Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne - Book I - The Emperor's Blades

This book is to blame for the grizzly in me - I devoured it in 9 straight hours with gaps in between to eat, drink and a short nap. Fantastic prose, imagination and a tight plot. I especially appreciate that instead of sibling rivalry, the book champions family unity - a breath of fresh air. The world building is out of this world and can't wait to be sleepless again tonight with Book 2!

I enjoyed most of this book (writing, worldbuilding, plotting) but found the last few chapters to just really be unbelievable. In the most general terms to avoid spoilers, the amount of corruption and the number of traitors in the Empire simply beggars belief. The old Emperor must have been just a terrible, terrible judge of character.

Other then that peeve, highly recommended book.

Here's the thing: this book is amazing in dozens of ways. It also irritated me in two specific ways. I'll get to my complaints in a minute, but first, here's what's great:

1. The world! Reading this made me think back to my high school days playing D&D. Everything from the mountains to the tropical islands where the Kettral train is so completely imagined that I just want to explore the world, to see it expanded, to look behind every shadowy corner. I think this series will be a huge success. The world is so interesting that I fully expect tie-in board games, video game, and RPG modules. I already want to pore through an Emporer's Blades wiki.

2. The characters. The Kettral (special forces guys and gals) and the Shin (the monks) are both familiar from other books, and new and surprising. I haven't seen this kind of modern black-ops military aspect in any other fantasy novels, and I'd eagerly read spin-off novels about various secondary characters encountered on the Islands. The Flea (a savvy instructor): awesome. Rampuri Tan (one of the most mysterious monks): awesome. Pyrre (don't want to spoil it): awesome. I would read about them doing just about anything.

3. The writing. I don't usually get hung up on the quality of prose. As long as it's readable, I'm more interested in the story. Let's just say, I still reread DragonLance. Staveley's prose, though, is really top-notch, a genuine pleasure to read. It's one of the reasons I think I'd actually go back to this book in a few years.

Now, my irritations. First, there are a couple of plot points where I really think one character in particular makes stupid, stupid decisions. I suppose it's cool to encounter flawed characters who have room to grow over the course of the series, but I just wanted this one main character to be BETTER! Second, I wanted more about Adare, the emperor's daughter. Right now her plot line feels a little rushed. I'll expect a lot more of her in book two, and I'll be disappointed if it's not there.

Bottom line: Any reader of fantasy NEEDS to pick this up. You won't be disappointed.

This book is simply outstanding. It's gritty, it's smart, it's complex, it's original, and it's just plain fun. The world is so richly imagined that I felt as though I was plunged into it from the very first page. Religion and philosophy are both developed really well and worked thoroughly and convincingly into the language and social structures. The politics feel real and convincing, too. Staveley can be ruthless with his characters, which I appreciate for its keep-you-on-the-edge-of-your-seat tension, but he's not pointlessly nasty the way GRRM sometimes seems to be.

There are multiple plot lines running simultaneously, each of which is so gripping that it's hard to switch from one of the three main characters to the next. That said, I've developed a soft spot in my heart for Kaden, the youngest brother, who is training with a group of monks in the mountains at the far reaches of the empire. Meanwhile, his brother Valyn is training to become one of the Kettral, an elite and highly secret group of soldiers who defend the empire by traveling in teams on thoroughly awesome 70ft birds of prey. Super cool. Their sister, Adare, is also a lot of fun to read about back in the capital, even though she doesn't get as much page-time. I'm hopeful that in book two she'll really come into her own as the central character that she is.

By the end of the book I was only gripped even more than I already was by the end of the prologue. The ending provides some closure but also opens up more mysteries and plot lines that I can't wait to follow. This is truly fantasy at its best. In fact, it is the only book--of any genre--that has inspired me to not only pre-order a copy, but also immediately pre-order copies for all my friends. January 2015 and the next installment of this story can't come soon enough!

Brian Staveley weaves a rich, multi layered tale in the 1st volume of The Unhewn Throne. Two brothers are sent as children to different ends of their world for training by their Emporer father. A threat to throne adds suspense and drama to the story as the brothers face the challenges of their training while danger from those plotting against the Emporer and the Empire attempt to eliminate the brothers. An ancient race may be behind the plot while the young men's sister deal with the political posturing in the capital. I enjoyed the edge of your seat suspense the author set in each brother's tale. The book reminded somewhat of Raymond Feist's Magician or The early Wheel of Time books except the magic was much less relied upon by the characters at this point in the story. My only complaint with the story was heir to the throne at this point seems totally unready to deal with the politics or assume the throne after spending 8 years away from the capital. All in all this was a wonderfully book and I am eagerly awaiting book 2.

Spoilers Ahoy:

Really superior world building. Love the Shin monks and their alien, ancient, mystical, pseudo-Buddhism. The ancient race/origin of human kind, Elven/Vulcan combo: foreboding but irresistible mystery. Murder mystery set against the fantasy special forces bootcamp. Confronting an ancient, hypothetical beast deep underground and gaining part of its powers. Separating from the Self to become the defender of the gates of the Blind God. Finding love, political intrigue and alliances to outwit and defeat the arrogant hypocritical religious figurehead, only to find oneself deeper in danger of treachery and murder.

There's nothing about this book I don't like.

I honestly liked most of this book. The characters were decent and the story was good. Only turn off was the constant curses to the many gods of the world. Grated on me pretty badly. If you can get over that, you will enjoy the book.

The book is generally good, but moves very slowly in developing the three main characters. I certainly get that there is much sacrifice involved in making them who they are, but it is depressing rather than developing interest.

The book is generally good, but moves very slowly in developing the three main characters. I certainly get that there is much sacrifice involved in making them who they are, but it is depressing rather than developing interest.

Mr. Stavely has written an exciting tale with a complex plot and interesting characters. His years of teaching young adults has made him a keen observer of human nature. The 3 royal siblings living in separate parts of this fictional kingdom take the reader into the political, military and spiritual worlds. Fascinating and believable. This is one of the best works of fantasy fiction that I've read. I can't wait for the next book

It is a lot better than the first of the series. Entertaining and with a lot of surprises. But still I find the main characters very little likeable and badly developed. I am not sure whether I will go for the third instalment.

Very uninteresting book. The story does not seem to move until the very last 2-3 chapters. The characters are rather bland, not very well fleshed out, and are a bit boring. The main theme of the book seems to be "But why?...". The main male character that goes away to soldier school (I can neither recall his name nor be bothered to look it up.) comes across as a whiny toddler. This story has no backbone, bite, and is not worthy of the hype spouted by various fantasy fiction book sites. Huge bore. The ending is such that you will need to buy the next book to learn anything. Nothing is resolved. Really hate authors that end books with zero conclusion on anything so that you will buy the next book. The next book generally isn't released until a year later.

2 for the honest work and engaging world.

I don't know if it's just me, is anyone else tired of this type of story? Of authors who set background for characters and their world only to have them act uncharacteristic at crucial moments or have some situation or world aspect not previously mentioned, but assumed, pop up to change things? How about lead characters who have the insight of an 11 yr old and the inability to act upon the insight they do have.

I grew up with SF / Fantasy genre authors like Douglas Adams, Stephen Donaldson, Piers Anthony etc. and I am happy to see the genre continue to grow and thrive, but a lot of the newer authors are driving me crazy. When I pre-read young adult books for my 11yo I expect this from authors.

Maybe I'm expecting too much?

There are a host of contemporary authors who make me think otherwise. Patrick Rothefuss, George Martin, RA Salvatore, Ed Greewood, Paul Kemp (most of the Forgotten Realms authors for that matter) Patricia Briggs ( I miss the Hurog series but let's face it, those books don't sell as well nowadays) Kage Baker (R.I.P.), Peter Brett and Neil Gaiman to name a handful.

It's made me very careful picking new authors because of how often I've been burned lately.

I just want a book I can fall into and enjoy, not one that makes me sigh and endure. When you get to the end of these books you don't get that "end of book glow" that my daughter has just started experiencing. Instead your just done, and thankful for it

This was a compelling read, but one of the main characters is an idiot. If there is an opportunity to make the wrong choice, or leap to the wrong conclusion, he takes it, every time. It gets frustrating.

For once I've read a good fantasy that grips you with its swirls and twists and is on par with the true masters of fantasy .To all wondering if this is worth reading trust me it is . I don't waste time writing reviews , since most of the latest fantasy stories/writers out there waste our time with crap . But this first book is excellent and hopefully the books to come in the series will stay the same way....

I am on the third book and I really like the series. Like most series it starts a little slow developing the characters. Then it really takes of in the 2nd book. Lots of twists and turns and surprises.

Kept me waiting too long for anything cool to happen. The character who is supposed to be the badass just gets beaten by nearly every challenge he faces. Wrapped it up decently, but I do not know if it was enough for me to ever pick up the next book.

The Great Emperor of Annur has been assassinated. His three children, including his heir, Kaden are scattered across the continent. Caught out of position, even the news of the death of the Emperor takes time to reach Kaden and Valyn, as isolated as they are. Adare, the Emperor’s daughter and a minister in her own right, is left shakily at the center of things.

Who really killed the Emperor? And for what purpose? And can the martial skills being learned by Valyn, the ministerial skills of Adare and the meditative training of the heir, Kaden, be put to use to solve the mystery? Or just even to survive?

The Emperor’s Blades is a debut Epic Fantasy from Brian Staveley.

The book has many of the virtues of what I call neo-Epic Fantasy--a large scale setting, but relatively few point of view characters. Instead of the more than dozen viewpoint characters one might find in Martin, or Erikson, the book restricts itself almost exclusively to the principals. We don’t get a look into the minds of the antagonists, as determining who and what they are is part of the fabric of the book. This gives us deep understanding of the brothers Valyn and Kaden, as they are even unaware at first that there has been an assassination, and (especially Valyn) can do little about it anyway once they do find out.

The major weakness, or the missed opportunity, even, though, is with Adare. Staveley clearly knows what he wants to do with Valyn and Kaden. The book spends a large pagecount on their day to day life and training. A constellation of secondary characters grow up around each of them, especially Valyn. The Kettral society and the society of monks devoted to the Blank God are rich places, settings and character webs.

By contrast, Adare gets extremely little to work with, especially in terms of pagecount. While her plotline is important (as she is directly working on the assassination problem), it gets short shrift by comparison. Although likely unintended, the text feels like it tackles her story with extreme reluctance. Also, while the secondary female characters around Valyn come off well, the writing of Adare feels very much like the author is unsure of himself and what he wants to do with her. Also, the cultural bias against female leadership seems ill at ease with the facts on the ground as far as women in the Kettral. The text seems more content to spend pages and pages on Kaden being buried alive as part of his training than to have Adare come across as anything other than a plot device.

The writing is entertaining, the action pieces well done, and Valyn and Kaden, and those around them, come across very well. There are some neat worldbuilding ideas here, and clear set ups for future volumes. The mishandling, in my eyes, of Adare keeps what might have been an excellent debut epic fantasy into only a pretty good one.

An incredible new year's surprise! The scope and detail of Brian Staveley's world rival that of R.R. Martin and Jordan. An impressive achievement for a new author. Can't wait for the next installment, perhaps the next great fantasy epic.

I love real books, but a girl only has so much space. I bought the Kindle version of this book two days ago and tomorrow I will be buying the hardback version for my library. That's a five star for me. Last time it was Blood Song.

This book is fantastic -- excellent plot, nicely fleshed out characters, and no shortage of action! Only downside is that the book is a bit on the short side, but it made for an absolutely wonderful afternoon.

It's an interesting new world, but perhaps a bit too heavy handed in the asian cultural references. just because you call it something else, doesn;t mean it isn't buddhism.
the female characters are weakly done. all of them are emotional and irrational. He really missed an opportunity here to develop ANY of the female characters.
I liked the magic system. something a little different.

I did enjoy reading it and flew through it. I will definitely buy the next book whenever it comes out.

This book has everything: battles, romance, intrigue, murder, and to top it all off, a carefully constructed and beautifully executed world that feels fresh and exciting. The first in a trilogy, The Emperor's Blades sets up a truly epic tale. So sad to hear the next book won't come out for another year!

This debut book is absolutely stunning, with great worldbuilding, lovable characters, and heightening tension. Staveley isn't afraid and doesn't pull any punches, keeping you on the edge of your seat. I cannot wait for the next installment! Pick THE EMPEROR'S BLADES up today!

So far a good plot and a nice building of character! Too much use of modern English profanity in a created realm. If you go to the trouble of creating a language for a new world and realm why is Brian Staveley using modern English profanity to make a point? Tolkien created several languages without bring his work down to the ugliest words of modern English! If you want to be taken as a serious fantasy writer don't bring the reader back to the modern world with modern profanity! That alone cost him one star because I was jerked back and forth between two worlds!

Slow. God damned slow. It doesn't tread new ground and when it tries it just uncovers old tropes. As a starter of a trilogy I can see how people wouldn't give this series a chance. But you should, it's fairly solid all the way through.

I liked two of the three story lines, but had a real problem with the brother in the military. No elite military unit would be successful with the lack of discipline and control portrayed in the book.

This book is exactly what it promises. Keeps you up all night with a compelling plot and fantastic writing, while at the same time making you think a little bit about the philosophies and the characters. Top-notch storytelling all the way thorough.

I chose this book for the title and (blush, yes) the art/cover. The book was slow to grab me, but built in intensity. I began to care about what happened next to the characters. Liked the character and plot twists. Next?

What's not to like? The prose is great, the characters are intricately conceived and the plotting is tight. The Emperor's Blades ranks right up there with debuts from Sanderson, Weeks, and Brett, three of my favorite "new" authors, and should satisfy their legions of fans who are looking for something new. I'm eagerly awaiting the sequel.

Slow epic build up for a very fast ending. Nothing special for your surprise, dont know if I will continue the story. but now that I have read the intro book, maybethe next ones will keep a higher pace.

My biggest complaint with the book is the story-telling feels a bit lazy. There are a lot of short cuts taken in progressing the story or explaining a characters actions, thought process, or motives. While in many books this can easily be overlooked (and sometimes even helps make a story more casually enjoyable), it is a bit too prevalent here. Some times these short cuts are even jarring. A number of times I was left trying to figure out how the story suddenly jumped from slowly unwinding a mystery to brazenly over-exposing its solution. Too many of the big "payoff" revelations just fell flat for me to enjoy the story.

This book is relatively well written, the plot is decent and the "magic" system reasonable creative. It's a fantastic first attempt. However, I try to avoid books with a lot of foul language and never would have purchased it had there been any disclaimer about the content. If you have similar preferences, don't buy it.

Spoiler Free Review from the advanced reading copy.

I read the free first seven chapters. I was hooked and luckily was able to acquire the ARC to read.

The story alternates chapters between the 3 children of the recently murdered Emperor who have been separated for about 8 years. Adare is the daughter who stayed near her father and learned the finance and political roles in the Empire. Valyn, a younger son, was sent away on the to join the elite military wing that ride giant black hawks. And the heir to the throne Kaden was sent far away to the edge of the empire to a monastery where he learns self-discipline.

Sounds like your typical fantasy novel -- The grown children are prematurely forced into difficult situations and have to succeed or fail. However, the execution of weaving between the 3 story lines while covering the larger story line of who killed the Emperor was brilliantly done.

While exploring the story lines, the world building (history, religions, creatures, surrounding cultures, "magic") is also intertwined in small increments that does not make it overwhelming. It seems the author has created an interesting world that this book explores pieces of. I'm hoping to see it expanded in the following books.

Overall:
Interesting Characters
Well paced world building
Detailed action sequences that aren't confusing
A page turning ending where I should have gone to sleep but needed to finish

Perhaps I have read too many books in this genre because I had feelings of déjà vu a few times.
If your first book, good fun. If you have spent a few months reading books in this genre, you may run into Déjà vu as well

Spoiler Free Review from the advanced reading copy.

I read the free first seven chapters. I was hooked and luckily was able to acquire the ARC to read.

The story alternates chapters between the 3 children of the recently murdered Emperor who have been separated for about 8 years. Adare is the daughter who stayed near her father and learned the finance and political roles in the Empire. Valyn, a younger son, was sent away on the to join the elite military wing that ride giant black hawks. And the heir to the throne Kaden was sent far away to the edge of the empire to a monastery where he learns self-discipline.

Sounds like your typical fantasy novel -- The grown children are prematurely forced into difficult situations and have to succeed or fail. However, the execution of weaving between the 3 story lines while covering the larger story line of who killed the Emperor was brilliantly done.

While exploring the story lines, the world building (history, religions, creatures, surrounding cultures, "magic") is also intertwined in small increments that does not make it overwhelming. It seems the author has created an interesting world that this book explores pieces of. I'm hoping to see it expanded in the following books.

Overall:
Interesting Characters
Well paced world building
Detailed action sequences that aren't confusing
A page turning ending where I should have gone to sleep but needed to finish

Perhaps I have read too many books in this genre because I had feelings of déjà vu a few times.
If your first book, good fun. If you have spent a few months reading books in this genre, you may run into Déjà vu as well

Very frustrating to read, as the main characters all use faulty logic to make any decision, resulting in adverse situations everytime. Basically, if you've ever been annoyed with a movie or book because a character does something very stupid that no one in their right mind would do, that is this entire book.

Twice I have tried to read this book ,the heir to a great empire were the emperor is like a God,but his heir is treated like a female dog.knowing this young man will have the power to kill everyone of them he's is a dog in there eyes ,which to me is really stupid and unrealistic,that being said it doesn't make sense from the start.the rest is not really that outstanding at best a .99 to .1.99$ book . I read the reviews and thought this was something better but I guess when get it for free there review can be corrupted .

I liked the story, very interesting characters.plus the action scenes are well written. What I have problems with is the never ending details. I found that at times I could skip a page or two and not miss anything special. It just seemed like it was over the top sometimes.

The book has a lot of the lately en vogue mythological mish mash, but centers on the principle of vaniete or emptiness, which principle stays unclear to the end, as unclear as why the heroes almost kill themselves in extreme ordeals. Probably vaniete refers to the total book itself

I purchased this book for two reasons: a plethora of great the store reviews (which I generally trust) and the exceptional book cover art. I managed to get half way through the book, but even then, I didn't know enough about the characters - or the plot - to really care about what happened next. It's hard for me to stay engaged when there are no reasons to root for a character. The language was incredibly crude and overdone. The world was harsh and unforgiving, which, if done right, can be a great backdrop to developing characters, but there were no glimpses of love or compassion or any redeeming qualities at all - and without some of that - even a little - it just stays dark and depressing. I wanted there to be more and I kept reading to find it, but half-way in, I threw in the towel.

Have you ever noticed how sometimes your reading seems to fall into a recognizable pattern? Sometimes it’s an obvious similarity of plot, sometimes it’s one of character (I still fondly recall my Pre-20th Century Whore run of The Dress Lodger, The Crimson Petal and The White, Slammerkin—you should read all three if not in a row), sometimes it’s theme or mood. Lately, I seem to have been on a run of books-that-don’t-meet-potential. The newest member of the club is Brian Staveley’s The Emperor’s Blades, which though employing a lot of the same old same old genre tropes, had an intriguing premise and an interesting if relatively common structure. Being a fan of the genre, I don’t have any particular issue when an author chooses to work with the same elements so many others are, but once that choice is made, you really need to nail the execution, and unfortunately, The Emperor’s Blades felt as if it fell short of what it could have been.

It opens, as many such epics have, with “trouble in the Empire.” In this case, the Emperor has been murdered as part of what appears to be a larger conspiracy and in a few quick pages we’re introduced to his three children in their separate settings/roles. His heir, Kaden, has been sent away to study in a far-off, hidden mountain monastery (is there any other kind?) with a sect of discipline-crazed and koan-spouting monks (are there any other kinds?). The monastery is so far away, in fact, that Kaden will not learn of his father’s death until near the very end of the novel, so instead we’re focused on a mysterious creature killing animals in the vicinity, Kaden’s studies, and the eventual revelation of the real reasons the monks exist and why Kaden was sent there almost a decade ago. His brother Valyn, meanwhile, is in his final year of training to become a member of an elite fighting force (think Navy Seals or Rangers, save they fly missions on giant Roc-like birds). The training itself is brutal and even fatal at times, but the risk is even greater now as it appears someone is trying to kill Valyn as they did his father. Even amongst his small cadre of cadets, Valyn is unsure of whom to trust. Last, and in this case definitely least as she takes up far fewer pages, is the Emperor’s daughter Adare, the only one still in the capital city. Thanks to her father’s will, she is now a minister of the government, which is temporarily headed by a regent until her brother Kaden can be returned. Adare must try to deal with the apparent killer of her father, overcome the obvious lack of faith in her abilities from the other ministers (who look down upon her as a woman), and learn to deal with the regent, an up-and-coming general chosen by the ministers for his relative inexperience in politics.

Let’s start with the positives. I thought the premise—Emperor killed, plot against the children, did a nice job of lending a sense of urgency and suspense to the entire novel. It plays out most fully with Valyn on his island training setting, but does lend a background concern to Kadan’s scenes as well. Adare, meanwhile, seems not to be a target, which I thought was a bad choice in that it a) robbed her storyline of a lot of suspense beyond the political and b) seemed to make it a little too clear who was not, and perhaps who was, the villain in town.

Characterization was mixed. Valyn was the most fully rounded of the siblings, and many of the side characters in his section, save for the villains, were well formed, feeling like actual people. Many of them had secrets or are a bit gray, which helped maintain a level of suspense. Kaden was likable and I enjoyed his scenes, but he was a pretty typical young-and-rash-boy-who-doesn’t-understand-the-wisdom-of-his-elders sort of fantasy character. Adare is also likable, but similar to Kaden falls into a typical fantasy sort—bookish female of inner strength but lacking some confidence trying to prove herself in a world of men. Her relative lack of page time didn’t help her in this regard, and though I assume we will see a lot more of her in book two, she never came alive for me in The Emperor’s Blades.

The stock nature of characters continues with many of the side-characters in the non-Valyn strands, such as a taciturn stern monk with a quick disciplinary hand or a young impetuously disobedient thief. I could have lived happily with this (see my above re genre tropes), but it really became a detriment to the novel when it came to our villains, where we get a smarmy power-hungry priest and a smarmy arrogant and sadistic son of a powerful noble. This may be a personal quirk, but while I can get along with a blandly stock good character, I really want my villains to have some original oomph to them. Granted, our villains, in good epic form, have larger villains behind them, but still. My favorite character in the entire novel actually, was an assassin who only appears at the very end. Ironically enough, for an assassin pledged to the God of Death, she adds a welcome heaping of life to the book.

While on the topic of character, I have to add that I found myself a little disappointed in the portrayal of the female characters, with one exception. Adare, as mentioned, is a bit too stock and is so far at least given short shrift with regard to plot. Other women are either whores, victims of brutality (often both), or serve as a means to an end for the male characters (don’t want to give too much away here). I’m hoping for a broader portrayal in the sequel.

The plot, as mentioned, has a nice drumbeat of urgency and suspense to it, especially in Valyn’s section, often in and especially at the end of Kaden’s, and far less so in Adare’s. Unfortunately, the pleasure I mostly took in Valyn’s section was diluted at times by some implausible moments, and really undermined by a major segment involving the last and most dangerous part of his training. I won’t go into details so as to avoid spoilers, but none of it made any sense to me, from the training “session” itself to the characters’ choices to how it played out to the end result. I just kept thinking “but” or “C’mon!” or “Why would . . .? or “Why wouldn’t . . . “ It was one of the near-book-slamming moments of frustration that sometimes arises in reading. And I have to admit, I’m generally not a fan of the we-want-to-be-so-elite-we’ll-kill-our-trainees concept—I just don’t ever buy it. I had the same level of frustration toward the end in some of the climactic moments, but again, won’t expand on them.

The world building was solid, mostly done with side references to the larger world, save for some scenes in the capital. I liked that it isn’t the usual European medieval setting and we’re clearly going to see more of this world and I look forward to that. The prose is smooth and fluid and often sharply vivid (some might think too much so at times of violence). And I like the whole villain-behind-the-villain set-up, especially as I would imagine they’ll start to come into play much more in the sequel.

Despite the frustrations (which were high at times), I never considered not finishing. The two male characters were engaging, I enjoyed the level of suspense, and the writing was pretty strong. Which means I’ll pick up the second book, on the assumption that Staveley will improve on the issues that prevented The Emperor’s Blades from meeting its potential.

This book has promise. It’s based on three children of an emperor and bounces around among them. The characters start out pretty strong and while the story is moderately interesting, the world building is pretty darn good here. While not incredibly deep, there’s enough here to really immerse the reader into the setting. However, the story kind of pitters out and takes some very questionable turns later on. Most notably, the characters themselves make some very strange and seemingly random choices that kind of takes away from the ambience of the story. While they are built well and given defined personalities and traits, each of them shifts radically from what had been previously established and it struck me as more than a bit odd. The dialogue is a bit childish as well. Characters talk to each other in such clearly defined tropes (the good guy, the menacingly evil guy, the mysterious guy, the tough girl, the misunderstood girl, etc.) and it can be a bit grating sometimes. They also say "Kent-kissing" waaaaay too much. There is a lot of time wasted on superfluous scenes too. This doesn't really do anything to advance the plot and slowed the pacing of the story to a crawl at points.
But, for all its drawbacks, there is potential here. I was intrigued enough to finish it and am curious to see what happens in the rest of the series. That in and of itself is the hallmark of a successful book in my eyes. So while not great by any stretch, this is a pretty solid entrance into the series.

Three young people - one murdered father - lots of intrigue. Of course, the father happens to be the emperor, and the children his heirs in one way or another. Any time you have quite a lot at stake - a country, massive access to power and plain old greed - you have the makings of a good story.

Lots of positive things to say about the story.

Interesting world, with a faction of elite fighters who go into battle with giant roc-like birds. One "pilot" and then four crew who are attached to the legs of the bird by harnesses. The group takes pretty much all comers, so misfits abound. There's also different factions of monks, powerful religious groups, and of course the empire itself.

I would call the emperor a benevolent despot. He has the good of the people at heart, but he is the absolute ruler. He sends his sons out to train in the real world, to learn about what it is to be human, how to sacrifice and toil, how to think (though I'm not entirely sure about the success of this last item). His daughter he keeps close at hand and trains her mind. Due to her gender, she isn't allowed to rule, but he treats her as more than just a pawn to marry off for the sake of politics (though he does tell this is an important part of her duty). He appoints her as Minister of Finance. And then he promptly croaks.

Despite the overall "goodness" of the empire, things we would generally find abhorrent exist. Slavery is common and isn't of any controversy among even the most heroic of our characters. It simply is and no one sees it as a crime. I actually like this since it makes the characters more believable in terms of their upbringing and the norms of their world. Within their own culture they are good, solid people. The daughter is disgruntled about her inability to take the throne, but overall accepts the situation and works within the strictures of her culture. Again, this makes sense since most people raised from day one to follow a certain path don't actively work against the system.

The back history of the world includes a forerunner to the humans who spawned the humans and yet found them so alien, due to their capacity for emotion, that they tried to exterminate them. They're long extinct. Or are they? This is much of the mystery surrounding the murder of the emperor and the terrifying attacks on his offspring. The monsters involved are like nothing I've run across in a story before. They're freakish and nightmarish. No orcs need apply.

I do have a few quibbles. The children(they're in their late teens), perhaps because of their upbringing, seem exceptionally naive. Gullible even. I know they're young, but I think I would have liked better thinking on their part, especially the sister who's been raised among the intrigue and politics of the Dawn Palace. And speaking of the sister, her chapters are few and far between. I would have liked more of her, perhaps showing her acting competently in the capacity of her office, rather than strictly around to act overly emotional and rash.

Overall, I enjoyed the book a lot and will definitely pick up the sequel.

By far the darkest fantasy novel I've read this year - and yet it's so freakishly exciting. Three children of a slain emperor, each in different parts of Annur (Kaden in a monastery, Valyn neck-high in military training, and Adare still at home, now elevated to Minister of Finance), must survive a plot against their family and uncover who's behind it. That's the best way to summarize what happens, because I'd rather not give away spoilers. Just know this is an intense, heart-stopping read set in a visceral yet enchanting world of mysticism and monks, gods and death priests, soldiers and assassins, gigantic black hawks and poisonous creatures. (Seriously, the slarn almost gave me nightmares.) The characters are the true stars, though, and their struggles will give you one reason after another to root for them.

My one criticism is that Adare gets only a handful of chapters compared to her brothers Kaden and Valyn. But I think that's more of an oversight on the author's part than a show of misogyny or sexism, since several other important characters are female. And based on a few reviews I've read, Adare's lack of page-time appears to be rectified in the sequel THE PROVIDENCE OF FIRE.

If you like the brutality and constant machinations of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire and the character focus of Robin Hobb's books, then you really ought to check out THE EMPEROR'S BLADES by Brian Staveley. If I had the other two books, I would binge-finish this series in a heartbeat.

Best fantasy book I've read in a long time, quite possibly ever.

I requested this book without even reading the book-blurb because a friend told me, while still in the middle of reading it, that it was the best fantasy book she'd read in a long time. Fantasy is my home in genre novels, I come back to it time and time again because it's comfortable, exciting, interesting, detailed and emotional. So I started The Emperor's Blades with incredibly high expectations and excitement.

I was absolutely and thoroughly Blown.Away. This book is amazing. I highlighted dozens of moments throughout this book, was on the edge of my seat for most of it, and was absolutely enthralled the entire journey.

The intricate, sweeping story that follows the Malkeenian royal line - two brothers and a sister maneuvering between, around and through plots to take the Unhewn Throne from them - is full of intrigue and twists, danger and valor, despair and determination. I can't even do this justice, but I will say it's only the second book to surprise me so completely and throw twists at me I didn't even see coming. After I spent a good portion of the book detailing theories in my head, only to be wrong most of the time, the final twist absolutely blew my mind.

Kaden, Valyn, and Adare are some of my favorite characters - I was utterly and completely on their side from the very first moments we met each of them. Though I admit Valyn, the warrior, is my favorite, I love all three of them. As I was reading I was eager to see them succeed, to beat the insurmountable odds stacked against them, and terrified that they wouldn't. They aren't infalliable. They aren't perfect. They are, however, absolutely loyal, strong, intelligent, and full of determination. Thank goodness, because this war is going to test the depths of their resolve. Additionally, there are more than a few other characters that I'm dying to know more about. Those for, and against, the emperor both.

I can't end this review without speaking of the writing itself in The Emperor's Blades. I primarily read for characters, then world, then plot. Prose is important, the way the words are strung together can make or break a story, but it's often the last thing I consider when I decide how much I like a story or not. And if the story here hadn't been so utterly fantastic, if the characters hadn't been so completely intriguing, the world so fascinating - then the words that formed it wouldn't have delighted me so much. But Brian Staveley did something amazing here. He weaved words together in beautiful sentences, gorgeous paragraphs, and painted me a picture that I couldn't look away from. As engrossed as I was in the story, as much as I had to know what was going to happen next, I still stopped and had to re-read a section that was so arresting, so gorgeous, that I couldn't go on without appreciating it for a second, or third, time.

Part of the journey is complete in The Emperor's Blades, but it's clear there's a lot left to be told. And I, for one, couldn't be happier.

**I received this book for review from the publisher.

This reading experience was something that I'll never forget. This world truly is a unique take on epic fantasy, and quickly became one of my favorite immersions. Among all the action, twists, and turns, this book somehow became one of the most addicting things I've read in a long time. I never wanted to put it down.

This is a story about the Emperor's three children, all living very different lives, and all having very different points of view:

Kaden - The Emperor in waiting, training with monks that are secluded in the far off mountains.

“Believe what you see with your eyes, trust what you hear with your ears; know what you feel with your flesh. The rest is dream and delusion.”

Adare - Minister of Finance, living in the capitol and not knowing who to trust.

“Men tend to die when you slide steel beneath their skin and wiggle it around. Even priests.”

Valyn - Cadet, training to become a Kettral, which is a very high rank and a very prestigious title in their military that flies with a group on a giant bird. Yes, you read that right.

“Put a man’s back to the wall, and he’s got no choice but to fight; offer him a comfortable retirement before the age of twenty, and you learn who’s committed to the cause.”

I'll admit, I was a little biased towards Adare's point of view, because her storyline has such a strong feministic undertone. Unfortunately, Adare also gets a considerably less amount of chapters than her brothers, but I was enthralled each time we got a glimpse of her story in Annur. I have very high hopes for her in The Providence of Fire, especially with the impact of that cliffhanger. Like, I'm here for Adare, and I'm rooting for whatever she has to do for her kingdom.

Kaden was my favorite of the two brothers, but that was probably because I felt so bad for him all the time. Not only was he the last to know important information, he was also being abused constantly by Tan. I mean, obviously Tan ended up stepping up his game later on, but it was giving me Severus Snape vibes throughout the entire first half; just because you do something good in the end doesn't erase all the bad stuff you did earlier.

Valyn's chapters for sure grew on me. At first, I thought he was the reason the book felt a little slow, but then, once his story starting going, his chapters ended up being the most addicting. Even with Kaden being borderline tortured, Valyn was the one that broke my heart and evoked so much emotion from me, while I was reading. Also, he is sitting on a pretty big secret that is for sure showing the power of the side effects, so I am probably most excited for his part in The Providence of Fire.

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.

This world felt so magical and new, the writing is suburb, the side characters are battling the main characters for space in my heart, the mystery is all consuming and makes this book impossible to put down, and the story was just downright good. Seriously, I don't have anything negative to say about this book. The only thing I can possibly think of is that Adare didn't get enough chapters.

Cliches abound in this book. The ending depends on the antagonists having exactly the right the special abilities to be countered by the prince's training. As a historian, I don't think separating the brothers and then giving the military training (and enhanced senses) to the prince who *won't* become the next emperor is a terribly good idea. Much of the book is very slow. About two-thirds of the book is devoted to training montages and could have been drastically cut. Others have told me they were impressed by the world building, but the reader doesn't see much of the world beyond the monastery and military training camp. What there was seemed like standard low-magic quasi-medieval world except for letting women serve in the military and government. And the story of the rightful heir trying to gain his crown after the murder of his father has been told a zillion times in fantasy.

So I found this book average at best. The prose was okay but nothing special. And this is not to mention the treatment of women. The princess gets a fraction of the pages that her brothers do (and makes some really bad choices.) Another female character is killed just to motivate one of the heroes.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book as a whole. It applies the tried and true tropes and still manages to carve out Its own identity and that is no small thing. It had its flaws and the pacing wasn't always spectacular, but the narrative had a clear and defined focus, the characters made reasonable progress from beginning to the end, and the prose was--while often over the top at times-- never trite or tedious (excluding some poor dialogue choices).
It delivered to an acceptable degree in all the areas that mattered and i do not feel like it was a waste of time.
The only major complaint I had with the first book were some of the character choices and blatant stupidity or undo intellectual process where the narrative required--which ultimately didnt ruin the experience.
I'd slap this with a solid 4.5 and declare it worth the price of admission and worthy of praise.

I'm writing a fantasy novel, but I have a hard time reading fantasy novels. Quite the quandary. Some novels become too mired in the weeds of their own world to be interesting enough to me. The story becomes lost.

Not so with The Emperor's Blades.

The Emperor of Annur has been assassinated. By whom? Why?

His children are scattered across the world, and now they may be in danger as well. We know this because one of them is warned early on by those sworn to protect the royal family. Only one of the children is destined to become emperor and he doesn't even know that his father is dead.

What I just described is the overarching conflict in the novel. On a more minor scale the children, actually adults, have their own almost insurmountable intrigue with which they must deal without the added complication of assassins lurking ready to take them out at the earliest opportunity. The threat of assassination adds an edge to the story that keeps you reading.

The children are three:

Kaden is a monk in training with a sadistic mentor.
Valyn is a mercenary in training battling to survive training that may kill him.
Adare is the daughter left behind trying to find out who killed her father while managing intrigue at the royal court.

For me all of the characters came alive. Personally I like Valyn. He comes across as a well-intentioned badass. Kaden on the other hand finds himself on the receiving end of a beating all too often.

The one lacking component in this novel is not as much time is spent on Adare's story as is spent on Kaden and Valyn's. I wanted more of Adare's story.

On top of the characters and the sometimes sad stories of those they come to care for is the world itself. It doesn't drown in its details, as so often happens in epic fantasy stories. We get just enough details to picture the world for ourselves, a land with a deep history, complex Gods, and a history that is itself woven into the story.

In my opinion this is the best fantasy novel since Wise Man's Fear.

This book is all things fantastic! Fantastic story, fantastic writing, fantastic characters and one hell of an ending! When will we get more??

For me this book gets shelved along side Melina Marchetta's Lumatere Chronicles, for those similar qualities.

The book is written from 3 different points of view. While I love getting multiple points of view, some books fail miserably at this. For me this could be in the editing (leaving me hanging for 50-100 pages before returning to a particular character) or honestly giving me another character that I just don't like...leaving me frustrated to a point that I want to just skip ahead. This book, while written from the point of view of three siblings did it right. I loved all three of these characters and their stories While the focus of this book is with the two brothers, Kaden and Valyn, the glimpses of their sister Adare, are so powerful that immediately you know that she is just a badass. The combination of attributes from the three are a force to be reckoned with...cannot wait to see what happens when these three unite.

The supporting characters are just unbelievably fantastic! (and Brian Staveley is not afraid of shocking the hell out of his readers, so be prepared!) I do hope we see more of Akiil and Triste In book 2.

And that ending! Argh! I cannot wait to see what comes next! So much of a first book in a trilogy is the set up...the building of a foundation in which to grow a story, and while many rush through the development of its story and characters, this one does so fantastically! I am eager to read more!

4.5/5 Rating Originally posted at https://mylifemybooksmyescape.wordpress.com/2015/06/26/backlist-burndown-the-emperors-blades-chronicle-of-the-unhewn-throne-1-by-brian-staveley/

I have that rule: I do not start a series unless they are already completed, or the final book's release date has been set and it is within a year. I do this partially because I tend to forget little details and plot points if I have to wait a year for each novel (although online summaries and wikis do work quite well), but the main reason behind this rule is because if I really like the book, I'm going to want to read through the whole series straight through and not want to have to wait for the next one. Every once in a while, I will break that rule and read a book like The Emperor's Blades - and it because of books like this that I created this rule.

The next heir to the throne is Kaden. He is up towards the far away Bone Mountains studying with monks in the city of Ashk'lan. Kaden is not studying to be a monk; he is there to learn the ways of the monks as to help him prepare to be the Emperor for when that day arrives. Monks have a lot virtues that could be valuable for a leader - patience, being clam in stressful situations, using clear and observant thinking. The important lesson that these monks have to teach Kaden is called the vaniante - the emptiness.

To best describe Kaden's life at the monastery, think The Karate Kid. As Mr. Miagi would teach Daniel-son different moves of karate by having him do seamlessly meaningless actions (wash the car, paint the fence), the monks have their acolytes doing random, laborious activities (running long distance, hauling stones, crafting pottery) in order to help them attain the vaniante. The major difference between these two is that instead of having Mr. Miagi, Kaden has Tan. Tan does have that stoic, clam personality; precise talk, and "zen-mind" that you would think a monk to have. However, when Kaden messes up, Tan dishes out some brutal penances! All the monks do this, but Tan takes it to a new level. I'm talking multiple lashing, days of running, and even being buried up to his neck for a week!

Kaden's younger brother is Valyn. He is off on the Qirin islands training to be a Kettral. The Kettral are this spec-ops-like team that work for the Emperor of the Annurian Empire. The training is kind of like army boot camp, but like Kaden's monk training, this training is magnitudes more intense and brutal - death is not an uncommon occurrence. They are tied to ropes and thrown into the sea, forced to swin back and forth between island, and have daily fights in this pit for all the cheer on.

The Kettral get their name from kerrtal - a massive eagle with a 70 foot wing span that they ride. Each Kettral team is make up of a commander, flier, demolitions, sniper, and leach. The leach is the only type of magic in the book. (Although monks have the capacity for saama'an, beshra'an, and kinla'an. Those don't require magic, but the level at which they can do those things is borderline superhuman). Leaches are able to manipulate things in the world. They gain their power from something around them known as their well. It could be earnings, the sun, the color blue - seems like anything could be possible. A leach's well is a closely held secret, because withot it, they are -- you know... powerless and venerable.

I'm not sure if this was planned or not (or if it was just me?), but Kaden and Valyn felt very similar at the beginning. I could tell them apart, but if you were to have them switch places, it might fool me for bit. This ended up being really good thing. I'm happy that I noticed and then payed attention to it throughout. The development of the brothers emphasized how what path one chooses in life, can affect who they become in the future. As each of their separate lives went on, I realized it wasn't that they felt like the same character; they felt like brothers. By the end of the novel, they were two different men, but I could still that blood connection with them that made them feel the same to me - feel like family.

Adare is the sister of Kaden and Valyn, and the only daughter of the Emperor. She was the only member of the family who was in Annur when their father was killed. It is with her POV that lies the main complaint I have heard with the story: she is not in the novel enough! I think that is a legitimate claim - Adare had a total of 4, maybe 5 chapters? - and I would have really liked to see more of her. However, I not sure if I could justify arguing for it.

This first book is a set up - a training ground for our heroes, you could say! It is about Kaden and Valyn, finally finishing up all their years of training and putting it to the final test! To get ready to off with their newly mastered skills in their chosen paths, and to let the real adventure begin! (I don't know about you, but I love that part of the movie where our character learns all these new skills and then finally puts it all together before he is ready to start his quest. Wasn't Batman Begins pretty cool?) With that in mind, it wouldn't have made sense or fit with the rest of book to explore more of the political turmoil in Annur with Adare.

Plus, this is only the first book! (Calm down people). It is a part of the story. For all we know, she could have 90% of the chapters next book, and ending up being the main hero for whole series.

There were two things that keep me hooked to this book: the multiple plot lines and Brain's writing. Adare, Kaden, and Valyn all have their own major plot lines that support the main plot - the deal with Emperor's assassination. Then within each of their POVs there a multiple smaller plots going on too! Adare with her suspicion of the priest and her trying to gauge the man who is to rule until Kaden arrives; Kaden with Tan, the vaniante, and the mutilated sheep; Valyn with the boat and the incident in town. Those are only a couple (there are more, but no spoilers here) that all happen within the first couple POV chapters of each characters. These side plots are not so complex that you can't follow or get lost in the story, but there is more than enough mystery the keep your mind racing, and eyes on constant alert to not miss anything important!

I have to mention how impressed I am with Brain's vocabulary. I don't know how to explain it (although I'm sure Brian know a word for what I'm trying to say ;) ), but it had major influence in my enjoyment of his writing and the story. (Major points!)

This is not to say this the novel didn't have it faults. I loved the multiple plots, but I felt they could have been a bit more complex, and more discrete with some of mystery of them. There are plenty of twists to this story, but I was able to guess what was going to happen, and was only shocked a couple of times. And yes, I did want more Adare. Not as much Kaden or Valyn, but I think we could have added a couple more chapters in there with her. (Some people could say less of the other too, but I was never bored with one chapter of this book. I just want more!)

I'm expecting great things from the next two books of this series, and are predicting big things to come from Brian in the future of fantasy. Keep an eye out for his name.

If I was a Leach, I would want my well to be eating donuts. I love donuts. Being a Leach, the more donuts I ate, the more powerful I would become, and in turn gaining this power would make we want to seek out more of this power and cause me to eat more donuts! You may think, "Cool DJ, you get power from eating donuts, but you're going to fat!" WRONG. I use my leach power to INCREASE my metabolism, so I can eat all the donuts I want :D Genius, I know.

4.5/5 Rating

-DJ

I enjoyed The Emperor’s Blades. This isn’t top shelf fantasy, but I imagine most genre fans that take a chance on this will consider Staveley’s first outing a pleasant enough read. The potential reader should be warned, though, that TEB doesn’t function very well as a stand-alone tale. Even so, Staveley managed to deliver enough so as to hook my interest, and I will likely soon read the already released sequel.

The book revolves around 3 long separated royal siblings during the aftermath of their Emperor father’s death. Dad was murdered, and there is a mysterious plot to bring down the rest of the family that might involve mysterious creatures, long thought extinct, who were mankind’s ancestors and traditional enemies.

Though the story really picks up steam near the end of the book, it manages to be fairly interesting early on as well, as it shifts back and forth between the 3 siblings’ perspectives. Kaden, the Emperor’s son and heir to the throne, is training to be a monk in a remote mountain stronghold, and so doesn’t find out about his father’s death and his own ascension to the throne until near the end of the story. He spends much of the book training with a formidable and mysterious master who obviously has an interesting backstory, learning the reason why the Emperor to be must train as a monk, and fretting along with everyone else at the monastery about a strange and deadly beast lurking about. I liked reading about Kaden’s “Zen” training. Staveley is no Eugen Herrigel when it comes to writing about Zen, but he has some interesting things to say, and he doesn’t come across as pretentious. (By way of comparison, I much preferred Kaden’s training to Kvothe’s somewhat similar training in The Wise Man’s Fear. Kvothe and his creator Patrick Rothfuss seem entirely too pleased with themselves.)

Valyn, the Emperor’s other son, is also in training, striving to become a full-fledged member of a Roc-riding elite combat force. I didn’t really consider Valyn’s training to be a strong point of the book. The combat force somehow lacks the esprit-de-corps and inspiring leadership that one might expect of an elite unit. And the cadet training is unnecessarily and unrealistically deadly. Staveley, unlike say, Robert Heinlein, doesn’t seem like he has a “feel” for writing about military education. Nevertheless, Valyn’s plot thread manages to be quite interesting, because he fortuitously knows from almost the very beginning that there is a plot against his family, because he is close enough to “the action” to be an almost immediate target, and because he has many strange comrades. He spends much of the book looking over his shoulder, trying to stay alive and figure out whom he can trust.

Adare, the Emperor’s daughter and eldest child, serves as the finance minister at the Capital city. Her plot thread, which takes up much less space than the other two, deals with her struggles and triumphs concerning the main suspect in her father’s death, a priest with a large following and the capacity to rip the fragile Empire apart at a moment of delicate transition. She also has a budding relationship with the young military genius serving as Regent until Kaden can be retrieved from his mountain stronghold.

Momentum really picks up near the end of the book as Valyn seeks out Kaden to protect him from harm. There is plenty of intrigue and well-written action at the monastery by this point, and an interesting new character is introduced. Also, back in the Capital, Adare receives some jolting information.

Though I liked TEB, it is far from stellar. I’ve already mentioned that it doesn’t function well as a stand-alone tale and that the military training is unimpressive. In addition, Staveley’s characterization is not particularly strong at this point, and his “bad guys” (the ones we know about at this point, at least) are especially ho-hum. Nor are his relationships particularly well rendered. Though I’m not especially bothered with bad language in fantasy books, the amount of cursing in TEB comes across as excessive. However, the story is intriguing, the writing flows smoothly, and Staveley keeps things moving and seems to be having fun. I would guess that this new author is going to get even better as he goes along.

3.5 stars

While the story was not entirely unique, it was still engaging. But I believe this author fell prey to an up-and-coming trend in fantasy: darkly overwriting. Instead of vaguely describing horror and pain and fear to allow the reader to embellish in their own imagination, Staveley goes through minute details and hammers the point home. Again, and again, the hammer drives in the despair.

I did find the emotionless "magic" aspect interesting, but the overall story took entirely took long to develop and I found to little to care about in the characters. The most interesting character, the sister, was given the least "screen" time.

I must say that this book surprised me. It was boring at first...talking about one brother and then in the next chapter talking about the other brother. Back and forth, back and forth, then throw in the sister.

BUT

The imagination of this story was awesome! I got sucked right into it when the animal began to kill the goats and I'm thinking it could be an assassination of the emporer.....then BAM...when Valyn realizes that his brother the emperor is in trouble and he pulls his team to go after his brother no matter what...

Oh and that possible assassin turned hired gun, er, hired knife...that was tricky. It got me at first. I would have loved to see her in real time action. Glorius!

Then it all begins to tie together and the brothers unite but now.....I get dumped on the cliff, hanging with anticipation until the nest TWO books (Yes, I must have them ALL) show up so I can finally find out what happens.

Great story from a great imagination. ooo I can't wait for the next one.

Brian Stavely has accomplished quite a feat with his first novel: a well-paced, well characterized fantasy novel that neither outlives its welcome, nor indulges in the same old tired set of fantasy cliches that seem to populate so many current entries. That he maintains a high quality of prose, and pulls of a world that is fresh and original is even more impressive.

Stavely's tale centers on the lives of the three children of the Emperor: Valyn, Kaden, and Adare. The Emperor is killed, and his huge empire seems destined to destruction at the hands of enemies unknown, plotting chaos and disorder for reasons unknown. Against this backdrop, Stavely introduces a world full of wonder, with cultural and magical elements that seem to be of both European and Oriental origins.

The siblings have all taken very different paths in their young lives. Valyn, training to be the ultimate warrior, sort of a fantasy version of a Navy Seal. Kaden, a monk in a monastery in the middle of a very mountainous nowhere (think Tibet) dedicated to worshipping the Blank God. And Adare, the daughter, who has to struggle with finding the truth about her fathers murder in the capital city.

The characters are very nicely done--original, unique, real, and human. Each is flawed, but also true to who they are and never in such a way that we lose interest or empathy with them. Each is pursuing a better understanding of both who they are, and what role they want in the Empire that their father has left to them.

Stavely maintains a consistently high level of prose, and for such a long novel, the pacing is tight and never falters as the plot moves forward. And while we do get hints as to who or what might be behind the murder by the end of the novel, Stavely holds a lot back: there are many many mysteries and secrets to be unraveled in forthcoming novels. (Though not so many that I get the feeling that it will all get out of hand and difficult to tie up, like the Malazan Empire series by Erikson, for example.)

So in summary, this is a very impressive debut novel that avoids virtually every "rookie mistake" and ably entertains us from start to finish. Not quite a true 5 star, but very close, and an excellent work that leaves me impatient for the next in the series.

First in a new series, the Emperor's Blades gives us a world where the Emperors children have been training in very different fields for most of their lives - and the Emperor is assassinated before they are able to complete them. One son is training to be what can be best described as a Shaolin monk with more mind-over-matter than martial arts, and the other is training to be a super-ninja soldier who rides to battle on gigantic birds. Fortunately I was able to get by how silly the premise is very quickly and simply enjoyed the story.

Plot summary: we have basically the two sons POVs and then a sister who complains bitterly about being ignored for being female (a fact ironically made more poignant by the author also largely ignoring her). The monk story is the most enjoyable, though the "you must learn quickly - so we will give you physically hard irrelevant tasks - and then beat you for not learning - but not explain anything ever" style of teaching just seems silly. It might make sense when the master is trying to figure out if the student is worthy, not so much when the world is at stake if he does not learn. The ninja-on-bird is a boarding school meets bootcamp style of story with predictable bullies and authority figures who let them get away with it.

Toward the end of the book the plot lines merge and we are given more glimpses into the overarching plot, but these are among the weakest of the book. I will still likely pick up the next book, but the cliffhanger we're given feels forced. As my personal peeve the main characters join only to separate again for no real reason, where it would make the most sense to stick together.

I stumbled on the first book of Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne quite accidentally. I had just completed another lengthy fantasy book and as the next book in the series was unavailable, I decided to give another incomplete fantasy series a try (Yay for waiting!). Overall, I have positive feelings towards Staveley’s work. The world he creates and the story he weaves are fascinating and compelling respectively. The story itself centres on three royal siblings, Kaden, Valyn and Adare, who happen to be at the centre of some wild plot to overthrow the current ruling dynasty and establish a world order with ties to beings that predate the existence of humanity in the Staveley’s imagined universe.

In terms of the good, much of the high praise given the book rings true for me. Staveley does some fantastic world building. I mean there is an elite fighting squadron comprised of numerous wings that deploy giant birds. Just picture it, a giant hawk-like creature shrieking as it dives down from the clouds, a group of grim looking, black clad figures, clinging to its talons, swords and knives glinting at their belts. There are sites to be seen like Intara’s Spear, a giant monolithic structure that appears to predate the existence of humans and resides in the heart of the Annurian Empire. There are ‘Leaches’ beings of untold power and ability, who can draw seemingly magical abilities from mundane materials like dirt to more outlandish things like human emotion. There exists a plurality of deities that introduce additional layers of complexity to Annurian society. It is quite a breath-taking world and Staveley does a good job introducing us to it.

For me though, problems begin when I look at the main characters, particularly Adare. That is not to say that the elder Malkeenian sibling is not compelling, no. Rather there was so much that could have been done with Adare. The narrative and the way she self reflected, gave the impression that she was intelligent and politically savvy particularly for her age. The fact that she was a woman also added another possible dimension for overcoming certain barriers. But it seems Staveley squandered the opportunity, focusing his efforts on Kaden, Valyn and their environs.

I understand he has big plans for Adare, just as he does for the other siblings, but her character could have been used to great effect in developing the scene and for general world building. The youngest brother of this trio of royal siblings is ensconced in some austere monastery attempting to discern some ancient secrets. The middle sibling, Valyn, is on some island going through some boot camp for violent sociopaths. The environments of those characters while certainly fodder for a good story are not particularly unique. There is only so much we can hear about some monk lamenting his lack of luxurious living or some soldier learning to love his sword as if it were a lover.

Adare by contrast, is in the middle of the s***. Barely out of her teen years, she has been lifted up to the position of Minister of Finance of the Annurian Empire, arguably the most important political appointment, perhaps even as powerful as the head of the military. To top it off, the appointment comes during a time of significant imperial turmoil. The reigning Emperor has just been assassinated and the deed was allegedly committed by the most powerful religious figure in the city, possibly the Annurian Empire. For all of this brouhaha I didn’t really get a sense for grand plots and dastardly schemes. I mean, where is the court intrigue? Where is the politics, the vassal states and their governing satraps using the power void to jostle for favour? Where are the old and well-established noble houses, with ties to the royal line that may make a play for the throne or attempt to see their status raised? What about opportunistic government officials seeking greater influence with the ruling elite? What about the guild masters and merchants looking to make more money by climbing over the bones of their enemies and swimming through the blood of their rivals? What about the enemies of the state, who would certainly take the power vacuum created by the Emperor’s death to at least rattle their sabres? All this is expected, yet the most intriguing political machination is that of the mysterious group that is attempting to overthrow the Malkeenian line. Oh and there happen to be some barbarous groups on the borders of the empire who seem to be upset about something or the other.

Such a complex interplay would have provided ample material for showing us Adare’s political savvy and intelligence rather than simply suggesting that she is the capable minister her father thought her to be. By the end, the best we get out of Adare is the way she muddle’s through the trial of the Emperor’s alleged assassin and her own plot to see him punished. Even in that case, the instance where I am sure the author meant for us to see her prowess as a plotter and master schemer, I got the impression that a lot of it was due to the smoothness of Ran il-Tornja, the empire’s regent. There is nothing wrong with this per se, but I just expected more. It is hard to believe that in an ancient, established and settled place such as the Annurian Empire, there can only be one group vying for power at one moment in time. It felt a bit too simple.

In contrast much of the novel’s real estate is consumed highlighting the middle brother Valyn. I can’t help but feel the author wants us to view Valyn as some antihero, a tortured soul who is able to overcome many obstacles. Unfortunately this falls a bit flat for me, mainly because Valyn seems to have only two emotional states, anger (and its extenuating displays) and not angry. For a soldier who has spent years supposedly honing his abilities and deadening his emotions, he is quick to anger, rude, impetuous and certainly not as intelligent as he believes himself to be (or as Staveley would like us to see him, I think), and this is long before the life altering event near the end. On a side note, the Kettral, the supposed elite fighting unit Valyn belongs to, have an odd way of producing new soldiers. For eight years or so young recruits are taught to act and behave as individual killing machines. Their drill instructors and trainers spend years antagonizing them and encouraging them to antagonize each other. Then within the span of about a week after undergoing some very dangerous initiation trials, individually, they are suddenly divided into wings and expected to act as elite units. Who does that? That is the surest way to produce soldiers who will have an extremely difficult time working in groups.

Of the three Kaden possibly has the most impressive story line, probably because we see his story most. His exploits as a novice in the Shin monastery are intriguing, particularly when his lessons began to include aspects of Annurian history. He does not present the picture of an emperor in waiting though. I would have expected some more rebellion and decisiveness from him although I assume by the time the story begins, he’s been at the Shin monastery for nearly a decade and much of the spunk he may have had would have been trained out of him.

I liked the book though and I feel there is ample room for expanding the universe in the remaining books in the series that are to come. My rant above may give the impression that I did not enjoy the book, but that is the opposite. I really enjoyed it. It was a fun world to immerse myself in. I just hope Brian Staveley is able to expand it a bit more. My actual rating lies between 3 and 4 stars (~3.75 stars which when rounded up makes four) stars. ☺

This was a miss for me, which is unusual with fantasy books from TOR, but happens on occasion. I tried numerous times to read this, but couldn't manage better then 300 pages before I finally gave up (I've been trying for over a year...waiting to see if my mood changed).

What it boils down to is this: while I found the world interesting and I was genuinely intrigued by Minister Adare's plot thread specifically, I did not care for the overwhelming sense of...despair. The inevitable feeling in most (important) conversations that felt like defeat. Its not that the characters acted like they felt defeat was imminent, but that's what it felt like.

Get ready to punch the wall because if you read this before the next one is out you'll want to do the same.

On the surface this may look like your stock standard fantasy. The Emperor dying and his children being hunted for the throne is not the most original of permises but Staveley does a great job at making his world original, interesting and developed enough that it draws the reader in.

We follow the Emperors three children as the main characters. The two male characters are particularly well drawn out will appeal to most guys.

First we have Kaden who is like Seraph from the Matrix. He is studying with Shin monks to learn things his father cannot teach him. Striving for a state of mind known as the Vaninate, he is a hard as nails but under going discipline that would make Bruce Lee weep. Given a new, harsher trainer with his own mysterious path we can only watch as he undergoes test after test in order to reach his highest potential and unlock a power that will enable him as heir to the Throne to defeat an ancient and powerful enemy.

The other brother Valyn is training to be Batman. Yep you heard me Batman. He wants to be a member of the Kettral, who are the Navy Seals of this world, tough as nails and skilled fighters yet respected for their observation and detective skills. At the end of his training he will face Hulls Trial, a mysterious and deadly rite of passage that he must and his fellow students are actively encouraged to skip, such is the price of failure.

Adare is the Emperors daughter and through her character we see the machinations of the court. Whilst she is constantly told she will can never lead we certainly get the feeling she is the most equipped to do so. I imagine her storyline will be further developed but to be honest I found the other two characters much more engaging. This was also because of the amazing cast of supporting characters that exist out of the world of the court and the clever use of magic and though no specific system is spelled out or defined, at no point is anything tough to follow.

The only disappointing thing about this book for me was it ended! I can understand if the ladies are a little less enthused about it as the major female character is not as fully realised as the others. That being said there are some fantastic supporting characters most of whom are female so it may even out.

Either way this is looking like being a big one! If you grab a copy you wont be disappointed.

I got this book as a free pre-release copy, but i then went and purchased an actual hardcover to keep on my shelf. That's how much i liked it.

There are really only three things i didn't like about this book.
1) It drags in the middle. Valyn and Kaden have to go through some trials and tribulations to get where they need to be, but it takes too long.
2) The sister only gets about three chapters total. They're setting her up to play a bigger role in the next book, i think, but she was still such an afterthought in this one that i was disappointed.
3) Kaden and Valyn's names were hard for me to keep straight. I couldn't remember which was which each time the POV changed until i had some context.

And for a first book in a planned series, those are some pretty small quibbles.

The worldbuilding is fantastic. The plot runs mostly in the present but there's some great mythology backstory that keeps getting tangled up in it in tantalizing ways. Characters are well-drawn and deep, even the supporting characters.

If you like fantasy, you should get this book. It is one of the best recent fantasy novels i've read in years. I can't quite call it High Fantasy, as magic is not a strong force in this world, and it sure doesn't have Elves and Dwarves and Halflings, but it is Fantastic.

When 2013 was at the end and various websites published the lists of most anticipated fantasy books in 2014, The Emperor’s Blades by Brian Staveley was on every one of them. I dare you to find the one without it! :) Also, those lucky bloggers who got early review copies sang praises and showered it with 5 star rating. So when the moment came for me to read The Emperor’s Blades, I must admit I was afraid: “Will I like it? Please, God, I don’t want to be a black sheep again..”

The Emperor’s Blades follows the lives of three main characters, scattered across the empire of Annur. The one thing they have in common is that they are the children of the current emperor. The event that creates the big turmoil in their lives and starts the plot is that the emperor is murdered.

Princes Kaden and Valyn I loved from the start, although it was not clear to me in the beginning why heirs to the royal throne are educated by secluded monks or assassins. Princess Adare, who lived at the capital, had the usual problems of girl in power – men not taking her seriously. Adare was much less developed and it took a lot of time until she wormed her way into my heart (practically at the very end of the book).

While writing about universal subject like grief for lost parent and self-doubt if we are fit for the tough job that await us, Brian Staveley creates for us a thrilling tale about revenge, conspiracies, magic and even a bit of romance. Our heroes will have to learn more about themselves and how to be a good leader, either the hard way or listening to their father’s advice .
" From some forgotten corner of his mind, his father’s words came back to him, firm and uncompromising: 'You and Kaden will both be leaders someday, and when you are, remember this: Leadership isn’t just about giving orders. A fool can give orders. A leader listens. He changes his mind. He acknowledges mistakes.'"

I especially liked the moment when the heirs to the throne start to realize all the flaws in the current political structure of the empire. And that although you try to do what’s good for the people, if you do not give them free choice, you are still a despot. With all big revelations that happened in the end, I can not wait to read the sequel and see if they will continue down the old, known path or if they will choose the new one.

IN THE END...
The Emperor’s Blades maybe didn’t bring anything new to the fantasy genre, but it definitely used all the good elements and had an interesting story, easy-to-read writing style and realistic, complex characters. Fans of epic fantasy novels featuring conspiracies and fighting for the throne will enjoy reading it.

Disclaimer: I was given a free eBook by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.

This book is interesting. Not a lot of overt flashy magic until there is and it's really mysterious and exciting at the same time. The kettral is also a great creation and I look forward to more of the daring feats the birds and their elite Wings are capable of. The three POVs of the Emporer's children create a unique tripod upon which the tale rests. All of these characters share history and blood but their paths have made them into very different people. The book has a great sense of progression for all the characters though in some ways this book has the sense of the coming Threat that must be handled after our characters have been through this tale. Anyway I really liked it. Another thing that struck me is the Uniqueness of Staveley's voice. His prose is intimate and empathetic in a powerful but subtle way. Glad I've already purchased the next volume.

Staveley draws from the age-old plot of 'prince thwarted from his rightful place on the throne'. Nothing new there, but the way Staveley weaves subplots and details make it worth diving into. The story follows three tracks; two princes and their sister. The eldest son to a Shin monastery. His brother to the country's most elite military service, and his sister to negotiate her self a place among her father's ministers, so we get to see lots of different perspectives of the world Staveley created for us.

This is the first book in a fantasy series. It is a slight twist on the classic dragons/kingdoms/magicians fantasy elements: there are giant flying birds instead of dragons and the "magicians" are called leaches -- they draw power from various elements but are hated and feared so would be killed if they weren't recruited into the ranks of the elite soldier Kettal group.

It took me a fairly long time to really get into the book because there is a lot of world building around the lives of the three children of the murdered emperor of Annur. The people worship a variety of old and new gods and have a variety of political enemies. (My advance readers copy did not have the map that will be in the final copy so it was harder for me to get a mental picture of the geography of this empire.) The Kettral soldiers use a variety of curses based on the gods' names (for example 'Kent-kissing as a derogatory adjective) and those were a distraction for awhile until I understood the basis of the curse. There is also an ancient race called the Csestriim, who were enemies of humans. The Csestriim is in the first chapter plus referred to often in the book. All of this took a good chunk of the book for me to fully get into the story even though there is a list of gods and races at the end of the book.

Kaden, the heir to the throne, has been sent to study at a remote monastery. Those chapters started out particularly slow for me because Kaden doesn't know his father the disciplines of the monks don't seem (at first) to move the story along at all (these monks don't even practice any martial arts). Valyn, the second son, is training to be a Kettral -- elite fighters who fly around on giant birds. His chapters were more interesting to me from the start because there is a lot of action as part of his training. The Kettral train and fight with hand-to-hand combat, swords, various kinds of bows, and explosives and they fight and train in the air, on the land and in the water. Lots and lots of action! Valyn learns some important information fairly early in the book so that gets the reader's interest as well. Their sister Adare has the smallest part of the book. She is appointed as Minister of Finance in her father's testament but doesn't play as large a part of the story as her brothers. Her role in this book was largely as filler to let the reader know what is going on back in the capital and to try to avenge her father's death. She does learn something important near the end of the book so I hope her role increases as the series goes on.

The narrative follows one character for a chapter or two and then switches to another (mostly between Kaden and Valyn). I found it somewhat jarring to be in the middle of some intense action in the Kettral training with Valyn, then turn the page to Kaden making pots or some other monkish exercise in achieving emptiness. At one point I just couldn't leave Valyn's storyline so I just read his chapters and then went back and read Kaden's chapters. I'm sure this isn't the way the author meant his book to be read, but if the jumping around makes you crazy, try it.

My interest in the book grew the farther I got into the book and by the end I was wishing the next book was out so I could continue the story. This book, as with many series, ends abruptly with no strong resolution or ending. I absolutely will read the next book in the series and expect it to continue as if it were starting a new chapter after the end.

I recommend this book to readers who enjoy the epic kind of fantasy with empires, political intrigue and action, not to mention giant flying birds used as an air force and a couple other creepy and deadly creatures I won't describe so as not to spoil the book.

I was a little concerned after I finished the prologue for The Emperor’s Blades – it throws the reader into the middle of a generational struggle with an antagonist whose name has an apostrophe for a glottal stop. Thankfully, the prologue’s only purpose is to give the reader a chance to witness something that will be ancient history by the time the main story begins. Tan’is, one of the inscrutable Csestriim, takes a back seat to the three children of the Emperor: Kaden, the younger son, heir to the throne who is training with a remote order of monks, Valyn, the older son, who is training with an elite force of soldiers on a remote chain of islands, and Adare, the emperor’s only daughter, who has remained back at the capital.

All three of the children have their own story arcs in a way that reminded me of Sanderson’s The Way of Kings. Like The Way of Kings, two of the story arcs (the two men’s) intersect by the end of the book, while the third one stands off to the side with an implication that it will come together during a sequel.

Kaden kicks off the real story as he nears the end of his training with the Shin monks. Though he was sent to them by his father nearly ten years ago to learn an important lesson, vital to his role as the future Emperor, he has not even found out what that lesson is supposed to be. The remote monastery where he lives will not even hear of the Emperor’s death until most of the way through the story, but the sense of tension and danger has already been building the whole time.

Valyn’s arc was my favorite. While he was older than Kaden, he lacked the special characteristic – eyes that appear to burn like fire – that gives evidence of their family’s descending from the goddess Intarra. To make up for this, Valyn set out to become a Kettral: an elite soldier, who rides on a giant bird in a five-person group. He is nearing the end of the eight-year training cycle, which by this point is like SEAL training on steroids. It’s through him that we learn about leaches (not leeches), whose magic requires the presence of something such as a substance, a type of creature, or even an idea, and which allows them to reshape forces and objects. It’s a nice change of pace to have a magic system that is sketched out enough to make sense without taking an over-prominent role. Valyn’s arc is where we as the reader learn that the Emperor has been killed.

Finally, Adare’s arc. It’s mildly frustrating that Adare’s primary characteristics (female, intelligent, unhappy about being patronized by a patriarchal society) are better developed in the character of Ha Lin, one of the soldiers in Valyn’s training class. Adare’s plot also has the fewest number of well-developed supporting characters, and deals more with politics than the more action-oriented plots of Kaden and Valyn. I’ve read through the book twice now for this review, and I found that I could skip her sections without the story losing any sense of its cohesiveness. Adare has the first chance to investigate who has killed the Emperor from her newly-appointed position as the empire’s Minister of Finance, and there are a good number of suspects.

If the store allowed for half-star reviews, I’d give The Emperor’s Blades four-and-a-half stars. If Adare’s actions in this book become more meaningful in the overarching plot, I’d be more inclined to round up, but that sour note keeps the book from reaching its full potential.

Engaging read with three interesting characters representing three very different (but all interesting) sides of the conflict. The descriptive language is also beautiful. If you like political fantasy, military fantasy, or richly developed fictitious religions (I'm looking at you, Brandon Sanderson fans), you'll enjoy this book.

My only complaints are 1) the female main character is less developed than the others; I'm hoping this will improve in the sequel. 2) Language. Due to the nature of the military character, this book is by no means wanting for vulgar language. Rape, murder, objectification, f-bombs, swearing like a high-school student with Tourette's Syndrome—it's all there.

I don't read much in this genre, so I can't compare The Emperor's Blades to any similar books. But, I can tell you that the book pulled me in almost immediately and kept me reading. The characters are interesting, some are very likable, some less so. None of the good guys are perfect, but the heroes are easy to embrace and root for. However, some of the bad guys are a bit over the top on the evil mustache twirling.

The world introduced in this book is big and complex. I feel like we have barely scratched the surface. This isn't a bad thing. I was never confused, even if I didn't know exactly what was going on, and it really makes me look forward to future books in the series, where I trust that this new world will continue to unfold. My only complaint, if you can call it that, is that the story doesn't really come to any kind of conclusion. Yes, it is the first book in a series, so the story will continue in the next book, but I felt like I was left hanging just a bit too much by the end (non-end?) of The Emperor's Blades.

I recommend this book to any fans of epic fantasy and anyone who loves a good adventure.

So I didn't actually finish the book. I made it to about 70% and skimmed the rest to confirm that it ended the way I suspected. It did.

There is a lot to like here and I suspect that explains the heaping of positive reviews. The high points weren't enough to overcome the weak points for me, The pacing is great. The sense of mystery kept me reading long past when I would have otherwise quit. There is a vast cast of characters who flesh things out.

It isn't enough to overcome weak characters, and a predictable plot. The book's theme is ultimately one of cynicism. The protagonists can't do anything right and the antagonists have everything go their way even when they haven't earned it. The older and "wiser" characters are anything but, and the young protagonists are so grossly incompetent that they can't succeed even when they are supposed to be skilled at a task. The older sister is portrayed as being skilled and experienced with court intrigue, but never questions an opponent's confidence in his success. Instead she writes off scenarios as impossible even when she has evidence that magic is indeed real.

I think people are giving the characters a pass, because they are so young. Young they may be, but as portrayed they lack potential. It will be hard in future novels to undo the general lack of talent.

I had this first book of this series on my audible wish list forever, but when I saw I could get it thru my library finally I hopped on that waiting list & it was worth every second!! This is a very well done fantasy series, the world is created & presented in present day with mythology & history alongside. The deeper you get into the 3 main characters & the events that tore there father from them & are threatening they're lives & very world you understand how the past is completely relevant to the present & future of everyone. Powers greater than any human can imagine are coming back into play & the emperors line is the only one with gods blood & they are being eradicated

Brian Staveley and his debut novel "The Emperor's Blades" is definitely the fantasy book to read of 2014. I was fortunate enough to get my hands on an ARC of the book, and was unable to put it down until I was finished. A terrific read indeed!

Full of action and political intrigue, "TEB" takes the reader on a trip through the lives of Kaden, Valyn, and Adare. The three children of the Emperor who were all put on three very different paths as small children to prepare them for their roles as adults in the Empire.

Kaden, the heir to the Unhewn Throne, is sent to live with monks. Valyn goes to the Kettral to become an elite soldier, and Adare stays in the Dawn Palace where she is appointed Finance Minister upon her father's death.

The book is then well paced in moving back and forth between the three children. He twists and turns of each child's story make for some fun reading. The brutality in Valyns life is worth mentionioning as well. Actually, more how he handles it and what it helps to make him at the end is.

As always, I do not go into great detail concerning the plot of the book. I like to tell people whether or not I enjoyed it, and give a few small reasons why. As a fantasy reader, one would be doing one's self a great injustice to not check this book out as soon as it becomes available.

A well crafted story that deserves all the accolades I am sure it will receive. Check it out.

Writing 4/5
Imagination 4.5/5
Plot 4/5
Setting 5/5
Characters 3.5/5

My Overall Enjoyment 4.5/5

The Emperor's Blades largely lives up to the massive hype surrounding it as well as my own as I was have been anticipating it for months. It must be very difficult to be a debut author with that much to live up to because it was on so many ”best upcoming fantasy” lists even though the author is mostly unknown. After finishing this book I do see why many were excited about it. Also, Macmillian put on a masterclass in book advertising that all authors and publishers should look at to be more successful in getting their own books in the public eye.

When taken as a whole or broken down into smaller elements of a story, this book is extremely good. This is a very epic story, with world building similar in scale to A Game of Thrones, Gardens of the Moon, and The Way of Kings. There are 3 points of view, all by children of the emperor, 2 sons off training and the sister as a minister in the capital city. Secondary characters are very minimal which I like. I enjoyed the plot-lines almost equally and no one character really stuck out at me in a way some have in other books. The 2 brothers take up most of the scenes with the sister having a smaller, yet important part. The author used the 480 pages very well; it didn't seem too long and a lot happened. It was a pretty quick read with the beginning 1/3rd a little slow but that is the case in nearly all epic fantasy I have experienced. The plot starts to advance much quicker and stay pretty steady for the rest of the book.

The religious system is excellent. There are numerous different “cults” and bits and pieces of world history sprinkled throughout referring to ancient races, gods and goddesses, and kings of old. This makes a very rich, believable world that I enjoyed learning about. Learning about a world's history (lore/myth/back-story or whatever you want to call it) is one of my favorite parts in epic fantasy and there is no shortage here yet there are no parts that were just huge “info dumps” or “council of Elrond” scenes which bother some readers (I love those kinds of scenes). Magic is not introduced introduced until well into the story and then very gradually and it just kind of creeps up but by the end I thought it really worked well for the story. There are also a couple different beasts/monsters in this book, all of which were well executed and add depth and flavor.

The whole ending sequence was great and has me looking forward to the next installment in this series. Rating this was hard and I dislike the 5 point rating scale. For me, it falls a little short of a 5 because while I really liked this book I didn't love it as I have a few other books. However, I enjoyed it better than a lot of 4 star books too so I give it a 4.5/5 for personal enjoyment. Having read hundreds of fantasy books this is in the top tier of epic fantasy.

As for grimdark elements, it definitely has some of the violence and types of characters that stand out in grimdark but this is more of a standard epic fantasy book. At times dark and gritty but it didn't exude grittiness like most of the other books that fall into the grimdark genre. Being a grimdark lover, I can recommend this for those readers as well as those looking for a new epic fantasy series.

I’m not a huge fan of contemporary fantasy but this yarn sort of pushed the right buttons for me.

The key to a great fantasy novel from my view is the manifestation of a magical ambiance and author Brian Staveley achieved it in spades in this instance. This idea goes beyond lyrical prose and clever plots. I was captivated by the story and that’s what counts.

Elements of this warrior tale include numinous monks, warriors-assassins, secrets (which of course are tendered for dramatic benefit to the reader), and monsters… a winning combination. While the names of the characters seemed a bit “pulled out of the air” I can still live with that given the quality of all other aspects of the work. The important thing is that I didn’t get the characters confused at any point, an aspect of unclouded writing.

This one is certainly a page-turner and I will be reading more works by this author.

Not a fan. I'm 90% through with the 3rd book and now feel comfortable enough to review the first.

Let me start by saying I know I'm in the minority here.

A few thoughts:

If each of the main characters ever bothered to listen to one another there would be very little conflict.

The characters continually make frustrating decisions that usually lead to bad things happening to others. I think its the theme of the series. I can't recommend these books at all. I wish I could.

There are some really cool concepts in there, but they don't come together well.

Much of the books are dedicated to internal monologue to attempt to explain the characters decisions. The world and characters are never built well enough that the characters actions infer why they committed to that particular action without extensive monologue. Its frustrating.

A fantasy novel about an assassinated emperor’s three heirs unearthing the plot against their family while completing their separate personalized training. This is the first book in the Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne.

The Emperor’s Blades has vivid description, incredible world building, intriguing philosophies and a subtle magic system. The narrative draws heavily from the hero’s journey plot pattern and archetypes. The story starts off slowly and a bit awkwardly for its lack of progress into the main issue.

The prose and action harmonize as it focuses on the difficult trials of a monk and an elite soldier. A third perspective gives insight into the political and religious state of the empire but is otherwise minimized. The three main characters conclude their personal story arcs while the threat against their lives and the empire increases. The Emperor’s Blades is a good introduction into the developing series.

I choose this book on a whim. I had low expectations and was a little hesitant due to some "formulaic" comments but then I started reading it....and COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! Well paced, full of fresh ideas and good character development. I have now read the first 2 in this series and am about to start the third. If you like Feist and Martin, you'll enjoy this!

I picked up this book off website recommendations that it was one of the better new fantasy series to be published in the last few years. As someone who has devoured a fair amount of fantasy in my time, I've pretty much seen it all. I say that because I found this book to be just o.k. The plot is mainly a coming of age story revolving around two brothers and a sister with a majority of the story focusing on the training and experiences of Valyn and Kaden (the two brothers).

I found the pacing to be incredibly slow with entire chapters that do little to advance the plot or provide any sort of story progression. I understand that the author wants us to be able to get into the hearts and minds of the main characters, but the story doesn't advance much beyond the initial locations where the characters are introduced. What doesn't help is that these characters frequently come across as very one-dimensional and the sort of growth that you would expect in a "coming of age" story isn't communicated very well, despite an overwhelming portion of the book being dedicated to describing that training.

It isn't until the very end of the book that things really start to pick up, but the author had unfortunately lost my interest by this point. It was a struggle to get through the last 100 pages.

The book takes some time to get used to. But once I got to about halfway trough I started to enjoy it. Overall, its a good fantasy book worth reading trough, although plain and mediocre if compared to top notch fantasy authors like Sanderson, Rothfuss, Ryans etc. The story on the whole is done very well, and I look forward to read the next installment in the series. All-tough I felt like I could predict much of the narrative and story it still offered a few R. R. Martin alike character "twists" (deaths). However, the characters felt abit shallow and simple so I didn't emotionally react that much to those "twists". On the whole the book was not as much of a page turner as I might have hoped. Sometimes I had problems following the storytelling, just imagine a movie where you get a few scenes cut away, and then it throws you back and you are like "How did this happen / what did I miss?" When comparing to 5-star books it felt like it still misses some intellectual complexity, by that I mean it felt like the book did not engage me that much intellectually and it felt like it could have had a few more layers of complexity. I highly recommend the audiobook version which is superbly narrated!

Reviewer: Non native English speaker from Finland, with +20 years of reading fantasy.

Brian Staveley’s “The Emperor’s Blades” (Tor, $27.99, 476 pages) has many of the usual fantasy accoutrements (magic, pre-industrial, unusual fauna, ancient races) but the plot twist is a little different – three siblings of high birth are separated by geography but then face a crisis that clearly will be handled better if they are together.

But, as always in book ones, we have miles to go before we come to any conclusion, and “The Emperor’s Blades” is more concerned with setting the scene and getting the plot in gear than advancing said plot, though things have moved forward by the time the last page is turned. What’s promising is that it’s not exactly clear how all of this is going to play out, as Staveley has killed off some major characters and isn’t showing all of his cards. All of this has me onboard for volume two, which will be the acid test for the series.

It took me quite a while to get into this book. In fact, I felt a bit annoyed for the first 10-15% of the book, because it felt at times like a Game of Thrones wanna be. Once the story started to really develop on its own, however, I was extremely engrossed, and when i finished it, I found myself really wanting to read the second installment. I like the world that Staveley has created, and I find the complexity of the characters refreshing. I also like the stark contrast of the two brothers and their training, and I found myself drawn to both of their struggles. This book has an interesting plot and it is well written. I'm glad I pushed through the beginning!!

As an avid reader and an avid fantasy fan I have read hundreds of books from the genre over the last several decades. This series ranks in the top 5 books I recommend to people looking for an excellent read. It does not rely on gimmicks, shock value, or crazy twists to set itself apart but rather treats the reader to a rich, complex world full of compelling characters and multi dimensional plot.

This first book starts out as an enjoyable, if a bit "usual" for the fantasy genre... read on! About 2/3ds through the book the background is laid and the writing really hits it's stride; at this point the series becomes addictive and thrilling, and it doesn't let up for the rest of the trilogy.

The wonderful nature of these books is utterly believable but wholly unpredictable with both main and supporting characters who are exciting to become acquainted with. The satisfaction that I derived from this trilogy has lasted and prompted me to write this review years after I finished reading. A true example of everything I love about fantasy done well.

I honestly don't understand the rave reviews of this book. The plot is pretty non-existent for an "epic". This was 500 pages of dull character development. NOTHING happens except two brothers going through grueling training. I didn't care for them at all. More often they were annoying in their weakness as they are being tortured during their schooling. There is NO empire, politics, intrigue, or character growth. A very flat read. SOOO many better books out there. I won't be continuing this series.

Finding a new fantasy series is something of a joy for me. And I'm not walking away from this one completely disappointed by any means. I will definitely be picking up the next in this series. It has that going for it. But a higher review rating would mean that I would be reading the next book when it comes out or the highest rating would mean I'd make sure I had this book the day it came out.

So three stars shouldn't be seen as something to turn away.

But I think this had some issues that could/should have been addressed in the editing process. I say this because I think the author's talent shines through. He just needs a hand in polishing/honing his skills.

What was good was there was some nice originality and when the author applied himself to moving the plot along, he did so very nicely. He does know how to tell a story.

But then there is the bad. He also knows how to stretch a story out in a manner that I felt was needless and ends up leaving me feel like I had to work harder than I should have to finish.

One of the most popular tropes in fantasy is the use of the school/training ground. It lets the author develop the character in a way that gives the reader insight and information as it is revealed to the character. This keeps world-building in its proper place and keeps it from falling into the trap of being dull mind numbing info dumps. When done correctly.

The problem with this particular novel is that the author employs two main characters, in this case brothers (the sister never seems fully developed as a character at all and seems to merely provide a plot point perspective for one of the main cliffhangers at the end), who each have their own Harry Potter at Hogwarts type of exposition. So it feels repetitive. Particularly when the author seems to be over indulgent in developing both as underdogs. To the point that the trials, tribulations and frustrations they both experience, which in this trope is a solid but sometimes (like here) stolid meme, seems endless and dull instead of establishing tension and suspense. In the end instead of rooting for each to overcome the typical generic obstacles (bullies, dangerous lessons, seemingly oblivious to looming threats instructors, inept buddies), both end up seeming rather stupid at times.

Another flaw I found with the book is the worldbuilding. The story revolves around a huge empire and a deep conspiracy. Also hints (not a spoiler really) of even deep epic struggle to come. And yet the empire never comes alive through the eyes of any of the three main characters. Who are the children of the emperor and all set to hold a position of power and influence in this world. Instead the stage seems to be deliberately narrowed in a way that waters down any sense of threat or danger let alone compelling me as the reader to want to continue my journey into a land that should be peeled back a bit more by the end of a novel this size. No matter how more the author plans in such a series. Good fantasy set on such a stage should leave me hoping and wondering at what lies over the horizon and what rich deep aspect of a peeked at history is important and what is just fascinating trivia.

Instead I'm left feeling that too much of the contrivances that limit the characters and thus the reader are just that. Contrivances. The author never really sells me on the notion of an imperial stage. In good part due to there being no sense of following the very paradigms he sets in putting up such a stage. A Small but telling jarring glitch for me was that it is established certain criteria in ruling the empire (a significant plotpoint in this book and definitely in the ones to come). Yet the same criteria seems to then be ignored in certain ways. It seems overly contrived that both boys are so far removed from the imperial center (and thus providing an overly labored and forced multi-book arc no doubt to get them to where they need them to go). Some other aspects seem to be deliberately vague. As if the author either doesn't want to let the curtains sway in case the audience seems the man behind them running the show. Or the author just can't be bothered to fully flesh out aspects I think make epic fantasy a rich fulfilling read. Instead focusing on way too many daily grind type scenes that help create a frustrating sense of lather, rinse and repeat.

A few other quibbles. Staveley is a little too heavy handed as well in terms of bad people being bad. Coupled with a tendency to red-shirt characters, I found many times the story telling verged on being a bit more immature than the rest of the novel. I think if the author could establish a tone and pace that let the reader make more decisions on feeling it would elevate his work tremendously. Many times it came off as the book version of a Hallmark commercial. Or that already over exposed puppy and horses in the beer commercial (and I love dogs!).

So Staveley delivered a flawed but still readable entry into the fantasy field. But the series needs a bit of work. I do think the talent is there to make this a series worth waiting for. But the same level of skill applied to the next one could make this just too pedestrian, predictable and plodding to keep along with.

Reading Blood Song by Anthony Ryan introduced me to the world of high fantasy literature, where we are given new worlds with cultures and societies of their own which are oftentimes accompanied by magic and warfare. I enjoyed reading that book so much that I vowed to myself to read more from this genre, as I have developed an unsatiable thirst for similar themes. I've tried many, and although I've stumbled upon a lot of gems, not a lot of them measured up to the mark.

Of course, that was before I read The Emperor's Blades.

Not that I am going to compare the two. Blood Song and The Emperor's Blades are highly different from each other, but both made me feel emotions that I notice I rarely get from books now - excitement, anxiousness, trepidation - for fictional characters characters that feel utterly real. Both books have what many others lack - a moving, intricate storyline, complex characterization, beautiful prose and writing, awesome delivery, balanced pacing, among many others.

The Emperor's Blades is told from three point-of-views: Valyn, the youngest, who is undergoing training to be a part of the Kettral, a super elite group of people who use gigantic birds to do their missions; Adare, the only girl among the siblings, who stayed with her father to oversee the politics and other what-have-you in the palace; and we have Kaden, the oldest of the three, his father's successor, currently isolated from the world and training with the monks. Usually, I'm not very keen on reading from more than one perspective, but the characters in this book became so alive and dynamic that I've come to look forward to each and everyone of them. You know that feeling where the characters are just so well-written that despite their not being real, you see them like lifelong friends? That's what happened to me here. I loved Valyn and Kaden and could feel their anxiety and fear of the future seeping from the pages. Be it running away from creatures of dark caves, or enduring hard and long lashes from a seemingly strict and discipline-minded monk, I felt for them every step of the way. Deep in my heart, I wanted them to succeed every challenge that life would throw their way, wanted them to grow and get stronger and better to show their detractors who are the bosses.

While Adare was not given enough screen time, I found her a strong female character - independent with a bit of a rebellious side, intelligent and cautious, although she would sometimes be carried away by her emotions. I honestly found her a breath of fresh air, especially since in this genre, many women are depicted as weak, damsels in distress, or prostitutes. That's why it made me really happy to see an intellectual woman in a harsh world who can ward off greedy and shady politicans and ministers by wit alone. Hopefully in the succeeding books, we will see more of her and what her role is in the grander scheme of things.

As for the plot?

...it's amazing. Honestly, I don't even have enough words for it as I know it is just huge. The first book alone only gave us the tip of the iceberg, more of a laying out of the bigger picture, and I was already blown away. There is a lot of court intrigue, betrayals, evil people lurking in the shadows, and creatures dangerous beyond your wildest dreams... and I'm not even sure that encompasses all of it. Everything is written intricately, like there's significance even in the littlest and simplest of details. There's so much to know and explore, so much depth and richness to unfold, that I am shivering in anticipation.

I want to talk about it, but I can't. I want you all to experience the intricacies of this novel yourselves. When you have, come back here and let's discuss in the comments ;-)

Overall, The Emperor's Blades is a very cool book, an awesome fantasy novel that fans of the genre should get their hands on as soon as it's out. Trust me, you'd want to pick this up. This book = epic happiness.

What I was expecting: Based on the excellent cover, and based on other reviews that I’d read, I was expecting to read an epic fantasy set in a decidedly Eastern/Asian realm filled with badassery, action, meditation, intrigue and death. And very large birds.

What went well: The prose is fantastic. I seem to recall reading somewhere that Brian Staveley spent a great deal of time writing poetry, and it shows. His descriptions and explanations are very tight, fluid, and his diction is impeccable. In no way whatsoever does this read like a debut novel. Clearly the years of writing finely crafted ideas has paid off, giving him a very strong leg up over every other debut novelist of the last few years.

Also, the meditation scenes with the monks in the mountains were done very well. It sorta seems sadistic coming from a teacher, but I really liked reading about the education of Kaden as his mentor beats, whips, buries, works, and otherwise painfully molds Kaden into the type of man he’s supposed to become. Even though not much happened in these scenes to move the plot, I found each one of them well-written and riveting in their own way.

And the cover of the novel is simply gorgeous.

What didn’t go well: From the cover of the book, and from much of the initial set-up, I was assuming that the world for this novel would be based on Eastern cultures rather than the usual Western influence of most every other fantasy novel. Alas, the Eastern influences never materialized and what we were left with instead was a moderately realistic, kinda gritty, generic fantasy setting.

This could be forgiven if the plot had hooks and intrigue to keep the reader engaged. Unfortunately, I always felt as if the plot twist was just around the next page, and that if I just kept reading the payoff would come. It did not: the murder mystery was too long, too uninteresting, and the conclusion too dull; the special-forces-in-training chapters were predictable and rather unoriginal; the monk-in-training chapters had the most Eastern influence, and were by far the most interesting, but again, nothing of true substance ever materialized; and the scenes of political turmoil and strife in the capital city suffered greatly from melodrama and two-dimensional characters.

For all the good I have to say about the writing, the fact is that the plot was boring, cliched, and predictable.

Conclusion: Basically A Game of Thrones without the charm.

Oh, that’s not entirely fair because I wonder I had read this as my first fantasy novel, rather than my fiftieth (or so), if I would have enjoyed it a whole lot more. As it is, I do read a lot of fantasy, and I have high expectations. I was hoping that because of its Eastern influence, the novel would truly feel fantastical (in a similar way to how The Way of Kings felt very fantastical). But it never did.

I do see that the next book in the series, The Providence of Fire, is coming out in a month. I’ll probably read it, but if the series doesn’t really have me hooked after that one, I'll probably just wait until Staveley writes a new series. He’s got TONS of potential, and I really look forward to the day it is fully realized.

Note: I received and am reviewing a free Advanced Reader Copy.

With confident, polished storytelling, the author lays out the Annurian Empire in gradual strokes, from the perspectives of its three main protagonists, all children of the slain emperor. What really impressed me about this book was the complex threads of plot being woven and advanced while at the same time the main characters were each independently developed, all set against the backdrop of a world replete with mythical deities possibly still extant, political intrigues and a mysterious race that had a hand in setting those intrigues in motion. The complexity of the protagonists occasionally made for frustrating reading, as time after time they authored their own depressing setbacks and defeats, occasionally with obtuseness that strained credulity, but the pace of the storytelling and the rhythmic switching of perspectives seemed timed to relieve the frustration. The conclusion to this first book of the series both satisfied and set forth challenges and questions to be dealt with in its sequels.

This series will rightly be regarded as one of the top two or three epic fantasy reads this year; I very much look forward to purchasing the second book as soon as it hits the Kindle store.

Staveley has done a great job at crafting a world that roils in unrest. The titular Emperor has been murdered and his nation is pulling apart at the seams before his body is even cold. Who murdered him? Who wants the royal line to come to a brutal and quick end?

3 children of the emperor are all that stands between a sinister plot to destroy an entire nation and finding answers to questions that are almost impossible to ask. Valyn, the angry soldier sent away to join an elite fighting force and be a ruthless and efficient killer. His brother, next in line to the throne- Kaden has been sent to a far remote monastery to master the endless void and see what cannot be seen. And lastly, we have their sister- a mere woman who cannot sit on the throne, but has been perfectly placed by her father to one of the most powerful offices in the kingdom- Adare. She wants answers and will stop at nothing to get them. But are they the correct ones?

Staveley weaves the 3 narratives together deftly and creates a tapestry that holds itself together quite well. The stories are each unique and work well to tell the entire story. Friends are revealed in unlikely places and foes turn up when least expected. Through it all, I was excited and interested in the ending- how would it all wrap up? Where do we go from here? Who are the conspirators and the shadowy cabal intent on destroying the Annurian empire?

Epic fantasy has been done well with this book and I am very excited to see where Staveley will take these characters next. The ending was fitting and will serve as a great launching point for the future story, and I am sure he will handle it quite well with masterful touches. I enjoyed the book and the world created. It felt real and vibrant and unique. I will agree with some of the other reviewers that a listing of characters would be helpful as there are many introduced and sometimes keeping them all correct was a bit of a challenge. All in all, very well done and sure to be the start of a wonderful new fantasy epic.

brian staveley has written a book about nothing — although it's probably not quite what flaubert had in mind. this book about nothing is fast-paced, suspenseful, sexy, irreverent, and leaves you cursing the months between now and the release of the providence of fire, his upcoming book number two about nothing.

the central fantasy conceit is 'the vaniate'. for starters, think nothingness, emptiness, abnegation (…but also maybe having something to do with a hidden network of secret, ancient, deadly and/or power-giving portals built by an ancient, extinct — unless maybe not quite extinct — race of super-creatures.)

a remote monastery devoted to the pursuit of the vaniate, an elite martial training school, and an imperial capital in crisis are the settings for three perceptive, sympathetic coming of age stories, which are also three urgent, tightly constructed, interwoven mysteries. the separated siblings kaden, valyn, and adare emerge out of fluid and colloquial dialogue and free indirect passages. they and their peers, mentors, and adversaries are people you likely remember (or were, or currently know, or are). kaden, the monk's acolyte, for instance, candidly and credibly admits that eight years of studying 'nothing' is as boring as it sounds, and often considerably more painful. and yet over that time he has learned to trust the value of "typical Shin nonsense", as he confronts an escalating series of trials both curricular and unforeseen. the regular glimpses of familiar language, attitudes, and situations irresistibly lead us to settle in with these characters, as they face not-so-familiar stakes: life and death, probably the global political order, possibly the human race. it's great fun, continually surprising, and well worth the time it will steal from whatever you are supposed to be doing.

when you do eventually put the emperor's blades down, you realize your brain has been hit with some interesting, accessible takes on identity, death, suffering, and emotion. in it, you have been introduced to a fantasy world as smart as it is spectacular, which reflects, reimagines, and comments on real-world cultural, religious, and philosophical traditions. i am eager to see how the sequels develop this world.

Overall I enjoyed The Emperor's Blades. It was for me a slow read and it took me a couple hundred pages to get the lexicon down. No spoilers here, this is the epic of Kaden, Valyn and Adare after their father's (the emperor) murder. This is a violent fantasy with a fairly broad palette of secondary characters. Each of the three siblings inhabits a separate path and this book (which is #1) details the drawing together of those worlds.

What kept this from being a 5 star book for me was an over-involved canon. I think a lot could have been culled out to make this story move at a more rapid pace. I found the plot inventive but often cluttered.

I recommend this book for fantasy lovers who are not intimidates by page count or complexity.

The book starts with the death of an emperor and picks up steam fairly quickly. What I loved was a completely original story-line and action sequences that were well done without being predictable. You have literally no idea what is going to happen next. The book manages to turn your expectations upside down almost continually while moving the story along at a rapid pace. And most of the characters are very well defined. Well done! Can't wait to read the rest of the series, hope it lives up to the beginning.

I had a number of problems with this book, and one of the main ones was to make up my mind as to whether I liked it or not. I also took longer than usual to finish it, which is never a very good sign. The main reason for this is that the book contains a number of features that worked rather well for me, but also almost as many that did not.

Starting with one the later ones, I generally dislike it when the author makes it too obvious that the book is just the first volume of a series. In other terms, this is not a stand-alone book and it ends rather abruptly. Having mentioned this, the author did manage to create a strong sense of suspense throughout the book and it is mainly because of this that I finished it, despite everything else.

Another issue is that the basic plot is not exactly original: leader (here the Emperor, in other books, some kind of King, or Duke - pick your choice!) is killed, falling victim to a bunch of powerful conspirators who then move to hunt down and take out his two sons who are of course far away when the murder happens. This feature has a strong sense of "déjà vu" and appears in numerous other fantasy novels. Also largely "déjà vu" is the reference to half-legendary cruel non-human races who used to dominate the earth and are allegedly extinct but whose heritage remains after a few thousands of years.

While it is not necessarily a problem in itself, it is compounded by the fact that the two sons were sent some eight years before at the two ends of the Empire - one to become a "Ketral", a member of the Empire's equivalent to modern "special forces", and the other, the heir to the throne, to a very remote monastery high up in the mountains, also to learn some special skills. The author tries to explain this by mentioning at some point a kidnapping of the two boys when they were only four years old. The explanation is somewhat unconvincing. If their security is so much at stake, sending them off on their one to places thousands of leagues away from their father to learn some arcane skills that supposedly cannot be thought in the capital seems like a rather strange way to guarantee it.

Then there are the trainings themselves. In both cases, I found them rather unbelievable, with the respective ordeals that the boys go through being quite excessive. Regardless of whether any princes would realistically be treated in such - highly unlikely - ways, some of the treatments seemed designed to kill the pupils, or at least make them fail, more than anything else. I will not go into details to avoid spoilers, but the Ketral training seemed particularly "over the top" at times while burying the heir to the throne and leaving him in his hole for days without food or water seemed somewhat unnecessary.

The treatment of the female characters was also somewhat odd and inconsistent. While I am not quite sure I agree with another reviewer who found that the book expressed misogyny and sadistic features, it is a bit strange to note that the Emperor felt obliged to exile his two sons far away so that they would acquire "special skills" but did not bother doing the same with his daughter and kept her at his side. It is also rather unlikely that any of the courtiers or any of the high priests would have dared treat an imperial princess with the kind of lack of respect shown in the book.

Another bit that was somewhat inconsistent was about the Aedolan Guard. These are the Emperor's elite bodyguards, yet they seem to die a bit too easily both at the beginning of the book, where one of the sons finds a boat full of corpses, and at the end, when they get killed by the dozen, although by ultra-skilled enemies. Another potentially inconsistent feature is the absence of any qualms when they are tasked with murdering the Imperial family, especially coming from those who are supposed to be the most loyal.

A final disappointment was that there was not much "world-building" in this volume. To be fair, however, a remote monastery up in the mountain and a no less remote base on an archipelago of far-away islands do not lend themselves very well to this. Despite this, the author could have, for instance, shown us much more of Annur, the imperial capital and the palace, through the eyes of Adare, the Emperor's daughter.

I hesitated between two and three stars, but will finally settle for a somewhat generous three stars, mainly because there is some suspense to the story and because, despite all of my misgivings, the author has managed to make me want to read his second instalment. I hope I will like it more than this one...

Think about A Game of Thrones. Think about all the parts you liked in GoT. Now subtract all of the parts that sucked. What you are left with is The Emperor's Blades.

This book is not a knockoff of GoT, even though a few of the elements might feel familiar. Instead, it is a very tight story that grabs the reader quickly and never lets go. The characters are likable, the mystery is intriguing, and Staveley left out the boring parts. All around good read and I am looking forward to Book 2.

interesting magics, unpredictable and unfathomble antagonist, a start that has the emperor assassinated…could be a mess but the author really makes it work

I found the unusual naming of people, places, things to be especially appealing from a worldbuilding perspective. my only (relatively short-lived) complaint was the naivete of the brothers. that only lasted until i realized just how young the boys were when sent away from palace politics and intrigue.

Definitely action packed while managing to lay a superb foundation for future books in this hopefully generously long series.

I want more and this truly shines in comparison with so many other efforts available recently. A great big YAY!

I'm always looking for fantasy series books~~Kindle~~version that is. The more pages the better! This book is the best I've read since George RR Martin's Game of Thrones! That should say it all, right? No need to go into all the wonderful accolades since others have already done. You will love this book.

Well written, excellent character development with just the right amount of fantasy combined with realism (not all the good guys do well, not all the good guys are good, people aren't necessarily what they seem). The first book spends a considerable amount of time building who the characters will presumably become and this makes their decisions and capabilities more real (believable). The story of an empire in jeopardy is not unrealistic (it happened throughout human history) but it is is very very imaginative in its pursuit of ancient cults, special abilities, uncertain loyalties and overall unpredictability. This is very good for the start of an epic trilogy and exceptional for a first book.

Interesting and promising general plot, not super-original but sturdy. World rather nicely set-up, interesting behind-the-scenes, looming and menacing villains. The whole thing had good potential, but it's almost ruined by the very poor dialogues, that look almost as if straight out of Harry Potter's 2nd book of Star Wars episode III. They make the heroes feel like plastic-and-metal semi-articulate androids. I cannot imagine real people speaking in such pompous sound-bytes. Most of the characters are also very shallowly developed. The action is sometimes jumpy and unexplained, as if B. St. did not really want to spend time developing the scene but just wanted to get it over with in a couple of lines. Example:

[SPOILERS]: One of the most sympathetic heroes is left fighting an impossibly large pack of angry alien monsters, armed with just a spear. He just finished killing two of them, he's tired and slightly hurt. The narrative leaves him about to take on another 20 of them. Next time we hear of him, he's back from the fight, cool and easy, with just a long scratch to show for it.

Another one: The single combat between a female super-assassin and a giant villain warrior is being built-up for about 40 pages near the end of the book, and in the end it just glossed over, just informing us that one of them is walking away as a winner. The much-anticipated scene is just never there. Most single-combats are very badly described or omitted, showing that the author has no experience is this and does not trust himself in this at all.
[END OF SPOILERS]

I gave the book 3 stars instead of 2, just as a bonus for the well-built world and a good general plotline. I bought this and the sequel together, so I guess I'll eventually read the 2nd one as well, but I don't expect much.

This gets a WOW from me. I'm a huge lover of epic fantasy with a lot at stake and just enough mystery and magic to sink the hooks deep. Stavely has this figured out on his first outing. While the question "who killed the emperor" hangs over all three major storylines and points of view, you as the reader slowly come to realize that you HAVE to know what happened and what will happen to these people. There siblings who really have had little contact since childhood are making their way back to each other and the narrative draw of the whole thing is just amazing to behold. It's real, it's gritty, and this author knows how to write. I'm waiting on the second volume now and its virgin pages won't last long.

At first...this book...seemed...to take...forever...to...make any....progress....
And then - BAM! WHAM! KA-POW! Suddenly I was sucked in, unable to tear myself away from the stories of Kaden, Valyn, and Adare, unwilling to to resume my normal daily pursuits until I had discovered just what was going to happen next in this exceptionally well crafted world.

Every character was brilliant, and for the length of the book, not one of them was irrelevant. In reading about their struggles and triumphs, you mourned with them as well as rejoiced in the same moments they did. In a world where murder, treachery, and deceit run rampant, somehow these siblings stay true to who they were raised to be, and refuse to let life, or circumstance diminish their potential.

Absolutely a fabulous read. Read this book - you'll never regret that you did. Fact is when it's over, you'll be left with a silly grin on your face, a pounding in your heart, and an unceasing excitement to find out what happens next.

A solid debut that suffers from some minor problems, which didn't really keep me from enjoying the story. The story of the three children of the murdered emperor Sanlitun and their efforts to foil the conspiracy to overthrow the entire nation. And this is where one of the problems arises: Valyn, one of the two sons gets LOTS of page time, the other son, Kaden, gets a good amount, but the daughter, Adare, felt like her chapters were tacked on. Don't get me wrong, her plot line is very interesting, but her chapters are so sporadic! I'd guess she appears in maybe 5% of the book. It just didn't feel balanced.

Which leads to another problem, the women in this book didn't strike me as believable. I just wasn't convinced that any of them were real, fleshed-out people, unlike the many men in the book. Writing women well is a tricky thing for many men to do, and hopefully Staveley takes some major strides in the next volume because I anticipate a lot more page time for Adare and greater insight into the other women who accompany Valyn and Kaden on their continuing journeys.

And I do plan to read the next volume because the story is interesting, the mysteries still unresolved, and the main characters likable. Good recipe for success.

Epic fantasy has been heavily stocked over the years with some powerhouse writers — Jordan, Erikson, Wurts, Rothfuss and Martin have been the standard bearers of this genre of fantasy. It’s a pretty challenging genre to break into, but after reading the first book of the CHRONICLE OF THE UNHEWN THRONE, The Emperor’s Blades, I am reminded that there is always room for someone new.

In epic fantasy, great empires are never allowed to simply exist in peace. It’s almost inevitable that there is about to be regime change, or some long forgotten force/enemy is coming to threaten the known world. Brian Stavely uses this formula as the crisis into which the three young heirs to the Unhewn Throne are cast. The three children of the ruling Emperor of the Annurian Empire are all geographically separated, in training of one form or another to assume fitting roles. When their father is assassinated, their lives are completely overturned and they are forced to become who they must be without a period of grace.

If Kaden is the heir to the throne, then the choice of his training to become emperor is very odd. Living among a reclusive ascetic order of monks provides a great deal of training and experience, but exactly how that relates to becoming emperor is hard to imagine. Kaden’s teachers are cryptic, prickly and often punish him for failure to within an inch of his life, but because his father sent him to the monastery he endures and tried to improve.

Adare, oldest child of the Emperor, has been raised and trained to intellectual prowess. Her background and inability to inherit the throne make her well suited to becoming a powerful minister in the government. Her father’s bequest includes assignment as the Minister of Finance. In spite of the differences in gender and age, Adare’s skill and strength of character make her a match for her peers. The only child close enough to exact revenge on the suspected murderer of her father, she allies herself with those around her to try and bring the criminal to justice.

Valyn has chosen to be trained as one of the elite Kettral. Candidates spend years being trained in different disciplines to become members of teams of warriors who serve the Empire as special troops. I am reminded of US Special Forces and the training processes they have to endure in order to join a team. Valyn’s status as a son of the ruling dynasty does more to make him a target of competition and derision than to help him through the training. With only weeks to go before his final test to become a full Kettral, Valyn has no choice but to persevere with the hope of wreaking vengeance on whoever killed his father. In the midst of all this, a combination of events makes it clear that Valyn’s life is also at risk.

Brian Staveley tells this complex story with a clear voice. His ability to keep each of the characters more or less moving forward is adequate, but it is the level of detail that he is able to depict that really shines. Whether he is describing the conditions of a gruesome subterranean monster, the horrific wounds inflicted on a victim of torture or the sensation of being trained with methodologies that border on abuse you get a real, gritty experience.

The Emperor’s Blades is a solid first novel in a new epic fantasy series. I am glad to have had the chance to see this one kicked off and can’t wait for more from Brian Staveley.

Eight years ago Emperor of Annur sent his two sons to different area to train for different fields. His eldest child, a daughter, who because of her sex was denied the throne he kept with him at the Dawn Palace.

Kaden, his eldest son and heir was sent to the Bone Mountains to train in the rites of the Shin Monks who are devoted to the Blank God. Their secret rituals were the key to the ancient power that has allowed their family to rule for years and he must master it if he is to rule after his father.

Valyn, his second son was sent to the Qirin Islands to train with the brutal Kettral who fly on the backs of these monstrous birds with a wingspan of seventy feet. After training for eight years the trainees face Hull’s Trial; some give up, some die and the others that come through the trial alive and whole become a part of the most elite fighting group in the empire.

While his sons have been away, Emperor Sanlitun has been guiding his daughter Adare and has made her Minister of Finance which many of the older male ministers object to because of her youth and sex. Now the emperor has been assassinated and it is up to Adare to try and hold the empire together until Kaden can be brought home to sit on the Unhewn Throne. It will take months for the escort to reach the Bone Mountains and during that time she must hold the kingdom together with the help of Ran il Tornja who is now Regent until the new emperor returns. She must also deal with the murderer who is the Chief Priest for the goddess Intarra. Adare knows that she has a difficult task but she has no idea just how difficult it will prove to be as she discovers that those she thought she could trust have deceived her and may have destroyed the empire that her family has ruled for generations.

Eight years ago Emperor of Annur sent his two sons to different area to train for different fields. His eldest child, a daughter, who because of her sex was denied the throne he kept with him at the Dawn Palace.
Kaden, his eldest son and heir was sent to the Bone Mountains to train in the rites of the Shin Monks who are devoted to the Blank God. Their secret rituals were the key to the ancient power that has allowed their family to rule for years and he must master it if he is to rule after his father.
Valyn, his second son was sent to the Qirin Islands to train with the brutal Kettral who fly on the backs of these monstrous birds with a wingspan of seventy feet. After training for eight years the trainees face Hull’s Trial; some give up, some die and the others that come through the trial alive and whole become a part of the most elite fighting group in the empire.
While his sons have been away, Emperor Sanlitun has been guiding his daughter Adare and has made her Minister of Finance which many of the older male ministers object to because of her youth and sex. Now the emperor has been assassinated and it is up to Adare to try and hold the empire together until Kaden can be brought home to sit on the Unhewn Throne. It will take months for the escort to reach the Bone Mountains and during that time she must hold the kingdom together with the help of Ran il Tornja who is now Regent until the new emperor returns. She must also deal with the murderer who is the Chief Priest for the goddess Intarra. Adare knows that she has a difficult task but she has no idea just how difficult it will prove to be as she discovers that those she thought she could trust have deceived her and may have destroyed the empire that her family has ruled for generations.

Added to the plot are the immortal, emotionless and violent Csestriim who were thought to be extinct for thousands of years. It seems that they may have returned, gained allies and created some monstrosities to help them in their quest to destroy the Emperor and his line; who are the only ones that have the power and knowledge to defeat them.

The author has created a complex, enjoyable story filled with characters that will keep the readers immersed until the end and eagerly awaiting the next installment.

Humanity evolved from the Csestriim, an ancient race possessing considerable longevity, but thought to no longer exist. The Emperor has been murdered, his daughter who can not inherit is Minister for Finance a position fraught with palace intrigues, the eldest son has been training at a remote monastery to achieve and master the ancient Csestriim power of "vaniate", while the younger son has been undergoing the rigours of becoming a Wing Commander with the Empire's deadliest fighting force. Corruption is rife, treachery and intrigue are everywhere in what is a well balanced and superbly well written first of a series. The characters are vibrant and appealing, the setting richly textured but not overdone, the action (often brutal) fast paced and the plot well devised. An engrossing and enjoyable read; Staveley ranks amongst the top ten in my list of Fantasy authors.

I don't read fantasy that often but I picked this book after a friend recommended it to me and I have very, very happy I did!

I generally read a lot of romance, mostly contemporary and it is relatively easy for me to relate to the characters since their stories are mostly realistic. It is quite different with fantasy. For me a true sign of the writer's mastery is the ability to make the readers connect with character whom we know don't exist and are not real. And I have to admit that I felt pretty close and deeply involved with all the main (even some of the supporting) characters in Mr. Staveley's book. I even cried a bit at the death of one character in a particular, it was a very emotional moment, beautifully presented. (Mr. Stavely, you won't follow George Martin in this direction, will you?)

It is an amazing first book in an epic fantasy series. It starts slowly, creating a complex world, ruled by ancient and new gods and goddesses, an empire in turmoil after the murder of its ruler. This is the story of his heirs - two sons and a daughter and their struggles to fulfill their father's will.

The narration flows smoothly alternating between Kaden's, Valyn's and Adare's storylines. The focus is on the boys mostly and I wish Adare was given equal attention, though the final plot twist related to her was rather shocking and attention-grabbing. They are evolve but it is more pronounced with the two brothers. It is a coming-of-age story story for both of them where they grow up through enduring hardship and pain. Kaden lives in a monastery and Valyn is training with elite military forces, yet their stories mirror each other in may ways.

There were a number of plot twists that kept me on the edge the entire time I was reading the book. To say that the plot is interesting would be an understatement, it's captivating, engrossing, utterly absorbing. The story is even more powerful due to the wonderful writing style of the author. The world building is also very well done. We are thrown into a violent by ordinary people and supernatural creatures.

My review can hardly do justice to this amazing fantasy. This book goes straight into my list of best reads of 2014. I strongly recommend it to all fans of the genre and to anyone interested in reading a magical story about the fight between good and evil.

You can read more of my reviews on my blog - Ellie Reads Fiction

Brian Staveley's "The Emperor's Blades" is a solid debut fantasy. It's action filled, has an interesting world, and enough plot twists to be worth a read. It does seem to tick off every standard requirement to write a fantasy novel, though, and between that and a bit of uneven plot distribution one star off. 4 stars total, and it's promising enough that the inevitable sequels should improve as Staveley hones his craft.

It's refreshing to have many newcomers in fantasy using George R. R. Martin's template for a world; people trying for power in a screwed up world makes far more interesting reading than princesses, knights, and wizards. "The Emperor's Blades" follows that path, with a dead king, conspiracies galore, an ancient and modern danger, and three heirs discovering that the rich world in which they live in is not quite what they had anticipated.

Other reviewers have focused on the plot and the characters; in summary, it's not bad. The problem is that it feels a bit like Staveley had a list of boxes to check for Martinesque fantasy plot inclusion, which makes things a bit more formulaic. Ancient evil? Check. Eastern-style monks who know about this evil and all sorts of lore? Check. Generic megalomaniac jerk characters as antagonists? Check. Brutal training that doesn't exactly fit well in the world's structure? Check. Ambiguous gender roles in a semi medieval world? Check. Likeable sidekicks? Check.

This isn't to say "The Emperor's Blades" is bad fantasy at all; it's just that it's less original than something like The Name of the Wind, which used most of the above checkboxes but in a much more creative fashion. As far as plot, the only major weakness in the writing is the third point of view character, Princess Adele, who receives far less stage time than her brother - although despite her limited participation, she's still responsible for a major revelation that provides more to plot advancement than several hundred pages from her brothers.

With more experience, there's promise that Staveley will up his game a bit in the inevitable sequels. Worth a read, and 4 stars.

This is one of the best fantasy novels I've read, for multiple reasons (in no particular order):
1) The author's prose is very clean and clear, vividly conjuring images of places and action without being wordy. This is some kind of feat.
2) The action is intense and the plot line is suspenseful--I hated putting the book down at the end of my morning train commute!
3) The characters grow and learn, not remaining stagnant throughout their adventures, as many fantasy characters unfortunately do.
4) The extremes to which the author pushes his characters are conveyed with psychological realism, so that they don't appear to be mere devices to move the story along.
5) The fantasy elements the author creates are imaginative and new, which is what makes fantasy fun to read (and probably difficult to write!).

To find all of these factors together in one fantasy novel makes me give The Emperor's Blades a full five stars!

My first the store review. Never have felt compelled to write one before, even for great books/items I have purchased here before. But did feel strongly that I wanted to share the good news about this book.

Found it at my local library, and picked it up due to cover and two or three paragraphs randomly selected. Looked like it would be a good mix of intrigue and action. It definitely was that. I finished it in two sittings, back to back, on consecutive nights -- which given my schedule (kids, new job, buying a house, etc.) says a lot about how pulled in I was by it.

What I loved about the book is that Brian did become enamored with his world building. The setting is very compelling - a mix of eastern and western archetypes, some not too outlandish (and rare) magical abilities, convincing religious orders. But he didn't dwell on them to the exclusion of what matters most to me. Character. The 3 primary characters are siblings, and Brian does a nice job of pacing you up to a suspenseful point with one, only to jump to another -- and in many cases filling in details raised in the prior segment via the second or third characters narrative. They are believable, engaging but not perfect or one dimensional.

Only reason it wasn't a 5 star is that I think he can do more with Adare (the female sibling) to make her more interesting -- although in fairness, she does not get as much attention so far as the brothers -- maybe in book 2. Valyn spends a bit *too* much time tormented/frustrated by his inability to get to his brother...but then seems to be ok with long periods of story time not moving in that direction. Kaden is the most interesting of the three so far. There is a lot of time spent on punishment and physical privation (and Valyn for that matter) -- think Navy Seal training for aspiring assassins and monks. But none of this detracts overmuch from setting up a compelling group of characters that I want to learn more about.

I am looking forward to the next book, The Providence of Fire, and will keep tabs on Brian over at his blog: [...].

Check it out, buy it and support a new voice that we fans of epic fantasy will be thrilled to have in the rotation!

E.

After the emperor's assassination, the pressure is on his three children to keep the empire together. However, the siblings must conquer their own, more immediate challenges first. Kaden must master his studies with the Shin monks, learning mental discipline, and an arcane skill on which the fate of the empire may one day rest. Valyn must pass his initiation as a Kettral, special ops warriors who fly into missions on giant birds, and in the process survive attempts against his life. Adare allies herself with the debonair new regent, Ran ilTorna, in order to avenge her father's death, while navigating a hostile court and restless citizens.

While Adare's situation was no less interesting than Kaden's or Valyn's, she appears in only a handful of chapters in the book, and her story therefore seems a bit thin compared to her brothers' fleshed out adventures. I would have liked to have seen more of the imperial court and Adare's political maneuverings.

This books has action, intrigue, as well as a bit of magic and romance. If you're unsure about getting the book, I'd recommend reading the sample Kindle chapters; I think they'll give you a good sense of the world and its characters. I was hooked, and I think many others will be too.

This was the most enjoyable fantasy novel I've read in a long time. The Shin religion and Kettral warriors were fascinating and vividly imagined, and there is a host of dynamic, interesting characters in the story. The ending kept me guessing how the characters would make it out alive, and I wasn't able to put the book down for the last hundred pages or so. Staveley delivers a satisfying conclusion to book one, while also raising the stakes for book two.

Here is a (not really) spoiler summary for the first 75% of The Emperor’s Blades: An emperor, dead; a plot to kill his three children, underway; breakneck action to match those high-stakes…completely missing.

We start the book with the death of an emperor—as auspicious a premise as there ever was—but until the final quarter, nothing of importance happens. It’s quite shocking actually: a book that is going to be published could stand to lose its first 300 pages. All that happens in those 300 pages is an extended montage scene. The two princes—one training to be an elite soldier, the other serving as a monastic acolyte—get into various unimportant scrapes that are described in painstaking detail. (Literally ‘painstaking’: the pain of these unnecessary details is comparable to the pain of impalement by a stake.) Now I can never resist a good montage scene. Upbeat music coupled with characters getting ready to chase their goals is a perfect combination. But after a while I was hoping for, then praying for, then sacrificing cows at a homemade altar for a conflict to maybe kinda sorta sometime soon appear. Please Zeus?

As I waited very patiently, I was subjected to simplistic and forced dialogue that merely served to push the plot along. I also had to suffer dumb characters. Get ready to scoff and eyeroll when a character neglects to notice a big fat whopping clue slapping him on the side of his face! It happens quite a lot, especially with soldier prince. It’s even worse because the story is so emotionally simplistic, it is impossible to connect with the characters.

But what bothered me most about this novel was its treatment of female characters. Now this rant does not entirely belong to The Emperor’s Blades. Rather it is the result of hundreds of fantasy books, normally written by male authors, committing the same error. There are three POV characters in this novel, but I’ve only mentioned the two princes. That’s because the princess’s chapters are very few. What’s worse, in each of her chapters we are constantly reminded that this girl cannot be emperor, that she has no role in this man’s fantasy world. I don’t like “strong” female characters who are constantly told that they’re a rarity, that sexism does not want them where they currently have fought to be. Because honestly this just reinforces the idea that it is unnatural for women to be in positions of power. It suggests, quite unconsciously but regardless, that ambitious and successful women are an aberration. Give me a fantasy novel where men and women are equal and absolutely nothing has to be said about it because it’s normal!

Despite all these gripes, The Emperor’s Blades is a mildly entertaining novel that will be appreciated by those who like their fantasy more popcorny and less meaty. Do know that this is a series beginner and there is absolutely zero resolution here. Will I be back for book two? Possibly, since the mythology of this world seems interesting and I didn’t learn enough about it for my taste (instead I was treated to another knife fight or something). But I’m going to read reviews carefully before coming back for more to make sure that all of the significant action isn’t stuffed into the final 100 pages.