Kaden, Adare, and Valyn are the three children of the Emperor of Annur, who sits atop the Unhewn Throne. Kaden, the eldest, is training with Shin monks of the Blank God, whose goal is the vaniate (an emptiness and clarity), Valyn trains with the Kettral, an elite military force who ride atop gigantic birds; and Adare remains in Annur as Minister of Finance. As is par for the course in many fantasy stories, the Emperor is murdered leaving the Unhewn Throne somewhat vacant with Kaden, the next in line, half a world away with the monks. Each of the Emperor’s three children must deal with conflict and pressure in their training; though the majority of the plot focuses on Valyn and Kaden’s training. Like many Epic Fantasies before it, so begins The Emperor’s Blades, the first installment of Brian Staveley’s Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne.
Kaden struggles in his education with the Monks in the Ashk’lan Mountains; early on he acquires a new umial (teacher) in Tan an unforgiving and stoic man in his best moments. The purpose of Kaden’s training is to allow him to enter a state of mental emptiness, devoid of emotion. When we meet Kaden, he has been training with the Shin for nearly 8 years, so the switch in instructor is a bit surprising. Yoda his new instructor is not, for Yoda never forced Luke to be buried up to his neck in dirt.
His brother Valyn is undergoing an equally intense training regimen with more physical goals; he is training to lead the Kettral forces as a atop one of the giant warhawks. He makes friends with his fellow cadets, as well as enemies. He also finds himself at the center of a conspiracy as the murder of a prostitute he knew forces him to question his fellow cadets.
What Staveley does so effectively with Kaden and Valyn is to give each of them their own mini-boss of sorts – or foil. For Kaden, it is the man who is training him Tan. The mentor/mentee relationship between them is contentious at best; Kaden has many questions and in Tan’s eyes, every question is the wrong question. This battle of the wills made for compelling reading; for Tan was an enigma even to some of the Monks of Shin. Through him, Kaden and the reader learn a great deal about the lore and mythology of the world, which is in contrast to the relatively barren mountain landscape where the Shin monks reside. Valyn is able to interact more personably with his cadets; he forms friendships and even a potential romantic interest which is, of course, frowned upon by the military. Valyn’s arc has as its foil the brash and outspoken Sami Yurl. A simple name, but one that credit to Staveley, easily conjures up antagonism as I hear the name in my head.
Then there’s the problem of Adare. Whereas the great majority of the narrative is told through points of view of Kaden and Valyn; Adare gets a small handful of chapters. On the other hand, what we see through her chapters is at the foundation of the story; where her father’s murder occurred and some cryptic messages about the future of the empire. Even though Adare was not featured as much as her brothers, Staveley provided gender balance with the Kettral. Like the military in Brian T. McClellan’s Powder Mage Trilogy women and men serve equally up and down the ranks. With the Bildungsroman framework for Kaden and Valyn’s story, Staveley takes what could have been storylines for two novels of their own and makes for a stronger story/novel with the parallel storylines. I will admit that I would have liked to see more of Adare’s story, but the fact that she appears to be on the cover of the second novel points to a greater focus on her story in The Providence of Fire.
Tor has put a lot behind Brian’s series, assigning one of the hotter artists to the covers (Richard Anderson); revealing the cover with some fanfare more than 6 months in advance of the book’s publication; a series of sample chapters on Tor.com; reveal of the cover of book 2, The Providence of Fire a year in advance of the publication date; and publication of a trade paperback of The Emperor’s Blades less than a year (8 months) after hardcover publications. As is inherit with an opening volume, The Emperor’s Blades is the table-setter for the series, laying out the world and conflict the characters will have to deal with as the saga progresses. For the most part, it is very successful; I was engaged throughout and wanted to know more about the world they inhabit; particularly the deep past at which Kaden’s mentor Tan hinted. If I can compare the series – at this early stage – to any I’ve read over the past couple of years the closest would be to David Anthony Durham’s Acacia Trilogy and Daniel Abraham’s Long Price Quartet. This bodes very well indeed as these are two recent favorites you all should go out and read while waiting for The Providence of Fire.
A recommended debut that brought, if not a sense of closure, a sense of completion to the first stage of Kaden, Valyn, and (to a much lesser extent) Adare’s journey at filling their father’s shoes and determining why they are required to fill his shoes prematurely. Staveley pushed many of the buttons I like to see pushed in Epic Fantasy with The Emperor’s Blades while living ample room to take the story in directions and paths of his own charting. What readers enjoy most about Epic Fantasy and why it is such a successful subset of the greater Science Fiction & Fantasy genres, is that they look for “more of the same but different, and done well.” Here, Staveley has delivered on what this reader seeks; an embracing of what is enjoyable about the genre in a fun, very engaging debut and launch book for Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne. Most importantly, Brian Staveley has me excited to find out what happens next in The Providence of Fire.
Recommended
© 2014 Rob H. Bedford
I would recommend listening to Brian on The Functional Nerds when he was a guest in April 2014. He provides some insight on his approach to The Emperor’s Blades and some insight to The Providence of Fire.
My colleague Nila White reviewed the book for SFFWorld last year.
Review copy courtesy of the publisher, Tor
August 2014, Trade Paperback 978-0-7653-3643-9
492 Page (including preview of The Providence of Fire)
https://bstaveley.wordpress.com/
Thanks, Rob.
Adare, and female characters in general, but especially Adare, was a big hangup for me in this book. Her role in this book approached the vestigial, compared to her brothers. I could have done with less excruciating detail in some areas to give her more fleshing out.
Good review, Rob, and I agree with all that you’ve written, but I have to agree with Paul as well. The novel just felt unbalanced. And the entire time during all that training I kept thinking, didn’t your father just die? Where’s the mayhem? Still, the book (and I’m sure the entire series) is entertaining.
Nice review. Slight minute correction though. Valyn is not training to be the ‘pilot’ but the leader of the team. Brian is also giving away some Arcs of Providence of Fire through twitter and goodreads so he is worth a follow
Thanks folks. Noted, Charlie. I’ve been following Brian on twitter.