Reviews

Seven Deaths of an Empire by G.R. Matthews

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kitvaria_sarene's review against another edition

5.0

I’ve waited what felt like ages for this one, and I couldn’t be happier with the story I got to read!

Seven Deaths of an Empire is a grimdark fantasy that is inspired by roman legions and forest tribes. It combines a lot of my favourite things, so in this book you’ll find political manoeuvring, loyalties and betrayals, a whole pile of bodies, action and fighting along with quiet and contemplative bits, magic as well as a realistic feeling world where actions do have consequences.

I especially enjoyed the two different POVs and main characters. One being a battle weary old general trying to hold the young heir and the empire together.

Age was an enemy no one could defeat with cunning strategy, clever tactics, or sharp sword. It cut through armour, flesh, bone and blood without pause or care.

The other POV being a young and still rather naive magician and his sage master.

Kyron looked down at the intricate carving, not understanding. A state of being he was used to.

These different styles and manners kept me well hooked and breezing through the chapters as I always wanted to know what would happen on the other side of the empire. I clicked with the early characters early on and found them well rounded and enjoyed seeing them grow over the cause of the book. Besides the darkness there’s also a little bit of humour and banter sprinkled throughout the book, which made the world a bit less bleak and helped to get a good balance overall. Like this one after jumping at shadows:

“I will be stabbing a tree in a minute,” he said.
“Me too, sir,” the soldier said.
“Get your own tree,” Bordan said, his smile growing wider. “Plenty to choose from.”

Another bit of the book I absolutely loved is the prose. Most of it is effective but unobtrusive, doing its job well without drawing attention to itself as more purple passages might. And then you get those little bits of more introspection, and it contrasts so well with the unembroidered style. I wouldn’t want to read a whole book this way, but the little bits and pieces strewn throughout worked incredibly well for me.

Bordan chose each word with more care than he sharpened his sword. A cut here would not be healed with a simple bandage, but could put him in a grave of his own, next to the messenger, no doubt.

The setting also caught my interest quickly. I loved traveling the forest, and while I found the empire rather familiar having read quite a bit about the Romans, I was so very intrigued by the tribes! I really hope we might get to see more of them and their culture in later books of the series, but only time will tell! I didn’t even know who I was rooting for… I definitely hoped and feared for both sides of this conflict, which made the whole reading experience even more gripping to me. I can’t say I noticed even one infodump in the whole book, and the blend of new and well known to me cultures made it a good balance that was both fresh and yet not overwhelmingly new.

Even as the sun rose above the trees, turning morning’s gemstone dew into a thin grey mist which drifted to the canopy above, the sense of despondency settled anew into his heart. The aroma of loss overpowered the smoke from the fires and the scent of porridge charring in the pots. He drew it down with every breath, feeling it sweep through his limbs on each pulse of his heavy heart, draining the energy from his legs, and every step became a struggle against lethargy.

I love grimdark as a genre, because it so often just feels more realistic than the classics. If you get an arrow in the stomach, it is very unlikely you will get up again later on. Actions do have consequences and the stakes just are a lot higher if you have no idea if your favourite characters will actually make it to the end. It can turn too dark and end up completely hopeless, which will lose my interest, if I can’t see any way forward for the characters at all. GR Matthews always dangles just enough hope in front of you to keep you always ploughing on, hoping for the best while also fearing the worst. So I’ll leave you with one last quote, and hope you’ll do yourself a favour and go read this one!

One spark is it all it will take for them to burn us down.”
“Let us hope for rain then,” Bordan said.
“Always,”

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Old Proof Review, before ARC
Very lucky me had the opportunity to beta read a very early (pre editor) ARC a long while ago, and I already loved it in that state so much!

I'll start a reread in 2021 of the now finished ARC, and will put up a review after that.

So long let it be known that this was an awesome grim read, but still with some hope. I loved the characters and the mystery about possible betrayals.
Especially the mix of a Roman inspired empire and a very different society of woodland clans made for fresh reading material that I more or less inhaled!

sleepyboi2988's review against another edition

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2.0

I received an advance review copy for free via NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. My sincerest thanks to the publisher and author. :)

Overall this was not a bad book or story though it fell a bit more flat for me personally than probably the average reader will find. The story itself is told well, the plot is a bit par for the course of the genre, from multiple angles and the prose itself is well done.

The setting for this book is incredibly Ancient Roman-esque and is the primary basis for the units, armor, tactics, weaponry etc. It has a bit of magic mixed in. The enemies of the empire are clearly either Gauls or Germanic tribes. There is a bit of late Catholic Inquisition thrown in for good measure and conflict between the Gymnasium of Magic.

This sadly, is where it falls flat for me. If I had known that a lot of this setting had been lifted from the Ancient Roman era I would have given it a pass. I found myself reading it and going "Man I wish I was just reading a historical fiction novel."

My humble point being is that there is too much lifted from that ancient era to really set this novel apart. If it isn't going to be a historical novel I desire a more original world to explore. As it is the bit of magic thrown in along with an Inquisition like church just wasn't enough to make this worth the read as a fantasy in my mind. I felt the author needed to commit, either write a historical novel or create a much more original world setting for his fantasy tale.

With one foot firmly in history, the other attempting to gain a purchase in fantasy, this novel collapses into a heap; where it regrettably gets lost in the shuffle.

lazyowl's review against another edition

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4.0

I was expecting a lot of action in this book, but the story starts out quite slowly and follows a dangerously journey through hostile lands. The story follows two main characters, a magician and the general of the army.

Most of the story of the magician is about the journey and I kept waiting for them to reach their destination. Once I accepted the journey was a large part of the story I started to enjoy more. Good and evil is not simple and our young protagonist slowly realises things are not so black and white, as he gets to know the guide from the tribes.

The General POV chapters follow multiple murders and trying to ascertain who is behind those murders.

I found the story of the emperors very interesting and I would be like to delve a bit more into the backstory of the empire and would be interested to read further in the story if there are later books released. I believe the ending definitely makes it possible for the story to continue further.

Overall 4 star rating and I would recommend if you're looking for a fantasy that focuses on the journey of the protagonist, with mystery, murder and politics thrown in.