The Divine Empress

Dynasty Saga #4

by Sam Ryan

The Heavenly Fox, the Glorious Strategist, Lymee has acquired many titles since arriving in a strange fantasy world ruled by women, but no title she has earned is grander and more important than that of Empress, or Divine Empress as many of the people refer to her as. Since her ascension to the thrown two years ago, the belief in her supposed divinity has only grown. But not everyone is convinced that Lymee is some sort of Gift from The Heavens, especially the rulers of the other Kingdoms who have come to see this upstart ruler as a potential threat to them and their Kingdoms.

And so Lymee soon discovers that being an Empress, even a Divine one, is not as easy as she may have been lead to believe as she is caught in a world of looming war, political intrigue and of course lesbian love.

Genres: Fantasy, Lesbian, LGBT, Historical Fantasy

274 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 8, 2017

Reviews

[Frank Van Meer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure how to review this.

Everyone that has read the series, knows the problems these books have. Here's the thing: a week before the book was released, there was a post by the author that they knew it was far from perfect, but Amazon wasn't willing to push the book back.
The first 40% or so, was relatively error-freee, with the occasional typo and awkward phrasing. After that, it got progressively worse (lot's of homonyms again), the wrong names for characters, and sometimes a sentence I really could not decipher).

The plot had some issues as well, mainly some key events being rushed and not having the impact they could have had.

The author acknowledges this in an afterword, expressing the wish they could go back and rewrite it.

So, I'm giving 4 stars because I like Lymee and her shenanigans as reluctant Empress, and 2 stars for the technical side.

[Jacques · Rating 3 out of 5]

It did not get better.

I had hoped starting this series that the writing and character development would improve as the story unfolds and the author gained more experience. However, that was not the case.

Many other low star reviews would say it's the spelling, wrong word usage, and bad grammar that put them off. For me it was the actual main character and how little thought went into much of her actions or development. She was supposed to free slaves and bring about equality and "the Golden Age" and all that jazz. Yet she stole a girl to become a concubine. Nevermind not sleeping with her, she will still be made to serve the person that took her from her family. She originally rightfully worried about advancing a war torn civilization's technology for fear of the disastrous consequences. Yet she introduced guns, one of the single most influential and deadly inventions in the modern era. (It wasn't just a slow musket either but rifles.) There is so much contradiction in her words and actions that it truly feels as though she is not any kind of decent person. And that is putting aside her general skeevy-ness toward women. Every woman she meets is instantly judged in her mind based on how beautiful they are or the size of their breasts. It's a pretty pervy trait that gets blown off way too much, and she is the most fleshed out (pardon the pun) character in the series. Her top advisor, friend for years, and secondary character finally gets a background in this book. It took that long for anything meaningful to be written about her.

Besides that, the author also has a poor concept of ages. The way it is written makes you think every child becomes a sexually active mature adult around fourteen. A child of eight can be bounced on someone's knee and has to be distracted like a toddler. The elders are in their thirties and the elderly are around eighty or dead.

If this is the last book or not, as it has been years since it was published but the blurb in the back makes out like a finale is yet to come, it makes little difference to me now. As much as it might be interesting to read about what ingenious strategy might have been implemented fighting the southern kingdoms, at this point I simply do not care if Lymee wins or loses.

[XR · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was exciting! I go angry at one point ‘cause of the empathy I felt for one of the characters who gets killed so tragically. It’s scary how easy it is for people to manipulate others and to act without any remorse. And I’m not just talking about characters in a book either.

I thought this was the last book for the Dynasty Saga series but I was happy to see that the author has planned for another. I can’t wait for it to come out!

[Nora Rockwell]

Next Book

This whole saga has been a delightful journey. This is my second time reading this series and it still entertains. I encouraging any who read these reviews to take a chance on these books because quite frankly the whole premise of this world is intriguing as well as entertaining. The plots and twist through out Lymee's journey is funny, thought provoking and make you want more. So to this author I ask as I have read your notes. Where is the finale book?

[Riana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the story. Really look forward to the next book.

I anxiously await the next book. The story is good. The writing could use a bit more proof reading and editing to catch mistakes though. I am not certain grammar "enthusiasts" will look past the mistakes enough to just enjoy the story.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable

Every time a new book comes out I reread the series. It still has typos but I read these books for the story the author tells. She makes me laugh and cry which is good enough for me.

[brandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

I like the books a lot , there was no boring parts it flowed really well waiting for the next book. Thank you