Grave Empire: Book One of The Great Silence (Richard Swan, Orbit)

In Grave Empire, Richard Swan returns to the world of his Empire of the Wolf fantasy trilogy in a way that’s thrilling and wholly unexpected. Set two hundred years after the events of the original series, this new story shifts to a world of muskets, cannons and terrifyingly gruesome magic. Unlike its predecessor, Grave Empire employs a third-person perspective with three points of view: a protagonist, an antagonist and a character who’s still a mystery. Renata, a junior diplomat, works in a department tasked with communicating with the Stygion, elusive mermen who want nothing to do with air breathers. Count Lamprecht von Oldenberg is a noble with dubious morals, involved in everything from smuggling to illegal dark magics. And Peter Kleist is a young officer who is unexpectedly posted to the wild frontiers rather than the cushy billet he had expected. When the necromancers report a great silence in the afterlife, it sets off a chain of events that affects all three characters. One will seek answers, one will see an opportunity, and one will have to endure the unendurable. Grave Empire is a masterful grimdark fantasy that stands among the best in the genre and blends elements of Swan’s previous works, while crafting a narrative that is an excellent entry point for new readers. Fans of Joe Abercrombie and Brian McClellan will find much to love in Grave Empire, a dark, gripping tale of ambition, survival and the haunting echoes of death.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Stefen Brazulaitis has been a bookseller with a special interest in science fiction and fantasy for 30 years and is the owner of Stefen's Books in Perth, WA. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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