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A review by dawn_marie
The Empire's Ruin by Brian Staveley
3.0
The Empire’s Ruin is the first of Brian Staveley’s “next generation” novels set in the Unhewn Throne world. In this offering, the reader follows three main characters: Gwenna Sharpe, a disgraced Kettral commander sent to foreign lands searching for kettral eggs; Ruc, a priest of the goodness of love with a dark, deadly secret; and Akiil, a Shin monk who has returned to his thieving/grifting roots.
Mr. Staveley builds upon the world and magic system he created in the Unhewn Throne series, expanding it as the main characters work their way through the story. While a reader does not necessarily need to have read the first series to appreciate/understand the inner workings of this world – the author does a good job of summarizing relevant details – the events of those novels add texture and color to this novel.
The character work, at least for the three main characters, was strong. Each was presented as an individual with a fully realized backstory that often informs their current behavior. The characters often experience complex, and sometimes contradictory, emotions. I just wish that some of the supporting characters were less dull, annoying, or cartoonish (I’m looking at you Bien and Goatface).
There really wasn’t a plot so much as a moving of the characters into position for future installments; and it wasn’t until the final act that the reader can see the beginnings (just the beginnings) of how the separate story lines might weave together. As is typical for the first entry into a new series, the pacing for The Empire’s Ruin is slow. Very, very slow – laboriously slow. While there were “events” or “action” that occurred throughout the plot, it often was tedious and repetitive.
Though flawed (minorly so), The Empire’s Ruin was enjoyable and I look forward to future installments.
Mr. Staveley builds upon the world and magic system he created in the Unhewn Throne series, expanding it as the main characters work their way through the story. While a reader does not necessarily need to have read the first series to appreciate/understand the inner workings of this world – the author does a good job of summarizing relevant details – the events of those novels add texture and color to this novel.
The character work, at least for the three main characters, was strong. Each was presented as an individual with a fully realized backstory that often informs their current behavior. The characters often experience complex, and sometimes contradictory, emotions. I just wish that some of the supporting characters were less dull, annoying, or cartoonish (I’m looking at you Bien and Goatface).
Spoiler
I appreciate the development of Gwenna Sharpe and her struggles with post traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. Too often authors have their characters experience some devastating event, have them be sad for a paragraph or two, and then move on as if the “thing” that happened never happened. While it was difficult to read some of the Gwenna chapters due to her mental anguish, it was refreshing to see a character deal with horrific events in a realistic fashion.There really wasn’t a plot so much as a moving of the characters into position for future installments; and it wasn’t until the final act that the reader can see the beginnings (just the beginnings) of how the separate story lines might weave together. As is typical for the first entry into a new series, the pacing for The Empire’s Ruin is slow. Very, very slow – laboriously slow. While there were “events” or “action” that occurred throughout the plot, it often was tedious and repetitive.
Though flawed (minorly so), The Empire’s Ruin was enjoyable and I look forward to future installments.