The Hands of the Emperor
December 25, 2022 3:11 AM - Subscribe
Cliopher Mdang is the personal secretary of the Last Emperor of Astandalas, the Lord of Rising Stars, the Lord Magus of Zunidh, the Sun-on-Earth, the god.
He has spent more time with the Emperor of Astandalas than any other person.
He has never once touched his lord.
He has never called him by name.
He has never initiated a conversation.
One day Cliopher invites the Sun-on-Earth home to the proverbially remote Vangavaye-ve for a holiday.
I love this book SO MUCH. I've written about it here before and I stand by my description of it as, "A fantasy wish fulfillment escapist novel for project managers."
I first read it back in June of last year and have re-read it twice since then. It's so stacked with powerful emotional payoffs that I cry at least a couple of times every time I read it (and not always at the same parts).
posted by merriment at 1:41 PM on December 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
I first read it back in June of last year and have re-read it twice since then. It's so stacked with powerful emotional payoffs that I cry at least a couple of times every time I read it (and not always at the same parts).
posted by merriment at 1:41 PM on December 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
I’ve just purchased this on Kindle based on comments here, and I’m really looking forward to reading it!
posted by damsel with a dulcimer at 9:21 AM on December 27, 2022
posted by damsel with a dulcimer at 9:21 AM on December 27, 2022
Aww, yay, glad you enjoyed it! The sequel At the Feet of the Sun came out earlier this month, so it's a great time to start with the series! (Though I would recommend a reading order of Hands of the Emperor, Petty Treasons, The Return of Fitzroy Angursell, The Redoubtable Pali Avramapul, and then At the Feet of the Sun. You can go straight to At the Feet of the Sun, but I think the other books/novellas offer some valuable and fun context about His Radiancy.)
Objectively, I can recognize that these books are slightly bloated and a smidge too self-indulgent; a ruthless editor would, I think, have cause to do some paring back. Subjectively, I do not care at all. I love spending time with these characters, in this world, and I love that the setting here is deliberately after all the most dramatic world-ending and world-saving stuff, and instead focuses on the nitty-gritty of running the world and healing. If you've ever thought, "okay, but how does the government function" about any of those high fantasy epics that end after Our Hero has saved the day, this series is for you. But on top of that, it's also a book that's reckoning with the personal costs of empire, and with reclaiming one's heritage, in the case of Cliopher, and with reclaiming one's personhood in the case of His Radiancy. And of course, it's also about the Power of Love and Friendship, in some very satisfying ways.
I'm currently rereading this one after reading At the Feet of the Sun, and let me tell you, this book seriously rewards rereading. So many character insights and emotional beats that land entirely differently! So much more awareness of the ways in which Cliopher is an unreliable narrator!
posted by yasaman at 10:24 AM on December 27, 2022 [6 favorites]
Objectively, I can recognize that these books are slightly bloated and a smidge too self-indulgent; a ruthless editor would, I think, have cause to do some paring back. Subjectively, I do not care at all. I love spending time with these characters, in this world, and I love that the setting here is deliberately after all the most dramatic world-ending and world-saving stuff, and instead focuses on the nitty-gritty of running the world and healing. If you've ever thought, "okay, but how does the government function" about any of those high fantasy epics that end after Our Hero has saved the day, this series is for you. But on top of that, it's also a book that's reckoning with the personal costs of empire, and with reclaiming one's heritage, in the case of Cliopher, and with reclaiming one's personhood in the case of His Radiancy. And of course, it's also about the Power of Love and Friendship, in some very satisfying ways.
I'm currently rereading this one after reading At the Feet of the Sun, and let me tell you, this book seriously rewards rereading. So many character insights and emotional beats that land entirely differently! So much more awareness of the ways in which Cliopher is an unreliable narrator!
posted by yasaman at 10:24 AM on December 27, 2022 [6 favorites]
Love, love, love this book. I first read it in December 2021, re-read it mid-year then read it again recently after reading At the Feet of the Sun (which I'm currently re-reading).
Some books and book series become part of my mental landscape because they have so much emotional resonance for me; this is one of them. They're pure wish fulfilment in many ways - what if I could make the world better? what if I could make my family understand me? what if I had a close group of friends who unconditionally loved me? - which could have been written just for me.
posted by aussie_powerlifter at 6:44 PM on December 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Some books and book series become part of my mental landscape because they have so much emotional resonance for me; this is one of them. They're pure wish fulfilment in many ways - what if I could make the world better? what if I could make my family understand me? what if I had a close group of friends who unconditionally loved me? - which could have been written just for me.
posted by aussie_powerlifter at 6:44 PM on December 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
This post should have a tag for VictoriaGoddard.
I finished this book on Dec 31st after finding it through that same comment. I'm now working on The Return of Fitzroy Angursell.
posted by fings at 8:25 AM on January 2, 2023
I finished this book on Dec 31st after finding it through that same comment. I'm now working on The Return of Fitzroy Angursell.
posted by fings at 8:25 AM on January 2, 2023
This post should have a tag for VictoriaGoddard.
Ask and ye shall receive.
posted by Literaryhero at 8:41 PM on January 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
Ask and ye shall receive.
posted by Literaryhero at 8:41 PM on January 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
Just finished it and perhaps it's having worked for "what if this white paper could change the world" types, but I didn't get the wish fulfillment at all. Certainly there were other people in the world other than Cliopher, his enormous family, and the straw racists and kooks that Cliopher rants at for three pages and then everybody claps? And there's never anyone in Cliopher's huge family who is in conflict with Cliopher's political goals or beliefs and isn't a completely unattractive, petit bourgeois kook or bully. No charming smugglers, no young radicals with sympathetic if infeasible beliefs, not even a shoplifting aunty? For that matter, nobody is asking Cliopher for cash or favors? Man's whole family is made up of charming, independently well off people whose single, shared flaw is that they're not sufficiently interested in his work life. What are you complaining about, Cliopher? You are playing on easy mode!
I suppose it's nice to have a wish fulfillment fantasy where the protagonist isn't a 15 year old with violet eyes and raven locks, but really. It's not any more dignified when it's a middle aged man instead of a young girl. I did like the concept of the Emperor and the literal physical loneliness of power, though.
posted by kingdead at 6:23 AM on January 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
I suppose it's nice to have a wish fulfillment fantasy where the protagonist isn't a 15 year old with violet eyes and raven locks, but really. It's not any more dignified when it's a middle aged man instead of a young girl. I did like the concept of the Emperor and the literal physical loneliness of power, though.
posted by kingdead at 6:23 AM on January 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
I've read and love this book, but yes, it's very much epic fantasy featuring a destined god-touched hero. That said, it's an epic fantasy deeply grounded and partially set in a Pacific Islander culture, featuring a middle-aged god-touched radical bureaucrat who is deeply invested in how to improve the system of governance. I'm fine with it not being deeply realistic. There's only so much one book can do, and detailed realism is not a typical feature of epic fantasy. It feels like Bujold's Paladin of Souls, to me: a fun read with some interesting things to say in a well-realized setting featuring interesting characters.
I do think the book makes it obvious that there is a lot of pushback Cliopher just sort of ignores, and that often people fall into line because he's got the ear of the Emperor. This felt all of a piece with the radicals I've met, so that seemed believable. The later books make more of a point of it, I think. There are definitely characters who think he's an actual cartoon villain (the wizard priests he gets deposed, certainly), and he's sounds like the world's worst boss to anyone not personally sucked in by his charisma.
The family drama was definitely the weakest part of the plot. I come from a large extended family and just...no. That is not a realistic large extended family. I would buy that he has just sort of written a bunch of his relatives out of his life, because he's a devoted radical who lives on the other side of the planet, and also clearly manages to miss things he was around for, like that the uncle who helped raise him is married! But the total absence of family stuff not centered on or involving him was very noticeable.
It's clear in the book that people do ask him for favors and he turns them down flat, though. That's part of the drama over the fish farm, and the restaurant scene when his family comes to Solaara.
posted by Ahniya at 7:21 PM on April 29, 2023
I do think the book makes it obvious that there is a lot of pushback Cliopher just sort of ignores, and that often people fall into line because he's got the ear of the Emperor. This felt all of a piece with the radicals I've met, so that seemed believable. The later books make more of a point of it, I think. There are definitely characters who think he's an actual cartoon villain (the wizard priests he gets deposed, certainly), and he's sounds like the world's worst boss to anyone not personally sucked in by his charisma.
The family drama was definitely the weakest part of the plot. I come from a large extended family and just...no. That is not a realistic large extended family. I would buy that he has just sort of written a bunch of his relatives out of his life, because he's a devoted radical who lives on the other side of the planet, and also clearly manages to miss things he was around for, like that the uncle who helped raise him is married! But the total absence of family stuff not centered on or involving him was very noticeable.
It's clear in the book that people do ask him for favors and he turns them down flat, though. That's part of the drama over the fish farm, and the restaurant scene when his family comes to Solaara.
posted by Ahniya at 7:21 PM on April 29, 2023
I loved this book and all of Victoria Goddard's books. I must say it, though: as the series continue they do turn into extensive and exhaustive love letters. There are books and books dedicated to the glory and wonder that is Cliopher Mdang and books and books about the walking perfection of Jemis Greenwing. It’s fine to fall in love with your characters but maybe she could tone it down a little? I liked both Kip and Jemis better before they became so incredibly perfect.
posted by mygothlaundry at 9:17 PM on December 27, 2023
posted by mygothlaundry at 9:17 PM on December 27, 2023
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It is fantastic.
posted by Literaryhero at 3:13 AM on December 25, 2022 [1 favorite]