We are so excited to be participating in the tour for The Orchid Throne! We have an excerpt for you to check out today and keep scrolling down to read what we thought about the first book in this series.
The Orchid Throne by Jeffe Kennedy (Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads)Also by this author: The Fiery Crown
Published by St. Martin's Publishing Group on September 24th 2019
Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Romance, Romantic
Pages: 368
A PRISONER OF FATE
As Queen of the island kingdom of Calanthe, Euthalia will do anything to keep her people free—and her secrets safe—from the mad tyrant who rules the mainland. Guided by a magic ring of her father’s, Lia plays the political game with the cronies the emperor sends to her island. In her heart, she knows that it’s up to her to save herself from her fate as the emperor’s bride. But in her dreams, she sees a man, one with the power to build a better world—a man whose spirit is as strong, and whose passion is as fierce as her own…
A PRINCE AMONG MEN
Conrí, former Crown Prince of Oriel, has built an army to overthrow the emperor. But he needs the fabled Abiding Ring to succeed. The ring that Euthalia holds so dear to her heart. When the two banished rulers meet face to face, neither can deny the flames of rebellion that flicker in their eyes—nor the fires of desire that draw them together. But in this broken world of shattered kingdoms, can they ever really trust each other? Can their fiery alliance defeat the shadows of evil that threaten to engulf their hearts and souls?
Excerpt
“Arise, Your Highness. The realm awaits the sun of Your presence.”
The ritual words cut through the thick smoke of the nightmare, bringing me awake with a start. A bad omen that I hadn’t come out of the dreams on my own—and a sign that gave the images the power to linger in my mind, stains refusing to be scrubbed clean.
The wolf fought its chains, howling in hoarse rage, shedding fire and ash.
The sea churned, bloodred and crimson dark, bones tossed in the waves, white as foam.
The tower fell into a pile of golden rubble, then to fine sand, the grains sliding against one another with soul-grinding whispered screams.
I loathe dreaming, where I have even less control than in the waking world. Calanthe Herself sings sweetly to me of the seas, the plants, and the creatures that walk Her soil. But outside our fragile island, the abandoned lands beyond cry like frightened children in the night. I can’t help them. It’s all I can do to protect Calanthe, and most days I despair of being able to do even that.
Still, with no one else to hear them, they call to me in chaotic images, the nightmares dashing me from one dark scenario to the next. No matter how the dreams plague me, I usually wake when the light of the rising sun reddens my eyelids. I keep my eyes closed, pretending to anyone who checks on me that I’m still asleep. Pulling the pieces of my composure together, I listen to the morning song of Calanthe. The birds sitting high in the canopy to catch the first warming rays of the sun show me the sky. The fish swimming in the sea speak of clean water and plentiful food. Even the trees, the flowers, the small insects in the soil all hum to me of their lives.
All reassure me of the balance, that Calanthe, at least, is peaceful and vital.
Only I and the land I’m tied to exist in that time after sleep and before true waking, in what I call the dreamthink, an almost enchanted bubble where I belong entirely to Calanthe. The emperor does not own me. The crying lands he’s orphaned are silent. My ladies have not yet woken me to wrenching reality and the trials of the day ahead.
Dreams always seem to me a terrible price to pay for the succor of sleep. Neither my naturalists nor my physicians seem to be able to explain the purpose of such dreams. And of course, Anure killed all the wizards, so I have none to tell me if magic can answer those nighttime screams. So without answers, and like the exorbitant tithes I’m forced to send to the emperor, I do pay the price, and nightly. The dreamthink is my reward, my time with Calanthe. A gift arising from waking Ejarat of the earth welcoming the return of Her husband, Sawehl of the sun. In the dreamthink, in Calanthe’s sweet communion, I can believe the old gods are with us still, that they haven’t abandoned us. That I have reason to hope.
“Euthalia, wake up. We’re ready,” Tertulyn whispered in my ear. My first lady-in-waiting, doing her duty as always. She couldn’t know she’d woken me from the nightmare instead of the dreamthink. Or that starting my day this way meant it would be certainly cursed.
No one believes in omens or curses anymore. Or hope, for that matter. In this, too, I am alone.
Euthalia is a mouthful, but no one calls me that except for Tertulyn so it doesn’t matter. Only Emperor Anure has the rank to address me by my given name, and I avoid conversation with His Imperial Nastiness to the best of my ability. Tertulyn has called me by my name since we were children, but only when no one can overhear, as etiquette demands.
As if she’d whispered them into my ear along with my name, the concerns of the realm immediately flooded my mind. The emperor’s emissary should have returned in the night and would want an audience with me—something I’d been dreading, as he never brought good news. Rumors had spread of slave uprisings, possibly even rebellion, as unlikely as that would be, that had the emperor both angry and insecure in his power. The worst possible combination in a man like him.
If I believed a rebellion could succeed, I would rejoice in the battle to come. But I had no hope of that. No one could defy Anure’s vast power and ability to destroy the least whimper of resistance, as all those kingless and queenless lands testified, crying their hopelessness to me every night.
No, such rumors meant the Imperial Tyrant would only tighten his fist—one that already strangled us nearly to death. The prospect of worse to come made me inexpressibly weary, and I hadn’t even gotten out of bed yet.
Nevertheless, I had to face the day. A realm awaited the sun of my presence, after all.
I opened my eyes and pasted a serene smile on my lips.
Tertulyn—already wigged, gowned, and decked in fresh flowers—stood a decorous three steps back from my bed, hands folded over her heart. All equally polished and lovely as morning dew, my five junior ladies awaited in a ring around her. They’d all been up since well before dawn to dress themselves before attending me. And yet their eyes sparkled as brightly as the birds that had shown me the sun on the sea, pretty painted lips curved in delighted smiles. Though I was only twenty-six, they made me feel old.
If a witch offered me a magic potion to remove the last ten years and restore my youth—and the innocent belief I’d had then, that my life would be a good one—I’d down it without question. Even if it meant my death the next day. No, that was a lie. I would never shirk my duty to Calanthe, not even for such a fantasy. Not without an heir to take my place. No matter how old and tired I felt.
Review
The Orchid Throne is the first book in the Forgotten Empires series by Jeffe Kennedy. I was interested in this book the second I read the summary and that cover is so pretty!
Euthalia is the Queen of the island kingdom, Calanthe. As a child, Euthalia’s father betrothed her to Anure, the man who has destroyed all of the kingdoms on the mainland and she knows she has very few options open to her to save her people but she is willing to do anything she has to in order to protect her people and Calanthe even if that means she has to do the unthinkable. Euthalia is keeping a pretty big secret from everyone around her so she and her ladies do everything they have to in order to keep it hidden. I liked Euthalia. She’s smart and she’s not afraid to face the dangers that come along with leading a kingdom.
The other main character is Conri and his kingdom is one that was destroyed by Anure. Having been made a slave in the mines to mine the very item that killed his family, Conri and those around him eventually decide they’ve had enough. As they overtake the guards and eventually grow their numbers, they become a stronger group and move to take on Anure’s troops/guards to weaken his hold. As the King of Slaves, Conri has built a reputation, some of it true and some of it not. Conri was an interesting character. Having been put in the mines as a child, there are things he never had the exposure to but his background has made him tough, but he isn’t afraid to admit his feelings for those who have been by his side throughout.
The world building was done well by Kennedy. It was one of the things that kept me interested in the story. At the center of this story is something called the Abiding Ring which sits on Euthalia’s finger. It appears to be a magical orchid and it clearly has a major role to play in both Euthalia’s and Conri’s stories and I’ll be interested to learn more about it.
The secondary characters help to move the story along as well. I loved the relationship that Conri had with Sondra and the back and forth they both had with Ambrose was great. Euthalia has her ladies in waiting but is closer to Tertulyn more than the others. With that said, it is clear near the end of the book that she is up to something and I was hoping we would get a glimpse into what it is. Of course, in court, Euthalia is surrounded but many others but with her secrets, there are very few she can trust. I do wish we would have gotten some exposure to Anure in person. He is only brought into the story via his emissary or letters.
When Anure tasks Euthalia with stopping the Slave King. As the final barrier before Anure’s holding, he has directed her to do whatever is necessary to stop him. There was definitely a threat in the message and Euthalia will do what she needs to. As she eventually comes face to face with Conri, Euthalia has some doubts and when Conri and his group put her in a position where she doesn’t have much choice in how to move forward, she and Conri end up married.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. The beginning was fairly slow as Kennedy set up the backstory for these characters. I understand the need for it, but I felt like there was a lot of content that bogged it down. When Con and Lia finally met, the story got much more interesting. I will be checking out the next book in the series to see how things move forward for Con, Lia, and the other characters.
About Jeffe Kennedy
JEFFE KENNEDY is an award-winning, bestselling author who writes fantasy, fantasy romance, and contemporary romance. She serves on the Board of Directors for SFWA as a Director at Large.
Her most recent works include Prisoner of the Crown and the upcoming Exile of the Seas, from her high fantasy trilogy from Rebel Base books, The Chronicles of Dasnaria, in the same world as her award-winning fantasy series The Twelve Kingdoms and The Uncharted Realms. She is a hybrid author, and also self-publishes a fantasy series, Sorcerous Moons. Her books have won the RT Reviewers’ Choice Best Fantasy Romance of 2015, been named Best Book of June 2014, and won RWA’s prestigious RITA® Award.
She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with two Maine coon cats, plentiful free-range lizards and a very handsome Doctor of Oriental Medicine.
Jeffe can be found online at her website: JeffeKennedy.com, every Sunday at the SFF Seven blog, on Facebook, on Goodreads and on Twitter @jeffekennedy.
Recent Comments