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The Hands of the Emperor

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The Hands of the Emperor

By: Victoria Goddard
Narrated by: Grant Cartwright
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An impulsive word can start a war. A timely word can stop one. A simple act of friendship can change the course of history.

Cliopher Mdang is the personal secretary of the Last Emperor of Astandalas, the Lord of Rising Stars, the Lord Magus of Zunidh, the Sun-on-Earth, the god.


He has spent more time with the Emperor of Astandalas than any other person. He has never once touched his lord. He has never called him by name. He has never initiated a conversation.

One day Cliopher invites the Sun-on-Earth home to the proverbially remote Vangavaye-ve for a holiday.

The mere invitation could have seen Cliopher executed for blasphemy.


The acceptance upends the world.

©2019 Victoria Goddard Epic Fantasy Historical Romance
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At the Feet of the Sun By: Victoria Goddard
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This is an immersive story. One of my all time favourites and it comes alive even more with the spoken word. The characters are fully formed and the world building is truly astonishing. And it is utopian rather than dystopian which is a relief particularly at this time in the real world.

A complete world

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In a tale of love, homeland and family connections warring with moral and professional obligations. For anyone needing a break from stories of societal downfall, corruption, and hopelessness, this story lovingly tells of good people succeeding doing the right thing. The tension is in the characters, their relations, and their stories. Truly a beautiful telling.

One of the most beautiful tales I have ever listened to.

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What could have been a very fine story around the two central characters - both very well drawn, and the emperor in particular very interesting- goes gradually completely off the rails. I actually ended up skipping through parts- not because of the narrator, who does sterling work, but because parts of it are unlistenable to. Pages and pages of - the main character gets one over on yet another cardboard cutout character inserted so the writer can make a (subtle as a blunt axe) political point, the main character tries to get his family to see how successful he is. The close family are held up as all that is virtuous even though at least one of them is throughly obnoxious.
If you want to give it a try, don’t listen to it, read it and skip a lot of it (once you’re into the second half it’s not hard to discern which bits are superfluous).

Desperately needed an editor

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