Book Review: Seven Deaths of an Empire

The Emperor is dead. Long live the Empire.

General Bordan has a lifetime of duty and sacrifice behind him in the service of the Empire. But with rebellion brewing in the countryside, and assassins, thieves and politicians vying for power in the city, it is all Bordan can do to protect the heir to the throne.

Apprentice Magician Kyron is assigned to the late Emperor’s honour guard escorting his body on the long road back to the capital. Mistrusted and feared by his own people, even a magician’s power may fail when enemies emerge from the forests, for whoever is in control of the Emperor’s body, controls the succession.

Seven lives and seven deaths to seal the fate of the Empire

-Goodreads

Book Information

• Title: Seven Deaths of an Empire
• Series: Standalone (Currently)
• Author: G.R. Matthews
• Page Count: 550
• Genre: Fantasy
• Rating: 4.25/5.0
• Date Read: September 9th, 2024

Opening Thoughts

Our buddy read group’s selection for the month of September was Seven Deaths of a Kingdom by G.R. Matthews. This book and author were new to me and I hadn’t heard much about either coming into this read. With that being said, I did end up enjoying this one when all was said and done.

Pacing

The pacing worked fairly well for me. I opted for the audiobook version which was narrated by Wayne Forester who was also new to me. This was a reread for one member of our group and he thought Wayne did a good job and that we would probably enjoy his presentation and I personally did. As most often happens with narrators who I experience for the first time, it did take me a bit to settle into his storytelling but not as long as some other narrators in the past. Wayne did a really good job in giving different characters different voices and injecting a good amount of emotion when needed.

The story pacing itself seemed to follow what I’d consider a more traditional epic fantasy path. This means it took a bit in the first half laying the foundation of the world and characters. As the read progressed I really got into the story though and the second half really connected with me.

World Building

The world building was also nicely done as it had a good mix of aspects that I enjoy seeing in stories. These include a world rich in history, culture, view points and plenty of betrayal and intrigue. Even though this might need a category itself, I’ll include it in my world building. I love a good story that catches me off guard (yet still makes sense) on it’s revealing moments for characters and the reader.

I’ve also come to really enjoy stories that include a conflict or struggle between religion and magic and Seven Deaths of an Empire has a heaping helping of this. I’ll touch on this a bit more in a moment as I dive into the character development portion of this review.

Character Development

The character development was very strong in this story. One of the initial takeaways for me was how obnoxious young royalty can be in stories. I thought we were going to have a bit of a reprieve from one in this book then there is always someone else ready to fill that void for us again. Aside from that, there are some great character arcs to be found in this one. Once again I’ll mention the relationship between magic users and the religious order. It makes for some very interesting struggles and plot twists. I also loved many of the character history reveals. This is the type of book I could see myself rereading and picking seeing things completely different early on knowing what to watch for the second time through.

I struggled with some of the younger characters early on as I often do but this goes back to the epic fantasy feel of Seven Deaths of an Empire. There are some good coming of age moments in this book and I’m glad I stuck with it to see what comes of these younger characters.

Roundup & Recommendation

Our group had the luxury of having a couple of new friends join us for this one, including the author. This can often times be a blessing and a curse depending on expectations from the readers and the author. I’ve had some wonderful and unpleasant interactions in these scenarios. I thought this one went well in my opinion. There was a bit of dialog during the read but not much. I really appreciated the additional information and plans that were shared with us. I will simply say that I hope this book is just the beginning and we see more in this world and series in the near future!

I’ll wrap this one up with a note regarding recommendation. If you like a gritty fantasy with plenty of depth to the world and characters this might be right for you. I certainly think the slower escalation that has that epic fantasy vibe works with this one. However, I know not all readers have the patience for the story to have the foundation laid like this and prefer to dive right into the action. Just keep that in mind when looking to add this one to your TBR.

I’ve already got my hands on some more work from G.R. Matthews and hoping to get into them over the next couple of months still. I’ll be keeping my eye out to see what else he is up to.

Scoring

World Building 4.25/5
Pacing 4/5
Character Development 4.5/5