The Emperor's Blades

Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, Book 1

By: Brian Staveley

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 19 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

Now includes special bonus content. Stay tuned after the audiobook to hear “The Last Abbot of Ashk’lan,” a short story by Brian Staveley.

The emperor of Annur is dead, slain by enemies unknown. His daughter and two sons, scattered across the world, do what they must to stay alive and unmask the assassins. But each of them also has a life-path on which their father set them, destinies entangled with both ancient enemies and inscrutable gods.

Kaden, the heir to the Unhewn Throne, has spent eight years sequestered in a remote mountain monastery, learning the enigmatic discipline of monks devoted to the Blank God. Their rituals hold the key to an ancient power he must master before it's too late.

An ocean away, Valyn endures the brutal training of the Kettral, elite soldiers who fly into battle on gigantic black hawks. But before he can set out to save Kaden, Valyn must survive one horrific final test.

At the heart of the empire, Minister Adare, elevated to her station by one of the emperor's final acts, is determined to prove herself to her people. But Adare also believes she knows who murdered her father, and she will stop at nothing - and risk everything - to see that justice is meted out.

©2014 Brian Stavely (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

The pace of the story dragged it down.

As far as stories goes, this has a very slow pace. It wasn't until the last few hours of the audiobook when the story really started to pick up and gain shape. Up until that point, there were just a multitude of cliché cliff hangers while the story switched from character to character.

3rd-person POV fantasy, and not too long

This is the first book of an epic fantasy trilogy, set in a Japanese-type medieval culture. It's told in 3rd person, with the POV limited to the Emperor's three children, ages 17, 18, and 21. He calls them his blades. Hence the title.

I would rate the contents PG 16. Violence with tons of bloody gore. No sex, but foul language includes lots of F-bombs and crude sexist language, especially in the Kettral Training Grounds. At times, it was all a bit much.

Good book, despite some quibbles. For a nice change of pace, the magic is atypical. Leaches are born with the ability to draw power from a particular element (like Butcher's Codex Alera). There are ancient portals for traveling long distances, created by the gods (yes, gods play a fairly big role). We also get huge birds with an 80-foot wingspan, trained to fly warriors into combat, similar to Temeraire -- His Majesty's Dragon. (But unlike Novik, Stavely failed to make these birds seem real to me, because he never showed them cold, hungry, thirsty — eating, drinking, sleeping, etc.)

Then they are the nearly immortal Csestriims, a pre-human race, amazingly intelligent and utterly without emotion (see prologue). These Csestriims want to wipe out humanity, similar to the Cyber-race in Battlestar Galactica.

I like the length. Excessively long fantasy novels are not my thing. This series is fairly dark and sad, but also promising, with an engrossing plot. Stavely offers a measured blend of action, dialogue, and interaction. Some internal reflection, but not too much. I enjoyed the proverbs from the monastic Shin (Zen) masters and the quotes from the Book of War.

Scenes transition nicely, without jitterbug leapfrogging (Yay!). Chapters transition from Kaden, studying at the Shin monastery in the Bone Mountains at the edge of the world, to Valyn on the Qirrin Islands, striving to become a Kettral (a black-ops elite warrior who travels on a huge kestrel-like raptor), to the eldest sibling, 21-year-old Adare, the first female finance minister, working in the capital city. When their father suddenly dies, life is never the same for the three, and the race is on to save the Unhewn Throne.

I was afraid all the adults in the book would be incompetent or evil — as many of them were. That would be a total turn off. For credibility, a few adults showed courage and sense.

The map in the e-book is blurry but the author has a sharper image on his blog site. There is an appendix of information about the various gods in the book.

Narration by Simon Vance is nearly perfect but some voices sound too much the same.

Confusing, but I eventually dug in.

Unfortunately, by the time the characters really started to develop, the story ended. And at a cliffhanger no doubt, to encourage the reader to buy the next book in the series. Very slow at times, but also a deep storyline that has me hooked. I will most likely follow up with book 2 in the series.

Great Epic Fantasy

What did you love best about The Emperor's Blades?

I knew before starting that the narration would be top notch. I often select books based on my favorite narrators. This story did not disappoint. I hope that this is just the start of an epic series.

What does Simon Vance bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Simon Vance does not just read a book aloud, he breathes life into each character.

Any additional comments?

Spend that credit. You will not be sorry.

Amazing!!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I have been listening to about 2 or 3 audiobooks a month for the past 4 years and this book is easily in my top 3 of all time. It's one of those rare combinations of genius writing and an exceptional narrator. I'm always a little worried when I buy a fantasy type book because a lot of the time they end up being written for 12 year olds. This is definitely an adult book and it kept me on the edge on my seat through the entire story. I'm listening to the second book in the series right now and it's proving to be just as good as the first. Do yourself a favor and download this, you won't regret it

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Emperor's Blades?

The last two chapters, I kept thinking wow this is a gd masterpiece

What about Simon Vance’s performance did you like?

Everything

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I would never admit it if it did but, when _____ died I might of got a lil teary eyed

Just what I was looking for

Where does The Emperor's Blades rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I feel like this series is going to be in my top 3 very soon. I just wish more of the books were out.

What other book might you compare The Emperor's Blades to and why?

I'm not sure how to compare this to another book series. I will say it temporarily filled the void I have while waiting on the next books in The Kingkiller Chronicle and Stormlight Archive series.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Some elements seem a little brutal at times. However, I think it's the author trying to use background to paint each characters motives and emotional state.

Any additional comments?

Overall, I'm very pleased. It was dark, has a little magic, a slight twist on the standard epic fantasy (boy rising to power), a little gore, and plot twists. Bottom line, it was worth the purchase (credit) and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for their next fantasy story.

The only negative I have, is that it developed very slowly and seemed to end abruptly. Perhaps the character building process that I enjoyed is what made it seem slow. I can't say for sure, you'll have to decide for yourself.

Rarely have I listened to such a fabulous book!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would definately recommend this audiobook to a friend. It was so enjoyable; I felt like I was right there in the action. Also strong women in this book, which I definately find appealing!

What did you like best about this story?

The writing was fabulous. I was totally drawn into the story, the action, the drama, the characters.

What about Simon Vance’s performance did you like?

Simon Vance is one of my favourite readers. He has an amazingly soothing voice, but also does a multitude of characters voices so well.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, definately! I had a hard time NOT listening, when I had to do other things that required my attention.

Any additional comments?

Can't wait til the second book comes out. This is a new author, and he is very very talented.

Fantastic

What an amazing world and immersive story, looking forward to the rest of the series

Great fantasy book! Pleasantly surprised!

I would definitely recommend! Best I've read since Stormlight! Hopefully it stays strong from here on out! Can't believe I'm just reading this now!

Superb!!

This was a fantastically crafted story. From the get go, Brian creates tension and intrigue, maintaining it so well, while at the same time using the slow-reveal to keep the reader thirsty for more. The characters are well defined and relatable and the issues dealt with tug at the heart-strings. I also seriously enjoyed the world building that went into this creation. It is vast, yet believable, fantastic, but realistic. I would recommend this book to anyone that includes The Lord of the Rings and the Song of Ice and Fire in their top favorites.