Reviews

The Empire of the Dead by Phil Tucker

saraishelafs's review against another edition

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4.0

In a kingdom ruled by the goddess of the netherworld, a group of concerned adults attempt to rescue a youth who has been kidnapped to be a sacrifice at an important ritual. The characters are believable and likeable. The setting is unusual and the action moves along satisfyingly.

kellsway's review against another edition

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4.0

Bloody good start to this series. At this point I can safely say I’ll read anything Phil Tucker writes. Book Two Please!!! 🙌🏾

angrywombat's review against another edition

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4.0

Intro

OK - lets get this out of the way. GET A COPY OF THIS AND READ IT!

Ahem... Anyway. I had never heard of Phil Tucker when I was thinking about the "Reading Resident Author's" square on the r/Fantasy bingo... but just on the day I was looking for a book a random post appears where the author himself is giving away copies of the first book in his new series because it is going to be the RRAWR book of the month.... So I snapped it up thinking "eh, why not..."

That Phil guy - sneaky bugger! Remember kids, when someone says "first one is free" they are selling something dangerously addictive! This book caught me totally by surprise.

Plot/Setting

I have never seen anything like this. Another guy on reddit called it "Necro-sumerian Ocean's Eleven". Which covers it pretty damn well. The world feels completely different from just about any other fantasy i've read. This whole book is infused with the feel of ancient mesopotamia - the warring city states, the gods who lead their own cities, the feel that the skills of civilisation (farming, brewing, candlemaking, blacksmithing) are all god-given magics... It is fantastic! Even better - the whole plot has strong overtones of Mesopotamian mythology - particularly the story of Inanna (the goddess who seduced the God Enki - and stole the mes (magical inscriptions which allow civilisation)..

So on to the plot: The first chapters felt very slow and meh to be honest... but its all a trick (like the first hill on a roller coaster). We meet out first PoV character Archarsis who is some old guy travelling to meet some people to "make thigns right". It all feels very humdrum (except the armies of undead laborers working the fields...) but he meets an ex Annara (who happens to have been a priestess of a now dead god, and tough as nails herself!), and the story kicks into gear when the ex's child Elu (who happens to be Acharsis' son as well) gets taken by a wandering priest to be a sacrifice at the next big ceremony - because it turns out that Archarsis is the son of a god (the now dead god of fertility and knowledge)

A pair of past their prime parents are not equipped to storm the gates of a city rules by an undead lich-lord and his army of priests and undead soldiers.... so they want to get some backup in the form of another old "friend" Jerek who just happens to be another god-scion, but he's the son of the god of the earth - so he is much stronger and tougher than your average guy...

Once we meet our main trio, the plot really starts to hum along. We learn about the God-Wars where the daughter of the Goddess of Death managed to trick (and kill) the other god-children and turn them into powerful undead - and "conquer" the other cities. They come across new problems (which add to our knowledge of the world) and find interesting ways of tricking their way around obstacles.. but often into even more sticky situations!

Along the way we meet a few other interesting folk - a pair of younger godblooded who are recruited into the attempt to save Elu, a priestess nurturing a rebel cell, and a few nasty death-worshippers... Although one of my favorite minor characters is an utterly pragmatic chief-guard who knows which way the wind blows (and how to keep his great house with its own water-well!)

Writing Style/Pacing/Tone

So I've you've seen or read any other heist stories, you know the drill - assemble the team, explain the plan, fun and games in setting up the plan, and then the heist - where things will go wrong and people need to improvise. Well, each bit is there, but Mr Tucker manages to play around with things so they are surprising. I especially loved that the "Mastermind" with all the ideas (Archarsis) is actually just improvising the whole time - and often complains when others look to him for "the plan".

The story really just accelerates the whole time. Yes it starts really slow, but once it gets moving it never lets up. The obstacles get bigger, the potential threat gets more dangerous, and Archarsis' plans just seem to stick their collective necks deeper into trouble each time.

You'd like this if : you want something different from your bog-standard fantasy. You like a mix of creepy horror and wisecracking humour, and grimdark pallete mixed with hopeful do-gooders. And you dont want a doorstopper, but a fast action-packed ride full of trickery and narrow escapes.

Other Thoughts

When I was reading this, at about the half way mark I actually went and looked for what else is in this series... there is 1 more written of a planned trilogy (all I can say is: write faster Mr Tucker!) and a whole other fantasy series Chronicles of the Black Gate which is now on my to read list :)

Well played Mr Tucker, well played.

edgedancer's review against another edition

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4.0

This was fun!

I picked up The Empire of the Dead completely on a whim. I had just finished a book and was anxiously waiting another's release a few days later and had no idea what to squeeze into that short time-frame. Phil Tucker's other series, the Chronicles of the Black Gate, had been on my TBR pile for a while but I wasn't quite ready to jump into a 600+ page fantasy at the moment. So, after seeing Phil talk about The Empire of the Dead on r/fantasy and realizing it is a relatively short read, I picked it up without really knowing anything about it.

Overall, I really enjoyed the story. The setting is not quite what I usually like (very necro...Phil actually describes the book as "necro-Sumerian Ocean's 11's heist-style fantasy" and I'd say that is definitely accurate) and it took me a little while to really get into it, but it finally clicked around the halfway point. The characters are great and once the "heist" Phil refers to kicks into gear I found myself reading away until the end. There were a few minor issues I had with the story...mostly around how the pacing, but overall, I enjoyed the book and plan to read the sequel whenever it is released.

I kind of used this book as a way to see if I liked Phil's writing before diving into his Black Gate series, and I'm happy to say that I definitely did and will be reading those books shortly as well. I split my time on this between the kindle and audio-book versions and thought the narrator, Paul Guyet, did a great job. He lists this as his first work with Audible, so I'm not sure if he's done previous audiobook work before outside of Audible, but major props to him if this was his first one. Indie narrators can be hit or miss, but Paul was excellent.

milos_dumbraci's review

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

jckang's review against another edition

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5.0

Gilgamesh Meets Oceans 11 Meets The Walking Dead

See the full review on Fantasy Faction:
http://fantasy-faction.com/2018/empire-of-the-dead-by-phil-tucker

rustymiller's review against another edition

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4.0

This was an entertaining and exciting book. It is a good read for those who like a lot of action.

*I was given a free copy of this book for a fair and honest review.*

kartiknarayanan's review

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5.0

Great first book in a series with a lot of potential

This review is based on an advanced copy.

This book is a great start to a series with a lot of potential. I am eagerly looking forward to how this series evolves. Having read the author's other series' "The Path of Flames (Chronicles of the Black Gate) (Volume 1)" and "The Human Revolt Complete Boxed Set", I am confident that this will happen.

What I liked
• World Building - The setting is sumeria-like with gods, demigods, undead, monsters etc. This is quite unique. Since I am a sucker for mythology, this appeals to me, especially given that the protagonists are demigods. The world is also rich and we have seen only a portion of it so far.
• Character Development - The characters are also well constructed and their stories and motivations draw the reader in.
• Writing - The writing, like his other books, tends to be fast and engrossing. There is the right amount of humour and the action is also riveting.

What Could Have Been Better
• Story Length - I felt that the book was little bit too short. I would have been happier if the "climax" (in the book) occurred somewhere in between and there was more to follow. As it is, the book felt a little too close to "Small Gods" by Terry Pratchett given where it ended.

thiagodevecque's review

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5.0

Excelente aventura e heist que mistura necromancia e mitologia e mundo sumérios. O lore de deuses mortos e seus filhos semideuses ainda existirem meio que sem rumo na vida foi um dos pontos fortes pra mim.

3j0hn's review

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4.0

A fun high-fantasy novel in the classic 80's & 90's gods and demi-gods vein. It's a good setting with good characters and well executed. Book two will go into my tbr stack.
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