The Empress Game (The Empress Game Trilogy #1) in SpecFic Buddy Reads

Oct 08, 2015 Bradley rated it liked it

Shelves: sci-fi, space-opera

Okay, seriously, this took a long time for me to start caring about the characters, but it finally happened well after the half-way point of the book. That's a real shame, because I was frankly bored out of my skull by most of it.

Best Space Opera? Please.

We got ourselves a bit of knife fighting in a tournament and then a road trip with blackmailing spies and a con job to put an empress on the throne of a multi planet empire. If that isn't bad enough, we've got the old trope of princess-in-disgui ...more

26 likes · Like · see review

Oct 09, 2015 Lindsay rated it really liked it

A preview of the next Disney animation where they get all their movie princesses together and make them fight with kris knives in gladiatorial combat. (My money is on Mu Lan).

Ok, it's not that. That would be cool. This is also cool, and does feature princesses fighting in gladiatorial combat, but we also get politics, psionic powers, spy agency intrigue and a romantic subplot.

Kayla is a princess from one of the Wyrd worlds. Populated by psychics and where the women are much stronger and larger p ...more

16 likes · Like · see review

Jul 28, 2015 Justine rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2015-read, favourites

Delicious page-turning badassery (is that a word?)

This book has action, deception, drama, evil mind-control experiments, a devastating nanite plague, and high ranking ladies kicking butt in gladiatorial style games to determine who will be the next Empress. What's not to like? Nothing! This book was awesome. ...more

13 likes · Like · see review

Aug 24, 2015 Robyn rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2015

4.5. Extremely readable, densely-packed start to what will hopefully be a very exciting series. There's so much in here that it is hard to know where to start - pit fighting! nanobite virus! an empire at war with a race of psychic, crazily advanced technological people! factions within the diplomatic corps! And I haven't even mentioned the main event - the gladiatorial fights to select the next empress, wherein our intrepid heroine, Kayla, must impersonate a princess and win her the hand of the ...more

12 likes · Like · see review

Jun 11, 2016 Helen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

There is so much happening in this that it's difficult to decide what to say! We have a fighter and her kid brother desperately trying to stay alive, gladiator-style games to choose a bride/empress, major bad guys and regular ones. Betrayal, loyalty and romance. Sigh, that kiss...

Basically read it! ...more

10 likes · Like · see review

Aug 08, 2016 Ctgt rated it liked it

This was a pretty good story that was on its way to a solid 4 stars until the end. An unknown pit fighter is recruited to impersonate a princess in the Empress Game to crown the new ruler. I liked the background of our protagonist, Kayla and the tech that was used to allow her to pull off this con was interesting. This is a good popcorn type book with good action and some interesting political intrigue. But there was a flip flop with some decisions by Kayla at the end that I just couldn't get pa ...more

6 likes · Like · see review