Today is my stop on the blog tour for Empire of Hanging Swords by R.R. Egal!

Here’s the blurb.

An empire on the brink.

An unimaginable betrayal.

And one girl who has to hold it all together.

Empress Neferet is no stranger to the weight of a crown nor the responsibility that comes with it. Secretly, she hunts her beloved father’s murderer, seeking justice for his brutal death as unprecedented natural disasters are spreading fast across her lands.

Once she discovers the assassin was none other than her closest ally, the Dominus of Theron, fury drives her to cross the borders of his kingdom to seek revenge with the blessing of the gods. However, once Neferet crosses paths with Dante, the Dominus’s son, they uncover a conspiracy that shakes her deepest convictions and suggests that the disasters ravaging her empire weren’t so natural after all.

As more gods descend with cryptic and conflicting messages, Neferet’s faith is thrown into turmoil and she finds herself with more questions than answers. War looms on the horizon, so she and Dante must piece together the conspirators’ plans—and the gods’ true intentions—to stop them before her empire collapses.

Review

Empire of Hanging Swords follows follows Neferet, the Empress of the Etalan Empire and Dante, son of the Dominus of Theron. There’s tension from the outset, their countries are allies but Neferet has reason to believe someone has betrayed her and the Etalan Empire, her father was murdered, was it really their allies behind this?

We now meet Dante, the Dominus’s son.. tension is thick but soon a deeper conspiracy is discovered, it wasn’t just one murder.. there’s more planned and the Dominus is next!

It’s time for the two to put the their differences behind them and work together to save the Dominus..

As the story progresses you can see the tension between the two start to change.. it’s gradual and paced well but when they finally realise their feelings for each other it wasn’t a shock.. if anything you are rooting for them, and relieved for them. I’m not a big fan of romance in stories.. I’m always worried it will take focus away from the main plot of the story but I need not have worried as plenty of time is given so things develop at a steady pace without overshadowing the plot.

Speaking of development I really loved how the author balanced the world the characters live in exploring the makeup and the various religions.. again giving just the right amount of time to show it’s importance.

There’s plenty of action too for those who like a battle or two. I can’t help but love how the author managed to mirror the physical battles with the mental battles the main characters face. Who can they trust, can they trust each other.. can they even trust their own feelings and motivations..

Very fulfilling read.

4/5 stars

My thanks go to the author, publisher and Zoé @ Zooloo’s Book Tours for having me on the tour!

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Tempted yet?

Book Links

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62452845-empire-of-hanging-swords

Purchase Link: https://mybook.to/hangingswords-zbt

Who is R.R. Egal?

R. R. Egal is part writer and part eldritch terror. Empire of Hanging Swords is her debut novel and was inspired by her love of mythology in all its forms. Some of her favourite things in life are cats, old war movies, and the Oxford comma. When she’s not writing, she enjoys watching historical documentaries and reading sad poems.

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