The Emperor's Blades (Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne Book 1)

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The Emperor has been murdered, leaving the Annurian Empire in turmoil. Now his progeny must bury their grief and prepare to unmask a conspiracy. I'll admit, I was a little biased towards Adare's point of view, because her storyline has such a strong feministic undertone. Unfortunately, Adare also gets a considerably less amount of chapters than her brothers, but I was enthralled each time we got a glimpse of her story in Annur. I have very high hopes for her in The Providence of Fire, especially with the impact of that cliffhanger. Like, I'm here for Adare, and I'm rooting for whatever she has to do for her kingdom.

But what I really want to speak about is the representations of women in Blades particularly, and grimdark fantasy generally. I’m also going to touch on how the book handles POC and LGBTQ characters. I have a real issue with love interests who are sexually assaulted and then fridged to provide impetus for a male POV character. It is so disrespectful.Before I start my review, feast your eyes upon the gorgeous cover arts of the books in this trilogy! Suffice it to say, I was more than a little bit disturbed that our future leader was being groomed by a bunch of religious CRAZIES zealots, whose main goal was to achieve a twisted version of Enlightenment. (As it turned out, there was a good reason, but I didn't know that then.) Here, Staveley has delivered on what this reader seeks; an embracing of what is enjoyable about the genre in a fun, very engaging debut and launch book for Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne.”— SFFWorld.com

And then we have the final POV, Adare. I really liked the political intrigue this perspective offered, and spent most of the book fascinated with this character. I sincerely couldn’t figure out if she was that painfully nieve, or if there was a grander plan in place I’d yet to discover (you’ll have to tell me what you think – I won’t spoil anything here). What I saw in this first book was the potential for some really great character growth with Adare, and that prospect enticed me. I should be focusing on my bladework, and all I can think about is ripping the pants off this boy.” Brian Staveley has a new fan in me. If you only read one Fantasy book this year, this should be it. I look forward to reading it again before the next in the series comes out. I don’t think it is too much to ask of authors that they ensure their female characters are fully-fleshed out.Valyn—at 18 years old—is the second son of the Emperor who was sent away to train with the Kettral—the deadliest fighting force in the Annurian Empire. Personally speaking, Valyn was hands down my favorite POV character in the book. Takes a story of family, loss, conspiracy and revenge and gives it new legs. It's epic fantasy with a sharp, jagged edge to it, a modern sensibility, prose as tight as the leather wrapped around a sword's hilt, and characters that you can relate to and give a damn about. I look forward to the next installment of Staveley's chronicle.” — R. S. Belcher, author of The Six-Gun Tarot If you are uncomfortable with the image I’m painting you need to ask yourself why you were ok with Staveley doing it to Lin. Arctosz Paleroche• Chester• Degenbrecher• Great Elder• Gulo• Monch• Ratatos Browntail• Sciurus Browntail• Valais• Yucatan Women are described by their breasts, physical attractiveness and Disney eyes. I wouldn’t mind this if men were likewise described but the only men who get detailed descriptions are the “fat, disgusting” ones. In Valyn’s first scene, surrounded by blood, gore and murder victims and in the middle of a training exercise Valyn spends time monologueing about how sexy Lin is. A few chapters later here is how Valyn describes Gwenna: