The Emperor's Blades (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, 1)

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I did think the prologue was good but it did not dethrone my favorite prologues and unfortunately I found the book hard to get into. Kaden—at 17 years old—is the youngest son, and also the Heir to the Unhewn Throne, of the Emperor sent away to train with the Shin monks in the mountains. Frankly speaking, this marked the first time I read a monk main character’s POV in a fantasy novel, and I found it to be such a refreshing experience. It’s often encountered in a high-fantasy novel that the heir to the throne will either be someone well-learned in politics or skillful in combats, usually accompanied by a charismatic presence; Kaden is none of these. Kaden’s POV is where most of the religious philosophical discussion shines. The teaching of the monks seems to be inspired by Buddhism, but Staveley added a few twists to it, especially in their methods of training and punishments. However, above all, the Shin monks value discipline, calmness, and vaniate— a state of emptiness—the most. I highly enjoyed reading Kaden’s story in this volume, and I have a feeling he will shine further in the sequel.

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Flush with her triumph over her father’s murderer, Adare settles into her new life, comfortable with both her role and her relationship with il Tornja. When she finally turns her attention to her inheritance, however, a single volume of history left her by her father, she finds a note from the late emperor, a message from beyond the grave proving that Uinian was, in fact, innocent of his murder, and laying the blame at the feet of the kenarang, the regent, Adare’s new lover, Ran il Tornja.Like most people with a brain I find house chores unbearably boring, as a stay-at-home mom I find myself spending a significant portion of my waking life doing them. To stay sane I listen to audiobooks. So when I tell you that while listening to your book I scrubbed my whole house top to bottom and then, not wanting to stop listening, I cleaned out all my kitchen cupboards and then moved on to the closets, that is high praise indeed. I am looking forward to book 2, and have already made a little list of exceedingly dull, mind-numbing tasks about the house to facilitate my binge-listening. Staveley lives in Vermont, and is married. He taught literature, philosophy, history, and religion before beginning to write fiction. [1] Work [ edit ] The Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne [ edit ] Grimdark is a subgenre that describes a particular the tone, style or setting of speculative fiction (especially fantasy) that is, depending on the definition used, markedly dystopian or amoral, or particularly violent or realistic.

Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne (3 book series) Kindle Edition

Set several years after the events of the first trilogy by the author, Ashes of the Unhewn Throne is a series expected to consist of three or more volumes, the first of which is titled The Empire's Ruin and was published in July 2021. The Emperor’s Blades, as I mentioned earlier, are The Emperor’s three offspring which is also the three main characters of the novel. In my opinion, the world-building, the characterizations, and the writing were the most important points of this book, and whether or not you’re going to enjoy reading this novel will be decided heavily based on how much you love them. The Emperor’s Blades is a definitively character-driven story; throughout the whole book, we’ll be following the story exclusively from the POV of the three main characters: Kaden, Valyn & Adare. Women are described by their breasts, physical attractiveness and Disney eyes. I wouldn’t mind this if men were likewise described but the only men who get detailed descriptions are the “fat, disgusting” ones. In Valyn’s first scene, surrounded by blood, gore and murder victims and in the middle of a training exercise Valyn spends time monologueing about how sexy Lin is. A few chapters later here is how Valyn describes Gwenna: ish)% of the plot "twists" were obvious as soon as the foundation was laid. Of the remaining 50(ish)%, most took the next most obvious path. There were only one or two things I didn't guess by the second try.

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Thanks so much for the kind, thoughtful letter! I’m just thrilled that you’re enjoying the story. That that there are people like you out there that are connecting with these characters — rooting for them, screaming at them, whatever — is the greatest thing I could hope to hear. I used to have a long commute, during which I listened to books on tape, so I know that feeling well, and I’m glad to have brightened the mornings and evenings a little bit. As for Talal, I share your fondness for the guy — one of the nicer, more honest characters in the whole story. The intricate, sweeping story that follows the Malkeenian royal line - two brothers and a sister maneuvering between, around and through plots to take the Unhewn Throne from them - is full of intrigue and twists, danger and valor, despair and determination. I can't even do this justice, but I will say it's only the second book to surprise me so completely and throw twists at me I didn't even see coming. After I spent a good portion of the book detailing theories in my head, only to be wrong most of the time, the final twist absolutely blew my mind. If you’ve never read Herbert’s 1965 novel or any of the Dune sequels, trust us, the Sardaukar are so much worse than you realize. How Sardaukar Are Made But as irritating as it was to watch Adare do the thing she knew she shouldn't be doing (b/c just couldn't help it?), Valyn was who really made me lose my mind:

The Emperor’s Blades by Brian Staveley A Boy and His Toys: The Emperor’s Blades by Brian Staveley

I’m thrilled to hear that you enjoyed the opening chapters! As it turns out, Tor is running that sweepstakes until the 24th, so you’re not out of the running yet. Also, Goodreads is doing a giveaway with a few more copies. this one's hardly a surprise, given the recent history of the great american doorstopper—but man, what a disappointingly het male gaze. every woman's body is lavishly described (unlike those bigassed birds). also, they're always either hysterical or cold as ice—from princesses to assassins to whores, i shit you not, if they are female, they are either super-upset or frigid—but either way, an aaaaaaawful lot of words go into speculating about their bodies. as a result, i swear i know what every titty in this book looks like. Well, as it turns out the Sardaukar of Frank Herbert and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune are no Stormtroopers, and anyone who thinks otherwise can ask the ghost of Duncan Idaho ( Jason Momoa) for proof. Yes, the loyal Atreides man stood bravely against the Sardaukar until the end, and even took a solid handful of them to the afterlife with him for company, but as he said earlier in Dune, “When you cross swords with a Sardaukar, you know it.” And in Duncan’s case, it was the last thing he ever knew.The prologue opens on a scene of slaughter. The immortal Csestriim general Tan’is is overseeing the massacre of humans. Humans, we learn, are the children of the Csestriim, but for reasons unknown, they are born different from their parents. Unlike the Csestriim, who are immortal and emotionless, these human children have a life span of less than a hundred years, and are the playthings of their own passions. This difference leads to a great war between the two races, one that nearly ends in the complete destruction of the humans before the humans are able to turn the tide and effect their own genocide of the Csestriim.

The Emperor’s Blades | Brian Staveley The Emperor’s Blades | Brian Staveley

Suffice it to say, I was more than a little bit disturbed that our future leader was being groomed by a bunch of religious CRAZIES zealots, whose main goal was to achieve a twisted version of Enlightenment. (As it turned out, there was a good reason, but I didn't know that then.) The trials his mastery of the vaniate requires run the gamut from the cruel to the unusual, from being buried alive for a period of weeks to drawing the disemboweled bodies abandoned by the monster that’s been murdering its way round the mountains. When Gwenna got so angry about Valyn not harnessing himself in properly when we first met them (b/c distraught over news of father's death), I'd hoped it was b/c she liked him.This is one of those books that I really liked but find it difficult to review. I’ve very mixed feelings so bear with me here. I'd also like to add that this is after all the first book in the series and when have I ever been blown away by first books, save for some few exceptions here and there? Can’t win ‘em all now, can we? She pretty much confirms all the criticisms and concerns people have about her and I'm not even sure the author realises this. Ok, I can understand that. But then he unconsciously characterised her in sexist way that confirms the bias. Valyn—at 18 years old—is the second son of the Emperor who was sent away to train with the Kettral—the deadliest fighting force in the Annurian Empire. Personally speaking, Valyn was hands down my favorite POV character in the book.