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Brian Staveley

Goodreads Author

Website

http://brianstaveley.com/index/

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brianstaveley

Genre

Fantasy, Science Fiction

Member Since

December 2011

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I live on a long dirt road in rural Vermont where I divide my time between mountain biking with my son, trying to play piano music that is far too difficult for me, running trails, doing laundry, splitting wood, thinking I really ought to wash the kitchen floor and then not, cursing at the pie crust for sticking to the surface, drinking beers with friends out by the firepit, and sometimes trying to write books.

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Can I be bold and ask some more questions? What influences from history (if any) did you draw upon when writing The Emperor's Blades? Do you undertake much research when preparing to write?

Brian Staveley Fire away.

I taught ancient world history as well as comparative religion for a bunch of years, and the influences from real-world history are legion.…moreFire away.

I taught ancient world history as well as comparative religion for a bunch of years, and the influences from real-world history are legion. Just to pick a few:
The Shin monks pull from Buddhism, Taoism, and Shinto, (though, of course, their religions is very different from any of the above).
The Annurian Empire, in terms of population, level of technology, extent of trade, etc, is similar to Tang era China. It is NOT Tang China, there are hundreds of differences, but that provided a jumping-off point.
The Kettral were my attempt to make a fantasy version of modern special forces, something I hadn't really seen done before.
The conflict between the Church of Intarra and the Unhewn Throne has myriad historical precedents all over the world.

As far as research goes, most of the initial inspiration came from the work I was doing to prepare my classes. I have, however, read plenty of books and articles while I was writing my own books to fill in some blanks and to glean more inspiration...(less)

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How would you respond to criticism of gender roles within the Emperors Blades? Specifically that the men get to go off and do their training montages, becoming future heros. And Adare stays at home, minding the store, waiting to get married. (Despite maneuvering through a sticky political situation in less 'screen time')

Brian Staveley Thanks for the question. I think it's a valid criticism of the first book, taken on its own. I'm optimistic, however, that anyone who continues with t…moreThanks for the question. I think it's a valid criticism of the first book, taken on its own. I'm optimistic, however, that anyone who continues with the story will find women -- all sorts of women -- doing a lot more than minding the store. There's a reason that Adare figures front and center on both the US and UK covers of The Providence of Fire. Wish I could say more, but almost everything is a spoiler!(less)

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Combine Editions
Brian Staveley’s books

Average rating: 4.09 · 96,310 ratings · 7,014 reviews · 24 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Emperor's Blades (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, #1) 4.09 avg rating — 41,588 ratings — published 2014 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Providence of Fire (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, #2) 4.11 avg rating — 24,389 ratings — published 2015 — 41 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Last Mortal Bond (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, #3) 4.05 avg rating — 17,919 ratings — published 2016 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Skullsworn (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, #4) 4.09 avg rating — 5,433 ratings — published 2017 — 21 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Empire's Ruin (Ashes of the Unhewn Throne, #1) 4.43 avg rating — 3,018 ratings — published 2021 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Last Abbot of Ashk’lan (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, #1.5) 3.93 avg rating — 857 ratings — published 2015	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Emperor's Blades: Chapters 1-7 3.94 avg rating — 370 ratings — published 2013	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Log Goblin 3.51 avg rating — 373 ratings — published 2015	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne #1-3) 4.25 avg rating — 212 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Empire's Ruin Sneak Peek 3.89 avg rating — 9 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Brian Staveley's Blog

The Empire's Ruin

Happy New Year, folks!

A quick note to let you know that I just handed in (this morning) the author-reviewed copyedited manuscript of THE EMPIRE'S RUIN. It's big, my longest book yet, weighing in at 301,000 words.

This one's the start of a new trilogy. You might recognize a certain red-haired Kettral demolitions expert on the cover. She's one of three POV characters. There's also a whole new contin Read more of this blog post »

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Published on January 04, 2021 09:27 • Tags: epic, fantasy, sff

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Series by Brian Staveley

Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne (4 books)
by

Brian Staveley (Goodreads Author)

4.10 avg rating — 93,416 ratings

Ashes of the Unhewn Throne (1 book)
by

Brian Staveley (Goodreads Author)

4.43 avg rating — 3,018 ratings

If you love the fantasy genre, this is the season for you! Some of the biggest books out this fall promise to be epics full of magic, adventure,...

Polls

June FANTASY: This first round poll decides which two books will go on to the second round for our June 2014 Fantasy Book-of-the-Month.

Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson

22 votes, 21.6%

Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

14 votes, 13.7%

Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett

14 votes, 13.7%

The Eternal Champion by Michael Moorcock

13 votes, 12.7%

Blood Song by Anthony Ryan

12 votes, 11.8%

The Emperor's Blades by Brian Staveley

9 votes, 8.8%

Except the Queen by Jane Yolen, Midori Snyder

6 votes, 5.9%

The House of the Stag by Kage Baker

5 votes, 4.9%

Servant of the Underworld by Aliette de Bodard

4 votes, 3.9%

Stray Souls by Kate Griffin

2 votes, 2.0%

Memory's Wake by Selina Fenech

1 vote, 1.0%

102 total votes

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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Beyond Reality: Nominations for June 2014!	40	139	Mar 26, 2014 11:21AM
Fantasy Book Club: The Emperor's Blades * Roll Call / Initial Impressions	34	141	May 30, 2014 10:50PM
Flights of Fantasy: 13 Reasons 2014 May Be The Best Year For Fantasy In The 21st Century	48	151	Jun 03, 2014 01:34PM
/r/Fantasy Discus...: February 2014: Vote on February 2014 Book of the Month	40	247	Jul 21, 2014 07:41AM
All About Fantasy!: Books to be released 2014	26	35	Jul 30, 2014 05:31PM
What's the Name o...: Fantasy, Use a type of bird to fly missions /s	5	35	Oct 02, 2014 12:01PM
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Brian’s Friend Comments

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message 2: by Brian

Nov 01, 2013 07:02AM

S.M. wrote: "Can't wait to get my hands on an e-copy of this book..."

Tor has been doing some giveaways of the ARCs. I'll try to let you know the next time one comes up. There have also been a couple up on Ebay, but they've ended up being pretty pricey... Glad that you're interested!

Best,
Brian

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message 1: by S.M.

Nov 01, 2013 06:42AM

Can't wait to get my hands on an e-copy of this book...