Grave Empire
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Description
'Dazzling and immersive epic fantasy' Publishers Weekly (starred review)
'An absolute treat . . . crammed with imagination, horror, epic scale, and characters I simply could not put down' Grimdark Magazine
ENTER A WORLD WHERE GUNPOWDER, ARCANE FORCES AND RUTHLESS AMBITION COLLIDE
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 . . .
Grave Empire is the first novel in an unmissable new series from Sunday Times bestselling author Richard Swan - a dark flintlock fantasy filled with epic adventure, arcane powers and creeping dread
Praise for Richard Swan
'A stunning piece of modern fantasy writing' RJ Barker
'Utterly compelling, thoroughly engrossing and written with skilful assurance' Nicholas Eames
'Richard Swan's sophisticated take on the fantasy genre will leave readers hungry for more' Sebastien de Castell
'Great characters, compelling and wonderfully written. A brilliant debut and fantastic start to the series' James Islington
Books by Richard Swan
Empire of the Wolf
The Justice of Kings
The Tyranny of Faith
The Trials of Empire
The Great Silence
Grave Empire
Steel Gods
Book Information
Posts
Slow first half, insane second part
When I started this book I was immediately bombarded with names of countries, cities, politics and ongoing wars. Normally I like to get thrown into a book with zero context but this absolutely massive amount of information was wayyy too much, at least for me. The book is written in the perspective of three characters: Renata Rainer, Peter Kleist and Lamprecht von Oldenburg. All of them unique and in interesting positions, but due to the slowness of the book in it‘s first half I didn’t find myself invested in any of them. Peter was a bit more interesting, due to more things happening in his story parts, but still not that much to keep me reading more than a few pages a day. Renata was the weakest in the start. I felt like her introduction was too rushed and I didn’t get to know her that well. The focus is more on her position as ambassador and not on herself as a person. In Lamprechts sections I found myself caring more for Yelena, his consort, than him as a person. As said before, the story drags on and on through the first half. But once you get to the halfpoint it starts to pick up speed. Gradually the stories got better, more connected and the plot started to progress faster. At this point I was heavily invested and started to feel for the characters more. Speaking of the characters, they are incredible and develop a lot throughout the book. My favourite is definitely Peter, his story was the one I connected with the most and I love where his character is headed. Renata to my surprise ended up to be a close second. The only thing that brings her character down for me is the somewhat forced romance. They definitely have chemistry, just happened wayyyy too soon and some of her thoughts had me cringing while reading (what was that comment about his muscles, what in the fourth wing is going on). Now Lamprecht, holyyy he is so smug and annoying, but I love the way he started out and where he is at the end of the book. He‘s going to be a great obstacle in this series and I am excited to see how much more deranged he will get.
Warhammer Fantasy in neuem, interessanten Gewandt
Grave Empire scheint direkt aus einem Tabletop-Wargaming Universum zu stammen und es hat mich nicht überrascht, das der Autor diesem Hobby wohl zugetan ist. Hier treffen preußische Armee auf Wolfsmenschen, Magie und alte Götter, die in anderen Ebenen ihr Unwesen treiben. Das alles ergibt einen Mix bei dem man vor dem inneren Auge schon die verschiedenen Armeen auf einem Miniaturen-Schlachtfeld aufeinandertreffen sieht. Die Struktur macht Gebrauch von mehreren Charakteren denen man Kapitel für Kapitel folgt. Bei diesem ersten Buch der Trilogie handelt es sich um eine Ouvertüre, die die Welt und den Plot kunstvoll und vielschichtig aufbaut. Das macht großen Spaß, aber der Leser sollte keine abgeschlossene Handlung erwarten. Herauszuheben ist auch die historisch anmutende Schreibweise, die einen breiten Wortschatz der englischen Sprache bereithält und auch einem erfahrenen Englischsprecher ein paar neue Wörter beibringt. Die Wortwahl passt aber sehr gut zu dem Inhalt und bettet sich in die Textur der Handlung nahtlos ein. Alles in allem eine Buch das sehr meinem persönlichen Gusto entspricht und mich auf den zweiten Teil warten lässt.
Description
'Dazzling and immersive epic fantasy' Publishers Weekly (starred review)
'An absolute treat . . . crammed with imagination, horror, epic scale, and characters I simply could not put down' Grimdark Magazine
ENTER A WORLD WHERE GUNPOWDER, ARCANE FORCES AND RUTHLESS AMBITION COLLIDE
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 . . .
Grave Empire is the first novel in an unmissable new series from Sunday Times bestselling author Richard Swan - a dark flintlock fantasy filled with epic adventure, arcane powers and creeping dread
Praise for Richard Swan
'A stunning piece of modern fantasy writing' RJ Barker
'Utterly compelling, thoroughly engrossing and written with skilful assurance' Nicholas Eames
'Richard Swan's sophisticated take on the fantasy genre will leave readers hungry for more' Sebastien de Castell
'Great characters, compelling and wonderfully written. A brilliant debut and fantastic start to the series' James Islington
Books by Richard Swan
Empire of the Wolf
The Justice of Kings
The Tyranny of Faith
The Trials of Empire
The Great Silence
Grave Empire
Steel Gods
Book Information
Posts
Slow first half, insane second part
When I started this book I was immediately bombarded with names of countries, cities, politics and ongoing wars. Normally I like to get thrown into a book with zero context but this absolutely massive amount of information was wayyy too much, at least for me. The book is written in the perspective of three characters: Renata Rainer, Peter Kleist and Lamprecht von Oldenburg. All of them unique and in interesting positions, but due to the slowness of the book in it‘s first half I didn’t find myself invested in any of them. Peter was a bit more interesting, due to more things happening in his story parts, but still not that much to keep me reading more than a few pages a day. Renata was the weakest in the start. I felt like her introduction was too rushed and I didn’t get to know her that well. The focus is more on her position as ambassador and not on herself as a person. In Lamprechts sections I found myself caring more for Yelena, his consort, than him as a person. As said before, the story drags on and on through the first half. But once you get to the halfpoint it starts to pick up speed. Gradually the stories got better, more connected and the plot started to progress faster. At this point I was heavily invested and started to feel for the characters more. Speaking of the characters, they are incredible and develop a lot throughout the book. My favourite is definitely Peter, his story was the one I connected with the most and I love where his character is headed. Renata to my surprise ended up to be a close second. The only thing that brings her character down for me is the somewhat forced romance. They definitely have chemistry, just happened wayyyy too soon and some of her thoughts had me cringing while reading (what was that comment about his muscles, what in the fourth wing is going on). Now Lamprecht, holyyy he is so smug and annoying, but I love the way he started out and where he is at the end of the book. He‘s going to be a great obstacle in this series and I am excited to see how much more deranged he will get.
Warhammer Fantasy in neuem, interessanten Gewandt
Grave Empire scheint direkt aus einem Tabletop-Wargaming Universum zu stammen und es hat mich nicht überrascht, das der Autor diesem Hobby wohl zugetan ist. Hier treffen preußische Armee auf Wolfsmenschen, Magie und alte Götter, die in anderen Ebenen ihr Unwesen treiben. Das alles ergibt einen Mix bei dem man vor dem inneren Auge schon die verschiedenen Armeen auf einem Miniaturen-Schlachtfeld aufeinandertreffen sieht. Die Struktur macht Gebrauch von mehreren Charakteren denen man Kapitel für Kapitel folgt. Bei diesem ersten Buch der Trilogie handelt es sich um eine Ouvertüre, die die Welt und den Plot kunstvoll und vielschichtig aufbaut. Das macht großen Spaß, aber der Leser sollte keine abgeschlossene Handlung erwarten. Herauszuheben ist auch die historisch anmutende Schreibweise, die einen breiten Wortschatz der englischen Sprache bereithält und auch einem erfahrenen Englischsprecher ein paar neue Wörter beibringt. Die Wortwahl passt aber sehr gut zu dem Inhalt und bettet sich in die Textur der Handlung nahtlos ein. Alles in allem eine Buch das sehr meinem persönlichen Gusto entspricht und mich auf den zweiten Teil warten lässt.