GiantPanda
7/1/2015
A great pleasure to read.
On the surface not much seems to be happening - a young man unexpectedly (and unpreparedly) becomes Emperor and has to find his way around the court, but if you read between the lines there is a great deal going on. A lot of detail that other writers spell out for you (what was this lightningbolt spell?) Addison leaves to the imagination of the reader - and it makes a very entertaining reading experiance.
A well thought-out plot with believable conflicts and characters. Maia's confusion at what is going on, his desire to do right by his people and survive the attempt - as well as his attempts to interact with women were thoroughly entertaining for me. If you are looking for epic fantasy with dragons and battles and quests this will not be the book for you, but on a smaller scale (think Jane Austen) an excellent read.
One small caveat:
The overabundance of fictitious names, titles, places and grammar rules made it a bit complicated to follow all the characters at times. 1/2 star down for this.
Otherwise strongly recommended.