Empress of Mijak (Godspeaker vol. 1) – Karen Miller
HarperCollins Voyager, 2007
565 pages
RRP: AU$20.99
ISBN: 978-0-7322-8451-1

Reviewed by Cat Sparks

Empress of Mijak is the story of a girl: a nameless she-brat, purchased by traders in the Savage North, favoured as a rich man might favour a pet, told she is beautiful and precious, yet imprisoned as a slave. Hekat, as she names herself, takes the words “beautiful” and “precious” to heart and sees how she might make something of herself in the brutal city of Et-Raklion. When she learns of the fate traders Abajai and Yagji have in mind for her, she mutilates her own face and cuts herself an alternate destiny, one in which she catches both the god’s and the warlord Raklion’s eye.

Mijak is a harsh and desiccated land ruled over by a nameless god that makes its will known through godspeakers, scorpions, bloodletting and signs. Stone amulets that come to life, sacrificed flesh sucked from the air, godbraids, godbells, godposts; all facets of life are dedicated to worship of the god. Nothing is ever enough for Hekat once the god sees her in its eye. She worships it as a warrior with her snake blade in the deadly combat known as knife dance.

Empress of Mijak is not consolatory fantasy. It reminds me of Monument by Ian Graham, not in its story, but in that both books are set in harsh realms peopled by dark, brutish characters who are quite difficult to empathise with and like. Yet somehow, both these books manage to draw you onwards. You may not like these characters but you need to know what happens to them. Their harshness is a dark blend of courage and resilience. Without it, they would never realistically survive.

The only character I am certain of in Empress of Mijak – the only one I can say I like wholeheartedly is Vortka, novice godspeaker, himself a former slave. A small act of kindness by Hekat when they are both in captivity bonds him to her for always. Or at least for as much of always as Book One reveals.

I have no idea what might be on the cards in book two of the Godspeaker series. Nor, with the exception of Vortka, am I confident which of the main players are the ‘good’ guys and which might be the ‘bad’ guys. I have very little faith in Hekat’s sanity at the end of Book One. Miller paces the story’s key events to keep you guessing.

Just when you think the plot is turning this way, it flips and sends you sprawling in another direction. I did not see the ending coming. I do not know what will happen to those people. I do not want to spend my Sundays ploughing through another 550 pages of fat fantasy novel, however it’s looking pretty likely that I’m going to be compelled to do so.