Book Review: The Emperor’s Blades by Brian Staveley

The Emperor’s Blades by Brian Staveley

Genre: Fantasy

Series: Book 1 of Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne

Publisher: Tor

Date of Publication: January 14, 2014

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Looks like epic fantasy in 2014 is off to a running start with The Emperor’s Blades, a novel by Brian Staveley featuring an intricate plot about a murdered sovereign and his trio of offspring who survive him. As debuts go, it was a great book despite a few hitches in the story that tripped me up. Still, I don’t doubt for a second that Staveley will be winning himself a lot of fans with this one, and you can count me in amongst those who are looking forward to his future work.

From the very beginning, the author has my undivided attention with introductions to Emperor Sanlitun’s two sons and daughter. First things first: take those images you have of pampered princesses and princelings living in luxury in a cushy decadent palace and throw them out the window, for the lives of Sanlitun’s children are about as far removed from that as you can imagine.

Kaden the heir has spent the last eight years sequestered in a remote monastery in the moutains, learning the mysteries of the monks who live there. It’s also where he gets beaten bloody on an almost daily basis, for not grasping his lessons quickly enough. Meanwhile, younger son Valyn trains with the Kettral (an elite group of the empire’s warriors — think of them as the emperor’s special forces) but leads a life no less brutal for all the dangerous tests he is made to go through before earning his place on a Wing. Finally, back at the capital Sanlitun’s only daughter Adare fights treachery, conspiracy and political unrest in order to maintain stability in the heart of the empire in the wake of her father’s murder.

The scope of the story turned out to be not as vast or immense as I’d expected, maintaining a tight focus on the perspectives of these three characters for much of the novel. That’s not a bad thing at all, especially if character development is as important to you as it is for me; narrowing down the interest and activity to Kaden, Velyn and Adare allowed me to get acquainted with them more closely.

If the three plot lines have a common thread, it’s that nothing ever seems to go right for the siblings. Kaden can’t seem get anything right in his mentor’s eyes, Valyn comes off almost as incompetent in his failures during training while simultaneously trying to root out a plot against him, and Adare is mostly helpless and unable to take action. For much of the novel it’s almost painful to read about how each of them are outmaneuvered, outsmarted, outgunned. But you know what they say about experiences that are upsetting, humiliating, or distressing: it builds character! That’s literally the case in this book. And really, there’s plenty enough action and excitement in Kaden, Valyn and Adare’s lives to keep things interesting, certainly enough to keep the novel’s pace up and maintain its level of epicness even when following just a handful of characters.

To be honest though, something never quite sat right with me when it came to their situations. It’s one thing to send your royal children away to pick up new skills, see the world, or learn of what real life is like outside the palace, but it’s quite another to expose your only (and therefore presumably precious) heirs to such terrible risk and brutality. In the book, we are told that Kaden and Valyn were victims of a kidnapping or assassination attempt when they were very young, but the perpetrators were caught and executed summarily for their troubles. However, Sanlitun is apparently happy enough to let monks and the Kettral do any more would-be assassins’ jobs for them, by sending his sons to places where the punishments equate to child abuse and torture in Kaden’s case, while Valyn is made to go through the type of training exercises where a single mistep could snuff his life out at any second.

I’m also a bit mystified by all the people around Kaden and Valyn who have the guts to treat the emperor’s sons so poorly, knowing full well that these young men are only a heartbeat or two away from the Unhewn Throne and being the supreme ruler of your land able to order your head lopped off from your shoulders on a mere whim. Maybe it’s just me, but crown princes aren’t exactly people I’d want to offend, let alone bully, because payback would be a real bitch in this case. Adare also has her own troubles with garnering respect in the capital, and here I’m also a little frustrated that her character was not given as much attention. Her chapters make a few brief appearances between long stretches, but for the most part she is underrepresented in this story. It’s a shame since I get the feeling she possesses just as much strength and intelligence as either of her two brothers, and that needs to come to the forefront.

The truth is, Kaden and Valyn take center stage here, and the story heats up even more when the two finally reunite for a showdown against their enemies. As endings go, the novel finishes off in style, wrapping up the major threads while leaving plenty more to tease the next installment. You can be sure I’ll be picking it up and continuing this epic series, with high hopes for more action, a deeper look into the world’s magic and history, as well as a larger role for Adare. Several parts of The Emperor’s Blades may exhibit the type of rawness not uncommon in debut novels, but it’s certainly still a hit in my eyes.