Deadly Games, Conspiracy, Tangled Truths by Lindsay Buroker: reviews

4/5 stars (each) on Goodreads

My Lindsay Buroker binge continues with three books. Deadly Games and Conspiracy are books three and four of The Emperor’s Edge series, and Tangled Truths is book three in Death Before Dragons series. So far, I’ve been happy with both.

While the two series are set in completely different worlds—Emperor’s Edge takes place in a steampunkish world with magic and Death Before Dragons in our world with addition of otherworldly creatures—they have some similarities. The main couple consists of an extroverted woman and a highly secretive, unemotional man/male; there’s a larger plot going on in the background that the main character tries to unravel, and both have action and mayhem aplenty. Romantic stories advance in glacier pace, although a bit faster in case of Val and Zav in Death Before Dragons who don’t have the baggage of past misdeeds between them like in the case of Amaranthe and Sicarius in The Emperor’s Edge.

Tangled Truths by Lindsay Buroker

In Tangled Truths, Val has to face both her past—i.e. ex-husband and teenage daughter—and dragons bent on revenging the death of Dob. The latter seems to be easier for her, as she isn’t one to contemplate her emotions. And she has an assignment that for once doesn’t require her to kill anyone, which takes her a little out of her comfort zone. But Zav is there to help, if reluctantly, and the ending takes their relationship to a new level.

Deadly Games by Lindsay Buroker

In Deadly Games, Amaranthe’s group becomes involved in investigating the disappearances of athletes competing in important games. When two of her men are taken too, it takes the case to a different level—at the bottom of a lake. The additional point of view is that of Basillard, the former slave. He has learned that Sicarius has killed the ruling family of his people and wants to avenge them. But when they are both held captive, he changes his mind. And he has an important role at the end, when he gets to meet the emperor, who has an odd request. He wants Amaranthe’s group to kidnap him.

Conspiracy by Lindsay Buroker

In the next book, Conspiracy, the group sets out to fulfil the emperor’s request. It’s not easy, especially since he has to be taken from a moving train full of soldiers. The group is experiencing internal strife too. Akstyr, the magic practitioner, is planning to sell Sicarius to bounty hunters, upsetting the rest of the group when they learn of it, and Sicarius goes on a killing spree that upsets Amaranthe and complicates their mission. On top of that, Forge, the group working against the emperor, is moving to overthrow him and they have technology unlike anything that has been seen in the world where everything works on steam. And then the book ends in a cliff-hanger when the action is at its peak. Luckily the next book picks up with the same exact scene—I already checked.

All in all, both series remain satisfying and I’ll continue with my binge. In addition, I’ve acquired several other series by Buroker, so I won’t run out of reading any time soon.