Empress of All Seasons is a 2018 young adult fantasy
novel by Emiko Jean. It was released in Novemeber 2018 and published by
Gollancz. The novel is heavily influenced by Japanese mythology and folklore. The novel can be purchased here from Bookshop.org or here from Amazon.
The novel centers around a once-in-a-generation tournament
which is held to find the next empress of Honoku. The participants must conquer
the palace’s enchanted rooms, each designed after a season, to win the
competition and marry the prince. All women are eligible to enter except yokai,
supernatural monsters and spirits who are being oppressed by the emperor. Mari,
a yokai girl, has spent her life training for the competition. If her status as
a yokai is revealed, her life will be forfeit. While struggling to keep her own
secret, her fate becomes entwined with that of Taro, the crown prince, and
Akira, a half-human, half-yokai boy she’s known for years. The choices of Mari,
Taro and Akira, as they navigate the competition, will decide the fate of Honoku.
First, let’s discuss characters. As mentioned above, this
novel has three main characters, Mari, Taro and Akira, who serve as the narrators
for the story. Mari was by far my favorite
character of the three. She’s an Animal Wife, a yokai who seduces men into marriage
and then runs off with their fortune. When others in her village conclude that
she’s not pretty enough to woo men outright, they begin training her for the
contest with the goal of her winning, marrying the prince and escaping with the
imperial fortune. Mari is by far the most complex and interesting character. She’s
a skilled fighter, but has moments where she shows a great deal of humanity. She
wants to win the competition, and fulfill the task she’s spent her life training
for, but at the same time, she also seeks to find a way to help the oppressed
and enslaved yokai in the capital. Taro is the prince who is also Mari’s love
interest. I didn’t really know how to feel about his character. He wasn’t very
committed to what he wanted, seeming to decide he wants something very impulsively,
which contrasted well with Mari. At the same time, he was rather entitled,
which was annoying. Lastly, we have Akira, a halfblooded yokai. He was one of the
most straightforward characters in the story and by far the most noble. He follows
Mari to the capital to watch out for her during the competition, and gets swept
up into the yokai resistance. Unlike Mari and Taro, he’s fully committed to his
goal, but along his journey comes to realize that saving one person means nothing
if the yokai are allowed to remain oppressed and enslaved. The conflict within
Akira is the most relatable, as he finds himself torn between his self-assigned
mission to help Mari and his mission for the resistance. I also enjoyed the
dynamic Asami, another competitor, developed with Mari and her character in
general, but I can’t really explain why without spoiling some important moments
of the story.
I thoroughly enjoyed the magic and mythological elements in
this story. A number of different types of yokai are introduced in the story,
from Animal Wives to oni to yuki-onna. I don’t know much about Japanese mythology
and folklore, so it was nice to be introduced to characters and creatures I hadn’t
encountered before. Fantasy could always benefit from more diversity and
authors pulling inspiration from different sources and cultures. Interspersed
throughout the story are scenes explaining the world and how the competition for
the Empress of All Seasons originated. My favorite aspect, however, was the
magic of the four seasonal rooms. Each room contained its own world, based on the
season it was named after, but with different elements and threats. The danger of this competition becomes apparent
in the first room, and the magic built into each room only adds to the tension
and danger. I enjoyed Emiko Jean’s writing style, especially her depictions of
events within the seasonal rooms.
While I liked the characters and the magic in the story, I’m
torn about whether I enjoyed the plot or not. The competition itself was a
fascinating idea and I liked reading about the events of Mari competing. There were
some parts that I felt were very predictable, such as what happened with the emperor
after the competition ended and the truth behind it. For a story this unique, I
was hoping for a plot twist that was a little more surprising. The beginning of
the story was a bit slower than I would’ve liked. It took about 100 pages for
the competition to even begin. At the same time, the ending felt a bit rushed. The
big, climactic conclusion was over almost as soon as it started. The behavior
of certain characters also changed at the drop of a hat to fit the narrative,
which didn’t make sense to me. I found the romance in this story to be bland as
well. Taro seems to instantly fall in love with Mari the moment he sees her and
I’m not a fan of insta-love. I wasn’t sold on Taro’s character and his romance
with Mari didn’t interest me in any way.
Empress of All Seasons is a book with one of the most
interesting worlds I’ve read so far this year. The premise behind the story
felt unique and I liked the overall writing. While I enjoyed aspects of the
book, it failed to deliver on others, such as the romantic subplot, and I felt
that the pacing needed some improvement. I think this novel is a good book and I’d
recommend it to fantasy readers, especially those looking to branch out some
and try new authors. I’m excited to read other works by this author.
Rating: 3.4 Stars
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