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 . . .
Grave Empire is the first novel in an unmissable new epic fantasy series from Sunday Times bestseling author Rich Swan, packed full of action, intrigue and adventure"
Grave Empire is probably one of the fantasy genre's most anticipated winter 2025 releases and I'm here to tell you that it has absolutely lived up to its hype. Grave Empire marks the beginning of a brand new series from Richard Swan that takes place in the same world as his previous trilogy, Empire of the Wolf, but taking place about 200 years after the events of that trilogy–and I'd say things start off quite a bit darker than the previous trilogy! I don't think you need to have read the Empire of the Wolf trilogy to follow Grave Empire, but I think it could definitely be a benefit to have some familiarity with the world and its history and particulars, and of course you'll find little easter eggs here and there.
In Grave Empire, we follow Renata Rainer, a Sovan ambassador to the Stygion, a race of mermen who are still largely mysterious to those on land and with whom the Sovan have many long-standing tensions and clashes with. After following and loving Helena as the protagonist in the previous trilogy, I was delighted to follow another intelligent, resourceful woman and I quickly found myself captivated by her sharp mind and motivations. Renata is confident in her abilities, but also refreshingly self-aware of her limits and level of experience in various matters, especially with regard to her ambassadorial duties. Renata's story in Grave Empire kicks off when two heretical monks arrive in Sova claiming that they believe the "Great Silence"- an ancient prophecy that marks when contact with the plane of the afterlife is lost, which essentially heralds the end of days--has begun. The mermen may play a vital role in accessing a way to stop this catastrophe, and thus Renata is drawn into this developing crisis.
In addition to Renata, we follow two other POV characters: Peter Kleist, a lieutenant in the Sovan army dispatched to a dangerous, far-off region of the empire; and Count Lamprecht von Oldenburg, a senator who spends much of his time dabbling in arcane magic. The best part of having these additional perspectives is how distinct they are from one another, from their personalities to their experiences in the story. Peter's chapters were exceptionally nail-biting at times and felt the most classically chilling, with some rather creepy occurrences that made me consistently eager to return to his chapters. His time at Fort Ingomar is filled with eerie, unsettling occurrences—unknown screams piercing the night, gruesome events leaving soldiers on edge—and his struggle to balance his responsibilities as a new leader in this place with his own fears made him a particularly compelling character.
In contrast, von Oldenburg begins as an intriguing figure who I thought might be more of grey counter to our other characters, but he quickly morphed into something much more sinister and became a more reprehensible figure. He struck me as an example of the phrase "they were so preoccupied with whether they could, they never stopped to think if they should." He very much seems to masquerade his desire for power and wealth with a pursuit of scientific inquiry, which made both interesting and deeply unsettling.
In most multi-perspective novels, the characters either already interact or at some point their storylines eventually intersect, and the ways in which Swan lay the groundwork for this eventual happening felt masterful. Our three POV characters start out in such vastly different situations that it really made me wonder how and at what point they would come together, and by the end of the book I was in awe of how seamlessly the pieces of the puzzle were coming together.
If you've read the Empire of the Wolf trilogy, then you'll already be familiar with the intricate world-building of this world, but if you haven't then you're likely to be dazzled by how deftly it has been crafted and how much imagination is a part of it, from the basics of the world to the more mystical aspects of the world. I especially loved exploring new corners of this world, particularly through Renata’s POV, which gives us a glimpse into the mesmerizing underwater world of the Stygion, and I only hope we get to see even more of it in future books. Swan's strength continues to be his ability to not only craft incredible world-building in the regular mortal world, but also in somehow crafting layers upon layers of more world-building with other dimensions as well, such as the afterlife and through dreams. I really can't wait to hopefully learn more about the Stygion in future books.
I've always felt that Swan really manages to straddle that line of fantasy the merges into horror more and more with each book releases, and Grave Empire was really no exception. A lot of what happens in this book is quite dark and easily veers into the horrific, but this still remains wholly fantasy in overall execution. This is one that demands concentration of the reader, but it ultimately pays off as events progress and we begin to learn more and more about current events that are unfolding.
Overall, I've given Grave Empire five stars! I cannot wait to continue this new series.
*I received a copy of Grave Empire in exchange for an honest review. This has no affect on my opinions.*
