/lit/ - Literature

The Justice of Kings, Empire of the Wolf #1 - Richard Swan (2022)

This is a first person, linear, single POV memoir. Each chapter begins with an epigraph. Based on the cover and book's synopsis, you'd think it's about Konrad Vonvalt, a Justice in his forties, and that's correct, but not in the way implied. A Justice could be thought of as a marshal, magistrate, and inquisitor. It's their duty to seek out and prosecute lawbreakers, both in and out of the courtroom. Their sentences range from fines to summary execution without appeal. They answer only to the Emperor.

The sole POV, nineteen year old Helena Sedanka, is Vonvalt's clerk. This is her memoir, written many decades later, as noted by the book's opening line. There's both commentary on how she feels about how she lived her life and a a few direct addresses to the reader. There are also a few instances where she tells you what's going to happen in advance. For this first book at least, the protagonist, if defined as the most important character, and the viewpoint character aren't the same.

I have mixed feeling about books that so openly wear their influences. Much about the setting is only a cosmetic change from their real world counterparts. The Sovan Empire is the Holy Roman Empire. Its banner is a two-headed wolf rather than eagle and much else is the same, including a state religion reminiscent of Christianity, though considerably more syncretic. The northerners are an amalgamation of Celts and Norsemen, more the former with its focus on Druidism. There's also a constructed language that's vaguely Eastern European. I don't know enough to assess how similar any of this is than on a superficial level though.

Only Imperial Magistrates, Justices, are allowed to learn magic, though that seems to be a matter of practice rather than capability. Every Justice can use the Emperor's Voice, which is similar to the Bene Gesserit's Voice in Dune in that allows controlling people, though it can be much more physically destructive to the environment and individuals. Aside from that a Justice almost always has one additional ability. Several are mentioned, but only a few are shown. The abilities are physically draining and may require a ritual.

The narrative is primarily about investigations and enforcing laws. It's certainly slow for the most part. This is not a story about adventure, heroics, monsters, or similar. Fights occur, but not that often. Sex happens, but not in any graphic detail. Overall, the purpose of this book seems to be setting the scene for the trilogy. In-universe though the purpose of this memoir seems to be to record a tale of regret for posterity so that the truth isn't lost. There are many times where the writer wishes her life had gone differently. If you're looking for a rousing tale of high adventure and glory with self-confident and assured characters certain of what they're doing, this isn't that at all.

I'll read the trilogy.
Rating: 3.5/5

>>21599850
The Tyranny of Faith, Empire of the Wolf #2 - Richard Swan (2023)

In The Justice of Kings I was uncertain about the series having a single POV that was writing a memoir and wasn't the most important character, but in Tyranny of Faith this narrative style is used to great effect. It's similar to what George R.R. Martin does in Games of Thrones in that a less influential character's viewpoint is provided to show how the world sees an important character and how their relationship changes. This also provides for a more detached assessment of a supposed hero's actions, as it can be all too easy for a reader, let alone the characters, to just go along with whatever they do.

The story begins with the party's arrival in Sova, the city at the heart of the Sovan Empire, and with that everything changes. The previous book took place at the fringes of the Empire where its might held less sway. That allowed for a lot of personal agency, but being here strips all of that away to reveal obeisance to institutional authority. The Empire could described as a liberal autocracy in that it has free markets and doesn't discriminate among its citizens. There's also a long tradition of secular common law meant to be applied fairly to all. However, all of that only continues to exist at the pleasure of the Emperor. If civil rights are dictated by the whims of one, or only a few unelected individuals, how much can their continuance be counted upon? Much of the book is in contemplation of the relationship an individual has to their government and the interplay between its estates.

Unraveling the conspiracy that was discovered in the first book is of the utmost concern. There's also a murder mystery, an infiltration, multiple battles, purges, relationship drama, and the occasional horror scene. The action-oriented scenes were nice, though I enjoyed the contemplative ones more. What interested me the most was the questions that are brought up along the way and my consideration of them, especially in terms of contemporary similarities.

The characters are of a decidedly gray morality. There's a clear delineation between being lawful and what many would consider being good. Mostly they're just trying to survive through their trauma and obligations. The utmost priority is the continuation of Empire, despite their reservations about its methods. The Emperor's directives must be obeyed regardless. Many ethical compromises are required to preserve the status quo. How much ought a person sacrifice to ensure the victory of the lesser evil?

The first book set up the world, this one sets up the stakes, and third is assumedly the consequences. I'm quite interested to see what form that takes, specifically whether it's viewed at a distance, as is done with the viewpoint protagonist. The outcome has been already been known since the opening of the first book, so it's only a matter of how they get there. I hope that it's a path less taken.

Rating: 4/5

The Trials of Empire, Empire of the Wolf #3 - Richard Swan (2024)

The Trials of Empire took a more conventional path than I was expecting. The vast majority is recruiting allies for a final battle. That means it's mostly traveling around from place to place then negotiating the terms of alliances. Despite that I still greatly enjoyed its execution, which tends to matter more for me than how common the narrative choices are.

I enjoyed the adventure, warfare, and other action-oriented aspects, especially the final battle, which had numerous evocative scenes. However, what primarily appealed to me were the discussions and the character development. Common law, ethics, and politics were the most common topics for the characters to argue about. There's a lot that I found easy to relate to current events, though I don't know how intended that was.

As with the prior books, the greatest development is with how Sedanka observes the changes that Vonvalt goes through as a result of the choices he feels must be made. I continue to believe that it was a much better choice to have Sedanka be the viewpoint rather than Vonvalt specifically for this reason. I wrote about the first book that the most important and viewpoint character weren't the same person, though with this one, they arguably were.

Tragedies keep happening. I've read some say that this was more horrific than they preferred, though I didn't feel it was all that much. I wouldn't call this grimdark because the characters are striving to be as good as the situation allows them to be and are doing this for others rather than themselves. That being said, with all the trauma and failures they've endured, their hesitancy towards employing extreme measures lessens as the demands upon them increase. Whether war requires atrocities to be victorious was one of the most discussed questions.

The aftermath to the final battle and the epilogue were among the most satisfying I've read in a long time. It concluded everything that needed to be while allowing for the possibility for more. It's somewhat similar to how Abercrombie ended the Age of Madness, though the ending was done much better with The Empire of the Wolf.

Each book in this series has been progressively better for me, mostly in that each book has had considerably less of what I dislike. When I first started reading this series I had various concerns, though I now believe that I overstated them to the point where I'm somewhat unhappy with what I wrote about the first book. The rating would probably still be the same, though possibly I'd simply give it a 4 now rather than 3.5. Although there's a lot more that could be written in this setting I'd be entirely content with whatever else Swan writes next. I'll eventually be checking out his previous self-published books as well.

Rating: 4.5/5

Previous books in the series
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>>23277165
The Tainted Cup, Shadow of the Leviathan #1 - Robert Jackson Bennett (2024)

Dinios Kol is an engraver, an altered person who has perfect recall, working as an assistant to Anagosa Dolabra, a high ranking investigator. They're part of what functions as law enforcement in the empire. Ana prefers to only solve cases rather than having to be personally involved in any sort of fieldwork. So, she sends Kol out to record and retrieve all of the evidence and then present it to her. Few mysteries present any challenge to her. The story starts with Kol's first murder case, which is only an introductory part of a greater mystery. They soon find themselves entangled with the most powerful houses, a grand conspiracy, and the possible fate of the empire depending on the successful resolution of the case.

The Tainted Cup is a first person fantasy mystery with a single POV. Saying this is a Holmes & Watson mystery is an easy reference, though I don't believe it's that accurate. In the acknowledgements, Bennet says the inspiration for Ana was Nero Wolfe and then later Hannibal Lecter. I can't comment on the former, though there are similarities with the latter. To that mix I'd add Mycroft Holmes rather than Sherlock. By relation I'd say that Kol is more Will Graham than John Watson. Since smell is so important to him, he also reminds me a bit of the private investigator from the eponymous Ukrainian TV series, The Sniffer. There's also some similarity with The Justice of Kings, the first book of Richard Swan's Empire of the Wolf series.

The Empire of Khanum is the namesake of the Khanum people, who have long since died out, but their name and technology continues on with those humans who came after. This is a civilization that has mastered biotech and cannons. Their level of technology is unclear and uneven. There's a considerable amount that in other contexts would be considered science fiction. I found it rather interesting to see how much they could do with bioplastics and other repurposing of organic life. There's also a lot that seems to be from the Middle Ages at latest. As this book takes place entirely in the outskirts of the empire, the inner areas may be more advanced. The greatest threat to the empire is that with each wet season everything they are and have is put to the test as the leviathans, beings the size of mountains, come from the eastern sea to travel inland, destroying everything in their path.

I loved everything about this and it's a strong contender to be my favorite book published in 2024 and will surely be among the best I've read this year. It starts very strong and only gets better as it goes on. All the characters are great, the mystery is a lot of fun and fair, the worldbuilding is excellent, it's well-written, and it reminds me of much else that I've greatly enjoyed. On a personal level I don't have any complaints at all. This is definitely a series I'll be looking forward to for each book.

Rating: 5/5