An Epic Saga of the World on the Other Side of the Riftwar (Riftwar Cycle

Mara is only seconds from being irrevocably sealed to a religious life when she learns of her father's and brother's death and that she is now ruling lady of the Acoma, a feudal house on a world based primarily on Korean custom and myth. With her family, most of the soldiers perished. Mara must gather her few resources and rebuild, while fighting a quiet war with her enemies. In her favor--her willingness to ignore custom and tap into unexpected resources. But will that be enough?
Fine book from the other side of the Rift in Feist's Riftwar saga (Magician, etc.) While there is incidental contact with some of the characters from Magician and its sequels(we will briefly meet Pug in this series, but he will not play any major part), this series stands well on its own, and is probably more accessible than the Riftwar series, which got rather arcane in its final books.
An interesting and fine read.

Daughter of the Empire and the two books that follow are a must for any Raymond Feist fan. It matches the rift war saga in enjoyability and surpases anything else that Feist has worked on. I haven't read any Janny Wurts stuff, so I don't know how it compares.
The book is almost historical fiction, except the events take place in a completely ficticious asian style world. There are enough fantastical elements (the black ones and the Cho-ja) to keep fantasy enthousiasts entertained, but this goes far beyond run of the mill fantasy novels. The writing moves along at a great pace, it starts fast and never stops. The characters are almost always cool and fun to read about, there are seldom characters who you are sorry to get back to when their plot line rotates back again (especially the spy master, I loved that guy).
If you've read these books and are looking for something along similar lines, you'll almost certainly be entertained by Sean Russell's "Initiate Brother" and "Gatherer of Clouds" which are very similar and just as fun to read.

Mara is one of the most powerful female characters in fantasy that I have read. Feist and Wurts have come together to write a captivating story of a woman who must struggle agaisnt insurmountable odds in a culture that has little regard for life. She must live in a society where fate and honor rule; yet her uncanny intelligence and political prowess pay off as she works hard to keep her family together.
This is a fantasy books of great intelligence: a phenomenon of great scarcity in this genre. This entire series is fascinating as we watch one woman affect so much change throughout the Empire. I can think of no more powerful a female character that is also very believable in the many books I have read.
In my opinion, this is the best of the three books in the series.

I read and really liked the Riftwar Saga, but after reading the Empire trilogy, I now see the Riftwar Saga as just a background story to set up the exciting world of the Tsurani on Kelewan where this book is set.
The world that is created by Feist and Wurts is incredibly interesting, with great depth. The culture and politics are all so well written and believable. You really feel like a part of the story.
I first read this about 10 years ago, and recently re-read it, which is something I rarely do, and it was just as good the second time. I have read a lot of books by Feist, but the difference between this series and those makes me wonder if I should be looking for more from Wurts instead. This book begins an excellent series, you won't be disappointed.

This series is probably equal to or better than the original Riftwar saga. The politics and intrigue of the great houses and alliances of Kelewan are fascinating. It reminds me of the political intrigue and power struggles that were conducted in ancient Rome and Greece. We learn more about the Great Ones, the Cho Ja, and why the Emperor decided to invade Midkemia.
The novel is full of great characters such as Lady Mara, Keyoke, Jingu of the Minwanabi, and Arakasi. The Cho Ja are fascinating creatures and i'm glad their role is expanded in the other two novels. The characters' development throughout the novel are done very well which allows the reader to develop a certain attachment for them. This is what makes the novel so hard to put down.

Mara is thrust into the role of leadership following the death of her father and brother. Difficult choices await if she and her house are to survive.
If you enjoy a well written and fully realised epic fantasy story, then this book is for you.
It is the first part of a trilogy featuring a female protagonist.
If you are a man and are 'put off' this book by the fact that the lead is female, you should know that there are many strong men who would be great lead characters in their own right.
The world in which she lives seems to have at its roots the medieval empire of Japan. The focus on honour, ritual suicide, and warfare between competing families,is neatly counterbalanced by the careful code of manners and courtesy that must be adhered to by the nobles. One mis-step can result in disaster, and cause a rift that can precipitate everlasting hatred between families or even war.
You won't always approve of Mara's actions, indeed, at times you may not even admire her particularly. But every choice she makes is limited by and dictated by the culture of the society in her world. Because this is a world where women are submissive to the men in their lives.
In order to ensure the safety of her house she marries the son of a rival house and has a child, thus ensuring at least one ally in the battle against the clan who have vowed to obliterate her and her house from existence.
She forges an alliance with a race of alien beings to produce to funds she needs to buy an army, and enlists the aid of outlaws by giving them a chance to regain their honour.
I enjoyed this book very much. Besides Mara there are a host of strong characters, Arakasi the spy, Nacoya her nurse,and Keyoke her force commander.
The world of Kelewan is both beautiful and dangerous, and I'm looking forward to reading the second part of the trilogy.

This book started of a little slow andI was nearly about tostopreading.Itsa good thing i didn't because it was one of the best dam books I've ever read. Another in the line of great books by Feist. I enjoyed it in a different way than the rest of his books, It had a more realistic viewpoint to it. You could see the cultures of the people form the other side of the Rift comparable to many in history. The charachter being a female gave it an edge over the other books because it gave us a look at the desires of a young woman as opossed to previous books where it was always shown from the men view. I only giveit a 9 because I can't give the next two books an Eleven, they followed up the story and made a great series worth reading again, and again.

This trilogy explores the world beyond the rift with it's vastly different culture and belief system. It is definitely influenced by all the major Asian cultures which Feist had already established in his Riftwar Saga. It is amazingly told by Wurts and I got the sense that Feist's role was to fill in the gaps and check continuity since the style of writing is completely different.
One servant girl ends up overcoming incredible odds, countless spies and intrigue to kill an army of men. She ends up becoming the most powerful woman in Kelewan history ... but not without sacrifices and compromises. This trilogy shares some similarites to the Riftwar Saga (servant to most powerful being for example) but there are so many other things that set it apart too. I really identified with the main character Mara, but the spy master definitely stood out above the rest.
Make sure you read the other books in the series if you like this one: Servant of the Empire (book #2) and Mistress of the Empire (book #3).
Does the world of Kelewan enthrall you? Then pick up the the Riftwar Saga (starting with Magician: Apprentice) which shows you how it all began.

This book has everything I find difficult about fantasy novels:
1. An easily identifiable mishmash of extant cultures. In this case, Korean, Mayan, and ants.
2. A main character who is inexplicably good at everything, and instills loyalty and respect in everyone she meets. The characters around her fall into common loyal servant tropes.
3. Overly complex set-ups that play out in predictable ways in favor of the main character.
4. Unnecessary subplots that somehow still allow the main character to triumph.
5. Lengthy description of people, places, and actions.

Despite all this, I found the book to be quite readable and entertaining. The finale was satisfying, and I will probably go on to read the next volume.

I have read these books twice, and everytime I look at them in my bookshelf, I want to read them again.

The story is brillant. The last time I read it was a year ago, but I can remember the story, like I am reading it now.

I always feel like I want to be in Mara shoes, to help her, Guide her, and share the good times with her. She always risked everything she had to survive. She gained the respect & love of others. If more people today were like her, the world might be different.

Daughter of the Empire... Raymond Feist and Janny Wurts start
this best-of-breed series in a shocking way, starting the drama from
page one.

This represents one of the first truly believable female roles
I've read, and it's a rock solid, incredibly worthy representation
of why Fantasy has come so far in the past several decades. It's the best
of fiction and the finest of fantasy. I highly recommend this winner. --The BilFish

Daughter of the Empire immerses the reader in a new dimension of science fiction. An imaginative plot that evolves intelligently and at a well timed pace, along with well-developed and genuinely interesting characters form the focus of this novel. Readers will find elements of romance, humour, drama and surprise finely interweaved in the fabric of the storyline. The plot evolves around on the life of a young girl, Mara, who inherits her father's seemingly defenceless estates when her father's army is betrayed and decimated. Casting aside all remorse and bitterness, Mara must discover her leadership talents and master them to achieve the upper hand in a dangerous game of political intrigue. Intelligent and crafty, she will seek to gain trust, friendship and above all confidence to face her enemies which plan her demise. Mara's emotional conflicts, her strengths and weaknesses are the elements of a character so human that it is impossible not to relate to. A story of friendship, family, honour and destiny, the book explores to its full depth the magic of the human spirit. It is both impossible to put this book down once you've picked it up and not to buy the rest of the trilogy once you've read it.

This book is the combination of two of science fiction best new talents. Raymond Feist countinuously molds the ways of the empire and the unseeming logic of house acoma's attacks. While Janny Wurts carefully pieces together the feelings and actions of Mara, the ruling lady, with ease. This combination creates the unknown splendor of Tsurani and the illustriously lavish places and plots that unfold. A powerful and wonder filled read.

Any fan of Feist's Riftwar Saga will appreciate learning about the Tsurani. This book, set completely on Kelewan, delves into the matters of honor, clan and The Great Game, only touched upon in the Riftwar Saga.

I know that some find this book boring. For some reasons many fantasy fans have trouble getting into books with female protagonists. However, garnering a better understanding of the Tsurani made me appreciate the Riftwar Saga even more. I highly recommend the entire trilogy (including Servant and Mistress) to further your enjoyment of all of Feist's work.

Daughter of the Empire...

Mara of the Acoma is the perfect protagonist in a highly traditionalized Tsurani society. The writers have created a character that is both realistic and sympathetic. Her actions, though appearing cold and heartless, were for self and family preservation... Her ability to escape plots against her by her sworn enemy Lord Jingu of the Minwanabi showed intelligence and immeasurable cunning and military strategy not normally found in literary heroines.

Every facet of this story from the description of the estates of the rich and slums of the cities to the style and traditions of the peasants are covered in great detail. Honour and tradition set the scene for the great game of the Empire where murder is accepted as a way of life.

A compelling read, that led me to read both Servant and Mistress of the Empire.

More than anything else this book resembles a sword and sorcery fantasy and not sci-fi at all.
Any one looking for a Riftwar sequel must be disappointed here as
we have a saga of a very Japanese type feudal culture with a young lady
who becomes leader of a high house instead of a priestess to a god.
Although a misrepresentation on the face of it, the novel
is well written with battles,intrigues and a loveless marriage for political reasons.
This novel pictures a culture that it is more fun to forget.

Raymond E. Feist's and Janny Wurt's fantasy novel, Daughter of the Empire, is wonderful. It is the first in the so called "Empire Trilogy". The "Empire Trilogy" is filled with political intrigue and intricate schemes, and slight hints to the Riftwar that rages through the counterpart books, Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master. If you read only one book in your life, I feel sorry for you, but if you read three... read the Empire Trilogy: starting with Daughter of the Empire. (you should also read the Riftwar Saga) :)

The strength of a person's character can be determined by the way they navigate through and overcome adversity, regardless of age. Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts have produced an elegant yet thrilling fantasy novel of a young woman who must challenge emotional, political, and cultural obstacles to survive in the rigid, male-dominated military culture to which she was born. Although the tale is set in a fantasy world, the main character, Mara of the Acoma, comes to life as her story unfolds from the pages. She is an unwilling heroine that carries her family honor to the brink of destruction, yet manages to endear herself to those who come to know her - including the reader - as she manages to not only salvage her family heritage, but also become a force to be reckoned with on her world.
On the fictional world of Kelewan, life means nothing without honor. By this standard, the Game of the Council - a political machination that condones outright murder so long as the proper forms are observed - provides the means by which Mara's male relations are eradicated in a war on another world. Torn from the temple where she was about to take her final vows, Mara is thrust into the role of Ruling Lady at the age of seventeen, untried and unprepared for the burdens of salvaging her family honor and exacting retribution for the murders of her father and brother. In the culture of the Tsuranuanni, her grief must be set aside, unseen, as she plots her revenge against the Lord of the Minwanabi.
With a handful of retainers and even less warriors, Mara must use every resource she can to rebuild her army as swiftly and secretly as possible. By bending tradition, she comes to realize the wasteful and destructive nature of her culture. Her creativity stems from desperation, but her unique perspective as a Ruling Lady in a Lord's world offers her opportunities unseen or shunned by the men in her society. She gathers warriors that, by tradition, are ostracized and considered honorless, and gains an army that is undying in their loyalty to the Lady who gave them a second chance at a life with honor. She develops a unique relationship with the insect-like Cho-ja, whose warriors and artisans prove to be a boon to Mara's plans in numerous ways, and with them she uncovers a secret that could catapult the entire nation into chaos. She makes unexpected moves in political arenas, throwing her enemies into swirls of confusion or admiration - sometimes both.
As a child, she was always nearby when her father was preparing his son to take on the rulership of their house. With this rudimentary understanding of `The Game' and guided by her loyal and experienced advisors, Mara skirts conventional thinking while taking advantage of the rigid mores of her society. Her marriage to the son of an enemy is for political advantage, and the Game of the Council allows her to neutralize that enemy even as she eliminates her abusive husband by bringing about the conditions that lead to his ritual suicide. Utilizing the strict forms and policies of her people, Mara manipulates others as ruthlessly as any man in her culture, and yet is heartsick at the ease with which such manipulations can occur. She survives several assassination attempts which only serve to harden her resolve, and yet she tries to make peace wherever she can so that others do not have to experience losses such as hers. Compassion is seen as weakness in her culture, but Mara isn't a man. Her fight for survival is tempered by a determined maternal instinct to protect, and this unconventional thinking keeps her enemies off-balance. So much so that she is eventually able to exact her revenge by turning the tables on her most hated enemy, causing him to take his own life to preserve honor.
Feist and Wurts have created a character that is all that her society expects of its citizens, and yet is unlike anything they have ever encountered. A skillful manipulator develops from an innocent novitiate, and a heroine is born. In and of itself, this is an excellent story, full of suspense, drama, emotion, and humor. Add to this the fact that this book is an excellent story about female empowerment, and it's easy to tell that Feist and Wurts have come together to create a role model for today's girls, as well as lesson of the pitfalls of male pride.

This novel is particularly fascinating because it combines several literary styles.Unlike most Science Fantasy novels it is not eurocentric and the culture portrayed is definitely a counterpart of Japanese culture in another world It combines Science Fantasy with intricate political intrigue as never before and as i enjoy novels of both types I thourougly enjoyed it

This is a brilliant book based on Kelewan. The world on the other side of the rift. Fans of magician will love this book. Watch out for Pug and Laurie making a quick guest appearance.

Mara is a brilliant lead character, who carves out a brilliant path for herself in a male dominated world. This story touches on many important issues including gender, racial and class issues. It gets you thinking about how you treat people, just as Kevin got Mara thinking.

You will be dying to read the following two books in the series to find out what happens. I highly recommend this book.

Daughter of the Empire is undoubtedly one of Fieist's and Wurts' great works of fantasy. Together they bring the world of Kelewan to all of its exotic vividness. Mara's world, riddled with the political intrigues of the "game of the council" comes to life in a rich tapestry of colors, tastes, aromas, and sounds.
Magnificent!

Daughter of the Empire is really an amazing beginning to a series which tells the magnificiant tale of Mara and the world on the other side of the Riftwar.Mara has an unbelievable intelligence.This book is exotic...Buy it if you liked the Riftwar Saga.Feist is the best fantasy author ever...

I have read and enjoyed Feist's novels ever since I was in high school. Though he borrows many elements from Tolkein's high fantasy approach, his Riftwar Saga remains one of my favorite fantasy series. That said, I am disappointed with this first installment of the so-called Kelewan trilogy. Though I do not claim to know for sure, I think that Feist had a minor role in the writing of this novel, for the style and subject is very different from any of the Feist books I have previously read. To be sure this story is exclusively set in Kelewan; the same Kelewan where Pug ends up in midway through Magician. Yet do not let the fact that the story is set in the world of the Tsuranuanni fool you, for there is very little fantasy and magic in this novel, indeed the fantasy elements are few and far between. When fantasy does appear it is presented in an awkward manner, such as the sudden introduction of the Cho-Ja or the deus ex machina role of the Great Ones in solving issues that the writers seem to be unable to resolve through the course of the plot.

Though I can enjoy a good novel regardless of the genre, the problem with Daughter of the Empire (DotE), is that once the original shock of false advertisement has subsided (about 250 pages in, I had figured out that this was not likely to be a fantasy novel) the rest of the story is not all that good. It is basically a survival/revenge story of a young girl in a male dominated society where she is seemingly hounded by enemies on all sides. Despite the fact that this seems like a good starting point, the truth is that Mara is not really all that harassed by her enemies, I mean over the course of 400 pages there may 3 or 4 real action sequences while the rest of the time is spend on describing her life and daily struggles in managing an estate or dealing with a boorish husband. All this told from a single perspective, since Mara is almost exclusively the only character viewpoint, makes for dull reading.

The premise behind the Tsuranuanni world is based on a medieval Japanese-like society, and I must admit that the attention to detail and thoroughness by which the customs and the Acoma estate are described closely matches the historical facts, but since I have already read Clavell's masterpiece Shogun, DotE does not impress as much as it should on this regard. To end on a good note, the story despite its tedious pace, has some very interesting characters, such as Arakasi, Tecuma of the Anasati and Teani, who add some much needed flavor to a mainly prototypical starring cast. All in all, I hope for a better continuation of this series, with hopefully more of an even collaboration between the two writers and theirs styles.

Absolutely stunning piece of work Feist and Wurts manage to accomplish here. The other two in the trilogy I did not like nearly as much. This book can stand alone easily. In a way its almost like some Fudel Japan/China with a few more intresting twists then pure sci-fi/fantasy and thats just one of the things that endears itself to you. As you read along you find not only are Mara's troops single mindely devoted to her but you yourself have become that way. AWESOME!

Feist and Wurts combine their respectable talents to create an exotic fantasy world that is so realistic, you can virtually taste and see. When her enemies destroy her brother and father through treachery, Mara is forced to rule an endangerd house and overcome insurmountable obstacles to assure the survival and honor of her family. This is the ultimate "feel-good" tale of good battling evil in epic proportion. I would recommend they place a warning on the book, "Caution, this story is highly addictive. Reading it late at night may prevent sleep".

This trilogy is one of my all-time favorite stories.

I re-read it every few years or so and always fall in love with the rich, textured world and characters all over again. A very different flavor from "Magician" but every bit as good.

If you haven't read these yet, I really envy you the ability to read them for the first time.

Murder, politics and revenge.

This series is set in the Tsurani world of Kelewan, so is somewhat different to the Midkemia adventures. Their society is somewhat like feudal Japan's. The focus is on a young woman whose family is murdered because of political machinations that are desirous of obtaining her family interests.

To regain her power she has to employ some lateral thinking and employ the very few resources she has left to claw her way back.

The Empire trilogy takes place simutaneously with the first riftwar saga books. It is from the viewpoint of the otherside of the rift.
The saga of the story of Mara of the Acoma and her rise to greatness while overcoming many odds is one of the best, if not the best Fantasy Series ever written.

Rather surprised at all the golden reviews - what's so good about it? There's only one main character, which is usually boring in itself, and Mara's as uninteresting as they come, while the rest of the characters are 2D in the extreme. There's not enough magic to be interesting, yet the whole thing is if anything TOO implausable. It bears more relation to one of my Gran's Catherine Cookson novels than Rift or Serpent War. Is co-authorship ever a good idea?

This book is a beautiful start to the series, although self-contained. The world of Kelewan is so well portrayed and the characters so interesting that I find this book quite spellbinding, even on the third reading. It's really a trip into another world.

Superb book, Mara is a truly brilliant character who develops smoothly throughout the novel, she makes mistakes as she goes through but learns from them. Her character develops in a very smooth way.

This book shys away from the cliched use of magic to solve all the characters problems and concentrates on the characters strengths and weaknesses to solve the problems

Why are these novels not available for purchase as Kindle books? I have waited for over a decade for this. When will these titles be released for purchase as Kindle books? I lost mine to water damage and age. I want the ebooks. The store shows them. I get excited and then "These books are not available at this time. " WHEN WILL THEY BE AVAILABLE? WHEN CAN I BUY THIS SERIES AS EBOOKS? WHEN? WHEN?

That's the worst...listening to an audio book series...books 5-7 had a co author... Crippling my enjoyment with redundant pronoun clarification. Pathetically emphasized danger scenarios akin to watching fox news 24/7, with the content of half the book being reiterating redundancy as if the reader/listener had the attention span of a single celled organism. Then the inevitable outcome of success with some loss on repeat when I am honestly hoping for some plot twist where the main characters lose patience with neurotic nature of one another, and start killing each other off to reprieve the listener/reader of the endless want for something of more substance, which was contained in the first four books.

Leaving nine hrs left to the book and another 15 books in the series...does one carry on with this sham of creative enterprise in hopes that when the co author is gone it can return to a series of substance, or is it a gradual decline building into a city crushing boulder of disappointment and ruin for the listener, akin to a snowball rolled down a mountain residing over refugee camp full of hopeful unfortunates.

Had some high hopes for Daughter of the Empire but in the end I could not finish this book.

Some of the problems I had with this book: plot is extremely dull (put me to sleep numerous times), Mara is not a good character, Wurts overly explains things and their vague purpose in the world but ends up becoming tedious as it occurs constantly, Mara is supposed to be a strong character but she arranges a marriage for herself (which wasn't even necessary for her political standing at the time) that ends up resulting in spouse abuse, plot becomes even more boring following this wedding, and I shortly gave up around the page 212 mark at this point.

The only positive to the book is that the cover art is pretty cool looking and the title font/author layout looks really crisp and fresh. So kudos to the cover artist.

The first of a trilogy of books connected to Feist’s Riftwar series, the books are set in the world of Kelewan, on the other side of the Rift. A world controlled by an emperor, and a warlord, but dependent on the politics of the ‘game of houses’ that requires alliances, military might, and the skillful diplomatic and dangerous games of promise and betrayal.

The landscape creates the image of feudal Japan, but on an alien world. Families are esteemed, and feared, based on their standing in the game of houses. At the top of the hierarchy is the emperor and the warlord, and the four great houses. Nearly as ancient, revered, and feared are the Acoma, a strong established family. As the daughter of the Acoma, Mara, is entering her final rights into service to the goddess, her father, brother, and most of their army are slaughtered in the Riftwar when they are betrayed by one of the great houses. Ripped from her training to return as the Lady of the Acoma, she must try to survive, succeed, and grow through her own cunning in the playing of the game of houses. A woman of eighteen she shows particular aptitude to the game, and begins a series of alliances, careful strategies, and a self-serving twist of tradition to survive those plotting against her. Her bravery, skillful political calculation, and disarming grace show she is well suited to play with the big boys. It is exciting to see her face the challenges, and she will surprise you time and again. The fierce loyalty she commands from the Acoma aid in her risky, and novel approaches to the game. Her willingness to bend, but not break, tradition allows her to grow her might through novel recruiting, and an alliance with an insect race.

The trilogy is different than the Riftwar books which start with the “Magician’s Apprentice” and follow the rise of the powerful magician Pug. They give you a glimpse of the enemy and its society. You will cheer Mara, even as you might condemn her world, and the intricate introduction to the game of houses will pull you into the following books. It is exciting, harrowing, and sometimes surprising, but a worthwhile read. It gives you a greater appreciation of Feist, and deeper understanding of the conflict he has meticulously created.