Empress Of Mijak

By Karen Miller

A truly epic fantasy of power and politics, treason and betrayal, and the rise and fall of Empires ...
When a scrawny unwanted girl child is sold into slavery, a chain of events is set in motion that will have a profound impact on all the civilized world.Hekat is taken in chains to Mijak's largest city, home of the warlord Raklion. She is sold into his service and learns all she can about power - its wielding and its uses - as she fetches and carries and cleans and serves. She grows into a beautiful woman and through ambition and manipulation, Hekat becomes a powerful woman eventually taking over the rulership of Mijak ... and then she sets about making it the greatest Empire ever known.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Australia
• Release date: Feb 1, 2010
• ISBN: 9780730401100

Karen Miller

Karen Miller, who has over 25 years experience in the early childhood field, is well known as a keynote speaker and consultant. She has worked as a teacher for Head Start, as national education director for Children's World Inc. and as a national training director for Min-Skools Ltd.

Reviews for Empress Of Mijak

[graspingforthewind_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What Miller has done with Empress is show us the rise of a barbarian warlord. The culture she has created is violent, worshipping a scorpion god who craves bloody ritual sacrifice. The godspeakers, those who perform the sacrifice, are a police force, and a political entity separate from the warlord’s control, are the only people able to hear the god. But Hekat, a runaway slave girl, upsets that balance when she discovers that she can hear the god as well. Believing herself special, Hekat begins a slow climb up the social ladder of Mijak, seeking power both to satiate her lust for it, and as protection for herself.I enjoyed the novel. Although it could be repetitious at times, and the cadence of the story could be tiresome, it was still interesting to read. The idea behind it is different from the average epic fantasy novel. Rather than either celebrating heroism or evil, it shows the real, human emotions behind what we call “good” and “evil”. AS I’ve mentioned, it is extremely violent and bloody, so those with a weak stomach ought to avoid it. As well there is a liberal does of swearing and a few sex scenes (including a rape of a man!) so anyone offended by that ought to avoid it.But for all that Empress is creative enough and different enough to make it enjoyable. I did not enjoy it as much as The Innocent Mage and The Awakened Mage perhaps because there was no character I was really able to root for, but its characters were interesting enough that I wanted to know what might happen to them. I recommend this novel, with the few caveats stated above, and look forward to seeing how its sequel looks at the enemies of Hekat and its portrayal of their characters.Full Review at Grasping for the Wind

[ireneattolia · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

this was... weird. I loved the depth of the world building, I loved awful fierce Hekat, but god the pacing was horrendous, and that's pretty hard to forgive in a 700 page novel

[reading_fox · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another wonderful character driven outing from Karen Miller.In a harsh land divided and ruled by seven warlords, and watched over by a nameless god, a child is born. She too is un-named, and her small village at the edge of a vast desert is poor, but even here rich Traders from the interior visit. Although not technically a slave she is sold to them, and earns the epithit hellcat which in her uneducated state she takes as her name - Hekat. As the Traders take her back to the capitol El-Raklion, she (and the readers) learn the ways of the world, and the power of the god who's idols are all creatures that bite - scorpions, snakes and centipedes. Blood sacrifices are a daily requirement, but true power infuses those who believe, and Hekat knows she is godtouched and precious in its eye.Although the POV wanders to and from other characters Hekat is always the focus of attention, using her skills and determination to better her station whenever she can. It is very much a character driven novel, little time is spent describing the world or how it has come to be. The plot is fairly straightforward, even predictable, but seldom unbelivable, led always by Karen's great skill at writing entertaining characters. The role of god in this novel is very intruging, many characters claim to hear it speaking in their mind or hearts, but their selfish actions lead doubt to it's powers, and yet much happens that can only be explained by a powerful and interventionist god. Are the other lead astray by demons, or is there more than one god? or is it just changable and or mad? Questions are not answered, but left for us to ponder as we eagerly await the rest of the series.A poor novel? I think not.Note: For those of a sensitive dispostion there is a lot of blood, and gratuitous use of the worfd fuck, but no graphic detail.Note2: contains an interview and bio of Karen Miller, plus an extract from someone else's newest novel!

[blanchvegas · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Karen Miller creates some of the best characters! You will not like them all, some you will hate, but they all are so believable and genuine. The world she has created here is dominated by a blood thirsty god that every aspect of life revolves around. Sometimes the blind god following can be disturbing but it is supposed to be. Overall an intriguing and very enjoyable story that ends in a way that will have you begging for the next book!

[tsana_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

First off: Great book. Compellingly written. Karen makes us sympathise with Hekat and understand why she does what she does even when we can see what some of the consequences may be. That's a brilliant achievement, especially since Hekat's world is so far removed from our own.A warning though, we're left hanging with the ending! If you're not a fan of cliffhangers, perhaps wait until the two sequels are released before picking this up.

[dbundus-1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The brutality and gore are too extreme to be redeemed by compelling charters and an interesting new fantasy world. I would never recommend this book to a friend.

[amf0001 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I wanted to like this more. I really enjoyed the first few chapters but then Hekat remained young for so long, and even as she grew, she only grew more fierce, and more fantatic. She was a one note character. In the end, her ferocity and fanaticism were gripping, but it took a long time to get there. I disliked how she really could not connect in any way to another being. Her betrayal of Raklion, who really had only treated her well, was a bit frightening. I guess that's what Miller wanted to show, the cost of devoting yourself entirely to this vicious god meant that there could be no other relationships. Her obsessive love for her son, and the scene in the very last few pages were worth reading, but it took me a long time to get there. I guess no one felt three dimensional here, everyone was a bit story book, and while the world was hot and fierce and the battles well told, the book did not come to life for me.

[cattriona · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I have to say, I was greatly disappointed in this. It started well, with the story of Hekat's purchase into slavery and her travels through the lands of Mijak, and other story details, which I won't spoil. But then the book began to drag, with countless repetitions of blood drinking, animal sacrifice, people developing mysterious powers not really explained, flat character development, overuse of phrases like "The god see you in his eye", etc. The plot dragged as well, with some predictable elements leading to an unsurprising conclusion. I did finish it, but after the halfway point, I could not wait to get done with it, though I really wanted to like it. Not recommended.

[lithicbee · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have very mixed feelings about this book. Well, maybe not so mixed. It was awful. Not in its writing or plotting or dialogue; that is all fine and in fact it kept me reading at a good pace through to the end. But the world, the people, the blood--bathing in it, drinking it, spilling it in mass quantities--are all awful, horrible. It is a violent, brutal, dark world that I did not care for at all. I had no horse in this race to root for; all the characters are twisted and unpleasant in one way or another, even if they have moments of being less disgusting. The main character we start off with is Hekat, and though she comes from a tough beginning, I quickly lost all empathy for her; she is fairly unthinking in her devotion to her god ("the god," never capitalized), and too sure that the god wants her to have whatever she wants, damn everyone else.Then there's "the god." It is interesting, no doubt, in that the reader can clearly see that it is a force that exists, that acts upon the world and the people that inhabit it, but to what end? I do not think I want to wade through two more books to find out.

[abbsalah · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Words cannot begin to describe how much I hated this book.I'm all for anti-heroes, but Miller takes it to a new level. There was not a single character I cared for in this entire brick of a novel. The only thing good about this book was the world building, but no matter how interesting the culture was, it could not make up for the dull story and despicable characters.

[lewispike · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a book in which I don't like the main character, but I remain fascinated by her and her culture.On one level this is a fairly standard fantasy story - girl plucked from home into slavery, runs away and joins the army and eventually rises to become Empress. OK, so it's usually a boy rather than a girl, but the storyline isn't wildly out there.But the culture is. Everyone is scared of and strives to please "the God" who is abstract and usually distant. There are a lot of gifts given - money, items, and a lot of blood sacrifice up to and including human sacrifice. The amount of blood gets to be really quite OTT - there are various points where people swim in blood for example.And the god isn't totally remote - clerics (Godspeakers) have various powers to smite the ungodly and punish sinners.And the way it all fits together is fascinating and very nicely drawn out. Looking forward to book two.

[amandaking_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I picked up Empress because I liked Miller's Mage series. I knew coming into it that this series would be different, more rough and violent. I didn't mind that. What I did mind, though, was I felt like her prose and character development fell flat. Hekat -- the mind behind the entire world domination schema of the book -- is a compelling character, yes, but I am about three-quarters of the way through the book and am not in the mind that I want to finish. I have gotten tired of the characters, to put it bluntly. She uses the same tropes and prose much of the time to describe the characters when we are inside their head, and I understand the merit of that, but here it is just too much too often. The novel has stalled for me, as well, maybe about two hundred pages ago, but I thought it would get better. It hasn't. I kind of hate Hekat now, not for her character and her motivations, but just out of the sheer monotony.I have to say I have been disappointed by this read, greatly.

[isamoor_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Oct11:Characters: Easily the only reason to read this book. The characters totally lived and you wanted to know what happened to them. Especially true of Vorka for myself.Plot: Rather damn weak. Mostly just about a slave girl becoming an empress. Nothing really all that surprising or even interesting. Really let me down.Style: Slightly jumpy on the timeline, but engaging in the dialogue. Very good world building too.

[leehallison · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Found myself drawn in to the incredibly violent and gory world, surprisingly. It could be the pacing, or perhaps just the way she immerses you in such a strange world, but I managed to continue reading through violence that I would not have expected myself to tolerate.I did like reading about her climb to power, and perhaps what is most interesting is to follow the logical progression of an abused child into a horrible, evil adult.I was interested enough to get the second book, but did not pick up the third - I was tired of the unmitigated violence.

[jab1982_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I wish I could have liked this book. I loved Miller's first two novels but this book was just to over the top for me. I found I didn;t care about the characters and thought the plot was very predictable. Overall a poor showing.

[saltypepper_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The reviewer who described this book as "the rise of a barbarian warlord" is exactly right. It could be a really compelling story but there is so much repetition and verbiage to wade through that I found it tough going to finish. Some sensitive readers may find the graphic violence or the use of the word "fuck" off-putting, though there is no graphic sex. After I got about halfway through, I realized I had completely lost any interest in the main character and was reading mainly to find out what would happen to one of the supporting characters. I don't expect I'll finish the series.

[seanie_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Empress of Mijak is set in a mostly brown & dying land where the people live in awe and fear of a nameless scorpion god, a violent god who smites sinners, thrives on their pain & requires blood from sacrificial animals in its worship.Dark and disturbing at times, but incredibly compelling, this is the story of an unwanted she brat who names herself Hekat when sold into slavery that she mistakenly sees as rescue. She meets a fellow slave named Vortka, sees him chosen by the god speakers to enter the service of the god, she becomes his friend though is too proud to admit it. She is bitter to discover her naivety in thinking the slavers are her saviors, she escapes them into the service of the warlord, she has learnt to crave power, so works her way into the warlord’s army & his heart. She sees herself as godchosen & precious & is ruthless in her efforts to rise to power & serve the god. In such a dark world, where the fear & subjugation of the people is so vividly portrayed, it is easy to empathise with a character that would usually be mostly unlikable.This book is more violent than most fantasy that I read & I did find it difficult at times, but it was compelling enough that I still had difficulty putting it down & was very glad to have book 2 on hand when I finished. I will be recommending this trilogy to others.

[mybooksmylove · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My Rating: B+My Review:This starts out as a story about one character, Hekat, but by the time the story is done, there is a group of characters to fall in love with. It's a very character driven story, and very interesting. It will keep you enthralled until the end. The author has a complete grasp on whipping up a world around you.The reason I gave this book a B+ was because I felt that there was a bit too much repetition. Most of the phrases that are repeated have a purpose, and there is an over all effect, that shows how strict the society is. But it still gets a bit old.One other aspect of the book that was disappointing also has a lot to with the society, and that is the complete lack of compassion. There are times where you just want a character to break down and let there emotions out, and there's nothing. I'm looking forward to the second in the series so that I can find out if there's any compassion in the series at all.I do recommend this to those who've read the authors first two books, or hard core fantasy fans.