The Emperor’s Blades by Brian Staveley

A new epic fantasy is in town, and Nila gives it some critical thought.

The Emperor’s Blades by Brian Staveley

Published by Tor, 2014 (review based on advanced reader copy)

Review by N. E. White.

US Version (What were they thinking?) — UK Version

The Emperor’s Blades begins with an ominous prologue: A glimpse into a world where an immortal race once ruled with cold calculation. It is a foreboding start to a series (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne) that will make you question everything you read.

The story begins with Kaden, the heir to the empire, searching for a lost goat near the monastery he’s been attending since a boy. He’s a son of the current human emperor, but he’s treated as any of the other acolytes learning from the Shin monks. The goat must be found and it is his task to do it. What he ends up finding frightens him. But Kaden has learned his lessons well, or at least, well enough to paint a picture. He uses a memory technique, called the Saama’an, to record the exact details of the mangled carcass of the goat. Once back at the monastery, he can then paint the scene in vivid strokes for his umial, his current mentor. However, before he can even eat, he is assigned a new umial, Rampuri Tan, a mysterious monk. His new mentor asks him to paint the scene of the dead goat. But the old monk knows something is missing, and this one is not nearly as nice as the others (he’ll beat Kaden bloody for just any old reason rather than for a good reason). So begins his tutelage under Tan.

We then get to meet Kaden’s brother, Valyn, exploring the remains of a ship and its crew. Along with other cadets of the Kettral, an elite military branch of the empire, they ascertain the ship was attacked by skilled professionals. But exactly who or why is a mystery until Valyn stumbles upon one, near-dead sailor who tells him they were sent to protect him and that there are some within the Kettral ranks plotting against the royal line. He soon finds out his father, the emperor, has been assassinated.

The story alternates between Kaden’s story of growing unease and danger in the remote Bone Mountains, as well as the skills he learns from the hardened Tan, and Valyn’s completion of his training with the Kettral, all the while trying to figure out the mystery of who may be trying to kill him and his brother, along with some other local murders. All this in a richly drawn world that will not disappoint many fans of the epic fantasy genre.

This book has a lot going for it. I know it will become a favorite next year. So…why do I only like it and not love it?

Though this is a secondary-world epic fantasy, the author chose to use the same ethnic trappings that we use in our world: The feisty and sexy red-head, the gorgeous and delicate, almond-eyed Asian, the cocky pilot. Oh, and just about every adult was stupid. Okay, maybe not stupid, but incompetent and ignorant is about as nice as I can put it. Unfortunately, I don’t like young adult fiction. I find that situations young characters in these sorts of novels find themselves in invariably means that all the adults around them are either really incompetent or really stupid. And that’s just how The Emperor’s Blades reads. It’s a young-adult novel couched as an epic fantasy. Nothing wrong with that. Many readers will not see a problem with this at all, and will go on to love this series. But I am not one of those readers. But that’s not all that bugged me.

There are plot devices that look suspiciously like plot holes. Or, that don’t entirely make sense to me. I don’t want to go into specifics and spoil the story, but there are quite a few times when a character acted in a manner that didn’t ring true. And towards the end, a few characters seemed to pop out of thin air for the sole purpose of getting the main characters out of a bind. It all seemed not only a bit convenient, but implausible, too. Given the obvious skill of the writer, these issues may be resolved in later installments, but in the space of 400+ pages, I didn’t come to love the characters. So, I don’t see myself reading the next book.

Mr. Staveley writes boldly. His characters live in incredible landscapes and do amazing stunts. The creatures are unique; the writer’s prose evoking both fright and wonder of the world he’s created. The cultural background of the races and people are intriguing. And the author has a knack with witty dialogue and some great world-specific swearing. But in the end, the two brothers’ story didn’t resonate with me. Even so, I think this series will be just right for many readers who like their protagonists head-strong and young (though not particularly astute).

N.E. White, September 2013.