Blurb:

From critically acclaimed author Richard Swan, Grave Empire begins the epic tale of an empire on the verge of industrial revolution, where sorcery and arcane practices are outlawed – and where an ancient prophecy threatens the coming end of days.

Blood once turned the wheels of empire. Now it is money.

A new age of exploration and innovation has dawned, and the Empire of the Wolf stands to take its place as the foremost power in the known world. Glory and riches await.

But dark days are coming. A mysterious plague has broken out in the pagan kingdoms to the north, while in the south, the Empire’s proxy war in the lands of the wolfmen is weeks away from total collapse. 

Worse still is the message brought to the Empress by two heretic monks, who claim to have lost contact with the spirits of the afterlife. The monks believe this is the start of an ancient prophecy heralding the end of days—the Great Silence. 

It falls to Renata Rainer, a low-ranking ambassador to an enigmatic and vicious race of mermen, to seek answers from those who still practice the arcane arts. But with the road south beset by war and the Empire on the brink of supernatural catastrophe, soon there may not be a world left to save... 

Review:

We left Sova earlier this year and we're back already, except it's been 200 years. A lot has changed but once again the mortal world is in trouble...so maybe not too much has changed there. Poor Sova, can't catch a break. What also hasn't changed is Richard's stellar ability to create an immersive world populated by characters you love and hate, that you cheer for and that give you the heebiest of jeebies, all while you navigate politics, religion, and an increasingly industrialised world. 

And for those of us who loved Empire of the Wolf, we get little nods throughout to Helena  and Von Valt. 

Now, if this is your first dip into Richard's work, don't worry. You aren't missing anything in the story by not having read the Empire of the Wolf trilogy. You're obviously missing things emotionally and spiritually but that's on you to fix and you can start from Grave Empire. But for returning fans of Sova, you'll glimpse some mentions of fires, rogue armies, Zuberi etc. I definitely had a more toned down version of Buddy the Elf screaming for Santa when I read these, but a more hyped response than Captain America when he understood that reference. 

Once again, our story centres on a young woman, Renata Rainer, who is woefully unprepared for everything she's about to face and faces it with a lot more skill and competency than anyone, herself included, expects. She conducts diplomatic negotiations and high tension discussions with basically a jellyfish on her head! (It makes sense in the context, trust me.) And she's surrounded by literal sharks! I panic if seaweed touches my leg when I'm in the sea. Admittedly, she does what many characters do in a horror film, which is ignore the signs and go into the damn place where everyone is dead but it’s fine. She’s under a lot of stress.I can already see Renata's going to be right up there with Helena from Empire of the Wolf in terms of focal characters I would die for (not to be dramatic or anything). 

We see a lot more than just Renata's experience with this nightmare situation through Peter. The book actually opens with Peter writing a letter and that's how we really see the changes across Sova. I loved this. It was so perfectly done, telling us without beating us over the head with it and it was so natural for how to introduce the dramatic world changes. Peter also has some of the most genuinely terrifying experiences...actually they all have their own terrifying moments. 

Like how does a book do a jump scare but also one that isn't cheap? Richard finds a way. And it was great. And my heart was racing and I thought I was going to die. One of those moments comes from our third and final focal character, Von Oldenburg. I won't say too much about him because you need to experience that with as little info as possible. Unless you have asthma and are prone to gasping, in which case please keep an inhaler close by for Von Oldenburg's chapters. 

When I finished Empire of the Wolf, I said "I sincerely hope we see so much more of Swan's work in future and maybe one day come back to the Republic of the Wolf. Pretty please? I want to know what happened decades and centuries later after Vonvalt's controversial choices." And I could sum up this whole review as: I have never been so excited to return to a world where the characters I loved are dead and we're onto new problems. Grave Empire knocked my socks off and I will prepare new socks for everything else that's to come.

Grave Empire (The Great Silence) is available from 4 February 2025