4 Primary Crimes Committed By The Author

What did you like best about The Emperor's Blades? What did you like least?

This world has a very impressive military system. A great set of forces at play. But the author commits 4 crimes against the reader that need to be called out.1) "SURPRISE! THERE'S NO ENDING IN THIS BOOK! READ THE NEXT ONE TO FIND OUT HOW THIS STORY ENDS! JUST KIDDING! READ THE ONE AFTER THAT!" These are not books. They are chapters. That is to say, they END by way of the author simply halting his writing, without the resolution of a story, let alone the primary story, and in fact, fail utterly to resolve any arc at all. - This should obviously come with a warning label since the three books combine to tell a single story. Not a single story with 3 major advents in between... just a single story. Period. - The three novels before you, are not a trilogy. They are a single book. Know this. 2) The plot is moved forward through characters being suddenly and inexplicably unintelligent and inarticulate and essentially, volunteering for victim duty. - This happens regularly and without justification. "I insist on going with you into danger, where I will get in the way because I will then be able to watch the fight as a spectator. Yet 10 pages later I will in fact present the exact opposite argument regarding the same exact fight in the same location citing zero circumstantial change because I clearly just needed a reason to be in this building."3) Repeatedly reviewing one's own circumstances aloud with a tone of wonder and awe... is lazy and ineffectual. This is the dark side of the Show-Not-Tell relationship between characters and the audience. If you SHOW the audience an awe-inspiring thing, they will feel awe. Telling the audience to feel awe by reviewing how shockingly implausible the character's survival is or how far they've come since they left Default-Village-Land 5 times is like having the author tell you he thinks you can't remember the last 3 hours to your face. I find self-review for the purpose of INFORMING the audience that they have experienced drama and not to forget it... to be repulsive.4) Repetition. - The sort of repetition that happens when an author only has one tool at his disposal. In this case it's the phrase: "If he was frightened by the giant warrior before him... he didn't show it." "If she was bothered by the weapons being brandished around her... she didn't show it." "If he was frightened by this ___ he didn't show it." Seriously. I'm guessing 30 or 40 times? ... If she was bla bla bla... LET ME GUESS! She didn't show it!?

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I would have taken the time necessary to make the primary female character morally consistent.

What about Simon Vance’s performance did you like?

The reader was flawless.

Did The Emperor's Blades inspire you to do anything?

No.

281 people found this helpful

Of the various new fantasy series, this is... fine

I like the Emperor's Blades, but, given the many new epic fantasy series of the past few years, this isn't at the top of the list. It is clearly in the grimdark (Ambercrombie, not Rothfuss) camp - horrible events, moral ambiguity, lots of death and fighting. While not bad, it doesn't seem to add much interesting to the genre, and has some questionable choices.

Some of the questionable choices are worldbuilding. While there are lots of nice touches (sky ninjas on giant birds!) a lot of the rest falls somewhere between cliche and nonsensical. On the cliche side, this book mostly consists of the training of two different heirs to the throne. One is being trained in a monastery with (surprise!) taciturn, koan-spouting monks and has to find the meaning of their zen-like lessons. The other is being given hardcore military training with (surprise!) taciturn, tough-as-nails officers and has to overcome bullies and physical challenges. On the nonsensical side, apparently neither of the heirs to the throne are trained in anything having to do with ruling the empire that they are inheriting. Instead, they are subject to conditions that, for no really good reason, seem designed to have a very good chance of killing them.

The other questionable choices have to do with tone. There is a third member of the royal family, a daughter. She, like many of the women in the novel, gets a lot less time on the page. And most of the women we encounter get abused, tortured, or worse. It adds to a sense of discomfort throughout the novel.

Nothing here is awful, and the reading is great, but the book seemed rather forced, with motivations seeming muddled and the world not really cohering into a whole. The action was often well-done, but I think there are better new fantasy series to read.

177 people found this helpful

Doesn't compare with other fantasy books

I wanted to like this book very badly. It has a good writing style and interesting characters. The world is interesting. But it has several flaws--not fatal flaws, but serious nonetheless.

First is the completely gratuitous use of profanity and oaths. If you have read my reviews I seldom, if ever, complain about that unless it's supposed to be a YA or children's book. But everyone in this book swears like a truck-driver. It's like they are all in middle school. Part of the problem is that the author mixes the f-word and other words we know with many made-up oaths, like Kent-kissing etc. And everyone ALWAYS say Kent-kissing (Kent being a god). ALL OF THE TIME. I listen on my phone and if I heard someone say that one more time, I was going to throw it across the room! Argh!

The next problem comes with the plot itself. It's the story of three teenage or young-adult siblings who are dealing with life after the death of their Emperor father, although the two sons don't find out until well into the book.

One (a son) has been at a monastery for 8 years and seems only to be taught the really important skills he will need as the next Emperor in the last several months of being there when it's almost too late. Why? No explanation.

The next sibling (another son) has been in elite military training for 8 years. He seems to have fairly poor skills as well. After 8 years you would think he would be fairly good at some sort of military skill. It's not military school. This training is supposed to be like Navy Seal training. Other members are excellent at things like archery. Not him.

Hey, Emperor Dad: I don't think these 8-year plans are working!

That brings us to the third sibling (a girl). She has been with her father all of this time. She has learned the ins and outs of life in court. She knows all of the important players in the government. She makes some mistakes but it seems like she might make a good queen. But girls can't be queen. Only males can be Emperor. She was my favorite sibling even though she takes up maybe 5% of the book. Too bad. I hope that she is more featured in the sequels.

At various times I wanted to give this book 3 stars and maybe even 4 stars. But then I think of other books I have read this year and this book just does not compare with Robert V. S. Redick's or Daniel Abraham's stories. Or Shawn Speakman's debut novel. Never mind 5-star writers like Robin Hobb or Michael J. Sullivan. I gave them 4/5 stars so I couldn't bring myself to give this book more than 2.5.

The reader is very good, especially when reading the evil characters (for whatever reason). He helped make the book better.

But will I read the sequel? Um...um...um. I don't know! Possibly. I do like the characters and the world is interesting. But I'm not sure it will be worth my time and money.

91 people found this helpful

Depressing

I love scifi and fantasy. I've been reading the genre for over 35 years now. While this book is well written and fairly narrated, it was just depressing. I listened to the entire book and there isn't a single scene that is amusing or light. There are three main characters. One is learning at a monastery where extreme deprivation and even torture are used as teaching methods. An example is being buried standing up so that only your head is exposed and being left there for several days. Another character is learning to be a warrior but is being singled out for ridicule and deliberate belittling by the instructors, is trying to avoid being assassinated while he and his friends are being beaten up by the bullies. The third character is undermined in her political tasks by treachery and dismissal as a woman trying to do a man's job. Even though the three survive to the next novel there is no real feeling of celebration or joy...just constant setbacks and an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness. Don't worry, I've not given away any spoilers - what I've written is what you find in just about every fantasy novel but in the good ones, you are given something to be happy about and hope that the protagonists will do more than just survive, that they will win in the end. That hope is not presented in this book.

Simon Vance as always does a good job of narration.

40 people found this helpful

Kent Kissing Book

HUNGER IS FLAVOR
Great beginning. You are there when the sheep whose brains have been scooped out is discovered. You are there as the Monk and the Warrior start training.

SQUINT HARD ENOUGH AND EVERYTHING LOOKS SUSPICIOUS.
Then the book turns into storytelling and we are no longer there. It all becomes past tense. It becomes boring.

35 people found this helpful

Fun and riveting fantasy novel!!!

A friend steered me to this novel, knowing that I rarely read fantasy (The Game of Thrones and The Lord of the Rings is about it). I was skeptical about it, but gave it a shot. The plot follows the two son's of the emperor who have been sent away from home, one to train as a monk and one as a soldier. The rebellion against the emperor touches both. From the start, I was in awe of the great writing. Descriptive scenes that might be boring in other books were impressive and entertaining here. The similes and metaphors made me smile throughout the story and helped make this fantasy world come alive. I have listened to the first three books in the Game of Thrones series, and I liked The Emperor's Blades even more. Why? Better writing, tighter plot, and more action. I liked the mystery element to this novel, too. It is equal to Game of Thrones in imagination. Staveley's characters are not as memorable as the best in The Games of Thrones, but that is the only area he fell short. That said, by the end of The Emperor's Blades, a number of characters had begun to come alive to me. I liked that there was just a touch of magic in this, making success rely mostly on human ingenuity. I finished this novel about three hours ago, and still feel a part of me remains in that fantasy world. My biggest disappointment is that I have to wait until the sequel is published!

25 people found this helpful

This series isn't worth the time investment or the paper it was written on.

All credit to the narrator for trying to bring this series to life.
This series could have been so good. The world is interesting, the characters should have had plenty of room to develop, and the action and drama could have been epic. Sadly the world is never fleshed out, the characters are unbelievably incompetent for people who have spent their entire lives training, and the action and drama is so one dimensional it hurts. Without going into spoilers I can only recommend that no one wastes their time on this. Maybe all of the good reviews are from people new to the genre, but this series is infuriatingly meaningless.

24 people found this helpful

George R. R. Martin better write faster

If you are angrily waiting the next Game of Thrones book, than The Emperor's Blades is your book. The story is often stronger and more relatable that George R. R. Martin's stuff. Plus Simon Vance's narration is fantastic as always.

24 people found this helpful

Great Story like Joe Abecrombie/Brandon Sanderson!

If you could sum up The Emperor's Blades in three words, what would they be?

Clever, fascinating and funny!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Flee - makes me laugh at his rude brash clever insults

What about Simon Vance’s performance did you like?

Always a good job! Good voice and doesn't distract you from the plot

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

I don't know..but I would love to see this in a movie!

Any additional comments?

If you like a story with twists, raw humor and believable characters, you'll very much enjoy this book. Looking forward to the next one! :-) Good job!

22 people found this helpful

Quickly Addictive. Great First Novel!

This novel starts a little slow and pretty conventional, but heats up quickly. It wasn't long before I was listening to it every free moment I had.

The early plot involves two royal brothers, each sent away as youths for training, one to a monastery and the other to Air Assault Ninja School. That in itself seems like a pretty derivative beginning, but the brothers are quickly dunked in intrigue when their father dies. The action, plotting and mystery remain pretty thick for the rest of the story. The main characters are put into many different challenging and life-threatening situations which move the story along. Also, since you keep switching back from one brother to the other at suspenseful points in the narrative, it is really difficult to find a good place to put the book down.

Staveley does an excellent job of keeping you on your toes. You are never allowed to get comfortable in your expectations. There are twists in this book, but the artful part of the twists are that some of them aren't twists at all.

The supporting characters are very well described. But for a few character traits, the main characters are written a little bit blank. Vance does an excellent job bringing them all to life. He is so good I will make special point of seeking out his narrations in the future.

I would recommend this book to any fantasy fan. The foibles of being conventional disappear quickly and are easy to forgive when you realize your being drawn into an exciting fantasy mystery.

17 people found this helpful