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estapinto 's review for:
Grave Empire
by Richard Swan
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I don't care for guns in real life. If you put a musket and a flintlock pistol in front of me, I’d probably just ask which one’s better for opening a bottle of wine. But in fantasy, load me up. I know this because Richard Swan dragged me into his world of flintlock-cosmic-horror-with-a-sprinkle-of-steampunk fantasy and I’m feral for it. And if you asked me ‘Is that a real genre?’ My answer to you would be ‘Probably not, but maybe it should be.’
Furthermore, if you’d told me last year that one of my favourite fantasies in 2025 would feature muskets, mermen with armoured sharks and morally grey colonialists screwing up everything in sight, I would’ve raised an eyebrow. And yet, here we are because Grave Empire is a dissection of humanity’s capacity for moral decay and a masterstroke in fantasy-horror.
Accordingly, this book is dense and I found that the story took some time to unfurl. If you’re the kind of reader who thrives on sprawling worlds with multiple POVs, foreign expeditions, political intrigue and battle scenes where you can smell the gunpowder, this one might be for you. Every chapter drops you somewhere new, from haunted forests to decaying fortresses to mermaid execution posts (yes, really).
Swan constructs cultures, religions, languages and histories with precision. The kind that would probably get a nod of approval from Tolkien, though in this case, swap elves and hobbits for necromancer monks, wolf-people, and diplomats suffering workplace harassment from their fish-frog-splicing colleagues.
However, what really stands out is how Swan constructs a world that feels both lived in and lived through. His fantastical, multicultural, multi-racial, queer-normal world is a breath of fresh air. Each location feels textured, each plot twist makes sense within the world he’s built. I had no idea where this story was going and I loved that. Every time I thought I had a grip on the plot, it would veer into something so dark and unhinged I had to recalibrate everything I thought I knew about the characters and the world.
So yeah, if you’re looking for something light-hearted, whimsical, or cosy, just know this is not your book. This is a thick, dark stew of gruesome absurdity. Whales and sharks do not make it out unscathed. Limbs go flying. Blood flows like fine wine (except, you know, with more screaming). Colonialism and its grotesque consequences are front and centre. That’s just the tip of the iceberg too.
So if any of that makes you queasy, proceed with caution. But if you’re in the mood for a complex, morally ambiguous world with naive, gun-toting adventurers, magic-obsessed scientists and expansive underwater cities filled with sinister mermaids, welcome to Grave Empire.
Buddy reading this with my dearest friend, Ivana, made this read a gazillion times more delightful and enriching.
Thank you to NetGalley & Little, Brown Book Group UK | Orbit for enthralling my brain in exchange for an honest review.
Furthermore, if you’d told me last year that one of my favourite fantasies in 2025 would feature muskets, mermen with armoured sharks and morally grey colonialists screwing up everything in sight, I would’ve raised an eyebrow. And yet, here we are because Grave Empire is a dissection of humanity’s capacity for moral decay and a masterstroke in fantasy-horror.
Accordingly, this book is dense and I found that the story took some time to unfurl. If you’re the kind of reader who thrives on sprawling worlds with multiple POVs, foreign expeditions, political intrigue and battle scenes where you can smell the gunpowder, this one might be for you. Every chapter drops you somewhere new, from haunted forests to decaying fortresses to mermaid execution posts (yes, really).
Swan constructs cultures, religions, languages and histories with precision. The kind that would probably get a nod of approval from Tolkien, though in this case, swap elves and hobbits for necromancer monks, wolf-people, and diplomats suffering workplace harassment from their fish-frog-splicing colleagues.
However, what really stands out is how Swan constructs a world that feels both lived in and lived through. His fantastical, multicultural, multi-racial, queer-normal world is a breath of fresh air. Each location feels textured, each plot twist makes sense within the world he’s built. I had no idea where this story was going and I loved that. Every time I thought I had a grip on the plot, it would veer into something so dark and unhinged I had to recalibrate everything I thought I knew about the characters and the world.
So yeah, if you’re looking for something light-hearted, whimsical, or cosy, just know this is not your book. This is a thick, dark stew of gruesome absurdity. Whales and sharks do not make it out unscathed. Limbs go flying. Blood flows like fine wine (except, you know, with more screaming). Colonialism and its grotesque consequences are front and centre. That’s just the tip of the iceberg too.
So if any of that makes you queasy, proceed with caution. But if you’re in the mood for a complex, morally ambiguous world with naive, gun-toting adventurers, magic-obsessed scientists and expansive underwater cities filled with sinister mermaids, welcome to Grave Empire.
Buddy reading this with my dearest friend, Ivana, made this read a gazillion times more delightful and enriching.
Thank you to NetGalley & Little, Brown Book Group UK | Orbit for enthralling my brain in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Cursing, Xenophobia, Alcohol