author : Katy B. Wagers

Empress Hail Bristol is settling down into her job. The various crises that caused her to become Empress seem to be resolved. So, time for a new set of crises, then. The Empire’s oldest allies, the Farians, are acting oddly. When they finally ask the Empire for help, it’s no longer clear which side anyone is on.

Although logically a new sub-series, this is a great continuation of Hail’s story, as she juggles diplomacy, old friends, new alliances, and tricky politics. The first two thirds are relatively calm, focussing on how Hail is settling in, her issues with the Farians and their complex history and life-cycles, and her traumatic claustrophobia brought on from her previous adventures. But when the action starts, it doesn’t let up, leading to a shattering climax.

How will Hail deal with the latest disaster? I’m waiting impatiently for the next volume.

Hail Bristol, Empress of Indrana, ex gunrunner, was mediating a peace deal between Indrana’s long-term allies, the Farin, and their hated enemies, the Shen. But that ended in disaster: an embassy turned to rubble, and many of Hail’s closest friends dead.

Hail and a handful of surviving crew have been captured by the Shen. For about the first third of the book, Hail is in deep depression about the loss of her friends, but violent training for an encounter with the Farian gods takes up her time. Once she escapes, things take a turn for the more complicated, as different Farian and Shen share different visions of the future, pulling Hail in different directions: the fate of the galaxy, no less, is at stake, and less violence no longer seems to be an option.

Further clues to the background of the Farians and their gods are scattered liberally throughout, and, as usual, prophecies come true in entirely unexpected ways. I particularly liked Hail’s reaction when offered a cure for her heir-production problem. Another fine entry to the series: I can’t wait for the conclusion (but I’m going to have to).

Empress Hail Bristol has confronted the Farian gods, and discovered they are not what they seem. As the book progresses, she also discovers a lot of other groups are not what they seem. She has to uncover the truth, whilst treading carefully around the various prophecies, and discovering the stakes are even higher than she had thought: the fate of the entire galaxy rests on the decisions she makes. No pressure, then.

A fitting ending to the series. Despite the incredibly raised stakes, this is much less dark than the previous book, as Hail has stopped doubting herself so much, and just gets back to what she is so good at doing: ploughing ahead and mowing down the opposition. Although now she also negotiates with the opposition on occasion.

There is a conclusion to the story, but I do hope to see more of Hail in the future.

Cressen Stone is a successful gunrunner. But she was once Hail Bristol, heir to the throne of the Indranan Empire. And her mother the Empress is dying. So Trackers are sent to bring Hail home. The home she deserted over a decade ago. The home she doesn’t want to see again. Or at least, that’s what everyone back home thinks. And when she gets home, her gunrunning skills may be all that can keep her alive.

Hail rapidly recalls all the royal protocols, much to her dismay, but she needs to work out which faction is trying to destabilise the Empire before she ends up as dead as her sisters. Her gunrunning skills may allow her to beat assassins hand-to-hand, but they won’t save her from bombs, or shield her from politics. It seems that the current troubles may be related to why she left the Empire in the first place.

This is a great page turner with a full cast of lost heirs, sarcastic bodyguards, misunderstood Empresses, evil cousins, scheming prime ministers, gentlemanly ambassadors, and rival empires. The Indranan Empire is descended from Hindu India, with a matriarchal overlay, which results in some interesting cultural features. I’m looking forward to the next book, seeing how Hail copes with her changed circumstances in very perilous times indeed.

Ex gunrunner Hail Bristol is now Empress of the Indranan Empire. Her troubles are just beginning. The adjacent Saxon Alliance is making threats of war, terrorists back home are demanding equal rights for men, senior military figures have mutinied, and her own government may be trying to undermine her. When she goes to meet the king of the Saxon Alliance to broker a peace deal, she discovers just who her enemies, and her friends, really are.

This is a strong sequel to the original tale, moving the plot briskly forwards, as crisis piles upon crisis. It has very little middle book of trilogy sag; Hail carves a bloody streak through her enemies, but she has so many enemies, on all sides, that they carve equally bloody streaks through her people. Eventual victory will be expensive, and is by no means assured.

Empress Hail Bristol has a problem: someone else has taken over her Empire, and she needs to get it back, even though she never wanted to be Empress in the first place. Old enemies, and new alliances, all have to be juggled if she is to succeed. But even if she does, will the cost be too high for her to bear? And will her subjects forgive her for the secret she has kept from them?

This is a snappy conclusion to the trilogy, as Hail continues to carve a bloody streak through her enemies, and occasionally her allies. It ties up most of the loose ends in a satisfactory manner, but leaves enough unfinished business, and new problems caused by the resolution, to ensure that Hail can have plenty more adventures in this universe if she wants to.