What do you think?
Rate this book
Emperors & Assassins
A failed protector. A man with nothing left to live for. And a rebellion in need of a hero.
Viridius Vispanius spent his entire life with only one goal—protect the Emperor. When a terrible betrayal results in the Emperor’s death and Viridius’ failure, he has nothing left. With a verdict of execution and a price on his head, he disappears into the wilds of the Batopian wilderness, determined to drink himself into forgetfulness or death, whichever comes first.
But when an old friend reappears, Viridius is given a choice—continue to wallow in his failure, or become the hero that Delos desperately needs. With the Rebellium recently pushed back by the tyrannical new Emperor, Viridius may be the last hope of a desperate people in need of exactly that.
If a man has no friends, he can never be betrayed. But can Viridius find it within himself to become the hero that he never wanted to be?
Fans of Assassins Creed, Game of Thrones, Spartacus, and Gladiator will love this fast-paced, bloody dark fantasy novel with a powerful Black antihero turned savior of the people. If you love political intrigue, ancient worlds and conflicted heroes, you’ll love this new historical fantasy from authors Wahida Clark and DB Bray!
1-Click to start reading Emperors and Assassins today!
Viridius Vispanius spent his entire life with only one goal—protect the Emperor. When a terrible betrayal results in the Emperor’s death and Viridius’ failure, he has nothing left. With a verdict of execution and a price on his head, he disappears into the wilds of the Batopian wilderness, determined to drink himself into forgetfulness or death, whichever comes first.
But when an old friend reappears, Viridius is given a choice—continue to wallow in his failure, or become the hero that Delos desperately needs. With the Rebellium recently pushed back by the tyrannical new Emperor, Viridius may be the last hope of a desperate people in need of exactly that.
If a man has no friends, he can never be betrayed. But can Viridius find it within himself to become the hero that he never wanted to be?
Fans of Assassins Creed, Game of Thrones, Spartacus, and Gladiator will love this fast-paced, bloody dark fantasy novel with a powerful Black antihero turned savior of the people. If you love political intrigue, ancient worlds and conflicted heroes, you’ll love this new historical fantasy from authors Wahida Clark and DB Bray!
1-Click to start reading Emperors and Assassins today!
256 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 27, 2020
26 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
About the author
Wahida Clark
75 books1,477 followersWahida Clark was born and raised in Trenton, New Jersey. She decided to start writing fiction while incarcerated at a women's federal camp in Lexington, KY. Her style is street, raw, and she has an imagination that's in overdrive. When you read her novels they are so real you are convinced of one of three things: that you are inside the book, you know the characters, or you just have to meet them.
Her first novel, Thugs And The Women Who Love Them and the sequel, Every Thug Needs A Lady appeared on the Essence Best Sellers List.
Her first novel, Thugs And The Women Who Love Them and the sequel, Every Thug Needs A Lady appeared on the Essence Best Sellers List.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 8, 2020
Emperors and Assassins, Part 1 – Wahida Clark
I was given an advanced copy of this book, prior to publishing, in order to provide and honest review.
Wahida Clark is an African American writer who is known for writing urban fiction and has a popular series called the “Thug” series, which I have not read as yet.
“Emperors and Assassins” is Wahida Clark’s first endeavour into the fantasy genre.
We are introduced to a warrior, Viridius, who is determined to be forgotten and left to his own devices. Yet, as fate and would have it, it is not meant to be and there are other forces at work determined to force Viridius towards a path he does not want to travel.
A force helping along this path, is a member of the Rebellium known as Gius. Charged with finding Viridius and enlisting him on the Rebellium’s quest to overthrow and assassinate the Emperor Octavius, a selfish loathsome creature.
Along their journey Viridius and Gius make the acquaintance of a very formidable individual, the Lady Corcundia of Vitadruma. After the untimely death of her husband the Lady Corcundia was forced into an exile and from there she has built a name for herself selling items on the black market and gathering a following of men to her side.
Once again fate intervened and what should have been an easy journey back to the Rebellium soon became a fight for their very lives. Yet they find help from a most unlike source, the legendary Ba warriors, the famed outcasts.
Meanwhile the Prefect Asinius, respected under the reign of the great Emperor Tiberius, having fallen out of favour and running for this life from the son of Emperor Tiberius – Emperor Octavius. Seen as too old and not in favour with those manipulating Octavius, Asinius flees and soon finds himself in the hands of the Rebellium. But what they will do with him Asinius is unsure, though his days are surely numbered.
Only time will tell if they will live long enough to achieve their ultimate goals.
Not having read any of Wahida Clark’s previous work I was unsure of what to expect. “Emperors and Assassins” is a fast paced, dark and captivating entry into the fantasy world. The characters were vivid and real, but most importantly believable. You could really picture them in their world and interreacting with everyone there.
I feel Viridius will have a major journey of personal growth ahead of him. Many trying times where he will discover who he really is and exactly what he is capable of.
Lady Corcundia and the legendary Ba warriors really intrigue me so I am happy in the next instalment I will be able to learn more about them and their backgrounds.
A testament to how well written Wahida as made her characters, I absolutely loath Octavius. He is definitely not the sort of leader I would want governing people and personally find him despicable and off putting.
I am really looking forward to seeing where Wahida takes us next on the second instalment of Emperors and Assassins.
I was given an advanced copy of this book, prior to publishing, in order to provide and honest review.
Wahida Clark is an African American writer who is known for writing urban fiction and has a popular series called the “Thug” series, which I have not read as yet.
“Emperors and Assassins” is Wahida Clark’s first endeavour into the fantasy genre.
We are introduced to a warrior, Viridius, who is determined to be forgotten and left to his own devices. Yet, as fate and would have it, it is not meant to be and there are other forces at work determined to force Viridius towards a path he does not want to travel.
A force helping along this path, is a member of the Rebellium known as Gius. Charged with finding Viridius and enlisting him on the Rebellium’s quest to overthrow and assassinate the Emperor Octavius, a selfish loathsome creature.
Along their journey Viridius and Gius make the acquaintance of a very formidable individual, the Lady Corcundia of Vitadruma. After the untimely death of her husband the Lady Corcundia was forced into an exile and from there she has built a name for herself selling items on the black market and gathering a following of men to her side.
Once again fate intervened and what should have been an easy journey back to the Rebellium soon became a fight for their very lives. Yet they find help from a most unlike source, the legendary Ba warriors, the famed outcasts.
Meanwhile the Prefect Asinius, respected under the reign of the great Emperor Tiberius, having fallen out of favour and running for this life from the son of Emperor Tiberius – Emperor Octavius. Seen as too old and not in favour with those manipulating Octavius, Asinius flees and soon finds himself in the hands of the Rebellium. But what they will do with him Asinius is unsure, though his days are surely numbered.
Only time will tell if they will live long enough to achieve their ultimate goals.
Not having read any of Wahida Clark’s previous work I was unsure of what to expect. “Emperors and Assassins” is a fast paced, dark and captivating entry into the fantasy world. The characters were vivid and real, but most importantly believable. You could really picture them in their world and interreacting with everyone there.
I feel Viridius will have a major journey of personal growth ahead of him. Many trying times where he will discover who he really is and exactly what he is capable of.
Lady Corcundia and the legendary Ba warriors really intrigue me so I am happy in the next instalment I will be able to learn more about them and their backgrounds.
A testament to how well written Wahida as made her characters, I absolutely loath Octavius. He is definitely not the sort of leader I would want governing people and personally find him despicable and off putting.
I am really looking forward to seeing where Wahida takes us next on the second instalment of Emperors and Assassins.
February 24, 2022
I received this book while being offered an ARC reading link from (SF/F)or the Culture, which miraculously qualified me to download like NINE books?! Super cool. I will say the cover of this story really drew me in, as well as it being posed as an African American military fantasy epic.
This might honestly be one of the most colloquially written books I’ve ever read, but that’s not to say that it was bad in any way, it was just super informal in ways that books usually aren’t. Because of that you get this gritty, raw realness that I’m not really sure I’ve read before. It was interesting, gripping, and seriously fun.
Along with the fun of this story, the reader is also faced with the vast darkness that warfare brings: blood, guts, feces, severed limbs, the evilness of humanity, excessive death. And this book does not shy away from a single piece of it (there are a lot of chopped testicles???). The battles are fast paced, making you feel like you’re right in the center of them, and although they are somewhat tough to read because of the realness, I found I couldn’t get enough. The main character can be a bit hard to get behind, but there are snippets of heart in there that will have you following along.
If it had to nitpick a bit: a gripe of mine would be that the cover—the armor, the sword—did make me feel more like it was medieval, meanwhile the emperors and names felt wholly Roman in nature. However this is a fantasy world, so it can be whatever you want it to be. There are literally races that are humanoid, but not human…so Gius can do and be whatever he wants…but so is the nature of the nitpick.
Totally worth your time, money, or effort to read!
This might honestly be one of the most colloquially written books I’ve ever read, but that’s not to say that it was bad in any way, it was just super informal in ways that books usually aren’t. Because of that you get this gritty, raw realness that I’m not really sure I’ve read before. It was interesting, gripping, and seriously fun.
Along with the fun of this story, the reader is also faced with the vast darkness that warfare brings: blood, guts, feces, severed limbs, the evilness of humanity, excessive death. And this book does not shy away from a single piece of it (there are a lot of chopped testicles???). The battles are fast paced, making you feel like you’re right in the center of them, and although they are somewhat tough to read because of the realness, I found I couldn’t get enough. The main character can be a bit hard to get behind, but there are snippets of heart in there that will have you following along.
If it had to nitpick a bit: a gripe of mine would be that the cover—the armor, the sword—did make me feel more like it was medieval, meanwhile the emperors and names felt wholly Roman in nature. However this is a fantasy world, so it can be whatever you want it to be. There are literally races that are humanoid, but not human…so Gius can do and be whatever he wants…but so is the nature of the nitpick.
Totally worth your time, money, or effort to read!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews