The Emperor's Blades

November 4, 2013
Debut novelist Staveley introduces a trio of royal offspring separated by distance, training, and the conspiracy that killed their father in this quick-paced, multithreaded fantasy. Kaden, the murdered emperor’s heir, struggles to master the monastic mental discipline that will allow him to control ancient teleportation gates. Valyn, learning to command a bird-borne military unit, must pass initiation and fly to Kaden’s rescue. Adare, their sister, remains in the capital as the head minister of finance and leads the trial against the accused killer. All three find unexpected allies and painful betrayals as a threat long thought dead comes to light. Staveley puts his protagonists to the test and is wise enough to allow them shortcomings even as they develop extraordinary abilities. While the background material and the system of magic are complicated, enough details are leaked to help the reader cope.

January 15, 2014
A political coup and an ancient menace threaten the stability of a vast empire in the first volume of a new series. The emperor of Annur has been assassinated, and his children may be next. The eldest, Adare, chief finance minister, can't rule, since women don't sit on the Unhewn Throne. However, as the only sibling in the Dawn Palace, she takes it upon herself to seek justice for her father, if only she can discover a way to prove his alleged murderer's guilt. Her brother Kaden does not yet know that he is emperor, as he has spent the last several years at an isolated monastery, learning mental disciplines whose utility will soon become apparent. The youngest, Valyn, is eager to rush to his brother's aid, but he must complete his training in an elite military corps first--and root out the threat against his own life. Although the general outline of the story may seem familiar to experienced epic fantasy readers, the worldbuilding is solid, appealing and fairly assured for a debut. The rituals of the Kettral (the fantasy equivalent of Navy SEALs), who use giant predatory birds to travel to their missions, worship at an oak tree covered in blood-sucking bats and whose graduation exam involves seeking the eggs of vicious, sightless lizards within their underground lair, are particularly well-imagined. And if the momentum is a bit slow to build, it seems likely that Staveley is merely putting his pieces in place for what will no doubt be an intriguingly complex and bloody game. Worth sticking around to see what comes next.

COPYRIGHT(2014) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from November 15, 2013

When the emperor of Annur is assassinated, his three children do what they must to survive as well as to track down their father's killer. The eldest son and heir to the Unhewn Throne, Kaden, has lived for eight years in a monastery undergoing rigorous training and discipline to hone all his skills. His younger brother, Valyn, trains with the warriors and assassins who ride the gigantic hawks of the Kettral. Their sister Adair, elevated to the position of Minister of Finance in one of her father's final acts, remains at court, surrounded by intrigue. As the three siblings face their individual challenges, they also gain abilities that may help them find justice and avenge their father's death. VERDICT In this epic fantasy debut, Staveley has created a complex and richly detailed world filled with elite soldier-assassins, mystic warrior monks, serpentine politics, and ancient secrets. Readers of Sara Douglass's Wayfarer novels and George R.R. Martin's "Song of Ice and Fire" series should enjoy this opener.

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.