#empress of xytae

[antianakin]

The last two books in Effie Calvin's Tales From Inthya series (Empress of Xytae and Daughter of the Moon) really feel like the Satine and Bo-Katan story I WISH we'd gotten.

Empress of Xytae is the story of a princess who is heir to the throne of a country whose culture values physical strength and aggression and war above all else, but the princess doesn't value any of those things. She has to go on the run when her father dies and her younger sister starts a coup and she goes on a journey where she sees exactly how her country's values have brought its people to near ruin. She learns to be more confident in herself and decides to rally support to take back her throne so she can help bring her country into a time of peace. Along the way she is joined by another young princess who teaches her the value of spontaneity and her grandmother who helps her understand the responsibilities that go into being a ruler.

Daughter of the Moon is the story of the younger sister who is removed from power and sent off to another country to learn their values while her own country stabilizes from its years at war. She has retained all of her people's values about aggression and physical strength and barely understands a culture where those AREN'T valued the same way. For the first time, she isn't treated as special and given anything she wants simply for being strong and born the right way. She has to figure out how to actually connect with other people as equals and allow herself to be vulnerable with someone else.

What I like about Empress of Xytae is that it allows for the main character to be RIGHT about her country's failures, but to still have flaws that actually get acknowledged by the narrative as things she needs to work on in order to accomplish her goals. In this character's case, she's very shy and insecure and submissive. She initially had just planned to run away to try to find a safe place to live out her life, and it's not until she really understands how much the years of war have impacted her people that she starts to realize that she can't be that selfish and works to overcome her own instincts in order to be the leader her people need. I also appreciated how the romantic relationship she builds with the other princess became a necessary aspect of her growth as a character. It's not just superfluous or done to send a message, the relationship is integral to the main character's growth into being a leader willing to stand up for her own beliefs and protect those she cares about.

What I like about Daughter of the Moon is that it allows the main character to be sympathetic without ignoring that she'd been one of the primary antagonists of the last book and that she is SEVERELY flawed as a person. She's aggressive and arrogant and self-absorbed and intentionally unkind. She caused a lot of harm to a lot of people, but she's also the way she is because other people encouraged her to be this way. She made her own choices, of course, and the book never shies away from that and the need for her to learn how to make DIFFERENT ones, but she was also taught that there were things about herself she couldn't (and/or shouldn't) control, regardless of its impact on other people. She continues to make bad choices throughout her book even as she also shows that there are sides of her we never saw in the first book when we only saw her from her sister's perspective. We hear more about what her life was like and how it hurt her, but she also continues to hurt other people and has to deal with those consequences now that it actually means something to her. This book allows her to be both sympathetic and wrong, likable while still learning how to be a good person, and I appreciate the way it balances those in order to give her a redemption arc. People are allowed to not forgive her, she's allowed to not forgive some of those who've hurt her, and it doesn't take away from either side of the relationship.

[plateofflowerrs]

Made some classic penguin covers for @effiecalvin s Tales of Inthya- series.

:)

I used the Penguin Classics Cover Generator.

[jmtorres]

for the curious, final audible cart was:

daughter of the sun by effie calvin

queen of rhodia by effie calvin

empress of xytae by, hold on let me check, @effiecalvin

beware of chicken by casualfarmer

orconomics: a satire by j zachary pike

the dead sea scrolls (great course)

guide for the perplexed, maimonides, no translator listed? hmm

fixer by @genedoucette

fixer redux by @genedoucette

queen of zombie hearts by gena showalter

through the zombie glass by gena showalter

race for paradise: an islamic history of the crusades by paul m cobb

james tiptree jr: the double life of alice b sheldon by julie phillips

dragon blood by patricia briggs

secondhand origin stories by lee blauersouth

venus of dreams by pamela sargent

trespass (short story collection)

along the razor's edge by rob j hayes

starter villain by john scalzi

second hand curses by drew hayes

when the moon hits your eye by john scalzi (preorder)

with a side of dome Mira Grant and Garth Nix from libro.fm

apparently Audible credits expire after a year?

so I have 21 to spend this month (and I'm considering reducing next year's subscription)

Please recommend me books to buy on Audible!

preferably: scifi/fantasy or like interesting histories (nonfiction), "audible original" aka not available elsewhere

(feel free to reblog)

[harrypotterhousequotes]

HUFFLEPUFF: "I do not always believe forgiveness is a necessary thing... If you wish to grant it then certainly. But sometimes people will wrong you so badly there is no forgiveness to be had. But that does not mean you need to be angry, vengeful or obsessed. You simply go on, without them." –Effie Calvin (Orsina: Empress of Xytae)

[theelizabethjoy]

I just finished Queen of Rhodia only to find out that Empress of Xytae just released so I know what I’m doing today.

if you havent read any of  @effiecalvin books The Tales of Inthya then go get them. They are fabulously queer and inclusive, amazingly written with a FULL CAST of creative characters. 

[draconiclore]

30 Days of Pride Books with @miraclerizuin

Day 3: The Tales of Inthya by Effie Calvin

[accidentalspaceexplorer]

April Monthly Recap:

Okay so it turns out I super forgot to do my April recap, which I only realized now that it’s June... So I’m doing my April recap now, and my May recap will come out in a bit. I have been reading so much though! I read 19 books in April, of which only two were DNFs. My favorites in April were Legends & Lattes and Iron Widow, which are very different books but were both phenomenal.

The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery: 3.5/5

Nightfall by Isaac Asimov & Robert Silverberg: 3.5/5

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske: 5/5

Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold: 4.75/5

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki: 3.75/5

The Sweetest Remedy by Jane Igharo: 2.25/5

A Hope Divided by Alyssa Cole: 4.5/5

The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec: 2.5/5, dnf

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree: 5/5

The Triumph of Seeds by Thor Hanson: 5/5

Daughter of the Sun by Effie Calvin: 3.5/5

The Queen of Rhodia by Effie Calvin: 3.5/5

The Empress of Xytae by Effie Calvin: 3.5/5

Daughter of the Moon by Effie Calvin: 3.5/5

The Sandman, Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman: 3/5

Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire: 4.5/5

Eidolon by Grace Draven: 4/5

The Song of the Dodo by David Quammen: 2/5, dnf

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao: 5/5

22 in 2022: 7

Read 100 Books: 47

Read 40% AOC: 34%

Completing Series: 6 series completed/caught up vs. 5 started

Translated Works: 0

Books in Spanish: 0

Numbered TBR: 4

Discworld: 0

Books by an Indigenous Author: 1

Physical TBR: 8

Storygraph Recs: 2

[effiecalvin]

Do you have any idea when book 5 will come out as an audiobook?

I'm just finishing listening to empress of xytae and I want moooore ^^"

Book 5 is in production, and I was actually about to follow up with my publisher about the status since it should be pretty nearly done. I don't have any specific dates unfortunately. I will update when I know more.

[2wivesbooks]

[Image description: Title reads: Tales of Inthya. The covers of five books in the series are shown: “The Queen of Ieflaria”, “Daughter of the Sun”, “The Queen of Rhodia”, “The Empress of Xytae”, and “Daughter of the Moon”, all by Effie Calvin. They are followed by text which states: As of January 2021, no publication date for next book]

This is my wife’s favorite fantasy/WLW series. <3 It has lots of sweet romance, humor, and high fantasy adventure (and baby dragons) all set in a world that never heard of homophobia. 

The series title is apt, because it doesn’t follow one set of protagonists, but jumps around between several. However, taken together, they do tell an overarching story about the gods of Inthya.

[writerinafury]

I’ve read four more books! 

The Dragon Republic 

The riveting sequel to The Poppy War was everything I imagined and more. I don’t want to talk about it because then you wouldn’t experience everything firsthand yourself. Easily one of my favorite series now.

The Duchess War

A historical romance featuring two protagonists who keep secrets, but feel drawn to each other. The first full length novel in The Brothers Sinister Series.

Girls of Paper and Fire

I have finally gotten to this! The sapphic book about surviving in a world that seems to thrive on violence against women. I’ve already ordered the sequel!

The Empress of Xytae

The fourth book in the Tales of Inthya series (a Fantasy Romance series that all feature sapphic pairings) tells the tale of Ioanna, the Crown Princess of Xytae. She’s run out of the capital upon her father’s death and must fight to get back her place in the Empire.

[rotationalsymmetry]

I’m wrapping up Empress of Xytae and am about to move on to Daughter of the Moon. I just flat out skipped Queen of Ieflaria and Queen of Rhodia this time around, not that I don’t like them (dragons, I mean), I just felt more drawn towards the Vesolda/Xytae set this time. I like the serious/lawful + fun/chaotic pairings. Somehow I relate intensely to both Orsina and Aelia. Not sure how that’s possible, but I do.

Somebody should do a thing about the ND rep in these books. I’m not going to. But someone should.

It’ll only be my second time on Daughter of the Moon, super looking forward to it.

[profmorbius]

Posted a review of Tales of Inthya #4: The Empress of Xytae by Effie Calvin on my blog. Read it here.

tl;dr – One of the stronger books in the series thus far

[harrypotterhousequotes]

SLYTHERIN: "Either incinerate me or run along. I've got things to not be doing." --Effie Calvin (Acydon, God of Apathy: The Empress of Xytae)

[theelizabethjoy]

Just finished empress of xytae

💚💚💚💚

[bookstattoosandtea]

Release Blitz & Giveaway: The Empress of Xytae by Effie Calvin

Release Blitz & Giveaway: The Empress of Xytae by Effie Calvin

Title: The Empress of Xytae Series: Tales of Inthya, Book Four Author: Effie Calvin

Publisher: NineStar Press Release Date: December 30, 2019 Heat Level: 2 – Fade to Black Sex Pairing: Female/Female Length: 83500 Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy, LGBT, royalty, new adult, magic, paladins, gods, goddesses

Add to Goodreads

Synopsis

Crown Princess Ioanna of Xytae has kept her truthsayer blessing a secret…

[lezreviewbooks]

I’m definitely hooked on these epic fantasy lesbian romances

Lex's Review of 'The Empress of Xytae' by Effie Calvin

Review of ‘The Empress of Xytae’ by Effie Calvin

I’m definitely hooked on this series. This is book four in the Tales of Inthya series. I’m happy to say that this was another enjoyable installment. Not my favorite of the series, but I enjoyed it and had a lot of fun reading it so no big complaints. These are epic fantasy lesbian romances that take place all around this world Calvin has created.…