The Emperor's Blades (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, 1)

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Kaden hui’Malkeenian, the Scion of Light, the Long Mind of the World, Holder of the Scales, and Keeper of the Gates. Heir to the Unhewn Throne.

Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne Series - Goodreads

The first chapter takes place many thousands of years after the prologue. Kaden, the youngest son of the Annurian emperor Sanlitun hui’Malkeenian and his heir, has spent most of his life in the remote monastery of Ashk’lan, studying the ancient discipline of the Shin monks. Life is largely a matter of running, working, and meditation until the day he discovers a brutally slaughtered goat deep in the mountains. As the monks try to find the creature responsible for the killing, responsibility for Kaden’s instruction is transferred to a new monk, the scarred and inscrutable Rampuri Tan. Tan goes at Kaden’s training with an unprecedented intensity, determined to teach him the ancient art of the vaniate, the empty trace toward which all the Shin aspire. [email protected] He has a few signed, lined, and dated copies, and pretty soon will have copies in which I’ve sketched little extra maps. Right now, I hate all three main characters. But at the same time, I can’t wait to start reading sequel, for everything else, except for them. I've seen a lot of people dislike Adare in this book, but I completely understood her and where she was coming from. She has grown up in a world where she is capable and powerful, with every advantage at her disposal, yet is constantly reminded she will never be as capable or as powerful as men. I'm not justifying her actions or choices, but I am completely empathetic towards them.Pyrre remains one of the best secondary characters, things are never dull when she is around, but Triste and Kiel run her close. Triste is a bag of surprises and as likable as she was in the first book. Our story still follows the three siblings (even though we do get a flippin' amazing POV from Gwenna, and I was pretty much living for it) and their individual struggles for power, information, and to just stay alive. Valyn’s storyline was the one with the most inconsistent and convenient plot-lines. When they are discussing whether or not to kill the Urghals, before leaving the camp where they took shelter, Valyn gives some lame reasons about why they shouldn’t, even though it is pretty clear that those Urghals would chase them down and create trouble. Kettrals are taught to do what needs to be done and they don’t get carried away by emotions, and Valyn was a good Kettral in the first book, it was sad to see his character compromised for the plot. I think what Stavely does best in this book is give the supporting characters a lot of depth. They aren't just props for the heroes but fully realized characters with their own agendas and passions. Valyn's wing is just awesome (even and especially when they are fighting) and I love the Skullsworn, Pyrre, that falls in with them; her nonchalance but deadly efficiency is a nice contrast to the soldierly professionalism of the Kettral. I also thought the "advisor" that joins Kaden was fantastic and offers a fascinating perspective on events.

Brian Staveley - Wikipedia

Genre novels that do something new are released on a regular basis, and there’s no question that new things are nice. Neat in theory, at least. To wit, we should applaud the authors who attempt to put original ideas into practice. But just because something’s new doesn’t guarantee that it’s going to be great out of the gate. Innovation is initially as likely to result in the sort of dissonance that can spoil a story as it is the resonance its agents anticipate. Staveley brings together a richly imagined world and vibrant characters, and serves them up with monks and monsters, tension and treachery—an exhilarating adventure.” —Elspeth Cooper, author of Songs of the Earth This is a hard book to rate and review. In many ways The Providence of Fire was a stronger book than The Emperor's Blades. It was faster paced, full of surprise twists and turns, and just all round more exciting to read. Unfortunately all three of the main POV characters developed in directions that I disliked. Which is a pity because without a core of likable lead characters to root for this series becomes a bit like a poor man's A Song of Ice and Fire.They will not be ready to rule it,” he said, his eyes silent as the stars, “until they are willing to see it burn.” The prologue opens on a scene of slaughter. The immortal Csestriim general Tan’is is overseeing the massacre of humans. Humans, we learn, are the children of the Csestriim, but for reasons unknown, they are born different from their parents. Unlike the Csestriim, who are immortal and emotionless, these human children have a life span of less than a hundred years, and are the playthings of their own passions. This difference leads to a great war between the two races, one that nearly ends in the complete destruction of the humans before the humans are able to turn the tide and effect their own genocide of the Csestriim. Like the first book, the stories are still told from 3rd person perspective from the Emperor’s Blades, Kaden, Valyn, & Adare POV. Except this time we get one great side POV addition from Gwenna. These character developments will be a huge factor in deciding whether this book will work for you or not, I’m not joking, other than Kaden, the main characters made a huge amount of bad decisions, especially Adare. I'm thinking 3.5, rounded up. It's not that I didn't enjoy this installment, I did. I still loved the world and most of the characters, but it wasn't short on flaws.

Dune: The Sardaukar Are Scarier Than You Realize | Den of Geek Dune: The Sardaukar Are Scarier Than You Realize | Den of Geek

Rating: 4 stars. I'll rate it the same as the first book. I thought it was a far more exciting and engaging read, but it was definitely hurt by the fact that I was beginning to lose faith in all three members of the Imperial family by the end. If you think Valyn was stupid in the series up til now, prepare yourselves because we have a new champion. The direction that her character took is really frustrating to read. She’s highly self-righteous and everything she did in the book is creating bad decisions. When you think that’s the worst she can do, it’s like she knew your thoughts then said “hold my beer, I’m not done yet” and proceed to do something even worse. It’s normal for a character to make bad decisions, sometimes it’s required to add spice to the story but reading her POV reminds me too much of Liv from the Lightbringer series written by Brent Weeks which is an absolute pain to read. It’s like Brian purposely wrote Adare to frustrate most of his readers and believe me, he succeeded. I have to say that I NEED to get my hands on the next, and I believe final installment of the series ASAP!!!! I hate that I have to wait 2 whole more weeks!!! But, I also think that those 2_weeks would be good to settle down my nerves so I can be able to handle whatever this wonderful author has to throw our way! Bring it on, mister!!! As for the main characters, Kaden is really starting to show his amazing skills. Valyn gets from the frying pan into the fire and makes it out with a new version of himself. Adare was the character mostly used as a vehicle to introduce others really. She is possibly the weakest character of all. However, after the Corrino House moved to a more glorious planet on Kaitain, they transformed their former homeworld into a prison planet. Think where Sigourney Weaver winds up in Alien 3—or really just the penal colony of Australia. Anyone whom House Corrino decreed seditious or vile was sentenced to live out their remaining days in vicious conditions.The Emperor’s Blades brings nothing new to the table, no—impressive as they are, even its monsters are in the final summation fairly customary—but what this debut does with the pieces already arrayed there is play with them in a creative way. It has significant issues, most notably its bewildering way with women, but Staveley’s failure to innovate is fine given that the riff he’s written does so much more with the fantasy tropes of yore than the vast majority of first novels. Where do I even begin with the sequel to The Emperor's Blade. I don't think I have words to embody the tornado of emotions that swept through me while I read this one. I think that I should make it clear that I did enjoy the this read. I still can't say if I found to to be better than the first as I am still trying to process all that has taken place. The Emperor’s heir, Kaden, is studying with a bunch of mountain-bound monks. He’s eight years into his training when the novel begins, however his monastery is so far from the capital that he doesn’t find out about his father’s unfortunate fate till the last act. “One day Kaden would return to Annur to claim his place on the Unhewn Throne, but while he lived at Ashk’lan, he was just another monk, expected to work hard and obey,” to better his mind in various ways.

Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne (3 book series) Kindle Edition

Out of all the MC’s POV, Kaden’s have the best improvement imo. I mentioned before in my review of The Emperor’s Blades that out of the trio, Kaden had the biggest potential for great character development and it’s safe to say Brian didn’t disappoint me on this. Not only we get to see how he utilized all his skills and teachings from the Shin monks to escape from his predicament, he’s also accompanied by intriguing side characters and plot heavy with revelations. deadhedge on The Secret of the Sul’Dam: Subtle Changes to the Way the One Power Works in The Wheel of Time TV Series 4 hours agoI’m now more intrigued than ever about where this series will go. I admit the plot became more addicting when Adare, Kaden and Valyn were all unaware of the fates of the others, so each sibling had to act on their own using what information they had available. As a result, Adare, Kaden and Valyn now each have their own individual goals. None of them are all that noble or perfect when it comes to making the tough decisions; I found myself dismayed as often as I was proud of some of their choices, but that is to be expected given the circumstances. I’m actually glad that they each have their strengths and shortcomings. In truth, Sardaukar are not from the planet Salusa Secundus; or at least their ancestors weren’t. Many centuries ago, Salusa Secundus was the home of House Corrino, the royal family which has ruled the Known Universe for thousands of years under the crown of the Padishah Empire. From the brutal living conditions of Salusa Secundus, House Corrino consolidated its power as the greatest and most dangerous family in the universe.