The Gladiator's Downfall by Kristen Banet

Interesting world-building: the FMC is not human (she has horns, wings and tail) and their society is a matriarchal polyandry the lore is rich enough and the history of the various races is detailed and organic The fights and battles make sense probably because the author was in the Navy, but they do not seem contrived, and the details about the logistics of the operations seem sound (as a reader who knows nothing about this kind of stuff) Great characters and organic growth arcs over the series you can really see relationships (not only the romantic ones) slowly evolving, as the MCs learn, adapt and grow nothing comes easily and growth is not a switch that they can turn on by giving themselves a pep-talk and magically becoming the most badass warriors in that universe

I will list some of the things I really appreciated: Some of those have an academy setting with bullying tropes, some are pure smut (and there is nothing wrong with that), but not many series I have read are so good as to cross the boundaries of the RH subgenre to be 'really good' in general terms.Īnd, since I am writing this post, I think this is one of them. If you are not aware, reverse harem refers to a book or a series where the MMCs are three or more and are all in a relationship with the FMC (and sometimes among themselves too). Some of you may be aficionados of the RH (reverse harem) subgenre, while others may have been disappointed time and again. This is the story of Mave, a 1000-year old gladiator that will fight for the freedom of her people (the Andinna) against the Empire, run by another long-lived race (the Elvasi). I would like to bring to your attention the just-completed Age of the Andinna series by Kristen Banet, urban fantasy writer extraordinaire, who managed to write a great epic fantasy saga in seven novels, which incidentally is also RH.

The Gladiator's Downfall by Kristen Banet