Empire of Shadows Review Spotlight

We're celebrating the release of Empire of Shadows this week and if you love swashbuckling adventure stories packed with slow burn witty banter, flesh-eating beetles, and real history, this is a MUST READ!

"Nice Victorian ladies don’t run off to find legendary lost cities." Well! If Ellie was a "nice Victorian lady" we wouldn't have this rip-roaring riot of a good time of a novel that gives you hints of The Mummy while being absolutely fresh and brilliantly hilarious. 

Empire of Shadows is the first book of the Raiders of the Arcana series, and readers who love a fun historical fantasy novel are not going to want to miss out on this book. It's fun, humorous, engaging, and will keep you coming back for more. Speaking of more...does anyone know when book two is coming? LOL! You'll be thinking the same thing when you get to the end of this novel. Trust us. 

Empire of Shadows starts things off well over 200 years in the past (from the first chapter), basically you're going to be dropped in the 1600s. Good luck! Hope you survive and all that! It's a rather stick place to be dropped to be honest. You know with sickness and disease running rampant, but the character you initially get, Friar Salavert, believes that his mission is the of the utmost importance.

While that may have been the initial thought process...seeing his fellow converts be taken away into a temple...may have had some small impact on his mind. There are some elements of magic in this beginning chapter, but you're going to have to wait for more until you get deeper in to the story. Don't worry though, Ellie will do more than keep you entertained in the interim. 

Brace yourself for the first chapter especially because we probably said "Oh my gosh" like five times in just the first few pages. It's nothing bad, we promise. It's just Ellie is a suffragette and she gets herself into quite the "pickle." LOL! What?! It was just a "small riot." You'll see what unfolds and you'll probably be choking back laughs. LOL! 

This book has a lot of fun goodness packed into these pages, and it's going to be a page-turner of a novel that is going to take you on a whirlwind of a ride. This book has Mummy-vibes, but it still brings plenty of elements of freshness that make it such a refreshing story to dive into. Prepare for danger, twists, turns, surprises, and yes, some sparks to fly in the romance department. 

Looking for a fun read? This book is it! Can't wait to find out what happens next! 

5 out of 5 stars

                                        Empire of Shadows (Raiders of the Arcana Book 1)

Publication Date: April 2, 2024

Genre: Historical Fantasy/ Gaslamp Fantasy

Nice Victorian ladies don’t run off to find legendary lost cities.

One trifling little arrest shouldn’t have cost Ellie Mallory her job, but it’s only the latest in a line of injustices facing any educated woman with archaeological ambitions.

When Ellie stumbles across the map to a mysterious ancient city, she knows she’s holding her chance to revolutionize Pre-Colombian history. There’s just one teensy complication. A ruthless villain wants it, and Ellie is all that stands in his way.

To race him to the ruins—and avoid being violently disposed of—she needs the help of maverick surveyor Adam Bates, a snake-wrangling rogue who can’t seem to keep his dratted shirt on.

But there’s more than Ellie’s scholarly reputation (and life) on the line. Her enemies aren’t just looters. They’re after an arcane secret rumored to lie in the heart of the ruins, a mythical artifact with a power that could shake the world.

Between stealing trousers, plummeting over waterfalls, and trying not to fall in love with her machete-wielding partner, will Ellie be able to stop the oracle of a lost empire from falling into the wrong hands?

Empire of Shadows is the first book in Jacquelyn Benson’s smart, swashbuckling Raiders of the Arcana series. Read it now and dive into a rip-roaring historical fantasy adventure perfect for fans of Romancing the Stone and The Mummy.

Purchase Here!

About the Author

Jacquelyn Benson writes smart historical fantasy where strong women confront the stranger things that occupy the borders of our world.

She once lived in a museum, wrote a master’s thesis on the cultural anthropology of paranormal investigation, and received a gold medal for being clever. She owes a great deal to her elementary school librarian for sagely choosing to acquire the entire Time-Life Mysteries of the Unknown series.

When not writing, she enjoys the company of a tall, dark, and handsome English teacher and practices unintentional magic.

Jaquelyn Benson

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