The Empire's Ruin by Brian Staveley

 Brian Staveley's new trilogy - based on the Annurian Empire ( From his Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne ) released this week in the US and is slated to release in Aug 1st week in the UK. It was always going to be a tough act to measure up to - especially given how realistically the different threads of that first mind-blowing trilogy came to a satisfying end and then how Brian hits one out of the park, with a back story to Pyrre (Skull-Sworn) , one of the most enigmatic characters to surface in the Unhewn Thrones trilogy. 

Brian Staveley is my go-to-author when it comes to delightfully grim-dark fantasy stories bursting with fresh ideas, intricate and effortlessly smooth world-building - headlined by foul-mouthed, fallible characters who are real, flawed and intense, fighting to stay alive, not just against backstabbing treacherous enemies but also hitherto unimagined hell-spawned monsters.  Not to forget the white-knuckle, crazy-ass action sequences and the thought-provoking 'zen-talk' focused on self-discovery. All of this keeps it dialed way beyond 'just interesting' for me and I am always amazed at the impossible end-product - the hefty fantasy-tomes with layers and layers of fascinating stories that you can get lost in, and stay happily lost forever. 

The latest series opener, The Empire's Ruin (Book One, Ashes of the Unhewn Throne) is a masterclass testimony of all this. If I thought he had topped his talent with the Skull Sworn, Brian proves you wrong and plants a starshatter deep inside your bone-marrow to blow any doubts to smithereens, with this new book. It's fucking maniacal. One of the most fantastic and intense rides I been on, for a while. 

The Annurian empire has been cracking for a while and the fissures are spreading. The story follows three different POV's as the death-knell of this great empire is sounding and how their individual storylines are traced in this grim background of an empire's ruin. First is the indefatigable duty-sworn Kettral soldier Gwenna Sharpe ( Whom we last saw in the Last Mortal Bond, friend and companion to Commander Valyn) - an always angry red-haired soldier, with a bias-for-action and violence. Her latest mission goes tits-up and lands her in a spot of bother - especially, since she has just lost the last of the Kettrals ( Yeah, those same giant flying birds with deadly sharp talons used by the Annurian Military as tactical  advantage for any bleak situations that needs salvaging!) in a fubar-ed mission to this district called Dombang (Yes, the same delta-surrounded marshy dirty place where most of the action of the Skull Sworn happens!) She's given this new mission to "recruit" new Kettrals, from way beyond the Empire - from these unexplored lands south of the world. Where stories abide,  that madness, sickness and demons called "Gabhya" are more numerous than living men or women. 

The second POV is that of this priest of the Goddess of Love, named Ruc Lantur - within the district of Dombang, itself one of the most dangerous places on this earth, where murder is a daily occurrence that nobody bats an eyelid at. Surrounded by marshy swamps full of colorful spiders, venomous snakes and ever-hungry crocs, this is place that has just come through a revolution against the empire. Hatred for Annurians run high and any excuse, a misplaced act of kindness or love, even the wrong kind of pale skin-color is harshly punished by wanton violence. Ruc, however is not a stranger to the worship of such violence. With his own history - having been brought up by the "delta" people and his strange legacy owed to the Three, the ancient Gods who are revered and prayed to by the residents. The third POV is that of Akiil ( You might recognize him from the first trilogy) - a shin monk turned con-artist, who is in the capital to try now his hand, at exhorting something from the Emperor herself. The setting is the capital itself, including certain scenes inside the Dawn Palace from the earlier trilogy. 

Brian redefines EPIC with this new monster of a book. Weighing in just under 800 pages, this is a masterfully crafted page-turner that despite its sheer size, makes for an immersive reading. The plotting and story-telling is sheer genius as we are sucked in, deeper and deeper into the story without realizing that Brian has expanded his world, taking us to the unexplored 'Quarter' inside of the Annurian Empire capital, shows us newer haunts within the nasty treacherous violence-strewn districts of Dombang and of course, expands the borders of the known world into the unknown - this whole new landscape called Menkiddoc where madness, sickness and terrifying monsters hold sway. The settings are atmospheric and lend the story its dangerous feel, hiking up that uncertainty, fear and anxiety you feel for the characters. Indeed, because no one is safe. even from themselves.

Among all characters, there is no doubt that Gwenna is probably the labor of love. Painfully crafted, emotion by emotion, put through the wringer, emotionally, mentally and physically, Gwenna's chapters are about pain, redemption and rediscovery. It takes a toll on the reader as well as we go through this rollercoaster as we follow her halfway across the world, see her broken spirits, her crippling self-doubts, that ember of rage within her that never quite is extinguished. There are multiple characters we encounter along with Gwenna, who help expand the overall narrative arc. Kiel the mysterious imperial historian, Admiral Jonon, the man in charge of this new mission, Bhuma Dhar, a foreign captain whose musings on life, duty and the courage of the mind were absolutely legendary and the spitfire wild-cat of a child, Rat. It was with a lot of joy and pride that I re-joined Gewnna, an absolutely awe-inspiring epitome of sheer grit and courage on this new mission. The amount of pain that Gwenna goes through in this book, is not funny. Gwenna Sharpe, take a bow and don't you fuckin' quit. 

Ruc, the priest to the Goddess of Love Eira, is another man going through that titanic struggle inside his own mind. About how much he wants to surrender to the call of the 'love' - or give in to the base nature of his own brutal and ruthless upbringing, a cruel childhood spent inside the delta, where the blood and claw and violence reigned supreme. His bond with the priestess Bien was a tender love story, a thing to be treasured and cherished, as Brian totally tugs at our heart-strings taking us deeper into their complex relationship, a bond between two lost souls. The comradeship, the camaraderie born on the battlefield and the training fields of the 'Arena', as both of them forge new friendships while training to be gladiators, these lend his blood-soaked chapters a sort of reprieve from the gloom and doom that pervades them. Akiil possibly was the weakest of all three characters. While I enjoyed the con-man's 'shin-monk' teachings, ruminations and his attempted heists, compared to the other two POV's, the intensity was lesser. We are re-introduced to one of the main POV's from the first trilogy but this is wholly Akiil's adventure as he flirts with danger and comes up empire-shattering discoveries. 

Surging with adrenaline-fueled action set-pieces ( including a terrifically choreographed ship-battle at the sea!) and white-knuckle fights against a bunch of horrific creatures misshapen and mangled by rotten magic gone astray mixed up with the blood, screams, sweat and dust of the gladiatorial fights and the thrill of the secretive heists gone wrong - Empire's Ruins has enough to keep the action-gluttons happy. And yet, it is in those brief lulls between the never-ending nerve-wracking action thrills, that Brian really drives it home for the reader. Through the tumultuous thoughts and exploration of the self, of the countless internal monologues of Gwenna, Ruc or Akiil, we get much closer to seeing their souls bared, naked and broken. A reveal of the flawed, vulnerable and piteous humans trying to survive in this brutal cruel world where Gods and ancient races have thrown the dice a long time back, committing to war and destruction and they can only watch as the fingers of ruin speed through the fabric of this crumbling empire. 

Staggering, sweeping imagination turned to an unrelenting, brutal epic narrative, The Empire's Ruin is a veritable masterclass on fantasy genre writing. I loved every single page of this big book, glued and hooked in by the unpredictable twists and turns, fraught with razor-sharp tension and imminent danger at every corner. This is undoubtedly the best book I have read this year ( despite the fact that it is only half the year gone by!) and all the fans of Brian's previous novels or in general, who love their fantasy expansive and thought-provoking should get their hands on this new series. He has outclassed himself. Highly highly recommended read.