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.

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.