Emperor’s Edge Books In Order

Publication Order of The Emperor's Edge Books

Emperor’s Edge by Lindsay Buroker is a series of steampunk novels set in the 19th century. Buroker the author has held a variety of jobs from soldier in the American Army, network administrator, fast food flinger to lifeguard. For seven years between 2004 and 2011, she was an affiliate marketer and blogger. For many people, this is a dream job but reviewing the latest vacuum cleaners or child car seats was not something she enjoyed doing. Lindsay always wanted to tell stories and knew that her destiny was to become an author. While doing her many jobs, she had been writing manuscripts and had several on her home computer. The ones she loved best were those that would finally become the Emperor’s Edge series. It was not long before she finished “The Emperor’s Edge” the first novel of the series but she did not think it was good enough to publish. Moreover, the idea of pitching the novel to tons of agents was not in the least exciting. Buroker then completed the novel “Encrypted,” which she thought would sell better than the Empire Edge series. But it turned out to be huge failure as it morphed into high fantasy science fiction combo that agents rejected since it did not fit neatly in any genre. It was neither a high fantasy, steampunk or cross genre novel, and no one would touch it.

Nearly giving up, she stumbled upon a blog by JA Konrath’s about self-publishing and it was this that reignited her fire for publishing. She decided to self-publish on Amazon since she believed that her background in internet marketing, search engine optimization and blogging would be of great help. “The Emperor’s Edge” the first of the series turned out to be a huge success, and by 2011 she had become a full time author.

The Emperor’s Edge series of novels are steampunk novels that follow Amaranthe, a female enforcer of an empire. She gets on the emperor’s and his advisers’ bad side and ends up a fugitive who has to earn back his trust through criminal schemes. While she is a fugitive, Amaranthe is an intelligent, and kickass enforcer with a great sense of humor that comes out even in the most dangerous situations. While she has it rough as a female enforcer in an occupation dominated by males, she loves her job and will not give it up for anything. She also has a righteous streak though she is not one to regret when she picks up the sword and gets some blood on it. Over the course of the series, she builds an effective team of enforcers that follow her lead and respect her as their leader. Sicarious is the most significant of her followers who starts out as her enemy in the first novel. He is a legendary assassin that she is supposed to kill but who later becomes a love interest and the most effective member of her team. Sicarious also brings out the girly side out of Amaranthe. He is a cold and murderous man with a ruthless reputation that has allegedly killed several platoons of soldiers singlehandedly. Nonetheless, he has a dry sense of humor and acts in a nonchalant manner which makes him quite the likable rogue despite his ruthless nature.

The “Emperor’s Edge” the first novel of the Emperor’s Edge series introduces Amaranthe Lokdon, a Corporal and one of the few female enforcers of the imperial city. The capital had only recently allowed women to join the enforcers and Amaranthe had jumped at the chance. Nonetheless, despite her hard work and effectiveness on the job, she has been passed over for promotions and ignored for as long as she can remember. But her partner who is not very good at her job and is at best a slacker, always seems to get the promotions. At the beginning of the story, Amaranthe is in charge of an arson case when she is noticed by the young emperor who is attracted to the feisty enforcer. This is a complication especially for Hollowcrest, the power behind the throne and the emperor’s chief minister. Hollowcrest does not want anyone coming close to the emperor as he thinks that could potentially erode his power. He believes the best way to get rid of Amaranthe is to assign her an impossible mission. She is to find and kill the murderous and cold blooded Sicarious, a man that has been known to take on whole platoons of soldiers. But she unravels his plan by befriending and teaming up with Sicarius alongside a rag tag team of misfits. With her team they expose Hollowcrest and save the emperor from his clutches.

“Dark Currents” the second novel of the series opens three months after the events of the first novel. Amaranthe had joined forces with Sicarious the notorious assassin and had thwarted a kidnapping plan and in the process saved the emperor’s life. However, they are now blamed for the kidnapping scheme and they cannot prove that they were actually the good guys. They now have bounty hunters and enforcers on their trail even as the emperor harbors a deep hatred for Sicarius. But then Books and Maldynado who are leading members of her rag tag team find several bodies clogging up a drain. It is a mystery that they are determined to solve as it would put them back in the good books of the enforcers and possibly the emperor Sespian. A set of numbers on one of the victim’s body promises to be their best clue as they look like land plot codes. But things get complicated when Book investigates the numbers and stumbles into a woman who is also checking out the same numbers. It is too much of a coincidence and the danger only ramps up as they trace the plot numbers to a mountainous area where the city’s water comes from. Something is very suspicious up in the mountains and the group needs to find out what it is. But standing in their path are deadly mechanical constructs, man eating predators, vengeful shamans and imperial soldiers who are looking to kill them.

In “Deadly Games” the third novel of the Emperor’s Edge series, Amaranthe and her team have not yet managed to get rid of the accusation of kidnapping the emperor. They are still the number one target for every enforcer. Proving their loyalty and innocence or even just getting an imperial pardon is going to be harder than they ever thought it would be. But Amaranthe and her outlaws will not stop trying to clear their names or get the pardon they think they deserve. The annual games have just begun and they present an opportunity for the empire’s best athletes to excel and meet the emperor. Then athletes start disappearing and Amaranthe Lokdon and her outlaws are called in by the sibling of one of the missing athletes. They need to get to the bottom of the mystery since they are also being blamed for the recent disappearances that they have nothing to do with. If they can resolve the mystery, they may just convince the emperor of their commitment to his regime. But things go haywire when her own team turns on each other and the man she thought of as her closest friend and best fighter betrays her by trying to turn her in before disappearing. Maybe they should not have gotten involved in the first place.