James Tivendale's Reviews > The Court of Broken Knives

4.5-stars

"Not sure I really feel like fucking someone who's part god and part suicidal drunk, you know"

I received an advanced copy of The Court of Broken Knives via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank Anna Smith Spark and Harper Voyager.

2017 has been a stunning year for adult fantasy debuts and the trend absolutely continues with The Court of Broken Knives (book one of Empires of Dust) which will surely become a grimdark classic. The beginning sees readers following a crew of mercenaries as they approach Sorlost, the empire's richest and arguably, most important City to complete a mission that could change the world.

I loved the manner in which the writing is surprisingly poetic throughout the tale, aiding to create beautiful prose. The novel includes grimdark fans favourite elements such as betrayal, battles, brutal deaths, characters who are bastards that I loved to hate, Gods with strange motives, and dragons! If anything, many of the gory scenes hit harder because of how stunningly pretty some of the writing is. The narrative sometimes has as infectious, trance-like flow that I thought was excellent. In addition, occasionally the action is so fast and intense that my eyes weren't able to keep up with the reading pace that my brain wished to employ which left me feeling utterly breathless.

To begin with, this story reminded me of C.F. Iggulden's Darien with the political unrest and potential overthrowing of an Emperor and like Iggulden's story, I thought The Court Of Broken Knives would all take place in one impressive and giant City. I was incorrect. We explore what I imagine is a vast and diverse amount of this world, seeing different races, mythological creatures and expansive settings. The history and religions seem expertly created. The map presented within the book looks gorgeous too (although I couldn't zoom in on my advanced e-version.) Great cartography by the artist and a well-crafted world by Anna.

There are four main characters that readers follow, and I won't say too much about them as they are the main drawing point for grimdark classics, but they don't disappoint. The four major individuals are a mercenary captain, a new recruit, a priestess and a politician. I really liked three out of the four characters. Although they all have merits, I didn't like reading about one of them as much. They are all presented in the third person perspective sometimes switching between multiple characters views smoothly in the same chapter. A few, what seem like short interludes, have one of these four characters occasionally speaking in the first person. Slightly confusing but I have faith that this is a device that has been utilised for a reason. We are also presented a few mysterious interludes featuring a dark-haired boy and a light-haired boy and these were really engaging.

Like some epic fantasy, the peculiar names given to characters and places can be confusing so I hope the finished book includes a dramatis personae. It wasn't much of an issue but is worth pointing out that and in addition, if you don't read the book for a few days you might find yourself slightly lost and have to re-skim previous chapters. These aren't really negatives and if anything they are familiar issues with the highest calibre fantasy releases. The more effort you put in the greater the affinity with the ensemble and their final outcomes. The ending of this book is fantastic and if I am reading it right, a potential action could go one of two very diverse ways. Whatever the outcome is, I will 100% own book #2 as soon as I can. Anna and this world have so much to offer. Although the story is self-contained it leaves more questions, intrigue and loose threads than the majority of debut books this length. I guess that just means I will think about it more which can't be a bad thing.

This book truly is grimdark of the highest order with one of the most complex, beautiful and destructive characters ever written. Queen of Grimdark is a pseudonym well earned. If you mixed beauty, darkness, complexity, death and poetry then you would have something that is a lot like Smith Spark's debut.