of a character that appears in both timelines, but I won’t be talking much on that as it could give spoilers away and I’m not about that life right now. Eliana is the our other MC and based at the other end of the thousand years. I should maybe have pointed this out early, but during both timelines the narrative is written as if it’s based in the now. So each chapter is written as if the present, because it is the present in each timeline. Anyway, back to Eliana, her story is a thousand years after Rielle’s and the world has changed dramatically. For herself and her family to survive Eliana has become a formidable bounty hunter, which has caused her to have built a lot of barriers around herself as protection from the things she has to do. Eliana has the most personal growth out of both main characters and you genuinely see the struggle inside her between self-preservation and doing the right thing, although she’ll have you believe differently. She reminded me in some ways as Aelin from Throne of Glass, which meant I obviously had to like her! Each character goes through so much during this opening book and I couldn’t dislike either of them despite knowing what I found out in the prologue. Their stories are told in a captivating way, slowly building up with each experience you grow to know them better. I enjoyed the writing style of Claire Legrand, found it easy to keep reading. She obviously designed this trilogy to start slow and build up the plots. I still wish the chapters were a bit longer to give a bit more of each story in one go but in the end I was captivated and will 100% be reading the second book. I’ve avoided talking about the plots too much because I really don’t want to let any spoilers slips. I gave this book 4 star, which means it was a good read. It lost a star because I did find it a bit tricky getting my head around the two timelines and the shortness of the chapters that I almost struggled to retain what was happening and keep the timelines separate for the first half. This is just my opinion on it, others might not even blink at the change in timelines. I also wanted more on Rielle’s and Audric’s relationship in this book, to me it went from staring longingly at each other in secret to declarations of love with little to no interaction between the book, I want me some romance in the midst of the action. This is so worth the read and investment because once you’ve got through the first quarter to half you’ll be hooked! Happy reading.

What a mind blowing read. I'll admit I thought I would be confused by the constant change in timelines and characters but the book is so well written and it took my breathe away. Strong female characters and amazing world building had me hooked instantly and now I need to start the next book cos I'm having withdrawals while typing this out.

Fast paced, fresh ideas, short chapters, 2 amazing strong female protagonists and really enticing love interest’s and a great villain. Couldn’t ask for much more from a YA fantasy book, absolutely recommend 👌🏽

Though I enjoyed this book, I can't say I greatly enjoyed it. The altering points of view to begin with made it hard to enjoy, just as I was getting into a chapter it ended and I was dragged into a different perspective and it seemed sloppy. I HATED Elianna at first, I thought her character tedious and bothersome until I got to see her character more and then suddenly she was easily what kept me reading. Rielle however, interests me completely. We know how her story is going to play out but that doesn't take away from wanting to learn about how she got to where she did. I give it a three for it's wonderful world building and history, for the different magic users and their saints. I also do look forward to the next one only to see how it will carry on

Beautiful heartbreak, lots of action, flawless fantasy, phenomenal stories from different pov's rolled into one... One of the best series I've ever read, fiercely recommend!

The book itself looks nice, and the author clearly has a talent for description, but the two girls are constantly thinking about sex and engaging in sexual activities which just ruins the entire immersion of a fantasy novel about powerful women in life or death situations. The characters were therefore very one dimensional and unrelatable, and I only barely continued reading as I was interested in the language use. It's a bad sign when you get to a new chapter and think every time "surely it can't be as bad as the last chapter" and it's worse.

Es vergonzoso que se venda un artículo en esta condición. Es una pena porque el libro merece muchísimo la pena, pero el estado del libro merece cuanto menos una queja.

Ordinato questo libro per un regalo, arrivato in tempi brevi ma in pessime condizioni: parti danneggiate, copertina piena di macchie sparse, ma quel che è peggio PAGINE TAGLIATE MALE (come da foto, vi è anche un confronto tra quello e un libro normale che rende l'idea). Ho quindi richiesto immediatamente un reso e come visibile dalle foto il libro arrivato in seguito è nelle medesime condizioni del primo: copertina macchiata e rovinata, pagine ancora tagliate male. Che dire, davvero indecente soprattutto considerando che sono due copie diverse entrambe rovinatissime. È vergognoso che venga spedito un libro in queste condizioni! Davvero imbarazzante!

5 out of 5? Try 10 out of 5. This. Was. So. Damn. Good. I'd heard a lot about this book, and when I was granted a wish by the publisher I was over the moon! This book did not disappoint at all, and any faults it does have are forgiven so very quickly. As far as fantasy goes, this one is lush, epic, ingenious and utterly gorgeous. Featuring two strong and kick-ass women as heroines, with a dash of time travel and a whole lot of magic, Legrand has created a story that delivers in romance, action, mystery and sheer fantasy. Even the element of angels was a neat twist. I couldn't tell which MC I loved most, but Legrand is a master-class at suspense and kept me reading through each chapter with a near desperation to find out what happened to either girl. Likewise, the way just enough is revealed in the beginning leaves me with such high levels of curiosity and a burning need to read more of this series! And a round of applause for the secondary characters being just as wonderful. Usually there's just that one that you can't stand, and that was never the case here. The world-building is spot on too. Some fantasies I've noticed pile so much on at once with little grace or explanation that you find yourself lost throughout the book. Not the case here. The world, the history, the magic, the religions---all of it was easy to understand and stow away in my head. I have to admit that the book's big plot twist I figured out pretty quickly myself, but it's not in a way that's predictable or ruins the story. If anything, it heightens the magic of the book. As for the minor twists, I was in love. (In case you haven't figured it out yet, this book could literally do no wrong for me.) As I mentioned, there are a few negatives to it, but the book as a whole is so good that I got over them pretty quick. One was the pace slowed down a bit too much at around the 75% mark, but the ending made up for it. Two, there is a sex scene that is just awko-taco. And I don't mean awkward in a this-is-their-first-time-let's-figure-it-out-together way, but in the way it was written. I found it be a strangely written section with peculiar word choice and description. Nevertheless, this is a solid start to what I know is going to be a fantastic series. I can't wait to get my hands on a physical copy, and I definitely can't wait to read more. Thanks SOURCEBOOKS Fire!

A sprawling narrative with beautiful world building that brings a wonderful complexity to the characters, their growth, and their imperfect yet utterly perfect human frailty. With echoes of the mystery, history, and mythology of our own ancestors, Claire Legrand has made the Soul of the Earth (Âme de la Terre) truly come to life. The scope of the Trilogy is amazing- I felt that there was no way to do the story justice with only 3 novels, and I would definitely be interested in reading a prequel trilogy showing the Angelic Wars and the human Saints, as well as a sequel Trilogy showing what happens next. I only read the first book on Kindle, so I'm leaving my review for the entire Trilogy within this review. Time travel, magic, the strengths and weaknesses of humans and angels,complex relationships based on emotion, the common fear of the unknown leading to hasty (often awful) actions... Legrand shares it all and more. Seeing how the actions of a few matter and how they cause a massive butterfly effect was done so well. Showing the dangers of giving too much control of yourself to another or of giving nothing of yourself to anyone else carefully leads your mind into questions of our own existence. The emperium (which reminded me of "dust" in The Golden Compass novels, and dark matter in our own) being so vast and uncaring of life, planets, galaxies...spectacular. I don't want to ruin the novels, since they must be read, but the power of the Sun Queen or Blood Queen (however you choose to view her), reminds me of the song "What If God Was One of Us" by Jewel. The idea that a person is either all good or all "bad" is taken apart and looked at, since nobody is all of either. She helps us understand that nobody can please everyone and we must work on making ourselves happy. One person, no matter their power or strength, can ever be everything to even one person. There is strength in unity, even if the end goal varies from group to group and person to person. I also love how she shows her audience that as vast as time and space are, as small and inconsequential we may appear be, it is within us to change at any moment of any day, and those changes can ripple across time and space and galaxies to places we have yet to even dream of. I'm sorry this was so long! To be fair, the Trilogy was longer! I hope you read it and enjoy it as much as I have!