Grave Empire (The Great Silence, #1)
Richard Swan
From critically acclaimed author Richard Swan, Grave Empire begins the epic tale of an empire on the verge of industrial revolution, where sorcery and arcane practices are outlawed – and where an ancient prophecy threatens the coming end of days.Blood once turned the wheels of empire. Now it is money. A new age of exploration and innovation has dawned, and the Empire of the Wolf stands to take its place as the foremost power in the known world. Glory and riches await. But dark days are coming. A mysterious plague has broken out in the pagan kingdoms to the north, while in the south, the Empire’s proxy war in the lands of the wolfmen is weeks away from total collapse. Worse still is the message brought to the Empress by two heretic monks, who claim to have lost contact with the spirits of the afterlife. The monks believe this is the start of an ancient prophecy heralding the end of days—the Great Silence. It falls to Renata Rainer, a low-ranking ambassador to an enigmatic and vicious race of mermen, to seek answers from those who still practice the arcane arts. But with the road south beset by war and the Empire on the brink of supernatural catastrophe, soon there may not be a world left to save...
No posts yet
Kick off the convo with a theory, question, musing, or update
Your rating:
**I was provided an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.** Richard Swan returns with the first book of a new high fantasy series, Grave Empire. Swan revisits world of his Empire of the Wolf Trilogy, but casts his sights 200 years after in the time of The Great Silence. Readers follow multiple characters as they investigate magickal practitioners cut off from the afterlife in the manifestation of a prophecy come to fruition. Ambassador Renata Rainer must reach out to the Stygion mer-men in the hopes that their arcane knowledge can prevent the end of the world. In the interest of full disclosure, this is my first book by Swan and so I likely missed a lot of the easter eggs laid from the connecting stories. However, I can say with confidence that Grave Empire is understandable without that background knowledge, though I certainly intend to go back and find out more. Renata (our Ambassador), Peter (a military lieutenant), and Lamprecht (a count corrupted by his pursuit of illicit arcane knowledge) are our main perspective characters. Lamprecht is readily set up as a bit of a mustache-twirling villain, which made him less compelling to me than either of the other two perspectives. That being said, each character is in a different geographic area at story start, which gives us insight into the progression of our main mystery plot on multiple battle fronts. Swan cleverly manages to weave the three nearly together without losing plot threads in the process. This is absolutely a plot-driven story. Which is something that I have found common to high/epic fantasy, but is somewhat a detriment to my enjoyment. The world is interesting. The magic system is mysterious so far. The threat is real. The different races are compelling. My intrigue is high. My emotional investment is somewhat limited due to the comparative lack of focus on character development. My preferences on who I like to follow can shift based on what action is in progress rather than finding that I specifically am attached to or like one character more than another. Swan nevertheless handles this introductory novel with skill and I am interested to read more. I am also interested in exploring his backlist. If this type of novel already appeals to you, you will be in good hands with Swan. If this is your attempt to begin a dip into high fantasy, perhaps a gentler introduction is necessary. I am grateful for the opportunity to read Grave Empire early and look forward to what Swan releases next.
0
© 2024 Pagebound