Servant of the Empire

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Servant of the Empire

This is the sequel to the book "Daughter of the Empire", again courtesy of William.

Think of it as a simpler version of Game of Throne. Plenty of posturing and intrigue. Actions were few but they were exciting and necessary given the setting.

Lord Shinzawai's second son, Hokanu, appeared more times here. In fact, lords of quite a number of houses made appearance here as politics went all the way up to the Emperor himself.

SPOILER AHEAD



The High Council elects a Warlord (the actual voting is interesting - plenty of whispering, lords moving here and there, definitely not straightforward like putting up hands) who then conducts war to advance the interest of the Empire. The Warlord can be disposed by the High Council but again not a straightforward affair.

The Emperor traditionally acts as spiritual leader and rarely interfere with the Council's politics, although he could...which was what the current Emperor did.

Essentially, with the support of significant number of lords (and highly likely at the instigation of Mara, the protagonist here), the Emperor abolished the seat of Warlord and appoint what we would recognise as ministers to assist him in running the Empire.

Now, I understand that this is better than the alternative i.e. letting a dangerous but powerful mad lord assume the Warlord mantle and what's a Warlord to do but wage war, right? That's how he earns honour...well, mainly through that. On the other hand, the current Emperor is a benevolent, wise ruler who wants to change the Empire for the better.

However, in the hand of an incompetent Emperor, who is going to stand against him? Previously, there is a balance between Emperor and Warlord but now all power resides with the Emperor. Is that really wise?

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