The emperor of Annur is dead, slain by enemies unknown. His daughter and two sons, scattered across the world, do what they must to stay alive and unmask the assassins. But each of them also has a life-path on which their father set them, destinies entangled with both ancient enemies and inscrutable gods. Kaden, the heir to the Unhewn Throne, has spent eight years sequestered in a remote mountain monastery, learning the enigmatic discipline of monks devoted to the Blank God. Their rituals hold the key to an ancient power ...
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The emperor of Annur is dead, slain by enemies unknown. His daughter and two sons, scattered across the world, do what they must to stay alive and unmask the assassins. But each of them also has a life-path on which their father set them, destinies entangled with both ancient enemies and inscrutable gods. Kaden, the heir to the Unhewn Throne, has spent eight years sequestered in a remote mountain monastery, learning the enigmatic discipline of monks devoted to the Blank God. Their rituals hold the key to an ancient power he must master before it's too late. An ocean away, Valyn endures the brutal training of the Kettral, elite soldiers who fly into battle on gigantic black hawks. But before he can set out to save Kaden, Valyn must survive one horrific final test. At the heart of the empire, Minister Adare, elevated to her station by one of the emperor's final acts, is determined to prove herself to her people. But Adare also believes she knows who murdered her father, and she will stop at nothing - and risk everything - to see that justice is meted out.
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Add this copy of The Emperor's Blades (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, 1 to cart. $70.57, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2014 by Brilliance Audio.
Very entertaining yet predictable fantasy, although I have to admit, I didn't see Adare's twist coming. Anyway, I came here from Skullsworn, and I have to say, the strongest asset with the Unhewn Throne is the very interesting world-building. The Emperor's Blades, however was great, but imo not as solid as Skullsworn. The novel is still adventurous, sad at times, and soooooo quotably eloquent. It kept me at attention for the majority of it, despite the predictability of some of the plot. The characters were very solid, albeit dumb at times. I knew that Skullsworn was a prequel diving into Pyrre's story more, but I do absolutely love how involved Pyrre Lakatur is towards the end of this book. She is one of my favorite fantasy characters at this point, and getting to read about her during the events of this book made me so happy. It was especially fun, having known the events of the prequel before taking a crack at this book.
I had mostly two big objections beside the predictability. Adare felt mostly absent throughout the book in comparison to the role her brothers played, her part mostly being a smidge of political intrigue and a good twist added into the plot. Secondly, Valyn is perhaps the dumbest character ever for being one of the supposedly best trained soldiers/assassins of the empire, but whatever, his story is still quite entertaining and hopefully he redeems himself throughout the series. Overall though, really good fantasy epic and a definite favorite.
