The Annurian Empire is disintegrating. The advantages it used for millennia have fallen to ruin. The ranks of the Kettral have been decimated from within, and the kenta gates, granting instantaneous travel across the vast lands of the empire, can no longer be used.

In order to save the empire, one of the surviving Kettral must voyage beyond the edge of the known world through a land that warps and poisons all living things to find the nesting ground of the giant war hawks. Meanwhile, a monk turned con-artist may hold the secret to the kenta gates.

But time is running out. Deep within the southern reaches of the empire and ancient god-like race has begun to stir.

What they discover will change them and the Annurian Empire forever. If they can survive.

This book was provided for free by NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book!

Content Warnings:

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Straight off the bat, I was surprised to see so much cursing in such quick succession in The Empire’s Ruin by Brian Staveley. I’m not against cursing, and I personally curse a lot, but I didn’t expect it within the first few pages of the book. I think what bothered me most about it was that it was unnecessary and completely unimaginative. By unnecessary, I mean every sentence did not require ‘f**king’ from the main character Gwenna, and that was the only swear word she seemed to know. Genuine cursing has variety; it’s not just the f-word, it’s s**t, crap, bloody, bugger, bollocks and so on. But for several pages right at the start of the book, all I got was effing this and effing that, and it really wasn’t making me take a shine to the book. There was still cursing throughout the rest of the book, but it was down to a normal level, which felt natural even when it was exaggerated.

As I got deeper into The Empire’s Ruin, it split into three separate narratives, and I found it really difficult to see how they had any relevance to each other at first. It took quite a while before two of them began to connect, and it was two-thirds of the book before the third one connected. One narrative follows Gwenna Sharpe as she sets off on the voyage beyond the edge of the known world described in the synopsis. The second narrative follows two priests of love, and the third is about the monk turned con-artist, also mentioned in the synopsis. Staveley’s writing style is very slow, and it was too slow for me. This is a hefty book, and 752 pages of slowly plodding on is not my idea of a fun read. There was action at times, but as you can see from the trigger warnings, this is a very graphic novel and again, not my type of book.

By the end of the book, I was a little interested in the story and a few characters, but not nearly enough to pick up the next book. I just couldn’t get into this one, and it wasn’t because I was coming into a universe at book 5; it was because it just did not grab me in any way. I felt that we were constantly reminded that Gwenna could only do all the things she was able to do, as a woman, because she was Kettral (and thus had extraordinary abilities) rather than her actually being a skilled fighter and demolitions expert. Her entire background as a legendary fighter and a hero seemed to only hinge on her being a Kettral, and every time she did something epic, the attitude was “well, yes, she’s Kettral”. At the same time, there was this consistent insistence from everyone (including Gwenna herself) that she was not in fact Kettral anymore since she had been demoted. It got a little tiresome.

There was also the constant overhanging threat of rape. While it was primarily directed at female characters, although it was also directed at male characters occasionally, and at one point, a male and female character had to defend themselves from rapists. You don’t need to tell me sexual assault happens; I’m a woman, I’ve been sexually assaulted and harassed, and I know too many people who have been as well. It’s a reality that women can’t avoid, but I don’t want to be bombarded with it in books I choose to read as well.

I keep seeing this book described as “epic”, and I guess in terms of genre, it fits the bill of epic fantasy. The Empire’s Ruin is more Tolkien-style fantasy (albeit with an R rating), and as such, it’s just not my kind of read. It certainly has some decent qualities and an interesting plot, but it just didn’t click with me personally.

Thanks for taking the time to check out my book review for The Empire’s Ruin by Brian Staveley.

Have you read any books by Brian Staveley? If so, what were your thoughts on them?
I’d love to hear from you!

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