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There is some set up to this world and so I would say the first 20% runs a little slower than the rest of the story but after that between mysteries and events unfolding I couldn’t tear myself away from the story. No character is safe, there are surprises around every corner, some I guessed most I did not. The author gives plenty of leads, but then the result of the lead was often different and more complex than I originally thought. As for the villains, they are numerous and unexpected. No all powerful and completely obvious Sauron-like caricatures here. Nope, each of our young stars deal with their own very different enemies. Whether that be arrogant fellow cadets for Valyn or mysterious creatures for Kaden or powerful high priests for Adare, Mr. Staveley crafts each one differently, shading them in unique ways, so that our Blades are never confronted with the same situation as their sibling a few chapters before. And when the conclusion to the novel finally rolls around, the unveiling of exactly who and what the real villains are and what they are doing might just surprise you. Thanks for getting in touch. Actually, I don’t know Jason at all, except through the internet. I’m not involved with his pricing, and I don’t make any money off the books. I don’t follow the signed book market at all, and have no idea if he’ll manage to sell them at this price. This is one of those books that I really liked but find it difficult to review. I’ve very mixed feelings so bear with me here. I'd also like to add that this is after all the first book in the series and when have I ever been blown away by first books, save for some few exceptions here and there? Can’t win ‘em all now, can we?
Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne (3 book series) Kindle Edition
At a glance it feels like we’ve seen this song and dance before. An army of white-armored soldiers stand in perfect square formations beneath the comings and goings of Offworld spaceships. They’re soldiers; the supposed elite; the Emperor’s very own Sardaukar hit squad. But to anyone who’s watched a Star Wars movie or nine, they’re not that threatening, right? This supposed scourge off the Empire—excuse me, Imperium—is built up to be unbeatable until our protagonists start mowing them down by the dozen. Ruthanna Emrys and Anne M. Pillsworth I Told You Not to Go in That House: Jordan Peele’s Get Out 3 mins ago ALL spiders. Even the ordinary teeny, tiny brown ones. How do I feel about giant (maybe INTELLIGENT) brain-eating spiders? The prologue opens on a scene of slaughter. The immortal Csestriim general Tan’is is overseeing the massacre of humans. Humans, we learn, are the children of the Csestriim, but for reasons unknown, they are born different from their parents. Unlike the Csestriim, who are immortal and emotionless, these human children have a life span of less than a hundred years, and are the playthings of their own passions. This difference leads to a great war between the two races, one that nearly ends in the complete destruction of the humans before the humans are able to turn the tide and effect their own genocide of the Csestriim.The sooner we talk about The Emperor’s Blades’ foremost failings, the sooner we can dig into the better bits of it, so I’m going to come right out as say that Staveley doesn’t do nearly enough with the women of his first fiction, and that which he does do is poor, to be sure. Though a suggestive synopsis of her part of the plot occupies one third of the blurb, and in retrospect she seems central to the overall arc of the otherwise ambitious narrative this book begins, Adare hardly features in the novel at all. In the five of its fifty chapters she is in—the others are divided down the middle between the brothers—all she does is push the plot along and— sigh—have some hanky-panky. Begin with competent characters and develop them by slowly revealing key details about their past, so the reader feels like she's getting to know them. Despite the obviousness of what was going on, the characters kept right on scratching their heads. At times, these obvious things were even stated OUT LOUD: Staveley's debut trilogy, The Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne (2014–2016), follows the three children of an assassinated emperor – the monk Kaden, the special forces soldier Valyn and the politician Adare – as they attempt to unravel the conspiracy gripping their continent-spanning empire. The first volume won the Gemmell Morningstar Award for best debut novel and was nominated for the Locus Award and Goodreads Choice Awards. [2]
Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne Series - Goodreads
I don’t know about you but to me, that sounds like a recipe for a badass narrative. 🤞 Well... it’s also a recipe for half the fantasy books out there but... we’re not gonna dwell on that. Girl’s tryin’ to make a point here. He wasn’t angry at his Wing. They were playing by the book, playing it safe, but there was no benefit to a pointless standoff with a dozen Aedolians.But what I really want to speak about is the representations of women in Blades particularly, and grimdark fantasy generally. I’m also going to touch on how the book handles POC and LGBTQ characters. And only the eldest daughter, Adare who is suited to rule in all forms but her gender is the only one in Annur, having assumed the role of Minister of Finance. Although she cannot claim the throne, she intently seeks the murderer of her father. If you are uncomfortable with the image I’m painting you need to ask yourself why you were ok with Staveley doing it to Lin.
Dune: The Sardaukar Are Scarier Than You Realize | Den of Geek Dune: The Sardaukar Are Scarier Than You Realize | Den of Geek
dalilllama on Five SF Visions of Society Free From Rules, Regulations, or Effective Government 17 mins ago As Kaden struggles to master the Shin discipline—including such skills as the saama’an, the Carved Mind, beshra’an, The Thrown Mind; and kinla’an, The Flesh Mind—the killings around the monastery increase. Whatever predator haunts the mountains has moved from from goats to human prey. Then, to everyone’s surprise, a pair of merchants arrive at the monastery. Kaden is convinced, by some discrepancies in their story and behavior, that they are not what they claim, and more, that they have news of his father (of whose death, at this point in the story, Kaden is still unaware.) With the help of his friend and fellow acolyte, Akiil, Kaden uncovers a hidden cache of weapons belonging to the merchants. Before he can confront them, however, he is subdued by Rampuri Tan and brought before the abbot of the monastery, Scial Nin. That is great news! I like traditional book-in-hand reading, but also enjoy audio books, especially in the car, on planes, and when exercising. Simon is fantastic and I am glad he is slated to perform all of the books. Nothing irks me more than when a new narrator pronounces the names of characters differently than the original narrator. A good (or bad) example of this is the Song of Ice and Fire narrator. The first few books were narrated by Roy Dotrice (who is on par with Vance). When the 4th book came out there was a new narrator who obviously didn’t bother to find out how the established speaker had pronounced important character names. One example of this was Littlefinger, Petyr Baelish. Roy pronounced this as Pah-Tyer while the new guy used the more common Peter. Inconsistencies like this in audio books are just the worst! Am I just crazy, or does everyone else feel this way?
New in Series
Oh, hello, Adare, impulsive firstborn daughter of Emperor. Nice to meet you. Maybe we'll see you again in another dozen POV changes, and you can do some other fool thing to make me not like you. The story takes place when The Emperor of The Annurian Empire is murdered leaving 3 kids behind him. His three kids are Kaden who is being trained under monks far away somewhere to be more disciplined, Valyn who is also away training as a part of the empire’s deadliest fighting force and Adare who is now the finance minister and is investigating her father’s death.
The Emperor’s Blades by Brian Staveley A Boy and His Toys: The Emperor’s Blades by Brian Staveley
There is also an awesome mystery surrounding the Csestriim and the Nevariim, both of which predate humans. We find out very little about them in this book, but you can easily tell that they will be the focal point moving forward, and I'm so excited. I had a huge review for this written and ready to go. I talked about the incredible characterization, the complexity of the plot, the gorgeous writing, and the mind blowing way that they were all executed. And you know what? I can’t post it. It doesn’t do this book justice. So for now, I’ll say this: Firstly, why are you so invested in seeing women raped and POC victimised in your fiction? I think this says more about you then me.
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Okay, so it wasn't a 5 start review but I still liked the book. I will admit the book is full of a lot of arseholes that are evil!
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