Conspiracy (The Emperor's Edge Book 4‪)‬

The first one was addictive and this one is awesome as well!

I am vastly disappointed, but not surprised, to see Amaranthe go from wanting to break the glass ceiling in law enforcement to “I want to be a famous hero and sleep with this dude.” The author also seems to have forgotten that, much like a joke, explaining a callback kills it. This book could also use more proofreading.

There were some wonky things going on. Sicarius had a really late response to the Crimson Fox news. Yara implies their steam powered train is running low on fuel and Amaranthe decides to use their water to hose soldiers. Decoupling the train would have caused their section to accelerate due to the loss of at least five railcars in mass. Despite knowing that the Empire doctors and embellishes written records, Amaranthe believes she would’ve learned of this ancient stuff in school.

The thing that bothered me the most was Maldynado’s complete disregard of Yara’s multiple explicit demands that he not touch her. It’s presented as comedy rather than the problematic behavior that it is. Centuries of “she’s just playing hard to get” mentality has fueled a culture where the words and consent of women don’t matter. It doesn’t matter what Maldynado thinks, what matters is what Yara said, and I really wish she flattened him. When problematic behavior is displayed and not addressed, it is reinforced and perpetuated, and this author has frequently failed to do so.

Vocab list this time: diatribe instead of speech, mulishly instead of stubbornly, bucolic instead of pastoral, extemporaneous instead of impromptu, mendacity instead of lies, bumptious instead of arrogant, pecuniary instead of monetary.

Just those tiny moments between our enforcer and assassin make my day. Can't wait for the next book.