The Justice of Kings (Empire of the Wolf #1) [December 3, 2023]

[Yanique, Thread Master]

This is a Buddy Read for The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan starting on December 3, 2023.


Happy Reading

[Chris]

in

[Solseit]

I am penciling this buddy read in for December (and the rest of the months!). I have resisted the urge to read this book - hard to do with all the hype around it! - and I find this the best opportunity to read it!

[Dominique]

L'm in.

[Nirkatze]

Got my copy. ^^

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

in

[C.S. Daley]

So this will be my first buddy read. Not quite sure how I participate.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

C.S. Daley wrote: "So this will be my first buddy read. Not quite sure how I participate."

Start reading around the start date... which other participants will, too...

Mention things you like, discuss theories, post comments, etc... (Hide spoilers inside spoiler tags)...

Respond to other people's comments when they hit similar points, or you reach a point they commented on previously...

Etc...

Then end :)

[Ann-Marie]

C.S. Daley wrote: "So this will be my first buddy read. Not quite sure how I participate."

You can either post updates as you go through the book or just one when finished but be sure to put anything spoilery behind spoiler tags. If you do the "as you go" updates just indicate how far you are, like what chapter or percentage you are up to so folks don't see something too soon.

[C.S. Daley]

Do I post them here or on the books page.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Here... not as status updates or any of those things you can do through Currently Reading...

[Nirkatze]

C.S. Daley wrote: "Do I post them here or on the books page."

Like this! (btw, this is fake, I won't start 'til next week)

Just started! Through Chapter 1--really enjoying it--(view spoiler)[the time when the dude did the thing--that was so cool! Fuzzy ninja squirrels, right? I want one to befriend me too. (hide spoiler)]

And you get the spoiler tag by typing
< spoiler >stuff< / spoiler >
Just with all the spaces removed, makes: (view spoiler)[stuff (hide spoiler)]

[Solseit]

I just started the book and it is quite interesting. I read the first two chapters so far:
(view spoiler)[ The choice of heavy Germanic languages is interesting to me, suggesting to me that the world is less flexible; and this is almost true however on paper. Konrad already demonstrated a soft heart. (hide spoiler)].

I am getting onto the juicy stuff!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Should be here soon...

[Nirkatze]

I'll be along late here--going to eye read so will be slow, and have a few in line before this. Aiming for next week.

[Rob]

I'm going to be late if I keep up with de Castell, but maybe I'll move over here since everyone on Saint's Blood seems to be here lol.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I'm everywhere at all times, I am omniscient... I am legion ;)

Anyway, this is probably 4th on my reading list right now, but most of the ones in between are expected to go quick... so should be here by Wednesday...

[C.S. Daley]

As I move on to Chapter 4, I have to say this was not at all what I had expected. The funny thing is that I had just finished Northern Wrath by Thilde Kold Holdt. I decided to do a pallet cleanser of a novel before I started into another fantasy. So, I read a true crime book by Ann Rule. Might not have been the best change of pace choice.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

From the blurbs, I think this is a fantasy/mystery hybrid...

[Nirkatze]

Ooh, I like fantasy/mystery... I haven't even read the blurb yet...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Ominous start, with the foreshadowing about the fall of the Empire of the Wolf, in the very first epigraph...

Re-reading the blurb after 1-2 chapters, I see that it has quotes from Sebastien de Castell and Peter McLean...

I definitely already feel some of that post-war/coming-war grittiness of Peter McLean's Priest of Bones quartet... and, having read Priest of Bones and currently reading Castell's Greatcoats series, I worry for what that means for the world of Empire of the Wolf in the coming pages :D

Probably alot of darkness, death, political intrigue, religious fanaticism (or political intrigue disguised as religious fanaticism)...

Guess we'll see...

I also wonder if Vonvalt + Helena Sedanka is supposed to be a Holmes + Watson dynamic...

[Solseit]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Ominous start, with the foreshadowing about the fall of the Empire of the Wolf, in the very first epigraph...

Re-reading the blurb after 1-2 chapters, I see that it has quotes from Sebastien de Ca..."

I noticed the blurbs too and I agree with you on what to expect next! I think there is going to be a lot of bloody and graphic drama!

As for the Holmes/Watson dynamic, it is possible but there is three of them so I am not sure if this is the inspiration.

What I am liking is that the legal stuff is clearly written by a laywer (view spoiler)[ legal ethics are well drafted, the reference to common law, as it was originally understood, the description of the early insurance systems (hide spoiler)] and I am in for it!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Solseit wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Ominous start, with the foreshadowing about the fall of the Empire of the Wolf, in the very first epigraph...

Re-reading the blurb after 1-2 chapters, I see that it has quote..."

These days, it's inevitable to compare any team of investigators outside of a cop show dynamic with Sherlock Holmes, I think...

I definitely like seeing unique author expertise displayed in fiction...

The way these early chapters seem to be going from town/district to town/district, showing how the Justices work, is nice setup... I'm sure things will escalate soon...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I just looked at Petrik's review, and see that this series was pitched as Judge Dredd meets The Witcher...

I can totally see that, even in these first 3-4 chapters :D

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Chapter 5: Things get more interesting... (view spoiler)[a roadblock & possible villain emerges... and trouble at the capital with the nobility vying for power... (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 6: I think this is a more generous interpretation of Holmesian mysteries: when the narrative is primarily told from a Watsonian/lay-POV, so the author doesn't have to constantly hide facts from the reader that the Holmes figure sussed out immediately, to keep the narrative/mystery alive...

Chapter 6/7: More interest... (view spoiler)[classic narrative structure, for the protege to show doubt at profession/etc, right before things heat up, and the ability to quit dries up for awhile... and by the end of the story, the protege has recommitted to the cause, by choice or by events outside their control... (hide spoiler)]

[C.S. Daley]

I think the Holmes influence is pretty strong. Even a little in the writing style. I have read all of the Holmes stories multiple times. There is even a moment in chapter 7 that is a direct riff off of a pretty great Holmes/Watson story.

None of this is a criticism. I am absolutely loving the story so far and find myself thinking about it constantly.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I'm definitely shooting through... just reached chapter 15...

Just the right amount of foreshadowing... I hate when books foreshadow every other paragraph/page... this one seems to do it once or twice every chapter or 2, and the chapters are pretty long...

I could have kept saying stuff chapter-by-chapter, but it would have just been "interestinger and interestinger"... things are heating up... clearly, (view spoiler)[Clavan is the threat on the macro scale, and his benefactors... I wonder if he's connected to the mystery on the micro scale, tho... a plot to blackmail nobility for church money...

The revelations about the Justice Leader giving away magic secrets to the Templars is gonna cause issues later, when things come to a head.... (hide spoiler)]

[Solseit]

I just finished the book and it is a solid story; there is so much world building in a relative short story (magic, legal set-up, orders, etc.) and the amount of legal related content makes the story different than other stories (in my opinion).
I cannot wait to see what comes next!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I made a conscious decision yesterday, to take a break from reading and watch TV all afternoon...

All caught up on BRs for the next few days, and done ALOT of reading this month, so far...

Should finish this later today, after work...

[Solseit]

Timelord Iain wrote: "I made a conscious decision yesterday, to take a break from reading and watch TV all afternoon...

All caught up on BRs for the next few days, and done ALOT of reading this month, so far...

Should..."
I think your choice to break the reading up is a good one! I am looking forward to your comments to it!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

It’s the only way to let a story breathe… I generally read one book at a time, unless I’m really struggling with a book or breaking up an anthology… burning through 2/3/4 shorter books a day, or a single bigger one…

Tuesday I read Encore in Death (13hrs, 9hrs left when the day started), Hounded (8hrs), and Ten Thousand Stitches (9hrs)… 2.5-3x speed makes that last about 3hrs…

[Felina]

I put in for this one and it said it would be 6 weeks from now and it just came through. It’s a Christmas miracle.

[Solseit]

Felina wrote: "I put in for this one and it said it would be 6 weeks from now and it just came through. It’s a Christmas miracle."

That's great! Enjoy the journey!

[C.S. Daley]

Finished it tonight. Now time to digest it.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Events conspired to keep me away from this yesterday... but I return with a vengeance today... up to chapter 27, now, and this book has surprised me at every turn...

As much as I read (recently broke the 3000 book mark on Goodreads, despite dozens/hundreds of re-reads), it takes alot for a book to feel truly unique these days...

And while some elements of the story remind me of other things I've read, nothing anywhere near this combination of elements... chapter 23-25ish was like suddenly being in an episode of Law & Order...

Also, the foreshadowing has been great for keeping the tension up, just KNOWING important things are being ignored, outside the main scope of the story...

[Solseit]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Events conspired to keep me away from this yesterday... but I return with a vengeance today... up to chapter 27, now, and this book has surprised me at every turn...

As much as I read (recently br..."

I think it is the most unique fantasy mystery so far (although I still think City of Stairs and the relevant series and A Master of Djinn are great examples of it), focusing so much on the law. There is some of it in the Greatcoats but it is not written so effectively from a legal perspective (in my opinion).

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I was definitely neglecting the City of Stairs comparison...

I ignored Master of Djinn, because that's a more alt-history/Urban Fantasy mystery story... and UF is commonly mystery-focused...

The biggest comparison, to me, between Greatcoats and this, is how idealistic Falcio and Vonvalt are, and how much the world seems hellbent on wearing that out of them...

[Nirkatze]

All y'all's comments and comparisons making me very excited to pick this up... almost done with current eye-read, then was going to do October Daye 'cuz those're comparatively short before jumping in... looking forward to it...

[Nirkatze]

Started today! Only through Chapter 4, and enjoying the feel of the story... (view spoiler)[makes me think a little of The Witness for the Dead and the traveling Justice makes me think of the Judge Paladins in the Dragonback series... I also wasn't expecting the MC to be the assistant and a woman, especially with the cover having a looming guy on a throne...

The map and style of the empire definitely conjure Ancient Rome--and I can't think of other Roman-inspired by similar geography and time period--when the empire was still rather new and expanding, and on the edges of the frontier, in Germanic territory... closest I can think of is Jack Whyte's The Skystone series, but that is on the other end of the timeline... I like all the little culture clash tidbits, where the Empire is improving or encroaching on the new territory...

Is High Saxan based on an actual language? Parts of it sound Latin, parts sound kind of Slavic, then the whole "High Saxan" makes me think of High German/Saxon... my knowledge of languages is pretty limited to the other end of the globe...

I like the story comparisons y'all have been tossing out--even just this far in I'm feeling legal thriller as much as mystery, though it's really just all the fun law aspects, and haven't even hit the actual main conflict of the book yet... and I like the POV. I was getting Knight/Squire feels more than Sherlock/Watson, but then I guess Helena is an apprentice so it's not really a stretch.

The fact that law might take years to come to appeal, with the sending back to the main library and review, is very realistic, even now...

I also like how the Voice power has limitations, and must be properly used--much like a good cross-examination, setting up questions to startle people out of practiced responses and pare down to truth... (hide spoiler)]

[Chris]

Started last night, read two chapters.....Agree with Nirkatze about enjoying the feel, at least through those 2...

[Nirkatze]

Up to chapter 9 now, seeing those things Iain mentioned--the foreshadowing bits ("ah, if only I'd known at the time" etc) are making me think about what other books I've read with that narrative structure... Sun Eater is obvious (both in memory and in OMG IT'S ALL OVER THE PLACE) but also a bit, the Farseer books? Except that he was writing from the perspective of the third book, so by the time you got there you were caught up, I think... have to be more, but those are the ones popping into my brain...

Into the story good now... (view spoiler)[also by this point, we've got two plotlines going on... the crusaders and possible corruption of the Empire, and the strange murder of the Lady, which might or might not be connected to an insurance scheme... or if the insurance scheme is hiding things... and since most good mysteries the two end up connected, I have to wonder how and why...

I've also been getting a sinking feeling, ever since the first foreshadowing "looking back" note, that Vonvalt isn't going to survive the book... Like Iain said, classic turn, to have the MC on the brink of giving up the profession, only to be rededicated by the end... and what would inspire her more than vengeance? I'm actually getting a lot of similar vibes to Kushiel's Dart, of all things... young girl, mentored in a craft... and then all goes to hell and she takes up his mantle... (hide spoiler)]

[Felina]

I just started this last night. It’s not what I was expecting though I know nothing of the author and I didn’t read the blurb. Just based on the cover I guess. Good so far.

[Rob]

I just started it as well yesterday. I also think it has a "Name of the Rose" type of feel since we're seeing things from the assistant's POV.

[Nirkatze]

Up through Chapter 16--(view spoiler)[I'm feeling like the foreshadowing pieces are coming a lot thicker and faster now. One in particular caught my notice--that Vonvalt expressed his regret to Helena over (I think it was) ignoring Justice August's warnings, at a "much later date"--well, in that case, I can hope that he isn't killed in this book...

I am getting more frustrated with Helena's naivety--when she told Dubine "you don't know him!" I wanted to yell at her "neither do you, you young twat!" She's met her young guardsman what, four, five times? They've probably not spent enough hours to count a full day in each other's presence. Dubine speaks wisdom... she would soon find life in this small town stifling, but have no recourse to leave. Just because you don't want to be a clerk doesn't mean you settle down with the first pretty face to give you an out! Srsly. Thank goodness for circumstance sure to upset everything, if only to get her away from this nonsense.

The attack, and following interrogation of the dead, was exciting! I love seeing a bit behind the veil--who is this Trickster, and what hand do they have in everything? Could they also be connected to that zealot priest? (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Chapter 17--(view spoiler)[Ok, both a little happy at Helena and *sigh* annoyed. I'm glad she's seeing what Dubine warned her about... but also, seriously? Telling Matas the plan right after Vonvalt told you he was trusting to no-one but the Sheriff? Gah! Idiot!

Even annoyed at future Helena--"I should have taken his hands and kissed him" etc... well, unless this is because he might not have turned her in if she had done so, I'm annoyed at future Helena for still liking Matas on hindsight--he definitely does not appreciate or understand the person she is and looks down on her just for her gender. (hide spoiler)]

[Rob]

Seven chapters in, but it's gripping me and I can tell it will only get more complicated as we go along. Break out the popcorn. I guess I like fantastical procedural mysteries too and can see some comparisons between City of Stairs (never read past book 1 and don't know why) and the Witness for the Dead stuff. (Just noticed a title for book 3 of that is out, but I don't see a publication date The Tomb of Dragons

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

That’s been floating out there since the semi-cliffhanger ending to book 2…

[Nirkatze]

Finished! I totally just gobbled up the rest of the book. I had thoughts, but didn't want to stop to write them down... (view spoiler)[I love how the ending went slowly and subtly from being fear at the religious zealots corrupting law and empire, to witnessing the fall of a paragon. It's like... Vonvalt is the Empire, in a way. He represents the ideal, the good the Empire was able to do in the lands it conquered. By his own Fall from Justice, he foreshadows the fall of the Empire from the ideal into corruption.

At first I was thinking that Vonvalt would die, and spur Helena's story onwards. But with all the mentions of his longevity and so much to come, and all the dire portends at the ending, I can't help but wonder if this is more like The Covenant of Steel... with a beloved character in the first book ending up being an antagonist by the end. Will Vonvalt find a way back to his moral center (and the Empire with him?), or will he end up at the head of an alternate branch of corruption? Becoming what he would have opposed in the process of opposing the other? (hide spoiler)]

Super excited to continue next month, anyway.

BTW, is it confirmed that this series is a complete trilogy? Or will there be more after book 3?

Also looking at the covers--so interesting! (view spoiler)[I'm guessing that cover 1 is Vonvalt, maybe Cover 2 is Helena, and Cover 3 is curious! Emperor? A leader of another country? Trickster god? Then there's the statue-figures behind them... on cover 1, with the scales and winged wolves, like a statue of Lady Justice of the Empire. I also find it interesting that the statue is missing its right arm.... And Vonvalt sitting in front of it like a throne, lounging...

Book 2 features a stag-headed figure in gold. I think this must be a statue of the goddess Nema--from that mention of getting a stag's head for the altar in the early chapters...the arms spread out to welcome, or embrace... but it looks so ominous, standing head and shoulders above the central figure. And the wings--death-bat's wings, evokes the scenes in the hell-like otherworld...

The final book has a double-headed snake... I don't know if we've seen enough to guess on that yet... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C...

The third novel in Richard Swan's acclaimed epic fantasy trilogy triumphantly concludes the tale of Sir Konrad Vonvalt, an Emperor’s Justice – a detective, judge and executioner all in one.

[Nirkatze]

Hm... detective in book 1, judge in book 2, executioner in book 3? (view spoiler)[Okay, he's already all 3 in book 1, but I feel like the primary role was detective here... and the last two came in in the end. (hide spoiler)]

I really want to know who's on the cover of book 3 now though... also, with the armor and the title of book 2, I'm rethinking it being Helena... maybe we meet a female version of Patria Claver?