Phoenix Unbound (The Fallen Empire, #1)

by Grace Draven

In this USA Today bestselling novel, a woman with power over fire and illusion and the enslaved son of a chieftain battle a corrupt empire in this powerful and deeply emotional romantic fantasy.

Every year, each village is required to send a young woman to the Empire's capital--her fate to be burned alive for the entertainment of the masses. For the last five years, one small village's tithe has been the same woman. Gilene's sacrifice protects all the other young women of her village, and her secret to staying alive lies with the magic only she possesses.

But this year is different.

Azarion, the Empire's most famous gladiator, has somehow seen through her illusion--and is set on blackmailing Gilene into using her abilities to help him escape his life of slavery. Unknown to Gilene, he also wants to reclaim the birthright of his clan.

To protect her family and village, she will abandon everything to return to the Empire--and burn once more.

• ISBN10: 0451489756
• ISBN13: 9780451489753
• Publish Date: 25 September 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Ace Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 400
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780451489753

Reviews

[Ashley]

Hugely disappointed in this. :( Don't even know why I finished it. Curiosity, I guess.

I liked the first few pages and thought there was a lot of promise in the story and the characters. But after that, it just got dull. It was travelling and running, with not much else happening. This lasted a while.

Then there were a bunch of time jumps that contributed to a lacklustre romance. I didn't see the chemistry between the two at all. I kind of wanted an epic, all encompassing fantasy love story, and don't feel like that delivered. I never really cared about either of the characters, or them together.

[stacey_is_sassy]

My heart is pounding...

Phoenix Unbound was so bloody good. The storyline was captivating, the characters original and I was emotionally invested in seeing good conquer evil. Grace Draven is an extraordinary storyteller, and I'm convinced she can do no wrong... when it comes to writing Fantasy Romance.

There are parts of this story that are a little hard to take but it was never too much. Rape is used to control and punish both men and women. Fortunately, we don't have to deal with it too much and the one time we do, it wasn't overly descriptive. The worst part is the haunting memories that linger from the abuse.

While at first the relationship seems doomed between the hero and heroine, with time, we realise that the captor has become the captured. It's obvious that there is an attraction between the two, but even more obvious was that they needed to trust each other before they can have a relationship.

Phoenix Unbound was an action-packed adventure that kept my attention from start to finish. I can't wait to read more from this amazing author.

[kimbacaffeinate]

Caffeinated reasons to listen to Phoenix Unbound

-If you love historical settings, epic romances, rich cultures, good vs evil, mythology, Gods, gladiators, magic, heroes and heroines you need to grab this first audio in the Fallen Empire series.

-From the very first chapter, Draven pulled me in as they tied Gilene to other women and led to the arena. There they would serve as a reward to the winning gladiators before being sacrificed to the Gods in the Rites of Spring ceremony. We learn that Gilene has repeated this journey for the past five years. Say what? Gilene possess the gift of fire and using magic incantations can alter her appearance.

-Azarion, the Empire’s most famous gladiator was betrayed and sold into slavery ten years ago. He is at the mercy of Queen and dreams of freedom and revenge. He also has a gift. One kept secret that allows him to see through illusions. Yikes!

-Azarion wishing to reclaim his birthright knows that Gilene is the key to his escape and revenge. Together they flee but to earn her freedom Gilene will have to aid Azarion.

-The tale that unfolds was brilliant and equal parts light and dark. There are ghostly encounters and nomadic clans and I felt myself enthralled. The world building from the arena, villages and hillside were stunning.

-The battle scenes while graphic felt realistic and suspenseful. Even as I gasped, I was in awe and the words pulled from Draven’s pen.

-Both Gilene and Azarion were prisoners. She out of loyalty, he out of betrayal. They are both honorable and it was easy to champion them.

-The romance begins awkwardly. There is chemistry, but both have a duty to family and Azarion’s unwilling to share why he is forcing her to journey with him made him her captor. This is a romance that unfolds slowly as trust builds along with mutual respect. It was heartbreaking, beautiful and unbelievably swoon-worthy. I laughed, licked my lips in anticipation of that first kiss even as I shock my fist at their miscommunications. It drew out all of my emotions and at times I openly wept.

-The magic is fascinating, the superstitions and rituals terrifying and barbaric but everything wove together creating an epic tale that held me spellbound and made me believe.

-Katharine McEwan performed an exceptional narration. She captured the essence of each character and drew out the emotions Draven penned.

-The story wrapped up wonderfully leaving me with a wickedly good audio hangover. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer

[Vicki]

3.5 Stars

Really nice read, but in my opinion wasn't quite as good as some of Grace Draven's other books. I enjoyed her earlier books so much that my expectations were high going into this and maybe it's unfair of me to compare, but there it is.

The story was enjoyable, if not a bit predictable. I think what really held this back for me was the romance. Hate-to-love romances are my favorite and those definitely need a slow build, but it was almost like this was too slow. In fact, it's probably not until more than half way through the book that you start to see Azarion and Gilene's feelings for each other. Also, I didn't feel we really saw their feelings grow and develop. It was like slow-burn insta-love, if that makes any sense. Seemed like one day they hated each other and the next day the both knew they loved each other. I felt like this had such promise and could have been an amazing fantasy romance, but it just fell a little flat for me.

[Rowena]

This was a great book and I’m super glad that I read it. I loved Dravens story telling and I loved both Azarion and Gilene. I’m looking forward to what else this series has to offer so I’ll definitely be reading the next book.

[Quirky Cat]

I received a copy of Phoenix Unbound through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Phoenix Unbound is the first book in Grace Draven’s new series, the Fallen Empire. Grace Draven is no stranger to writing epic tales of fantasy, so I had little doubt that this one would be outstanding as well.
Back when I was scrolling through the fantasy category on NetGalley, I couldn’t help but have the cover for Phoenix Unbound catch my attention. It’s so striking and beautifully done, how could it not? I love the bolder colors and the bright elegant title scrolling across the cover. Once I read the description I was sold. I knew I had to read this one.



Warnings first: There is a lot of trauma in this book. Both main characters have been through hell and back. Both have been slaves, one bound by chains and the other guilt and family. There are a lot of references and details to torture, burning at the stake, and rape. It gets very rough at times, but it is also very relevant to the plot, so it’s hard to avoid. I’d say that it starts out with the worst of it, and gradually gets less intense.
Phoenix Unbound was a whirlwind of a read. It was emotionally compelling and incredibly well written. I’ll confess that at the beginning I very nearly put the book down – it was very heavy at points and I found it to be fairly intimidating. However I persevered and I’m very glad I did so.
I love reading books where they use a different interpretation of the most basic types of magic. In this case you can probably guess that it would be fire. Gilene’s magic isn’t freely given or used, but she uses it to the best effect she can. I loved the idea of the Agne, as well as the culture and religion that was formed about the fire users. I would absolutely love to know more about the magic and its origins (specifically why Gilene’s village had magic).
I loved Gilene’s character. That her magic had a cost didn’t seem to slow her down at all – it never once made her stop doing what was right, even when she full well knew the consequences of her actions. It became impossible not to root for her and her happiness.
Azarion’s character was significantly more complicated. I started out hating him, though acknowledging that the circumstances he was in limited his choices in life. Over the course of the book his character arc allowed for significant growth, and eventually I did find myself like his character as well. Once we were really given the chance to see who he was, as opposed to what the Empire had made him, that is.
While this was a really tough read at times, I have to give Grace Draven so much credit for what she did here. Both main characters were victims of rape, and that’s something she never shied away from once. Sexual assault and the mental ramifications of it is something not talked about enough, and that Draven not only did that, but in the context of both male and female victims was a shocking, but much appreciated move. The truth of the matter is that even the strongest of people can be victims, and this book did a wonderful job of showing us that.
I’m anxiously awaiting the next book in this series to drop. In the meantime I may go through the rest of Grace Draven’s backlog. Clearly I’ve been missing out.


For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[EBookObsessed]

An enjoyable tale of survival and love.

While Phoenix Unbound contained its own interesting world building, there is no question that inspiration was taken from the worst of the Roman Empire with emphasis on slavery, rape, sacrifices and blood sports.

TRIGGER WARNING: While it is not graphically violent, both hero and heroine are subjected to rape.

Each Spring the Empire makes an offering to their Gods by sacrificing young women in the Colosseum. They collect a female–old, young, married, mother, it doesn’t matter–from each village in the Empire and they are tied together in a mass pit and burned alive. As if this isn’t tormenting enough, they spend their last night on earth being tossed to the gladiators to be raped before their die.

Every generation, a fire witch is born in the village of Beroe. This power does not descend through one family. It is a random occurrence, but this fire witch takes on the burden of the sacrifice. They not only have the ability to control fire and not burn, but they have the ability to cast illusions. Therefore, she can assume a different appearance each year to fool the Empire. Gilene was born with these abilities and for the last few years, she has sacrified herself for the good of her family and her village. Enduring the rape and the backlash of using that much fire magic at one time. Gilene knows that this is her burden in life, to suffer the sacrifice year after year. She knows she will never marry, who would have her as their wife? The scarring from the burns will increase each year until the next fire witch is old enough to take on the burden, and Gilene will die young, scarred and alone.

This year is different because Gilene is confronted by the Gladius Prime. Azarion can see through Gilene’s illusion magic. He noticed her among the women last year and realized he had seen her the prior year. He knows what Gilene is. Azarion’s people worship the Goddess of Fire, Agna, and her handmaidens who harness fire. He knows that Gilene is an agacin and he needs her illusion magic to help him escape his cage and finally return to his people.

Gilene isn’t the only one to suffer humiliation and pain at the hands of the Empire. For ten years, Azarion has fought as the gladiator in the Empire’s games and as a champion for most of that time he has been forced to service the sadistic Empress. She likes pain as much as pleasure and Azarion would rather fight in the pits than gratify the Empress’s lusts. Azarion was the son of the clan chief who was betrayed by a cousin who beat him unconscious and sold him as a slave to the Empire. He has spent the last year hoping and praying that the fire witch would return again this year, and planning how he would use her to escape.

Azarion blackmails Gilene to help him escape. While she believes her assistance ends when she opens his door, Azarion knows that he will need to backing of the agacin to reclaim his birthright and he kidnaps Gilene after making his escape.

Once freed Gilene and Azarion have to outrun the Empire. Gilene is unhappy being forced into fleeing, but she also knows that if she is caught with Azarion, the Empire won’t bother themselves with the fact that the was abducted. She will quickly go from sacrifice to slave in the Empire and won’t be able to help her village. At least Azarion has promised to return her to her people once she helps him.

As they travel, we get a glimpse of some of Azarion’s guilt for blackmailing a woman who has spent her life being blackmailed by her village (if she doesn’t burn for them, her family members will be sent for the next sacrifices). Gilene doesn’t want to acknowledge that her kidnapper and blackmailer has any good points but once they arrive at his village, she at first begrudingly admits he has good points and comes to admit that even thought she was dragged there, Azarion’s people need him and what a great leader he will be. Yet, when the declares that his first act as chief would be to march his people against the heart of the Empire, Gilene isn’t sure if he is a madman or a brilliant strategist.

I liked how Azarion’s village life was presented and how they, at first grudgingly, acknowledge Gilene and come to cheer her as one of their own, once her fire magic returned and she was able to prove herself as a true agacin.

Their trip from the center of the Empire to the wild plains where Azarion’s village lies was quite an adventure and I like that there was no insta-love. Gilene’s strength and dedication to her people gains Azarion’s regard a lot quicker than Azarion was able to win over Gilene’s, this was a story where love was slowly build upon respect and admiration of character. By the end Gilene was torn between her duty to her family and her love for Azarion and his people.

I got a little nervous about three-quarters into the story since this was book 1 of a series, I was afraid we would be left hanging, but a check of the author’s website shows that this will be a trilogy featuring three different women.

I kept getting interupted so it took me awhile to get through it, but I had it downloaded everywhere and I would even read a few pages on my phone when I could. I definitely enjoyed this story.

[thebookdisciple]

Its difficult not to make some initial comparisons between Phoenix Unbound and The Hunger Games because of their similar settings. There are people from villages sent to the capital for the entertainment of the citizens-the men have to fight gladiator style battles and the women are burned alive. However, Phoenix Unbound is fantasy romance so in this story, Gilene, our heroine, has magic that saves her. She is a fire witch and escape being burned alive. This means she has to be her village's sacrifice every year. She meets a gladiator who can see through her magic and forces her to help him escape as well.

Azarion blackmails and forces Gilene to help him. Helping him escape is only the first step she discovers. He needs to bring back an agacin (witch) to help him claim the throne from his dastardly cousin. Gilene isn't happy about being forced to help him. If she doesn't get back to her village, the elders will hurt her family for sure. Both these characters are battle hardened and world weary. Azarion lies without compunction and Gilene will use her magic to save herself. Even though Gilene is, essentially, being kidnapped, there is a bit of commonality for them. Both have suffered at the hands of the empire.

This is a fantasy romance, so there is world building to be done and Draven does it well. I've not read Draven's books before so Phoenix Unbound was an introduction to her writing and I enjoyed it. It takes a great author to avoid information dumping yet still guide the reader through this fantasy world. The story started a bit off for me-its not for lack of action or anything, but I think I was having trouble really getting sucked in for the first couple chapters. Honestly, this has always been a struggle for me with fantasy. However, Draven's writing is superb! She is a master at painting with words and every word on the page is executed with a purpose and prose. Its exquisite. I actually hope this is made into an audiobook soon. I think it would be delightful to listen to with a talented narrator.

I've intentionally not given a lot of details about the story. You should experience it. I will say...I was about to throw my precious kindle across the room near the end because I thought bad things were afoot. You have been warned.

 

• POV: 3rd


• Tears: no


• Trope: magic


• Triggers: There is a rape scene early on that might be upsetting to some readers. Also, several fights to the death and a mass human sacrifice.


• Series/Standalone: stand alone


• Cliffhanger: no


• HEA: yes; no epilogue

authors like Ilona Andrews, Anne Bishop, Laura Thalassa...then you will probably like Phoenix Unbound!

 

Phoenix Unbound

See full review on The Book Disciple