Scan barcode
A review by angrywombat
The Empire of the Dead by Phil Tucker
4.0
Intro
OK - lets get this out of the way. GET A COPY OF THIS AND READ IT!
Ahem... Anyway. I had never heard of Phil Tucker when I was thinking about the "Reading Resident Author's" square on the r/Fantasy bingo... but just on the day I was looking for a book a random post appears where the author himself is giving away copies of the first book in his new series because it is going to be the RRAWR book of the month.... So I snapped it up thinking "eh, why not..."
That Phil guy - sneaky bugger! Remember kids, when someone says "first one is free" they are selling something dangerously addictive! This book caught me totally by surprise.
Plot/Setting
I have never seen anything like this. Another guy on reddit called it "Necro-sumerian Ocean's Eleven". Which covers it pretty damn well. The world feels completely different from just about any other fantasy i've read. This whole book is infused with the feel of ancient mesopotamia - the warring city states, the gods who lead their own cities, the feel that the skills of civilisation (farming, brewing, candlemaking, blacksmithing) are all god-given magics... It is fantastic! Even better - the whole plot has strong overtones of Mesopotamian mythology - particularly the story of Inanna (the goddess who seduced the God Enki - and stole the mes (magical inscriptions which allow civilisation)..
So on to the plot: The first chapters felt very slow and meh to be honest... but its all a trick (like the first hill on a roller coaster). We meet out first PoV character Archarsis who is some old guy travelling to meet some people to "make thigns right". It all feels very humdrum (except the armies of undead laborers working the fields...) but he meets an ex Annara (who happens to have been a priestess of a now dead god, and tough as nails herself!), and the story kicks into gear when the ex's child Elu (who happens to be Acharsis' son as well) gets taken by a wandering priest to be a sacrifice at the next big ceremony - because it turns out that Archarsis is the son of a god (the now dead god of fertility and knowledge)
A pair of past their prime parents are not equipped to storm the gates of a city rules by an undead lich-lord and his army of priests and undead soldiers.... so they want to get some backup in the form of another old "friend" Jerek who just happens to be another god-scion, but he's the son of the god of the earth - so he is much stronger and tougher than your average guy...
Once we meet our main trio, the plot really starts to hum along. We learn about the God-Wars where the daughter of the Goddess of Death managed to trick (and kill) the other god-children and turn them into powerful undead - and "conquer" the other cities. They come across new problems (which add to our knowledge of the world) and find interesting ways of tricking their way around obstacles.. but often into even more sticky situations!
Along the way we meet a few other interesting folk - a pair of younger godblooded who are recruited into the attempt to save Elu, a priestess nurturing a rebel cell, and a few nasty death-worshippers... Although one of my favorite minor characters is an utterly pragmatic chief-guard who knows which way the wind blows (and how to keep his great house with its own water-well!)
Writing Style/Pacing/Tone
So I've you've seen or read any other heist stories, you know the drill - assemble the team, explain the plan, fun and games in setting up the plan, and then the heist - where things will go wrong and people need to improvise. Well, each bit is there, but Mr Tucker manages to play around with things so they are surprising. I especially loved that the "Mastermind" with all the ideas (Archarsis) is actually just improvising the whole time - and often complains when others look to him for "the plan".
The story really just accelerates the whole time. Yes it starts really slow, but once it gets moving it never lets up. The obstacles get bigger, the potential threat gets more dangerous, and Archarsis' plans just seem to stick their collective necks deeper into trouble each time.
You'd like this if : you want something different from your bog-standard fantasy. You like a mix of creepy horror and wisecracking humour, and grimdark pallete mixed with hopeful do-gooders. And you dont want a doorstopper, but a fast action-packed ride full of trickery and narrow escapes.
Other Thoughts
When I was reading this, at about the half way mark I actually went and looked for what else is in this series... there is 1 more written of a planned trilogy (all I can say is: write faster Mr Tucker!) and a whole other fantasy series Chronicles of the Black Gate which is now on my to read list :)
Well played Mr Tucker, well played.
OK - lets get this out of the way. GET A COPY OF THIS AND READ IT!
Ahem... Anyway. I had never heard of Phil Tucker when I was thinking about the "Reading Resident Author's" square on the r/Fantasy bingo... but just on the day I was looking for a book a random post appears where the author himself is giving away copies of the first book in his new series because it is going to be the RRAWR book of the month.... So I snapped it up thinking "eh, why not..."
That Phil guy - sneaky bugger! Remember kids, when someone says "first one is free" they are selling something dangerously addictive! This book caught me totally by surprise.
Plot/Setting
I have never seen anything like this. Another guy on reddit called it "Necro-sumerian Ocean's Eleven". Which covers it pretty damn well. The world feels completely different from just about any other fantasy i've read. This whole book is infused with the feel of ancient mesopotamia - the warring city states, the gods who lead their own cities, the feel that the skills of civilisation (farming, brewing, candlemaking, blacksmithing) are all god-given magics... It is fantastic! Even better - the whole plot has strong overtones of Mesopotamian mythology - particularly the story of Inanna (the goddess who seduced the God Enki - and stole the mes (magical inscriptions which allow civilisation)..
So on to the plot: The first chapters felt very slow and meh to be honest... but its all a trick (like the first hill on a roller coaster). We meet out first PoV character Archarsis who is some old guy travelling to meet some people to "make thigns right". It all feels very humdrum (except the armies of undead laborers working the fields...) but he meets an ex Annara (who happens to have been a priestess of a now dead god, and tough as nails herself!), and the story kicks into gear when the ex's child Elu (who happens to be Acharsis' son as well) gets taken by a wandering priest to be a sacrifice at the next big ceremony - because it turns out that Archarsis is the son of a god (the now dead god of fertility and knowledge)
A pair of past their prime parents are not equipped to storm the gates of a city rules by an undead lich-lord and his army of priests and undead soldiers.... so they want to get some backup in the form of another old "friend" Jerek who just happens to be another god-scion, but he's the son of the god of the earth - so he is much stronger and tougher than your average guy...
Once we meet our main trio, the plot really starts to hum along. We learn about the God-Wars where the daughter of the Goddess of Death managed to trick (and kill) the other god-children and turn them into powerful undead - and "conquer" the other cities. They come across new problems (which add to our knowledge of the world) and find interesting ways of tricking their way around obstacles.. but often into even more sticky situations!
Along the way we meet a few other interesting folk - a pair of younger godblooded who are recruited into the attempt to save Elu, a priestess nurturing a rebel cell, and a few nasty death-worshippers... Although one of my favorite minor characters is an utterly pragmatic chief-guard who knows which way the wind blows (and how to keep his great house with its own water-well!)
Writing Style/Pacing/Tone
So I've you've seen or read any other heist stories, you know the drill - assemble the team, explain the plan, fun and games in setting up the plan, and then the heist - where things will go wrong and people need to improvise. Well, each bit is there, but Mr Tucker manages to play around with things so they are surprising. I especially loved that the "Mastermind" with all the ideas (Archarsis) is actually just improvising the whole time - and often complains when others look to him for "the plan".
The story really just accelerates the whole time. Yes it starts really slow, but once it gets moving it never lets up. The obstacles get bigger, the potential threat gets more dangerous, and Archarsis' plans just seem to stick their collective necks deeper into trouble each time.
You'd like this if : you want something different from your bog-standard fantasy. You like a mix of creepy horror and wisecracking humour, and grimdark pallete mixed with hopeful do-gooders. And you dont want a doorstopper, but a fast action-packed ride full of trickery and narrow escapes.
Other Thoughts
When I was reading this, at about the half way mark I actually went and looked for what else is in this series... there is 1 more written of a planned trilogy (all I can say is: write faster Mr Tucker!) and a whole other fantasy series Chronicles of the Black Gate which is now on my to read list :)
Well played Mr Tucker, well played.