Grave Empire by Richard S Swan – ARC Review – 4/5

In the Great Silence, No one can hear you scream……..

Richard S Swan’s Grave Empire is a juicy, delicious, creepy horror done wonderfully right in this trilogy starter set in the same world as the author’s Empire of the Wolf Trilogy – a few centuries moved. I am thankful to Netgalley and Little Brown Group, UK for for sending me a review copy. 

“Blood once turned the wheels of empire, now it is money”

There is just something about horror in books that Richard Swan nails in this book through myriad ways. Through the eyes of Peter, a naïve young captain, we see the horror of the unknown at the edge of Sovan civilisation. Peter is immediately thrust into an atmosphere of extreme dread and conflict. While the conflict seems mortal in nature between 2 warring neighbouring countries, the dread that Peter and the inhabitants of the fort experience is decidedly not mortal and intensely morbid. The epistolary capture of Peter’s dread makes for a compelling read and infuses an immense sense of tension in the first half of the book. The die is further cast when Peter has to lead a mission into the wild and Peter’s journey is harrowing and horrifying. This is the creeping monster horror that drives the narrative for Peter

“We can threaten to shoot our enemies, but it is much cheaper to pay them”

A bored deputy ambassador, Renata provides the second PoV to the happenings of the empire and the nature of the conflict she is tasked to find out about. Sent on a mission by the Empress, Renata along with the ambassador have to approach the mysterious mermen to figure out the nature of magic. The horror that unfolds in this case is related to the greater machinations of the empire and the cost of wilful ignorance. Renata’s journey from academic ambassadorship to the harsh ground reality of practicing it puts her quite through the wringer as she comes face to face with the nature of the horror of the afterlife. The impending horror of the unknown on a large scale is what propels this narrative 

“Indeed, in and amongst his frantic excitement, he did not think to ask why”

However, no monster or otherworldly horror can compete with the horror emanating from the minds of men. Von Oldenburg, a dabbler of the forbidden arcane, hears about all these horrors and only sees an opportunity to make money and amass power. He tries to harness these abominations into an entirely different kind of horror. Oldernburg’s standing as a senator and a count allows him to abuse his power willy-nilly even as he gets increasingly desperate in search of forbidden knowledge. This brand of horror makes for compelling yet uncomfortable reading as Oldenburg gets increasingly depraved in his quest 

“Most of these old castles were either ruins or had been transformed into stately homes; Zetland, however, bucked the trends in that it was both a ruin and a home.”

Richard Swan packages these three PoVs and their respective horrors very effectively in what is a tremendously written book. Set in the same world as his previous trilogy, a few centuries removGred, he presents a link to that previous world also – thereby rewarding long-term readers. While the writing is pretty strong, I wouldn’t say the same for the pacing of the book. The book starts more strongly than the way it ends and this was an issue I had with the previous series as well. There is a reason for that in my opinion – the blurb of the book calls our Renata to be the main character that we follow. But in reality, her journey wasn’t particularly as noteworthy as Peter’s and Oldenburg’s. While Renata’s journey is what we are likely to follow in the upcoming books, it felt a bit like the character did not have as much agency in general. Maybe Renata’s is a slow-burning arc that gets a massive push in the upcoming books – I hope that happens even as I await the next turn of this series

Grave Empire is an intriguing start to a new series set in the same world as Richard Swan’s earlier trilogy. While Empire of the Wolf hinged on law and justice as the pivot to the world, this one is commerce and industry-focused (almost akin to what Abercrombie did with his Age of Madness Trilogy). Swan’s focus on the foreboding horror makes this a rather atmospheric read while the variety of the horror on show makes this an interesting read. While the horror is nothing overt, you can feel the build-up all the way and as things end, it seems all rather bleak for the world. A fascinating, slow burn of a read that chills you in many ways.

Grave Empire is available now – you can order your copy HERE