Blog tour: Review and Giveaway - Empire of Dust (Blood of Gods and Royals #2) by Eleanor Herman

--> About the Book: -->

Title: EMPIRE OF DUST (Blood of Gods and Royals #2)

Author: Eleanor Herman

Pub. Date: June 26, 2016

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Pages: 432

Format: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook

Find it: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | Goodreads
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In Macedon, war rises like smoke, forbidden romance blooms and ancient magic tempered with rage threatens to turn an empire to dust 

After winning his first battle, Prince Alexander fights to become the ruler his kingdom demands—but the line between leader and tyrant blurs with each new threat. 

Meanwhile, Hephaestion, cast aside by Alexander for killing the wrong man, must conceal the devastating secret of a divine prophecy from Katerina even as the two of them are thrust together on a dangerous mission to Egypt. 

The warrior, Jacob, determined to forget his first love, vows to eradicate the ancient Blood Magics and believes that royal prisoner Cynane holds the key to Macedon's undoing. 

And in chains, the Persian princess Zofia still longs to find the Spirit Eaters, but first must grapple with the secrets of her handsome—and deadly—captor. 

New York Times bestselling author Eleanor Herman entwines the real scandals of history with epic fantasy to reimagine the world's most brilliant ruler, Alexander the Great, in the second book of the Blood of Gods and Royals series.
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My Review:
Normally my reviews include a bit of a recap, but since you've got that with the "official" synopsis above, I'll try to stick to my specific thoughts.  I do want to link you back to my review of the first book, Legacy of Kings, first, because I'm going to try to connect this review to parts of that one as much as possible.   One kind of interesting thing that was happening while I was reading this, is that the audiobook I was listening to also had to do with a historical fiction take on Alexander the Great as well, and so it was fun to think about the different parts of each book as I was listening to, or reading the other.  

As with the first book, there is a pretty large cast of characters to keep up with. But what the author is great at, is writing each of them so that you can tell exactly whose point of view that chapter is.  And for the most part, each of the characters' first chapter in this book gave you a review of what had happened in the last book, or at least refreshed your memory, but without doing it in a totally awkward and obvious way.  There wasn't too much with Alex and his sister Katerina together in this book.  And Alex's best friend, Heph, is not on Alex's good side at the moment, after killing a major character in the battle in the last book, that Alex had wanted brought in alive.  So Katerina and Heph are on a mission for Alex, to try to find other soldiers or armies to come back to help defend Alex's kingdom, since Alex's father is off on his own pursuit to advance their kingdom.  Alex must show the people that he can be a good leader.  And at first he relies on some people to advise him that aren't quite the best people to listen to.  Jacob, Katerina's betrothed from back home, is sure that she must be dead, after he left her on the battlefield with a fatal wound from the man that was the leader of his group, the Aesarian Lords, also the enemies of Alexander.  

Of course there will be betrayal from family, Alex's mother Olympias, the head Aesarian Lord, Bastion, Alex's sister Cynane.  There will be gods, and monsters, and the search for magical creatures like the Pegasus.  Zofia, the princess who ran away before she could be sent to marry Alexander, because she was in love with one of her father's soldiers, will find out there is more to the man who ended up kidnapping her and using her to try to find the Pegasus.  There will be deaths, some that Alexander will be the cause of, some that Olympias will be the cause of, and others that will just be a part of the normal events in war and countries at odds in this ancient time.  There will even be at least one death that isn't final, that the person gets another chance, to be good or do evil, that is what we will see.

Once again I fell in love with the characters in this series, as well as the beautiful world and all that the author has included in it.  And I'm now left anxiously awaiting the third book!! 

--> About Eleanor: -->

Before the Game of Thrones craze swept the nation, Eleanor Herman was hard at work entertaining readers with her extensive research on courtly intrigue and romance. She is the New York Times bestselling author of Sex with Kings, as well as three other works of nonfiction: Sex with the Queen, Mistress of the Vatican, and King Peggy.

Obsessed by all things royal and historical, she lives in McLean, Virginia with her husband and four extremely dignified cats. Legacy of Kings was her first novel.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest

--> Giveaway Details: -->

• 3 winners will receive a finished copy of EMPIRE OF DUST, US Only.

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Tour Schedule:

Week One:

6/20/2016- The Cover Contessa- Interview

6/21/2016- Zach's YA Reviews- Review

6/22/2016- Fiction Fare- Guest Post

6/23/2016- My So-Called Book Reviews- Review

6/24/2016- Two Chicks on Books- Interview

Week Two:

6/27/2016- Lisa Loves Literature- Review YOU ARE HERE!

6/28/2016- A Dream Within A Dream- Guest Post

6/29/2016- Mundie Moms- Review

6/30/2016- Once Upon A Twilight- Review

7/1/2016- Curling Up With A Good Book- Interview

--> About Book 1:
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Title: LEGACY OF KINGS

Author: Eleanor Herman

Pub. Date: September 1, 2015

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Pages: 432

Formats: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook

Find it: Amazon | Barnes and Noble |iBooks | Goodreads

 
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Imagine a time when the gods turn a blind eye to the agony of men, when the last of the hellions roam the plains and evil stirs beyond the edges of the map. A time when cities burn, and in their ashes, empires rise.

Alexander, Macedonia’s sixteen-year-old heir, is on the brink of discovering his fated role in conquering the known world but finds himself drawn to newcomer Katerina, who must navigate the dark secrets of court life while hiding her own mission: kill the Queen. But Kat’s first love, Jacob, will go to unthinkable lengths to win her, even if it means competing for her heart with Hephaestion, a murderer sheltered by the prince. And far across the sea, Zofia, a Persian princess and Alexander’s unmet fiancée, wants to alter her destiny by seeking the famed and deadly Spirit Eaters.

Weaving fantasy with the salacious and fascinating details of real history, New York Times bestselling author Eleanor Herman reimagines the greatest emperor the world has ever known: Alexander the Great, in the first book of the Blood of Gods and Royals series.

Waiting on Wednesday: Empire of Dust (Blood of Gods and Royals #2) by Eleanor Herman

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases that we're eagerly awaiting.  I've picked another sequel this week.  Last year I was lucky enough to get an ARC to the first book in the series, Legacy of Kings, and I LOVED it!  I have been patiently or maybe somewhat impatiently waiting and hoping and wishing for an ARC of this second book to match my first ARC, but haven't received it yet.  :-(  If you  have it and would be willing to trade, you can go to my Have You Seen This post and see if I have anything you'd trade for.  Anyway, here is the blurb from Goodreads for this book and I'm sure you can see why I'm so excited!

In Macedon, war rises like smoke, forbidden romance blooms and ancient magic tempered with rage threatens to turn an empire to dust

After winning his first battle, Prince Alexander fights to become the ruler his kingdom demands—but the line between leader and tyrant blurs with each new threat.

Meanwhile, Hephaestion, cast aside by Alexander for killing the wrong man, must conceal the devastating secret of a divine prophecy from Katerina even as the two of them are thrust together on a dangerous mission to Egypt.

The warrior, Jacob, determined to forget his first love, vows to eradicate the ancient Blood Magics and believes that royal prisoner Cynane holds the key to Macedon's undoing.

And in chains, the Persian princess Zofia still longs to find the Spirit Eaters, but first must grapple with the secrets of her handsome—and deadly—captor.

New York Times bestselling author Eleanor Herman entwines the real scandals of history with epic fantasy to reimagine the world's most brilliant ruler, Alexander the Great, in the second book of the Blood of Gods and Royals series.

Doesn't it sound like it's going to get even  more twisted and awesome?  I just loved the first one and all the different twists and turns it took with the bits of history that it covers.  

So, what book are you eagerly awaiting this week?

Review: Legacy of Kings (Blood of Gods and Royals #1) by Eleanor Herman

First, thanks to Harlequin Teen for sending an advanced readers copy of this title out to the bookstores, where I was able to grab it at the Barnes and Noble where I work to read.  I'd been seeing it around on other blogs on Waiting on Wednesday posts, and it sounded really good.  A historical fiction about Alexander the Great as a teenager?  Yeah, right?  Sounds awesome!  And it was!  At first it took a bit to get the flow, as there are many characters we are following. But a little ways in I could remember who was who, and was starting to see how some characters were going to tie in with the others, while still others I'm still waiting to see a bit more about.

Of course the main character is Alexander.  He's 16 years old, and his father is still alive, and kind of keeping him from really taking on any real responsibility.  Alex has an injury to his leg.  One that causes him to limp, but only slightly, and has given him a huge scar.  He wants nothing more than to get that healed.  So he wants to run away with his best friend Hephaestion, to find a miracle fountain of youth and healing.  The only problem is that his dad had kept him from being able to get any money without approval, so he does not have the money he needs to go.

Our other main character is Katerina.  She has lived in a small town with the parents of her best friend Jacob, since the time that her mother was killed by the Queen's men.  She wants to know why they killed her mother.  When Jacob is sent to compete in an annual tournament, she sneaks along and travels with him.  Once there she ends up staying in the palace after a chance meeting that almost leads to her arrest before the prince steps in.  She loves her friend Jacob, and he loves her, but she must know the truth about her mother before she can even think of a future life as he wants.

Then we have Cynane, a daughter of one of the king's former wives.  She has trained as a warrior because that is what her mother wanted her to do.  Her mother died, and she thinks it was due to something she knew, possibly about the queen Olympias, Alex's mother.  She wants to find something she'd found in her mother's belongings, a type of magic, smoke magic, that should protect her from anyone that tries to hurt her.  One thing she needs though is the blood of true betrayal, and so she sets out to find a way to set Alex and his best friend Heph against each other. 

And finally there is Zofia.  Her mother is married to her uncle, King Shershah, the king of Lydia.  Her mother is not a good mother, she had even deserted her at one time to go marry a king of another land.  But once he died, the country did not want her, and so she came back to marry her brother.  Her uncle has made a deal to marry her to Prince Alexander.  But Zo has fallen in love with a soldier named Cosmas.  So now she is planning to run away and find him in his camp. To disguise herself as a peasant, or at least the kind of girl that Cosmas could actually marry, and then she hopes to live happily as his wife and give him a family.  But when she makes her escape, she is caught while out on the road.  Even worse is that her younger sister follows her and she must try to keep her from being caught.

Throughout the book some of the characters I've named also have their own chapters.  Like Jacob, we learn why he has gone to the competition, and what he is trying to do in order to be able to make a life for Kat like he'd hoped.  But things won't go quite as he's hoped, even when he is successful in the competition.  Queen Olympias will also have some chapters, as she will really have a big part in the story.  And Hephaestion as Alexander's best friend also has his own past and his own hopes and fears.

Don't worry, lots of characters, but they soon all weave into the story perfectly, and you'll see how they are all connected.  I just can't wait to see where the story will go next, and I hate that I'm going to be waiting so long!  I loved the story so much!  It's not just a historical fiction, because it has magic in it, which obviously makes it a bit of a fantasy story.  A great read that I got hooked into and could barely put down to do anything else!