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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
The Emperor has been murdered, leaving the Annurian Empire in turmoil. Now his progeny must bury their grief and prepare to unmask a conspiracy. His son Valyn, training for the empire’s deadliest fighting force, hears the news an ocean away. He expected a challenge, but after several ‘accidents’ and a dying soldier’s warning, he realizes his life is also in danger. Meanwhile, the Emperor’s daughter, Minister Adare, hunts her father’s murderer in the capital itself. Court politics can be fatal, but she needs justice. And Kaden, heir to an empire, studies in a remote monastery. Here, the Blank God’s disciples teach their harsh ways – which Kaden must master to unlock their ancient powers. It definitely took me a while to click into this book, but that had more to do with my circumstances than with the book itself. The prologue was fantastic. The rest just didn’t sink in and I had to keep pushing to stay interested. Once it clicked? Awesome. Only drawback -- I somehow fell asleep last night with twenty pages left to go, then had to go to work this morning instead of finishing. Fail.
Best fantasy I've read in a very long time. High-paced and action-packed with loveable characters.
Meh… it’s okay. There’s several interesting plot threads, especially the murder mysteries and Kettral cadet drama. Valyn’s storyline is by far the most interesting; I just wish he wasn’t dense as a brick more often than not. I feel like a condensed story centered solely around a military training arc would have been a lotttt stronger; unfortunately the book tries to do a lot of things at once, and none of them feel particularly well connected.
The lore is both heavy-handed and mush-mouthed, and characters feel like shallow fantasy cutouts with incongruent, goofy names. The women in particular are… Just. Mmm no? It’s like he *started* to write them as whole human beings in a hand-wavy sexist setting, but just… gave up. In addition to the distracting grimdark-fantasy sexualization of literally every female character, the highly questionable takes on sex work, violence, and SA only get harder to ignore as the book goes on. Especially Triste… I had to read her intro chapters through my skull because my eyes were rolled so far back into my head.
Anyway… The story never settles comfortably into its own world. There’s a lot of pointless gore (especially murdered women, because… what else), and many otherwise easily-digestible tropes get over-explained, dumbed-down, or info-dumped to death. I feel like this needed heavy editing, and perhaps a mandatory seminar on “how to write women without constantly mentioning their hnnng soft round boobies.”
Something interesting IS in there, but it’s buried beneath a lot of bleh.
The lore is both heavy-handed and mush-mouthed, and characters feel like shallow fantasy cutouts with incongruent, goofy names. The women in particular are… Just. Mmm no? It’s like he *started* to write them as whole human beings in a hand-wavy sexist setting, but just… gave up. In addition to the distracting grimdark-fantasy sexualization of literally every female character, the highly questionable takes on sex work, violence, and SA only get harder to ignore as the book goes on. Especially Triste… I had to read her intro chapters through my skull because my eyes were rolled so far back into my head.
Anyway… The story never settles comfortably into its own world. There’s a lot of pointless gore (especially murdered women, because… what else), and many otherwise easily-digestible tropes get over-explained, dumbed-down, or info-dumped to death. I feel like this needed heavy editing, and perhaps a mandatory seminar on “how to write women without constantly mentioning their hnnng soft round boobies.”
Something interesting IS in there, but it’s buried beneath a lot of bleh.
There are a lot of good things to talk about Brian Staveley's début book. It is engaging, well written and some of the characters are interesting. Unfortunately, the negatives are too glaring in this one for me to pass.
The Emperor's Blades starts like many a typical fantasy novel with the death of an emperor. His children are now thrown into a dangerous world with schemes and plots aplenty. What however catches your eye is where these sons are training. The elder son and heir, Kaden is in a monastery in the mountains (with a faux-Buddhist/Shaolin temple vibe) training to be a monk. The younger son, Valyn is in a medievalish-special forces brigade, complete with big birds, snipers, explosives and small tactical units. The eldest child and daughter Adare unfortunately is the least developed character of the lot. Although she's elevated to finance minister by her dead father's last testament, her arc is like 10% of the total novel. What should have been an edgy, political, court scheming plot is reduced to Adare having bizarre slanging matches with a nascent pope-like figure (which is resolved lamely) and even some hanky-panky with another minor character.
The brothers however have decent arcs with a lot of screen-time so to speak. Their training in their respective fields mirror each other with their ups and downs. I for one however didn't like the violence inflicted on Kaden, the monk and heir, in the guise of training. Seriously, who whips people into unconsciousness in the name of enlightening them? When Kaden is not beaten bloody, he is put through myriad exercises which are meant to "train his mind" which to somebody passing familiar with Buddhist and Hindu philosophy sounds hokey (I can't speak about influences of Zen Buddhism, not to mention Taoism and other east-Asian beliefs). I think I'll reserve judgement on his whole arc till it is resolved in the forthcoming sequels. Valyn, the badass commando has a more believable, not to mention a more readable training period. If anything, after reading these sequences, I think I'll pick up a non-fiction or fiction even of real training and missions of our special forces such as the SAS or SEALs.
However my biggest grouse remains Staveley's treatment of women, especially in Valyn's arc. Valyn's friend and love interest Lin's treatment in the book screamed of lazy plot development. If it weren't for the fact that this is Staveley's first book, I think I would've given up for the whole thing all together. And this isn't just about women characters, it rankles that neither of the brothers, or other male characters is brushed aside, or used as cheap plot-moving devices. Quite a bit of Valyn's arc is dictated by murdered whores, lesbians coming out of the closet, and almost-rapes (if such a thing even exists). Sigh.
What works you ask? The Emperor's Blades has what promises to be good world-building. There are enough hints and nudges to tell there is far more to this world than this novel has shown. The standard non-European setting (the Annurian Empire has a vague Chinese empires such as the T'ang or the Ming feel to it) is a welcome relief. And honestly, the audiobook narrator did the trick for me. The subtle accents and voices where definitely what kept me engaged. If it weren't for the fact that I had the audiobook, I don't think I'd have enjoyed it as much as I did.
The treatment of it's women characters is a deal-breaker for me. But for fans of fantasy that are looking for a book that doesn't play around with tropes but rather venerates them, the Emperor's Blades is an easy choice. Otherwise, there's nothing special I'd recommend in this.
The Emperor's Blades starts like many a typical fantasy novel with the death of an emperor. His children are now thrown into a dangerous world with schemes and plots aplenty. What however catches your eye is where these sons are training. The elder son and heir, Kaden is in a monastery in the mountains (with a faux-Buddhist/Shaolin temple vibe) training to be a monk. The younger son, Valyn is in a medievalish-special forces brigade, complete with big birds, snipers, explosives and small tactical units. The eldest child and daughter Adare unfortunately is the least developed character of the lot. Although she's elevated to finance minister by her dead father's last testament, her arc is like 10% of the total novel. What should have been an edgy, political, court scheming plot is reduced to Adare having bizarre slanging matches with a nascent pope-like figure (which is resolved lamely) and even some hanky-panky with another minor character.
The brothers however have decent arcs with a lot of screen-time so to speak. Their training in their respective fields mirror each other with their ups and downs. I for one however didn't like the violence inflicted on Kaden, the monk and heir, in the guise of training. Seriously, who whips people into unconsciousness in the name of enlightening them? When Kaden is not beaten bloody, he is put through myriad exercises which are meant to "train his mind" which to somebody passing familiar with Buddhist and Hindu philosophy sounds hokey (I can't speak about influences of Zen Buddhism, not to mention Taoism and other east-Asian beliefs). I think I'll reserve judgement on his whole arc till it is resolved in the forthcoming sequels. Valyn, the badass commando has a more believable, not to mention a more readable training period. If anything, after reading these sequences, I think I'll pick up a non-fiction or fiction even of real training and missions of our special forces such as the SAS or SEALs.
However my biggest grouse remains Staveley's treatment of women, especially in Valyn's arc. Valyn's friend and love interest Lin's treatment in the book screamed of lazy plot development. If it weren't for the fact that this is Staveley's first book, I think I would've given up for the whole thing all together. And this isn't just about women characters, it rankles that neither of the brothers, or other male characters is brushed aside, or used as cheap plot-moving devices. Quite a bit of Valyn's arc is dictated by murdered whores, lesbians coming out of the closet, and almost-rapes (if such a thing even exists). Sigh.
What works you ask? The Emperor's Blades has what promises to be good world-building. There are enough hints and nudges to tell there is far more to this world than this novel has shown. The standard non-European setting (the Annurian Empire has a vague Chinese empires such as the T'ang or the Ming feel to it) is a welcome relief. And honestly, the audiobook narrator did the trick for me. The subtle accents and voices where definitely what kept me engaged. If it weren't for the fact that I had the audiobook, I don't think I'd have enjoyed it as much as I did.
The treatment of it's women characters is a deal-breaker for me. But for fans of fantasy that are looking for a book that doesn't play around with tropes but rather venerates them, the Emperor's Blades is an easy choice. Otherwise, there's nothing special I'd recommend in this.
Well written. Interesting world and interesting scenario. Captivating characters. But such a lack of hope and light that I couldn’t really enjoy it
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is one of the few books that I found myself utterly unable to put down (reading long, long into the night). The story was engaging and unique, the world flashed out, believable and incredibly detailed, and the characters deep and dynamic.
Overall, I can't help but compare this book Brandon Sanderson, Karen Miller or Patrick Rothfuss--in my opinion Staveley has created a world that can easily be mentioned in the same breath as "The Name of the Wind."
The story it self was fresh and unique. So rarely we find a story that explores new places and new ideas, but I feel like Staveley does. His story and narrative aren't so far off the beaten path that I had trouble relating, but they weren't so trite as to make the story feel like I'd read it before.
I'm a sucker for a world that feels real to me -- it's part of the reason that I loved Brandon Sanderson and Karen Miller - they create whole worlds and tell their stories inside of that world, and The Emperor's Blades keeps with that. The whole place felt alive, dynamic, and nuanced that as I read it, I found myself wanting to know more about vaniate, the Shin, the Kettral, the Urghal. What Staveley doesn't write is just as compelling in this story as what does write.
I loved the characters. The story breaks from the typical "fatal flaw" mentality -- I didn't have the thought of "dear god, how does this person function in a social setting," because they come off as so utterly sociopathic. But that's not to say that the characters were perfect, just that their flaws felt very real. A hard, but loving father. Children scattered across the world to serve some unknown end, but don't harbor any resentment.
In a nut shell, I think the characters lack the petty, sociopathic flaws that are so common in fantasy, and instead have very humanizing flaws, that I could imagine someone I know in the real world having. It was that that made the characters feel so real and so dynamic to me.
All in all, make sure to put this book next on your to read list -- you won't be disappointed.
Overall, I can't help but compare this book Brandon Sanderson, Karen Miller or Patrick Rothfuss--in my opinion Staveley has created a world that can easily be mentioned in the same breath as "The Name of the Wind."
The story it self was fresh and unique. So rarely we find a story that explores new places and new ideas, but I feel like Staveley does. His story and narrative aren't so far off the beaten path that I had trouble relating, but they weren't so trite as to make the story feel like I'd read it before.
I'm a sucker for a world that feels real to me -- it's part of the reason that I loved Brandon Sanderson and Karen Miller - they create whole worlds and tell their stories inside of that world, and The Emperor's Blades keeps with that. The whole place felt alive, dynamic, and nuanced that as I read it, I found myself wanting to know more about vaniate, the Shin, the Kettral, the Urghal. What Staveley doesn't write is just as compelling in this story as what does write.
I loved the characters. The story breaks from the typical "fatal flaw" mentality -- I didn't have the thought of "dear god, how does this person function in a social setting," because they come off as so utterly sociopathic. But that's not to say that the characters were perfect, just that their flaws felt very real. A hard, but loving father. Children scattered across the world to serve some unknown end, but don't harbor any resentment.
In a nut shell, I think the characters lack the petty, sociopathic flaws that are so common in fantasy, and instead have very humanizing flaws, that I could imagine someone I know in the real world having. It was that that made the characters feel so real and so dynamic to me.
All in all, make sure to put this book next on your to read list -- you won't be disappointed.
If I could I would give it a 4.5
For sure am going to read the rest of the books now only if I had someone to talk about it with. :(
For sure am going to read the rest of the books now only if I had someone to talk about it with. :(