
Grave Empire
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Narrated by:
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Nathaniel Priestley
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Zoe Mills
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By:
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Richard Swan
From critically acclaimed author Richard Swan, Grave Empire begins the epic tale of an empire on the verge of industrial revolution, where sorcery and arcane practices are outlawed—and where an ancient prophecy threatens the coming end of days.
Blood once turned the wheels of empire. Now it is money.
A new age of exploration and innovation has dawned, and the Empire of the Wolf stands to take its place as the foremost power in the known world. Glory and riches await.
But dark days are coming. A mysterious plague has broken out in the pagan kingdoms to the north, while in the south, the Empire’s proxy war in the lands of the wolfmen is weeks away from total collapse.
Worse still is the message brought to the Empress by two heretic monks, who claim to have lost contact with the spirits of the afterlife. The monks believe this is the start of an ancient prophecy heralding the end of days—the Great Silence.
It falls to Renata Rainer, a low-ranking ambassador to an enigmatic and vicious race of mermen, to seek answers from those who still practice the arcane arts. But with the road south beset by war and the Empire on the brink of supernatural catastrophe, soon there may not be a world left to save...
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Another excellent start to a new series
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Sooo good!
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Slow and steady
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The plot and world and the reader’s ability to distinguish characters and their feelings
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Interesting story
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This book absolutely ruled
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The book opens with Peter riding in a coach to a fort at the edge of the world. This reminded me of the first chapter of Bram Stoker’s Dracula in which Jonathan rides a coach through Transylvania to reach castle Dracula. Like Jonathan’s ride, Peter’s ride is long and full of dread. Also, at least part of Peter’s story is told in letters, the epistolary inspiration from Dracula is unabashed. The land is strange, the air thick with fear. The men who drive the coach seem to know more than they say. The trip is not just a ride—it is a step into the unknown. He hopes for a life of ease, but finds only death and cold fear. The land is strange, the air thick with doom. He writes to his dad, but his words grow dark. The men at the fort are weak and lost. The woods near them hum with pain.
Renata works for the crown. She must deal with the sea folk, but no one cares for her task. The ships that sail near them do not come back. The truth is deep and hard to find. She seeks peace, but war may be inevitable. The worldbuilding is exquisite here, Swan conjuring races, symbiosis between species, environs, habitats, that filled me with wonder.
Praise aside, the book was slow, probably intentionally so, for the first half and picks up pace in the second. The snail’s pace at the start serves to slowly build the dread, set up the mystery, lay out the various pieces - nations, races, religions and religious sects, their politicking, before the intentional convergence towards a quest and then the climax. The politicking here was not as interpersonal as Swan’s previous trilogy. The book presented big-picture political happenings and religious rifts in this world as a close backdrop of our characters’ lives playing out in the storylines of three main POVs. The pace intensifies in the last third where all the mystery and secrets are unraveled in a satisfying climax and ending. The end and the epilogue provide adequate anticipation for the next installment.
The book was grim and full of woe. The land vast and cold. Swan has spun a world that is full of awe and marvel. This slow-burn horror-mystery-quest was rich and deep, with words that pull you in.
Audio- in Renata’s POV there is a high pitched ‘s’ that is grating to the ear. Overall great audio.
4 🌟🌟🌟🌟 stars!
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Brilliant!
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Great story but don’t care for one of the narrators.
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