Empress of Dorsa by Eliza Andrews is the third book in the Dorsa series and takes place four and a half years after the epic battle known as the Battle of the Empress’s Last Stand.
The battle was a devastating loss for Natasia. She ultimately lost the war in the East, was betrayed by someone she trusted and ended up dead. Lost in battle.
At least, that’s what everyone except Linna thinks. For Linna there is something that doesn’t feel right. So she turns to an unlikely ally to help her on a quest to find Empress Tasia and Joslyn of Terinto.
This third book sees an epic ending to the larger story of the princess that became an empress, a slave that became a warrior and a love story where even death couldn’t keep them apart.
This is the final book of the trilogy so start with Princess of Dorsa if you haven’t read it yet. But the entire series is very worth it.
Wring and Story
Megs and Akella are two newish characters in the series and their plot becomes an important one, while Joslyn and Tasia take a bit of a backseat.
Linna is 15 years old now and a trained warrior. She is arguably the main character in this third book as the story pivots away from the Empress and her lover.
As always, the writing is beautiful and the story is touching, intriguing and wonderfully done.
Pros
I really loved the way the story ended. It was unexpected and delightful. It felt perfectly fitting given the journey that we went on with the characters over the course of the three books.
Heads up
This series contains violence and mentions of rape. It’s not graphic and is generally just mentioned in passing.
The Conclusion
This entire series is well worth it. I love these audiobooks and they give you good value at more than 12 hours for book one and more than 20 hours for books two and three each.
This was a perfect conclusion to a long journey with a lot of high and low moments. I am wholly satisfied with this series and highly recommend it.
Excerpt from Empress of Dorsa by Eliza Andrews
“She’s nearby,” Zandra said. “Probably hiding.” Her dark eyes crawled up the boulders as she spoke, searching for additional clues. “Put some space between her and the people chasing her, then found somewhere she could rest and recover.”
“How badly do you think she’s hurt?”
Zandra nodded at the print. “Bad enough that she’s holding her injury, getting blood on her hands. Bad enough that she’s getting sloppy compared to when she started in the meadow.” She gestured left. “The trail keeps going up the mountain that way. I’m guessing at some point she stopped climbing. Turned. Looked for some place to stop.”
“And that brought her over here.” Megs turned her right hand, lining it up over the palm print so that they were both at the same angle. Megs’s hand was definitely bigger.
Zandra circled the boulders, scanning for more signs.
“There,” she said, pointing.
Another smear of blood on the trunk of a fir tree wedged between three of the boulders above them.
Zandra pulled herself up and moved cautiously towards the tree, a hunter stalking prey. Megs climbed up behind her. About ten yards ahead of them, boulders gave way to a rocky formation jutting out from the mountainside, forming a shadowy overhang.
A perfect spot for someone injured and pursued to hide for a few hours.
The two of them crept towards the overhang, with Zandra silently pointing out splotches of dried blood dotting the rock beneath them.
The overhang was empty, but a strip of bloodied cloth lay crumpled in one corner. It looked like it had been torn from a tunic.
Zandra scanned the terrain left to right and then, like a wolf, sniffed the air. She pointed up, towards jutting rocks that formed the overhang. The rocks were positioned in such a way that someone could be hiding above them without being seen. The back of Megs’s neck prickled.
They were not the woman’s enemy, but she didn’t know that. And Megs had worked with enough wounded livestock in her life to know that even domesticated creatures could get nasty when they were hurt and perceived a threat.
Her farm girl experience meant that she kept her hands away from the blades hanging from her waist. Never frighten an injured animal. But Zandra didn’t come from a farming family; she came from a family of hunters and trappers.
Before Megs had a chance to tell her not to, Zandra drew her rune-marked dagger – which thankfully emitted no glow – and backed out of the overhang, eyes on the boulders above.
The slightest rustle came from above them.
“Oi, you up there. We – ” Megs called to the stranger, intending to express that they meant no harm despite Zandra’s blade.
But then everything happened far too fast.
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Series: The Chronicles of Dorsa
Empress of Dorsa
Bits and Bobs
ISBN number: 979-8814378750
Publisher: Indie Author
Audiobook Publisher: Indie Author
Narrator: Elizabeth Saydah
Audiobook Length: 26 hours 38 min
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