I could not get enough of Victoria Goddard this month. This is a companion novella to The Hands of the Emperor, but from the Emperor’s view instead of Cliopher’s; the burden of the Emperor’s enforced solitude is hinted at in the first book, but here we get to experience its crushing weight firsthand, and we also get to see Cliopher from the Emperor’s point of view. Perfect for someone in withdrawal from the glory of The Hands of the Emperor. I will say though that the shifting first/second person viewpoints read a bit awkwardly for me; I got why it was done, but I think the Emperor’s isolation could have been hinted at another way.