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growmealibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I really wanted to love this book but it fell a little short for me. I gave it three stars because I still enjoyed the overall plot, however, I didn’t grow that strong of a connection to any of the characters.
I felt that Kyron’s growth felt a little unrealistic. He struggled so much to do an ounce of magic and then suddenly becomes able to do so much.
Many of the characters were insufferable and were only used for a short amount of time before quickly being killed off.
Three stars because I like the overall plotline and how it came together as a standalone.
I felt that Kyron’s growth felt a little unrealistic. He struggled so much to do an ounce of magic and then suddenly becomes able to do so much.
Many of the characters were insufferable and were only used for a short amount of time before quickly being killed off.
Three stars because I like the overall plotline and how it came together as a standalone.
junancollins's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
booksforscee's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
"“Live,” Emlyn answered, stuffing a warm cloak into a backpack. “Do that and you make all the choices, mistakes and successes you want. Stand there, do nothing, die, and all those choices are gone forever.”
Two things in this book stand out to me. One being the characters, the second being the magic system.
Throughout the book you follow two POVs -
Kyron, a Magician apprentice, code name Edgelord of confusion, and Bordan; General in the Emperors army, otherwise known as a cinnamon roll with a sword. Honourable mentions - Emlyn for being the real MVP and keeping everyones shit together.
I am a sucker for a good murder mystery so when you sprinkle in political intrigue, magic and a march through an amazing forest I am very very happy
Its definitely a character driven book, and I did struggle at the beginning of the book to relate to the world. TBH I still can't really picture it much, but I have SUCH a strong impression of all the characters which is what really kept my interest and made the pages fly by after the first 25-30%
There were parts where I found some of the prose, though beautiful, was excessively long, like I had to take a minute to figure out what the hell a sentence meant. There was also a sense of just being told the worldbuidling, rather than shown. After the halfway mark the characters came through for me and I didn't notice things like the excessive sentences or the infodump of worldbuilding.
Overall an enjoyable read, the ending had me at the edge of my seat !
Sidenote: I am slightly disappointed to find out this is a complete story - and I have SO many questions that need to be answered that I thought would be in the sequel. Who killed the Emperor ? Where did Kyron go in the glade?? (IYKYK)
(Massive Thanks to Rebellion Publishing and GR Matthews for the opportunity to read and review this book )
"“Live,” Emlyn answered, stuffing a warm cloak into a backpack. “Do that and you make all the choices, mistakes and successes you want. Stand there, do nothing, die, and all those choices are gone forever.”
Two things in this book stand out to me. One being the characters, the second being the magic system.
Throughout the book you follow two POVs -
Kyron, a Magician apprentice, code name Edgelord of confusion, and Bordan; General in the Emperors army, otherwise known as a cinnamon roll with a sword. Honourable mentions - Emlyn for being the real MVP and keeping everyones shit together.
I am a sucker for a good murder mystery so when you sprinkle in political intrigue, magic and a march through an amazing forest I am very very happy
Its definitely a character driven book, and I did struggle at the beginning of the book to relate to the world. TBH I still can't really picture it much, but I have SUCH a strong impression of all the characters which is what really kept my interest and made the pages fly by after the first 25-30%
There were parts where I found some of the prose, though beautiful, was excessively long, like I had to take a minute to figure out what the hell a sentence meant. There was also a sense of just being told the worldbuidling, rather than shown. After the halfway mark the characters came through for me and I didn't notice things like the excessive sentences or the infodump of worldbuilding.
Overall an enjoyable read, the ending had me at the edge of my seat !
Sidenote: I am slightly disappointed to find out this is a complete story - and I have SO many questions that need to be answered that I thought would be in the sequel. Who killed the Emperor ? Where did Kyron go in the glade?? (IYKYK)
(Massive Thanks to Rebellion Publishing and GR Matthews for the opportunity to read and review this book )
steamreads's review against another edition
Has been to long since I started. Will start over when I come back to the book
colleen987's review against another edition
4.0
With Thanks to Solaris and G R Matthews for an advanced readers copy of the book.
4*
Overall a very strong novel with lots of avenues to explore.
The story is told through Multi POV -
-General Bordan who leads a vast army and has given his life to the empire and is loyal to the throne.
-Kyron, a magician's apprentice who is returning the late Emperor’s body to the capital.
It effortlessly weaves roman history, battle strategy and religion with the unique elements of Matthews fantasy world. Where the novel does have a slower start it isn't "hard to read" the worldbuilding is gradual, removing the feeling of info dump often seen at the start of epic fantasy novels. By around 60% I was barely able to put it down, the pace twists and turns and really drags you towards that brilliant conclusion.
4*
Overall a very strong novel with lots of avenues to explore.
The story is told through Multi POV -
-General Bordan who leads a vast army and has given his life to the empire and is loyal to the throne.
-Kyron, a magician's apprentice who is returning the late Emperor’s body to the capital.
It effortlessly weaves roman history, battle strategy and religion with the unique elements of Matthews fantasy world. Where the novel does have a slower start it isn't "hard to read" the worldbuilding is gradual, removing the feeling of info dump often seen at the start of epic fantasy novels. By around 60% I was barely able to put it down, the pace twists and turns and really drags you towards that brilliant conclusion.
beelovesreading's review against another edition
3.0
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me a chance to read this book.
I enjoyed reading this, but it didn't wow me - none of the characters really resonated with me, though I will say the last portion of the book was great. I really liked how things connected together. The plot twist towards the end was a little predictable, I had already suspected who the true mastermind was but I still loved how it tied together.
If you're looking for an easy read, I suggest giving this book a shot. You may enjoy it more than I did!
I enjoyed reading this, but it didn't wow me - none of the characters really resonated with me, though I will say the last portion of the book was great. I really liked how things connected together. The plot twist towards the end was a little predictable, I had already suspected who the true mastermind was but I still loved how it tied together.
If you're looking for an easy read, I suggest giving this book a shot. You may enjoy it more than I did!
cawcaw8553's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
diesmali's review
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
paperwitches's review against another edition
4.0
Seven Deaths of an Empire is one of best fantasy books I have ever read, right up there with The Way of Kings. This book takes many influences from different cultures and pieces of history. Namely the romans and the Greeks. I got completely lost in the story, the setting, and the characters because it was well written.
The character is the general is practiced, and disciplined while still being emotional. He is not completely stiff, or stoic - it is shown that he feels emotion, he is just disciplined enough to know when to reign his feelings in. Which is great, because I worried how stoic the character of the general would be.
I was at the mercy of this story, and cried a few times. I would highly suggest it, as it delivers on all its promises of political suspense.
Thank you sincerely to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this remarkable story. Plan on picking it up.
The character is the general is practiced, and disciplined while still being emotional. He is not completely stiff, or stoic - it is shown that he feels emotion, he is just disciplined enough to know when to reign his feelings in. Which is great, because I worried how stoic the character of the general would be.
I was at the mercy of this story, and cried a few times. I would highly suggest it, as it delivers on all its promises of political suspense.
Thank you sincerely to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this remarkable story. Plan on picking it up.
reliures's review against another edition
4.0
An ARC of this book was generously provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for this opportunity!
So this follows a conquering empire at the height of its power but troubled with internal and external conflict.
The author switches point of view between the general in the imperial capital and the magician in the unconquered northern lands. Both characters arc are distinct but throughout the story these 2 arcs come together quite nicely. I do wish we could have had more interactions between the two.
The world building was very well done and quite original for a fantasy book. The empire itself is very Roman Empire inspired, at the time of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty but with the monotheistic (Christian inspired) religion, and also magicians. I did like the gender equality in all level of society including the highest office of the Empire.
The northern tribes depicted was more Roman British/Germanic barbarians inspired. I wish we had spend more time getting to know that culture, or having a main character with a pint of view would have been interesting.
The author’s writing style was really good, the prose was clear and precise it was really enjoyable to read.
The plot itself moved quickly, there wasn’t a moment when it dragged and there was enough twists and turns to get through it without feeling bored.
In terms of the characters, I feel they could have used more polish, because even if they were all grey characters some of their reactions were puzzling or even frustrating, like for example they’d from being angry to calm to irritating a bit too quickly.
There was also some repetitions that could have been avoided, like one of the characters gets explained what the colosseum and gladiators are by the same character in two different moments in the book.
The ending was very grimdark, and I do hope we’ll see more of how two of the characters will continue after what happened.
All in all this was a very good read and I’ll probably check out other books in this series!
So this follows a conquering empire at the height of its power but troubled with internal and external conflict.
The author switches point of view between the general in the imperial capital and the magician in the unconquered northern lands. Both characters arc are distinct but throughout the story these 2 arcs come together quite nicely. I do wish we could have had more interactions between the two.
The world building was very well done and quite original for a fantasy book. The empire itself is very Roman Empire inspired, at the time of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty but with the monotheistic (Christian inspired) religion, and also magicians. I did like the gender equality in all level of society including the highest office of the Empire.
The northern tribes depicted was more Roman British/Germanic barbarians inspired. I wish we had spend more time getting to know that culture, or having a main character with a pint of view would have been interesting.
The author’s writing style was really good, the prose was clear and precise it was really enjoyable to read.
The plot itself moved quickly, there wasn’t a moment when it dragged and there was enough twists and turns to get through it without feeling bored.
In terms of the characters, I feel they could have used more polish, because even if they were all grey characters some of their reactions were puzzling or even frustrating, like for example they’d from being angry to calm to irritating a bit too quickly.
There was also some repetitions that could have been avoided, like one of the characters gets explained what the colosseum and gladiators are by the same character in two different moments in the book.
The ending was very grimdark, and I do hope we’ll see more of how two of the characters will continue after what happened.
All in all this was a very good read and I’ll probably check out other books in this series!