The Emperor’s Blades (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne) by Brian Staveley

The world-building is great, the plot is good, I love the character in this book so much, and the ships aren’t that bad. The story is also diverse, something we all look for in books these days.

I never knew this book existed till a booktuber recommended it, I thought it’d be just an average read, but I was so wrong. This book surpassed all my expectations. The beginning was kind of slow for me, so I put it on pause for a month. When I picked it up this month, things changed for the better around 100 pages, and damn I could barely put it down afterward.

The world-building is great, the plot is good, I love the characters in this book so much, and the ships aren’t that bad. The story is also diverse, something we all look for in books these days.

Obedience is a knife that cuts the cord of bondage.
Silence is a hammer that shatters the walls of speech.
Stillness is strength; pain a soft bed.
Put down your basin; emptiness is the only vessel.

Worldbuilding and Writing

The world-building is explicit. It wasn’t perfect, but it portrayed the world very well. With this being a debut novel, I congratulate the author for such an amazing job. I can’t wait for the improvement in the next book. The book is written in the third person with multiple POVs of the MCs. It’s comprehensible, but it’s not a fast read.

“We’ll be quick,” he said, trying to reassure himself as much as his friend.
“That’s what I told myself right before I cut that purse. The one that earned me this,” Akiil replied, gesturing to his brand. “I don’t suppose there’s any way you can dim those eyes of yours. It’s nice that a goddess fucked your great-great-grandad, but they’re a little obvious.”
“Maybe they’ll scare away whatever needs scaring.

Characters

I really love the characters in this book, and I love all the Emperor’s children- Adare, Valyn, and Kaden. My favorite is Valyn.

I like how they all look out for each other and, despite the years apart, they still care about each other. The secondary characters are also fun- Ha Lin, Talal, Annick, Gwenna, Laith, Gent, Akill, and Pater. I love all the banters in this book.

“What if we just strangled him with the whip and called it a day?” Valyn asked, forcing his weight against the collar, driving with his legs until the whole wagon creaked reluctantly into motion. The whip came down again, this time nicking Gwenna’s cheek.
“Strangling’s not my style,” she replied. She was a head shorter than Valyn, but she was strong, and with the two of them hauling the cart, it slowly gained speed, jolting over the rocky ground.
“How ’bout a flickwick in his bed?” Valyn gasped, heaving air into his ragged lungs as he strained against the traces.
“Too quick. Plus, a slob like him—we’d be scraping gobbets of fat off the ceiling.”
Valyn grinned in spite of the pain. “What if we toss him out of the cart and drag the thing over him?”
“I’ll follow your lead, oh my prince,” Gwenna replied before another crack of the whip silenced both of them.

Plot

The Emperor got murdered, and both sons were away. Kaden, the heir, is at a monastery learning among the monks. Valyn, the other son, is learning among the kettral, the empire’s elite force, and his final trial is a month away when he gets the news.

Only Adare, the daughter, was around when the father got murdered. She tried to find out the person behind the murder but realized that the conspiracy was bigger than she anticipated. They killed the Emperor, but they also wanted to get rid of everyone in the family that would lay claim to the throne.