Coming August 6th, 2024 from Blackstone Publishing; 464 pages
Content Warning: Death, graphic violence, human exploitation, extreme intolerance, abuse of power
About the Author: “Akana Phenix is a Harvard alum and screenwriter. The Empire Wars is her debut fantasy novel. As a nostalgic 2000s kid, she’s always eating Oreos and streaming Avatar: The Last Airbender. She’s based in the United States” (Bio from author’s website).
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The Empire Wars, the first book in Akina Phenix’s breakout series, follows two girls as they attempt to survive the Allied Force, a nationalist government well into their mission of taking over the world. Coa Rangecroft grew up wild, learning to survive with little and less before she and her family were captured and placed in a labor camp run by the military. Ife Størmbane, former princess of the now decimated Makarian civilization, has married the infamous Sniper General. Tensions rise as the annual Great Hunt looms, a gruesome show in which foreigners are forced to fight for their lives amongst seventy five others, all while being hunted down by the Empire’s most prized snipers. The punishment for dying is the execution of one’s entire family. While Coa attempts to survive against desperate participants on a hostile island, Ife must masquerade as a patriotic citizen amongst people who hate her very existence.
Akana Phenix has created a world that delves into genocides, focusing on the fortitude of individual victims that are caught in the crossfire of a hostile government that only cares for power. The dual perspectives of Coa and Ife allow for insight into greatly different sides of the macabre actions of the Allied Force, against both their own people and foreigners. Coa and Ife fight for the people they care about yet the circumstances of their lives are totally estranged, not only in their pasts but also in their current situations. Coa fights to live another day, while Ife’s attentions are focused on avenging her family. Both are horrified by the Great Hunt and the atrocities involved but on different sides of the chaos and with different roles in society. I found myself fascinated by the portrayal of these characters, their contrasting roles—one has magic but lacks a position of power, while the other has the right position but no magic of her own. The presence of magic was not something I was expecting, but I was delighted to read how Phenix incorporated this magic system into a story with high dystopian elements and characters desperate to survive. Akana Phenix has designed a complex world with tantalizing twists that build in intensity and don’t stop until the very last word.
The Empire Wars releases on August 6th, 2024.
Pine Reads Review would like to thank NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for sending us an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change before final publication.
Hannah Goerndt, Pine Reads Review Writer