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Brian Staveley

The Emperor's Blades MP3 CD – Audiobook, May 2 2017

by Brian Staveley (Author), Simon Vance (Reader), Oliver Cudbill (Reader)

1,645 ratings

Book 1 of 3: Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne

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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.

Language

English
Publisher

Brilliance Audio
Publication date

May 2 2017
Dimensions

17.15 x 13.97 x 1.27 cm
ISBN-10

1536624578
ISBN-13

978-1536624571
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Product description

About the Author

Brian Staveley lives in rural Vermont. The Emperor's Blades is his first novel. bstaveley.wordpress.com/blog/

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Brilliance Audio; Unabridged edition (May 2 2017)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1536624578
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1536624571
Item weight ‏ : ‎ 99 g
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 17.15 x 13.97 x 1.27 cm

Customer Reviews:
1,645 ratings

About the author

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Brian Staveley

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After teaching literature, philosophy, history, and religion for more than a decade, Brian began writing epic fantasy. His books have won multiple awards and been translated into a dozen languages worldwide. His forthcoming novel, The Empire's Ruin, begins a new trilogy set in the same world of the crumbling Annurian Empire.

Brian lives on a steep dirt road in the mountains of southern Vermont, where he divides his time between fathering, writing, splitting wood, falling off his mountain bike, and chasing the bear away from the trash, not necessarily in that order. He can be found on twitter at @brianstaveley, as well as through his website: www.brianstaveley.com

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5

1,645 global ratings

5 star		60%
4 star		28%
3 star		8%
2 star		2%
1 star		1%

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Rudyjuly2

Excellent Fantasy Fiction

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on May 14, 2014

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This was an excellent fantasy book (no spoilers below that aren't in the book description). The first book in a planned trilogy that should thankfully release every year so the wait times are reasonable. This is fiction in a Game of Thrones type setting and it focuses on the three children of the Emperor. The two sons get by far the most attention with Kaden, the oldest son and heir to the throne, who was sent to train as a monk and the younger son Valyn, was sent to train with the Kettral (the country’s elite military division). The oldest sibling is daughter Adare who remains at the capital. She has a minor role in the first book.

This is not a coming of age book. It’s a well written story focusing on the lives and training of the two sons and things are escalated due to the murder of their father the Emperor. I loved both characters and the supporting cast around them. There are many side characters that are interesting and pivotal to the story. There are also a number of mysteries in the book with the largest surrounding the Emperor’s death. They push the story along and hooked me in.

The fantasy elements themselves in this book are low key. There are many different gods and there is an underlying belief that they may affect things but for the most part this is a tale without god interference, without dragons (although a few non-earthly creatures exist) and largely without magic.

At the end of the day if you love fantasy fiction I can’t imagine you not loving this book.

4 people found this helpful

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Skuzzy

Great book.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on February 19, 2014

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When I picked up 'The Emperor's Blades' I was cynical. I sincerely doubted it could hold up to any of the other fantasy books I adored - Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn; Robert Jordan's Wheel Of Time, Joe Abercrombie's First Law and George R.R Martin's Game Of Thrones. However, as it turns out Brian Staveley is a brilliant writer.

The world he paints is a vivid one - a world once ruled by immortals who could craft creatures to do their bidding; giant birds with a wingspan of seventy feet that are ridden by black op-soldiers; monks and an Empire at the mercy of it's enemies. Only the Emperor's children can preserve what their predacessors have built.

The story follows the viewpoint of three characters; each unique in it's own way. The Emperor's heir is in the mountains; his brother is training to become a Kettral soldier; bird riding teams of raiders, and the sister is engaged heavily in the politics of their capital. THe writing itself is crisp and clear and leaves little to be desired.

The characters develop delightfully; no two characters tackle a problem the same way. There we also quite a few Red Herrings and surprises along the way.

4 people found this helpful

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Crewe Luke

Good story - too much cursing

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on May 30, 2020

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A nice tale based on Eastern philosophy and mysticism makes for an interesting take on the fantasy genre. My only negative (but a fairly serious one) is the liberal use of modern cursing spread throughout the story that just doesn't fit the mood and environment being built; it is quite jarring and interferes with the immersiveness of the story. A second major negative: too many annoying and unlikable characters.

4 people found this helpful

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Arseni Kritchever

Excellent fantasy series debut

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on May 26, 2018

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Very strong debut. This book gripped me instantly and kept me engrossed all the way until the end. It follows three siblings, children of a dead emperor, and their individual adventures. While one is raised by strict monks, another trains to become a special forces, and the third has to maneuver court politics and get justice for her dead father. All three are interesting characters with room to grow and develop in future books. The setting is likewise quite interesting and the writing style is very vivid without becoming too verbose.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on June 1, 2014

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This Book I of the 'Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne' was hard to put down. Can't wait to read Book II. Brian Staveley is a welcome addition to the list of epic fantasy writers, such as Brandon Sanderson, Joe Abercrombe, Scott Lynch and others who have the ability to weave action, intrigue, compelling characters and imagination into an epic targeted to adult audiences.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on March 30, 2018

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A pleasure reading a well crafted novel with great character development, intriguing world building and a solid plot. I’m looking forward to the next in the series.

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Serge Dakkach

Good universe, slow story development.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on April 16, 2016

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Good fantasy book. The universe of Brian stately in this serie is simply fantastic. For anyone looking for fantasy I would recommend this. Is it the best fantasy book I have come across? The answer is definitively not. I feel there is very little character development in the book,the story revolves mostly around the two sons of the emperor and both the characters and the story don't progress much overall. Which is sad since the universe is quite attractive.

One person found this helpful

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Jonathan E Lim

A wonderful surprise

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on March 9, 2018

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I didn't have high hopes. But the world building, the narration and characters were really intriguing!

A fun read with mysteries and grit.

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Top reviews from other countries

Erik WP

Among the great fantasy stories of this century (or the last)

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 12, 2019

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Finally a fantasy series that captures my attention again. A father reading dozens of mediocre novels I’d lost the hope to find anything in the same league as Tolkien, Eddings, Feist or Martin again. The Emperor’s blades reads like a mystery novel, detective story and epic fantasy book all in one. The world is a brutal one where people lead as brutal lives as on Westeros. Except that in Westeros, nobility is respected while here even the sons of the emperor are seen as nothing but silver spoon fed brats even if they’re not. One Prince is sent to become a Kettrel, an elite special force that flies giant birds. The other, heir to the throne, has been trained as a monk for the past 8 years in a brutal unforgiving order that lives for pain and degrading to reach emptiness. When their father is killed and it appears they will be next, a series of strange events happen. The soldier gets involved in a mystery, the monk leans why he is a must be a monk before he can become Emperor. Meanwhile their sister, who remained in the capitol gets involved in more mundane politics and the treachery behind the Emperor's death. Riveting stuff. The twists in the story keep you reading to find out what will happen next. The characters have real depth and are believable even though it seems sometimes that nobody seems to care if the young princes die, even if it were by accident. Unlikely that a dynasty would be so careless about it’s continuance.

3 people found this helpful

Stuart W.

A book worthy of equal comparison to Game of Thrones

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 10, 2021

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After waiting weeks, months, years, for George R R Martin to publish his final GoT masterpiece, to no avail, I finally had to find ‘another fix’. I alighted on Brian Staveley’s The Emperor’s Blades and began tentatively reading the first few pages, expecting nothing but disappointment, as no work could surely even marginally compare to GoT! Well how wrong my expectations were! Within minutes I was hooked! The tale grabbed me like a fast running river, dragging me under and immersing me in a new World that was at once both magical and alive!
I will not spoil any of the addictive plot lines or character traits, all I will say is I’m moving on to book two right now and I have found an author to rival George R R Martin and a World that is as captivating as Westeros!

2 people found this helpful

Mr L Reynolds

Kent Kissing Brilliant

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 2, 2015

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'Kent kissing' brilliant!!
Best fantasy I have read since `storm of swords ' It's original, complex and intriguing throughout. Somehow this book has managed to capture so many of my favourite elements from previous fantasy I have read and combine them to make this fantastic story. It delivers on so many levels, the short fast paced chapters work really well always ending with a hanger that just makes you turn the next page. The story is complex but the author delivers it in such a simple way, writing from 3 characters pov throughout all in the present tense (which is a refreshing change.) and despite it being the first in a trilogy (it's 2nd Jan 15,cannot wait.) the story is wrapped up beautifully, yes with hangers but you are not left frustrated.
Highly recommended for fans of 'Raven's Shadow', 'Kingkiller Chronicles', 'Magician' and 'A Song of Ice and Fire.'

5 people found this helpful

Jack Beaman

I massively enjoy. More than this though

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 12, 2015

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I think perhaps the most significant thing to say about my feelings for this book is that I read it in no more than two sittings. Rarely have I been so grabbed by a book as The Emperor’s Blades. The characters were all well-written and developed, but it was the world which attracted me so strongly to the novel. It is richly detailed, with fully developed history and religions, something which as a history student, I massively enjoy.
More than this though, there are no massive exposition dumps near the start of the story, with it instead being spread at a very comfortable rate. There is perhaps one section near the middle of the book where there is a lot history in one go, but it had already been hinted at throughout, and really served to confirm my own thoughts and theories. Perhaps my favourite sections of the book were Valyn’s chapters. The group of characters at the Kettral are fantastic, and I look forward to reading more about them.
It reads like a coming of age story, but also enjoys the benefits of multiple perspectives, as well as a number of dark sub-plots. It remains twist-filled, with a good number of unexpected deaths and betrayals, as well as feeling somewhat more mature than a typical ‘coming of age’ novel. While the ending did not tie everything up, I found the ending far more satisfying than I usually do the first in a trilogy.
I will certainly recommend this book to anyone and everyone, and can’t wait to get started on Providence of Fire.
‘The Emperor’s Blades’, by Brian Staveley is the first in the Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne.

3 people found this helpful

D. Beecher

Couldn't finish

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 4, 2016

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I can understand why others are giving this five stars, the book is competantly written,there is some intresting aspects to the world. However from the start I found myself battling to connect with the characters and I gave up about a quarter of the way through. On paper this is exactly the sort of book I enjoy and as I said there is lots which is good about it. But the characters lack shading and depth and didn't engage me at all.

Maybe I could have pushed through if the pacing hadn't been so odd. Prince finds out his fathers been murdered and stays on an island to finish his special forces hunger games. It didn't ring true to me and it slowed the pace down to a crawl.

One person found this helpful

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The Emperor's Blades MP3 CD – Audiobook, May 2 2017

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About the Author

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About the author

Brian Staveley

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