The ''Empire'' Trilogy is a collaborative

trilogy A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wor ...

of political

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

novels by American writers

Raymond E. Feist Raymond Elias Feist (; born Raymond Elias Gonzales III; December 21, 1945) is an American fantasy fiction author who wrote ''The Riftwar Cycle'', a series of novels and short stories. His books have been translated into multiple languages and ha ...

and

Janny Wurts Janny Wurts (born December 10, 1953) is an American fantasy novelist and illustrator. She has written several standalone novels and series, including the '' Wars of Light and Shadow'', ''The Cycle of Fire'' trilogy and the internationally best- ...

, set in the fictional world of Kelewan.

Novels

The trilogy traces the story of Mara of the Acoma's rise to power from a convent

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

to the most powerful woman in Kelewan. These three books are contemporary to Feist's original Riftwar Saga and feature some crossover characters, mainly from ''

Magician Magician or The Magician may refer to: Performers * A practitioner of magic (supernatural) * A practitioner of magic (illusion) * Magician (fantasy), a character in a fictional fantasy context Entertainment Books * ''The Magician'', an 18th-ce ...

'' (1982) (Pug, the protagonist of ''Magician'', appears twice in ''

Servant of the Empire ''Servant of the Empire'' is a fantasy novel by American writers Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts. Published in 1990, it is the second book in the ''Empire'' Trilogy, preceded by 1987's ''Daughter of the Empire'' and followed by '' Mistress o ...

'' (1990) and once in ''

Mistress of the Empire ''Mistress of the Empire'' is a fantasy novel by American writers Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts. It is the third and final book in the ''Empire Trilogy'' and was published in 1992. It was preceded by ''Servant of the Empire'', which was publi ...

'' (1992)). Mara struggles to rule her family after her father and brother are killed in a trap set by the Minwanabi, one of the most powerful families in the Empire and longtime enemies of the Acoma. Mara quickly learns how to play the Game of the Council with skill and challenges the binding traditions of her world. The

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a wa ...

Empire of Tsuranuanni as depicted in the series, features social and political institutions which show a clear influence both of

feudal Japan The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to Japanese Paleolithic, prehistoric times around 30,000 BC. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millenni ...

and

Imperial China The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the '' Book of Documents'' (early chapte ...

, while some of the characters have

Nahuatl Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller ...

-influenced names. Both Feist and Wurts have ruled out any further novels featuring these characters.

''Daughter of the Empire'' (1987)

In the world of Kelewan, Mara of the Acoma must lead her followers through terror and peril while surviving the ruthless Game of the Council. Mara must plot, bend tradition, avoid assassination attempts, and trade her heart for power in order to save the Acoma from destruction.

''Servant of the Empire'' (1990)

Mara of the Acoma has now become an expert player in the Game of the Council through bloody political maneuvering. After buying a group of Midkemian prisoners-of-war, she discovers one of them, Kevin of Zun, is a noble who reveals himself a great asset in regards to the Game of the Council.

''Mistress of the Empire'' (1992)

After rising to power, Mara of the Acoma must face the power of the brotherhood of assassins, the spies of rival houses, and the might of the Assembly—who see her as a threat to their power.

References

{{The Riftwar Cycle Fantasy novel trilogies Collaborative book series Works by Raymond E. Feist