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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
DNF 15%
I just couldn't stand the level of injustice thrown at the teenage protagonists by their adult trainers. Beaten bloody for failing to see footprints that weren't there. Allowing one student to digitally rape another during martial arts. Allowing one student to tie the knot that another must untie underwater, without being reviewed by the trainer. Instructors constantly testing students with questions and then cutting off their correct answers to assume an error...
If you can witness the institutional abuse of the young by authority figures as character building rather than torture porn, then this may be a decent read for you. Certainly, the quality of the writing is professional, but I couldn't stand it a moment longer. The whole time I was hoping any protagonist would have the balls to insist on fairness or just walk away. This lack of agency was infuriating.
I just couldn't stand the level of injustice thrown at the teenage protagonists by their adult trainers. Beaten bloody for failing to see footprints that weren't there. Allowing one student to digitally rape another during martial arts. Allowing one student to tie the knot that another must untie underwater, without being reviewed by the trainer. Instructors constantly testing students with questions and then cutting off their correct answers to assume an error...
If you can witness the institutional abuse of the young by authority figures as character building rather than torture porn, then this may be a decent read for you. Certainly, the quality of the writing is professional, but I couldn't stand it a moment longer. The whole time I was hoping any protagonist would have the balls to insist on fairness or just walk away. This lack of agency was infuriating.
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5 stars rounded down but excited to continue. This was a strange read for me -- one of the POVs clicked very much, while the other main one never quite worked. I ate up everything to do with Kaden in the Buddhist-style monastery on the mountain, and became pretty attached to him and just about every side character there.
However, while Valyn's chapters were never a chore to read or unengaging, something always just seemed a bit off with the whole scenario on the Kettral training island. I will chalk this one up to the book being a debut, needing to do set-up, and an author writing a scenario around an elite military unit that maybe he didn't have much personal experience with. It never felt like there were enough people on the island, whether other cadets, older Kettral, or locals--with the result being that a lot of it felt like a YA plotline about a protagonist and his friends/love interest vs. a bully and his cronies -- and I'm not a fan of that kind of plot, but it just seemed out of place particularly in this training environment. The character of Ha Lin in particular really grated on my nerves, and
As far as mysteries and twists and turns, I was satisfied that I couldn't predict much of anything and was kept on my toes til the end. I'm very intrigued by the lore and history of the world, and I'm a big fan of this kind of epic fantasy with a good bit of grit.
Ultimately I am happy I read it and am hopeful that this can become a great series, since Staveley writes in what is probably my most preferred genre and accessible writing style.
However, while Valyn's chapters were never a chore to read or unengaging, something always just seemed a bit off with the whole scenario on the Kettral training island. I will chalk this one up to the book being a debut, needing to do set-up, and an author writing a scenario around an elite military unit that maybe he didn't have much personal experience with. It never felt like there were enough people on the island, whether other cadets, older Kettral, or locals--with the result being that a lot of it felt like a YA plotline about a protagonist and his friends/love interest vs. a bully and his cronies -- and I'm not a fan of that kind of plot, but it just seemed out of place particularly in this training environment. The character of Ha Lin in particular really grated on my nerves, and
Spoiler
can't say I was at all upset when she got surprisingly murdered--never a good sign when one of the good guys dying is a huge sigh of relief for my enjoyment of the rest of the series!As far as mysteries and twists and turns, I was satisfied that I couldn't predict much of anything and was kept on my toes til the end. I'm very intrigued by the lore and history of the world, and I'm a big fan of this kind of epic fantasy with a good bit of grit.
Ultimately I am happy I read it and am hopeful that this can become a great series, since Staveley writes in what is probably my most preferred genre and accessible writing style.
Detailed. Inventive. Spaghetti-bowlish.
This book was an interesting read. I'd read the back at Barnes and Noble a few months back and found it intriguing, but I never picked it up. While working at the library last week, I found that the library has the whole trilogy, so I decided to give the first installation a shot.
Staveley does an incredible job of forming detail into his story. The settings, people, emotions, and experiences of the characters in his world are well fleshed out. Yes, I've seen peoples' criticisms about it being anachronistic and disrespectful at times, but that almost always comes into play in any genre to show the ridiculous nature of how people in our time think of others. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt that he describes things and people in a way to shed light on how we can do better in our own lives. In addition, his world building is remarkable and well thought out.
Ingenuity and invention are interesting elements in this book in terms of the unique capabilities of the characters (they have yet to be fully explained, but I'm anxious to know more - which is really the goal of any writing, to make your audience want more). From the big birds, to the "special forces," to the ways of the monks, I found it all interesting.
Now to the interesting one, spaghetti-bowlish. There's lots of intrigue and deception, treachery and nasty business, but also a far bit of love and honor, respect and obedience. There's just a lot of different threads and lines intermingling as spaghetti noodles tend to do in their bowled environment. There's still much to learn, but it is interesting.
The only criticism I really want to talk about is the fact that much of the middle tends to drag on and take much time to develop. Yes, he does a great job of using this to amp up the ending, but I can't help but think that he could have found some way to "speed" things up. I hesitate to say that though, since some of the beauty of the book lies in the patience of learning the details. Yet, it did at times feel like a grueling exercise (potentially fitting, as some characters demonstrate in the book).
If you enjoy fantasy, world building, interesting skills and capabilities (I'm hesitant to say "magic") then this volume will surely provide some interesting variations on some common fantasy themes.
This book was an interesting read. I'd read the back at Barnes and Noble a few months back and found it intriguing, but I never picked it up. While working at the library last week, I found that the library has the whole trilogy, so I decided to give the first installation a shot.
Staveley does an incredible job of forming detail into his story. The settings, people, emotions, and experiences of the characters in his world are well fleshed out. Yes, I've seen peoples' criticisms about it being anachronistic and disrespectful at times, but that almost always comes into play in any genre to show the ridiculous nature of how people in our time think of others. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt that he describes things and people in a way to shed light on how we can do better in our own lives. In addition, his world building is remarkable and well thought out.
Ingenuity and invention are interesting elements in this book in terms of the unique capabilities of the characters (they have yet to be fully explained, but I'm anxious to know more - which is really the goal of any writing, to make your audience want more). From the big birds, to the "special forces," to the ways of the monks, I found it all interesting.
Now to the interesting one, spaghetti-bowlish. There's lots of intrigue and deception, treachery and nasty business, but also a far bit of love and honor, respect and obedience. There's just a lot of different threads and lines intermingling as spaghetti noodles tend to do in their bowled environment. There's still much to learn, but it is interesting.
The only criticism I really want to talk about is the fact that much of the middle tends to drag on and take much time to develop. Yes, he does a great job of using this to amp up the ending, but I can't help but think that he could have found some way to "speed" things up. I hesitate to say that though, since some of the beauty of the book lies in the patience of learning the details. Yet, it did at times feel like a grueling exercise (potentially fitting, as some characters demonstrate in the book).
If you enjoy fantasy, world building, interesting skills and capabilities (I'm hesitant to say "magic") then this volume will surely provide some interesting variations on some common fantasy themes.
The Emperor’s Blades is the début novel by fantasy author Brian Staveley. Prior to its release the review train has been gathering pace with plenty of high praise in the fuel tank, and it’s easy enough to see why. It’s generally well written and mostly well paced. The storyline is relatively straight forward, but then it does give plenty of room for little side stories where we can learn more about the characters and settings, and there’s a nice twist that really gets things moving as the story builds towards the end.
I got my hands on an ARC of The Emperor’s Blades and moved it up to the top of my to read list as I liked the way the blurb sold it to me, and I always like to find new authors to check out. In general, I thought it was an entertaining read without quite managing to be an excellent one. It didn’t fully grab me until about half way through, or perhaps even further than that, and for a long time seemed like it was the story of one young man trudging around in the mountains and another running around battling paranoia as he tried to solve a mystery.
Of course, there was always much more to it than that, but for the first half or so of the book, I was never quite sure where it was going. Part of this may have been down to it having a prologue which, for me, added absolutely nothing whatsoever to the book. I know some people who have problems with prologues but I’ve never shared the sentiment. Saying that though, this is the first time I’ve read one and thought it should have been left out completely. Take this prologue out however, and you open with the young Kaden tracking a lost goat through the mountains and although it is important for later plot points, this wouldn’t work as an opening if you want to ensure I carry on reading.
Much better would have been the intrigue of Valyn’s first chapter, though I almost felt like banging my head against the wall when his companion was introduced as the similarly sounding Ha Lin. This opening piece sets up the story and also sends Valyn on his way to always looking over his shoulder and the difficulties he faces in not trusting anyone. When people are asked to help in his investigation it’s without knowing what they’re helping with, but they still go along with it anyway. This didn’t quite read right to me and perhaps a bit more interaction with these characters would smooth over these rough edges and make the flow of these parts a bit better.
I did like the idea of the special forces that are Valyn’s Kettrel, even if I wish the great birds they fly around on weren’t also called kettrel, which can get a little confusing if you don’t note the difference in capitalisation. I also like how everyone on the Kettrel Wing has their own separate function (flier, sniper, demolitions, leach, duellist) although it seemed a little too convenient that there would be an even number of each function when it came to assigning graduates to their Wings – maybe that’s why some characters don’t make it through the trials, to avoid any issues with uneven numbering.
Another plus for me is the subtle magic of the leach, although I’m still not sure whether I’d prefer to know a bit more about what a leach is when I’m first introduced to the word or not. As it is, I was left thinking one thing and it ended up being something completely different. Learning more about leaches and what they can do is good when it is addressed, and it’s easy to see why they are valued by the Kettrel even if they are reviled by the rest of the world. There are other subtleties that work well for me too, such as the way passing Hull’s Trial will change a person who graduates to become Kettrel, and the way this isn’t told, but instead is gradually pieced together by our characters.
Overall, I’d say there’s definite promise here. Although personally I don’t feel that the ending sucked me in to eagerly awaiting the next in the series, I’ll happily pick it up when I do get the opportunity. One thing I look forward to is seeing more of the world coming up, not just with more of the city where Valyn and Kaden’s sister can be found, but as Kaden will be doing some exploring and perhaps Valyn too, with a kettrel at his disposal.
I got my hands on an ARC of The Emperor’s Blades and moved it up to the top of my to read list as I liked the way the blurb sold it to me, and I always like to find new authors to check out. In general, I thought it was an entertaining read without quite managing to be an excellent one. It didn’t fully grab me until about half way through, or perhaps even further than that, and for a long time seemed like it was the story of one young man trudging around in the mountains and another running around battling paranoia as he tried to solve a mystery.
Of course, there was always much more to it than that, but for the first half or so of the book, I was never quite sure where it was going. Part of this may have been down to it having a prologue which, for me, added absolutely nothing whatsoever to the book. I know some people who have problems with prologues but I’ve never shared the sentiment. Saying that though, this is the first time I’ve read one and thought it should have been left out completely. Take this prologue out however, and you open with the young Kaden tracking a lost goat through the mountains and although it is important for later plot points, this wouldn’t work as an opening if you want to ensure I carry on reading.
Much better would have been the intrigue of Valyn’s first chapter, though I almost felt like banging my head against the wall when his companion was introduced as the similarly sounding Ha Lin. This opening piece sets up the story and also sends Valyn on his way to always looking over his shoulder and the difficulties he faces in not trusting anyone. When people are asked to help in his investigation it’s without knowing what they’re helping with, but they still go along with it anyway. This didn’t quite read right to me and perhaps a bit more interaction with these characters would smooth over these rough edges and make the flow of these parts a bit better.
I did like the idea of the special forces that are Valyn’s Kettrel, even if I wish the great birds they fly around on weren’t also called kettrel, which can get a little confusing if you don’t note the difference in capitalisation. I also like how everyone on the Kettrel Wing has their own separate function (flier, sniper, demolitions, leach, duellist) although it seemed a little too convenient that there would be an even number of each function when it came to assigning graduates to their Wings – maybe that’s why some characters don’t make it through the trials, to avoid any issues with uneven numbering.
Another plus for me is the subtle magic of the leach, although I’m still not sure whether I’d prefer to know a bit more about what a leach is when I’m first introduced to the word or not. As it is, I was left thinking one thing and it ended up being something completely different. Learning more about leaches and what they can do is good when it is addressed, and it’s easy to see why they are valued by the Kettrel even if they are reviled by the rest of the world. There are other subtleties that work well for me too, such as the way passing Hull’s Trial will change a person who graduates to become Kettrel, and the way this isn’t told, but instead is gradually pieced together by our characters.
Overall, I’d say there’s definite promise here. Although personally I don’t feel that the ending sucked me in to eagerly awaiting the next in the series, I’ll happily pick it up when I do get the opportunity. One thing I look forward to is seeing more of the world coming up, not just with more of the city where Valyn and Kaden’s sister can be found, but as Kaden will be doing some exploring and perhaps Valyn too, with a kettrel at his disposal.
adventurous
tense
The only reason I picked up and started this book was because I was send a free copy from my friend as he really wanted to see what everybody thought of the book was. This book is not what I expected.
Not knowing anything about the book, and just judging from the cover and the friends I knew who had read the book I expected this to more epic fantasy like Brent Weeks or Sanderson, but was I wrong. This was in part maybe because Epic Fantasy all has to be huge door stoppers, which this one is certainly not. This is more of a blend of different genres that turned out to more of a murder mystery than anything else with military fantasy as the backdrop with a dash of religion.
It is about murder of the emperor, and how that affects his 3 children, two boys and one girl spread across the world as they deal with their own problems and difficulties. One trying to figure out his own murders, while the others train and get ready for Hull's Trial. This was nothing really innovative, but it was a nice fun read that kept my attention all the way through that had just the right amount of detail and pacing. What I really did not expect was the book ending on a cliffhanger not really resolving the murder mystery, which was kind of expected since this is book 1 of a trilogy. Look forward on picking up and reading the sequel soon.
Definitely a great debut, and a book I would recommend to others looking for a great fantasy that has enough of everything to keep the reader's attention of wanting more.
Not knowing anything about the book, and just judging from the cover and the friends I knew who had read the book I expected this to more epic fantasy like Brent Weeks or Sanderson, but was I wrong. This was in part maybe because Epic Fantasy all has to be huge door stoppers, which this one is certainly not. This is more of a blend of different genres that turned out to more of a murder mystery than anything else with military fantasy as the backdrop with a dash of religion.
It is about murder of the emperor, and how that affects his 3 children, two boys and one girl spread across the world as they deal with their own problems and difficulties. One trying to figure out his own murders, while the others train and get ready for Hull's Trial. This was nothing really innovative, but it was a nice fun read that kept my attention all the way through that had just the right amount of detail and pacing. What I really did not expect was the book ending on a cliffhanger not really resolving the murder mystery, which was kind of expected since this is book 1 of a trilogy. Look forward on picking up and reading the sequel soon.
Definitely a great debut, and a book I would recommend to others looking for a great fantasy that has enough of everything to keep the reader's attention of wanting more.
I really enjoyed this! I've had it in my ebook library for a while, and finally got around to cracking it open. Of the three siblings only two were really focused on in this installment, but both were equally engaging. I couldn't decide which viewpoint I was most excited to see. I immediately purchased the next in the series, hoping the quality keeps up!
4.2 stars, recommended if you're looking for a good start to a fantasy trilogy!
4.2 stars, recommended if you're looking for a good start to a fantasy trilogy!
The book revolves around 3 children of the dead emperor trying to get introduced to the fact that their father (The Emperor) is dead and who killed him while trying to save themselves.
I really liked this book and the world building was excellent. I liked the lore and history surrounding the empire and the world. More importantly the choice the author made by keeping the 3 main characters on 3 different places made me realise the culture and history of the world even more.
As per the characters go, I liked Kaden the best and even though Valyn was irritating at times, he is a good character too. I hated Adare though. She lived in the palace to learn the politics but she doesn't know what to do, who to trust and nothing related to politics. This irritated me very much.
I don't know how the future books will carry on the series but I will definitely give them a try and I hope I will like it.
I really liked this book and the world building was excellent. I liked the lore and history surrounding the empire and the world. More importantly the choice the author made by keeping the 3 main characters on 3 different places made me realise the culture and history of the world even more.
As per the characters go, I liked Kaden the best and even though Valyn was irritating at times, he is a good character too. I hated Adare though. She lived in the palace to learn the politics but she doesn't know what to do, who to trust and nothing related to politics. This irritated me very much.
I don't know how the future books will carry on the series but I will definitely give them a try and I hope I will like it.
Well, the buddy read didn't exactly go to plan.
This had some really interesting stuff, I just gave a shit about 1/3 protagonists, and even for the one I did there was some stuff that made me roll my eyes.
The setup for the climax was cool, and again had a bunch of stuff that made me roll my eyes.
I just found the rest....unexceptional in basically every way.
The setup for book 2 is really interesting, but the setup for the start of book 1 was interesting, and the climax of book 1 was interesting, and both were kinda riddled with holes.
Problems mostly come down to things being extremely convoluted, and really really push suspension of disbelief. There was no 1 big huge hole, just at least 1 smaller one in basically every chapter.
So it's a 3.8/10, and I will unfortunately be abandoning the buddy read on Allen's discord. In the distant future I could be convinced to try the stand alone that is supposed to be better, but only if people who are luke warm on this like it, and not just people who also loved this book
This had some really interesting stuff, I just gave a shit about 1/3 protagonists, and even for the one I did there was some stuff that made me roll my eyes.
The setup for the climax was cool, and again had a bunch of stuff that made me roll my eyes.
I just found the rest....unexceptional in basically every way.
The setup for book 2 is really interesting, but the setup for the start of book 1 was interesting, and the climax of book 1 was interesting, and both were kinda riddled with holes.
Problems mostly come down to things being extremely convoluted, and really really push suspension of disbelief. There was no 1 big huge hole, just at least 1 smaller one in basically every chapter.
So it's a 3.8/10, and I will unfortunately be abandoning the buddy read on Allen's discord. In the distant future I could be convinced to try the stand alone that is supposed to be better, but only if people who are luke warm on this like it, and not just people who also loved this book