While I could not read the ARC the author kindly gave me before the book was published, I sincerely appreciate the kind gesture!

This is the 3rd book I have read from this author, and just like my previous reads, Empire of Ash and Blood did not disappoint me. This author's books are always such a thrill to read, and yet they seldom ever get any reviews. This saddens me because he has quickly earned a spot as one of my favorite fantasy authors.

I would not know whether my review of this book's equally good prequel Ablaze in Mirth where I was begging for a full-fledged series is the reason why this book was ever made, but I will beg, beg and beg for a sequel. Please make it happen! ;)

Instead of a remake of Ablaze in Mirth with a longer story, Empire of Ash and Blood opts for a nonlinear story where some critical events happened thousands of years ago, others around 5-10 years and the rest in the present. We also get several POVs from a very ethnically diverse cast where some of them are humans, and the rest are vampires, aka bloodmen.

Our Ablaze champion Matias from the prequel pretty much ruins the reader's expectation that The Haven, where champions go after a Hunger Games battle to the death among enslaved vampires, is an equivalent to true freedom in the Pretorius Empire. I believe a considerable portion of Matias's behavior early in this novel is fueled by feeling pissed off. The Haven is little more than an underground gulag where nobody can leave even with good behavior. There is no possibility of going outside in a wired cage to look at the moon or breathe fresh air. While everyone gets a monthly dowry to spend on blood, gambling, or prostitutes, even minor criminal offenses such as burning a book get added to a 12-hour life clock. Drones study footage within every corner of the prison and enact their verdicts at once without offering these so-called well-regarded champions the chance to perform community service for a time reduction. Drones zap you dead with UV lights when you use up your 12 hours. The idea that a champion could face death by burning 120 books seems like a miserable prize for the annoyances they took to win such a daunting tournament.

Can champions even have contact with the outside world? Pretty much none. All correspondence by email is monitored, and champions can only chat with humans. It doesn't surprise me that a man suffering from survivor's guilt and a hunger for true freedom like Matias would not feel satisfied with his current situation. The book focuses almost solely on Matias's POV during this section of the story, so at first, I had zero ideas what to expect. While I enjoyed hearing from Matias again and wondered how this story would develop, I believed this was the only good part of the book, but not great. The pacing seemed a bit off at times, and some grammar had odd syntax.

Much of the book focuses on two female characters: a vampire slave named Luna, who grudgingly works as a prostitute in Egypt, and a human of Filipino descent named Analyn. When Analyn shows up at Luna's prison one day to test her blood illegally during a routine bloodman wellness interview, the test comes positive, spiraling a considerable string of events that moves the book's second half forward. I enjoyed both characters very much, even though they seldom spend any time interacting with each other. Luna has lived under brutal human owners her whole life, so she is shy but very devout in her religious beliefs. In contrast, Analyn genuinely cares for vampires and wants the empire to abolish slavery. Analyn's POV isn't featured all that much in the story, but when she does, she commands a huge degree of respect, knowing she was risking her life because she believed she was doing the right thing. I can't say much more because it would be a spoiler, but they both grow, especially Luna, as the story progresses. Neither woman ends up as the character they were in the beginning.

The story of Kesi is repeated a lot in the prequel novella, and we finally get to enjoy a few chapters way into the past about her POV growing up in rural Sudan alongside... well, that is a spoiler. I will mention these chapters are quite important in the greater scheme of the book's worldbuilding.

As for Matias, in the book's second half, he is quite busy sending endless text messages to a fellow named Master Rocco. The exchanges may be real or fake, but they are always quite entertaining red herrings that will leave the reader guessing nonstop.

Our final POV, which is featured quite a lot in the second half of the book, is a human woman from Ireland named Ciara, who is Emperor Pretorius's wife. I don't recall her appearing in the prequel. While I enjoy having a middle-aged female character POV, the way she only interacts with her butler Naji and a good portion of her POV are mental ramblings of one-sided feelings for Naji seemed kind of... I dunno. I like the handful of scenes where she interacts with her increasingly mentally deranged husband, but her POV chapters were my least favorite of the book. I tend to like queens that have been in the power game for a while to have some more street smarts. Instead of running her very own fake companies to embezzle imperial money into offshore accounts, she just wanders around the gardens complaining about the color of her dress half of the time.

I have difficulty talking more about the book without spoiling the fun. Still, while I believe the book could get an extra set of editorial eyes to fix unclear grammar, I had a whole deal of fun reading this book. I loved to cheer for Luna as she became more determined. Guessing the true ending without being distracted by the plentiful red herrings kept me amused the whole story. I loved the ending that leaves plenty of story available for an equally entertaining sequel.

So, hop right in and enjoy the ride. This book is worth it! ( )