Send to KindleThere is an event in our lives that generally challenges us but makes us better people in the long run, though we don’t always see it at the time. Sometimes we undergo these events willingly such as military training. Other times they sneak up on us unexpectedly like the long hospital stay of a child. The skills we learn can help us the rest of our lives. But what if we were royalty that had to lead millions of people? Even if the training lasted half of our lives would it be enough, would it give us the skills necessary?
The emperor of Annur has been assassinated and there is a plot against the rest of his line. Only his children were not sitting around idly waiting for the old man to croak so they can take over. His daughter, Adare (who due to her gender is unable to ascend the throne), has worked her way up to the Minister of Finance and is the first child to know of her father’s death and starts at once on a plan to avenge him. His son, Valyn, in training to be one of the most elite soldiers in Annur the Kettral. When he hears of his father’s death he is unable to leave or mourn. He must complete his training but something else is on his mind. His brother, Kaden, is the true heir to the throne and he has spent the last eight years in a remote monastery training to be a monk that he will in turn use as training to be a ruler.
Staveley immerses us in a world that is both alien and familiar. He sets the reader up with an interesting prologue but doesn’t really delve into the back-story until later on. Keeping the back-story where it belongs, Staveley instead focuses on the three children, switching viewpoints between them as new trials and tribulations
arise. Each child has their own subplot that is equally intriguing: Adare attempts to avenge her father, Valyn is almost killed and must find his attempted killer while he finishes he training, and there is a beast stalking the mountainsides where Kaden is practicing to become an emperor.
It is also nice to have royalty in fiction that, though they all have special glowing, fiery eyes, they are not automatically more powerful, intelligent, or better in other ways just because they have royal blood. In fact, they each have to struggle and earn their spots in the kingdom. The back-story of the war between the three races before humanity ultimately won is also fascinating. The main weak point of the novel would have to be the portrayal of female characters. There are plenty of male writers that can’t pull of a very convincing female character; these writers generally keep them to secondary and background characters. While Staveley didn’t do a terrible job with his female characters they definitely shook our suspension of disbelief. He also had many acting overly macho like they had to overcompensate for living in a “man’s world.”
The Emperor’s Blades is a strong debut novel and a good start to a series. It leans more to murder mystery (think Umberto Eco’s In The Name of the Rose with fantasy elements) but there is plenty of fantasy for fans of the genre to sink their teeth into. I can’t wait for the follow up which is slated for release on January 15, 2015.
Reviewed by Adam Armstrong
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