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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
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
I bought this on Audible because it sounded very dramatic and I liked the idea of the three children of the murdered emperor each finding their own way.
My husband listened to it before I did and he loved it so much. He usually is not that enthusiastic about books, so I really looked forward to it.
Maybe my expectations got in my way. While I liked the story and the world, I just had those moments when I fell out of the book. Something sounded wrong to me, a description or the action of one of the main characters. Also some of the mannerisms in the writing really got on my nerves.
I will continue reading the series, as the story intrigues me. But sadly I constantly compare the writing and the characters to other books I like better.
The way I work, Valyn is logically my favorite character. And that is why he annoys me so much. I want him to be better, more mature, more bad ass...
The series is maybe a little too dark for my taste, and I do not like that the monks who train Kaden, who are really cool, use such violent teaching methods.
My husband listened to it before I did and he loved it so much. He usually is not that enthusiastic about books, so I really looked forward to it.
Maybe my expectations got in my way. While I liked the story and the world, I just had those moments when I fell out of the book. Something sounded wrong to me, a description or the action of one of the main characters. Also some of the mannerisms in the writing really got on my nerves.
I will continue reading the series, as the story intrigues me. But sadly I constantly compare the writing and the characters to other books I like better.
The way I work, Valyn is logically my favorite character. And that is why he annoys me so much. I want him to be better, more mature, more bad ass...
The series is maybe a little too dark for my taste, and I do not like that the monks who train Kaden, who are really cool, use such violent teaching methods.
"As I’m sure your brother will tell you,” the leach continued, “I’ve developed
something of a reputation for killing people slowly, strip by strip.”
“We all have our hobbies,” Kaden replied. He could have been discussing
farming techniques.
My new favorite fantasy series ?? Very likely
From the very beginning I just knew that this will be absolutely amazing. It's hard to believe that this is a debut novel. Probably the best one I've read so far.
I'm feeling generous. I really enjoyed it, but normally I'd give it 4/5. I hate Goodreads' rating system. But it was very enjoyable.
I have an honest question - is the author a complete troglodyte, or does he just come off as one through his writing? The way women are portrayed here is abysmal. The way men threat women is also excruciating to read - Oh, look, a woman, let's talk about her tits and ass.
Adare, our only female POV, is there for all of 5 chapters (that's 10% of the book, for those counting). We are told she is brilliant, even though, until then, all we've seen her do is whine at her father's alleged murder's trial. She is given her post as Minister of Finance, by her father in his last testament. She's done nothing to ear it before we meet her, and does nothing to earn is after she has it. She finds out who murdered her father at the end, you say? Oh, but it's not by, I don't know, investigating or anything, but because her father outright tells her in a letter he wrote before he died. Well, might as well sleep with the murdering asshole, we've already hit rock bottom.
Ha Lin, Valyn's Kettral cadet friend, is a non-character. She is cardboard cutout meant to die to help Valyn's character growth. This "girlfriend in the fridge" trope needs to disappear already. The way she is treated by Yurl and Balendin is gross in a way that doesn't make me dislike the characters as much as it makes me want to punch the author in the face for putting this vile misogyny in writing. There's a way to craft engaging villains. This is not it.
Hell, even the "good" guys threat women abhorrently. Laith, a friend of Valyn's, was paying a thirteen year old girl for sex, and talks about how she liked the cock well enough. And somehow this is okay because Ha Lin paid the same girl for some fruit. Excuse me? No, on any level.
Moving on, you can skip 80% of the pages dedicated to Kaden and not miss a single interesting or important thing. We could have been reading about Adare, trying to keep the empire stable in the aftermath of the death of the emperor and in the absence of his heir. We could have had some interesting political machinations to demonstrate her supposed brilliance. But, nah, who wants to read that? Let's spend an absurd number of pages reading softcore torture porn as Kaden sits in a freezing pool, makes pots, and is buried in a whole for a week. I'm sure that now that he has achieved vaniate, meaning he's an emotionally empty husk, he'll be much more interesting to read about.
Valyn, for the most part, was fine, even though we are introduced to him as he sexualizes Ha Lin while they are elbow deep in corpses. I wouldn't necessarily say he improves, but at least his are the chapters that have engaging action.
Of the side characters, Pyrre has potential. I'm always down for some badass assassins that have actually earned their stripes through decades of work, and are not just savant teens. The story would have been much better had she been introduced earlier. Hell, there's an entire book dedicated to her. Maybe I'll just read that one and call it a day.
The Csestriim stuff was interesting. I wish there had been more of it, but I understand that the author is setting up the following books in the trilogy.
I'm willing to attribute some of this to The Emperor's Blades being Stavaley's first published work. Scrolling through the second book, Adare seems to play a much bigger role. Maybe having more screen time will benefit her character. That, plus Pyrre and the Csestriim, means I'll give the second book in the trilogy a fair try, but I sincerely hope it's better than what we got here.
Adare, our only female POV, is there for all of 5 chapters (that's 10% of the book, for those counting). We are told she is brilliant, even though, until then, all we've seen her do is whine at her father's alleged murder's trial. She is given her post as Minister of Finance, by her father in his last testament. She's done nothing to ear it before we meet her, and does nothing to earn is after she has it. She finds out who murdered her father at the end, you say? Oh, but it's not by, I don't know, investigating or anything, but because her father outright tells her in a letter he wrote before he died. Well, might as well sleep with the murdering asshole, we've already hit rock bottom.
Ha Lin, Valyn's Kettral cadet friend, is a non-character. She is cardboard cutout meant to die to help Valyn's character growth. This "girlfriend in the fridge" trope needs to disappear already. The way she is treated by Yurl and Balendin is gross in a way that doesn't make me dislike the characters as much as it makes me want to punch the author in the face for putting this vile misogyny in writing. There's a way to craft engaging villains. This is not it.
Hell, even the "good" guys threat women abhorrently. Laith, a friend of Valyn's, was paying a thirteen year old girl for sex, and talks about how she liked the cock well enough. And somehow this is okay because Ha Lin paid the same girl for some fruit. Excuse me? No, on any level.
Moving on, you can skip 80% of the pages dedicated to Kaden and not miss a single interesting or important thing. We could have been reading about Adare, trying to keep the empire stable in the aftermath of the death of the emperor and in the absence of his heir. We could have had some interesting political machinations to demonstrate her supposed brilliance. But, nah, who wants to read that? Let's spend an absurd number of pages reading softcore torture porn as Kaden sits in a freezing pool, makes pots, and is buried in a whole for a week. I'm sure that now that he has achieved vaniate, meaning he's an emotionally empty husk, he'll be much more interesting to read about.
Valyn, for the most part, was fine, even though we are introduced to him as he sexualizes Ha Lin while they are elbow deep in corpses. I wouldn't necessarily say he improves, but at least his are the chapters that have engaging action.
Of the side characters, Pyrre has potential. I'm always down for some badass assassins that have actually earned their stripes through decades of work, and are not just savant teens. The story would have been much better had she been introduced earlier. Hell, there's an entire book dedicated to her. Maybe I'll just read that one and call it a day.
The Csestriim stuff was interesting. I wish there had been more of it, but I understand that the author is setting up the following books in the trilogy.
I'm willing to attribute some of this to The Emperor's Blades being Stavaley's first published work. Scrolling through the second book, Adare seems to play a much bigger role. Maybe having more screen time will benefit her character. That, plus Pyrre and the Csestriim, means I'll give the second book in the trilogy a fair try, but I sincerely hope it's better than what we got here.
Much like The Faithful and the Fallen, I've a feeling I'll love the rest of the series. Prob not as much though given there are no animal companions!
the good
•valyn is a dumbass, but i liked reading from his pov because assassin training!!
•political ~intrigue~
•i really liked pyrre so i'm hoping there's a lot more of her going forward
the not so good
•descriptions of women are...detailed, specifically when it comes to their boobs
•there are three pov, but the voices aren't very distinct
•a lot of the reveals were predictable and it made it feel like the author was playing it safe
i enjoyed THE EMPEROR'S BLADES while reading it, but i had to push myself to pick it back up every time.
•valyn is a dumbass, but i liked reading from his pov because assassin training!!
•political ~intrigue~
•i really liked pyrre so i'm hoping there's a lot more of her going forward
the not so good
•descriptions of women are...detailed, specifically when it comes to their boobs
•there are three pov, but the voices aren't very distinct
•a lot of the reveals were predictable and it made it feel like the author was playing it safe
i enjoyed THE EMPEROR'S BLADES while reading it, but i had to push myself to pick it back up every time.
A well told by the numbers fantasy novel with a compelling story. I enjoyed the world the author built and the developed characters kept my interest. We didn't learn much about the sister... maybe in the next volume.
This was an excellent debut novel and also first book to a series. Brian Staveley's writing is wondrous and his story even more so. Even though it started a little slow and suffered from a few pacing issues, once it found it's footing I was immediately hooked. The story and plot was made even better thanks to our three main characters, Kaden, Valyn, and Adare, who are children to the assassinated emperor. Each of their stories are very different in how they deal with the aftermath and each one is very entertaining. However the story focuses so much on Kaden and Valyn, that Adare is only given a tiny spotlight. Which sucked just a little because her chapters were so interesting and added a nice little buffer to the rest of the story. I was so impressed with this debut and am excited to see how this story plays out in the upcoming novels.