The Justice of Kings: the Sunday Times bestseller (Book One of the Empire of the Wolf)

Here’s a simple test of how much you’re enjoying a book and how much you care about the characters. A character finds themselves in a room they’re not supposed to be in. Suddenly they hear footsteps. They dive under the bed as the room’s occupier enters. Are you rolling your eyes at this cliché development? Or do you share the character’s utter terror? This scene (it’s not a spoiler, grow up) happens at some point in The Justice of Kings, Richard Swan’s frankly offensively good fantasy debut, and I am happy to reveal that I was so tense in that moment that if you had placed a hand on my shoulder I would have broken your wrist out of sheer panic.There are moments aplenty like this in this epic (or grimdark? A debate for another time) fantasy; there are twists that will have your jaw drop in shock, events that befall characters that will make you emit strange nasal whines of anxiety like an incoherent puppy. But this is also a book that could, and perhaps should, be the subject of a dissertation or two (good luck selling that to your instructor); a meaty treatise on the law, the nature of it, and its faults as well as its necessity. It’s also a neat political analogy for our modern times that could not be more relevant, so much so it practically screams at you. Finally, it’s an astonishing character study of a man whose faults are as obvious as his strengths and what happens when his beliefs begin to crumble round him.It is all these things and more, and the fact that Swan manages to spin so may plates and have them all land in an unbroken, if terrified pile at the end while it being, may I remind you, his fantasy debut, is an act of sheer arcane sorcery straight from the pages of his own tome.The setting of this imperious tale is The Sovan Empire, or The Empire of the Wolf (a nice nod to Rome’s foundational myth there), a collection of pseudo-Germanic states with satisfyingly Teutonic names such as Jägeland and Denholtz. If you’re in any doubt as to what kind of land we’re in, then at one point a character has a meal of pork, pickled cabbage and spiced cheese sauce. The Sovans swept through these states several decades prior to our story, bringing the kind of order and civilization that can only be achieved after voluminous amounts of bloodshed. Now relative peace has descended; the pagan religion has been replaced by a suspiciously similar mainstream one (no idea where Swan got that idea from) and a surprisingly advanced system of common law ensures that, as proudly displayed on the book jacket, “No man is above the law”.Ensuring this common law is upheld is the Order of Justices, whose power is seemingly equal to the Emperor itself and who are judge, jury and executioner all in one, very much a Judge Dredd of Westeros. They also possess arcane powers to help them in their pursuit of justice; our main character Sir Konrad Vonvalt can compel a man to speak the truth and… well I’ll let you find out his other power yourself, but it’s not stroking kittens, put it that way. It’s no spoiler to say that both Empire and the Order will find itself tested by the story’s end.Even before we get to the remarkable character study of Vonvalt, there is so much fun to be hand in chewing on the themes here. As the classic brutal but civilising empire, The Sovans are reminiscent of Rome and, perhaps more so, the British Empire at its Victorian height, given the themes of the common law. In fact, in many ways they are more civilised than the latter; women can be justices and there is suggestion that the laws against rape are fairly advanced. This is a land bathed in red that nonetheless prides itself on the supposed equality the law brings. I found myself really enjoying this interesting sweet spot; in terms of technological development it is situated between the medieval setting of classic fantasy novels and the nascent industrial age of, say, Joe Abercrombie’s Age of Madness series. But in legal terms it is more advanced than both. It also has a fascinating burgeoning system of insurance (which Swan, commercial litigator that he is, takes great relish in explaining for us, not one but twice, making me think he might be sponsored by Aviva).But just like modern debates about the law, all is not necessarily well. Should one justice have that much power? Swan has fun testing its limits, certainty. There is a growing jury system in the Empire, and Swan intriguingly compares this with the seemingly unlimited powers of the justices. In the same way that it was great to read an expert in Machiavelli come out with a stonking debut on Machiavellian politics last year (E. J. Beaton with The Councillor) so it’s an absolute pleasure to see a lawyer delve into tricky themes of legitimacy, equality and the limits of the law. Then there’s the astute political analogy I referenced earlier. I won’t go to into any of the plot, but suffice to say the Order is not completely in touch with the common people, and all may not be well in its ranks. If you want to see it as a useful analogy to the state of other liberal orders, possibly those who sowed the ground for various authoritarian figures of our current times – well-meaning elites, but increasingly complacent when faced with reality on the ground – then you’ll have much fuel to do so.But if you care not a jot for such things and you’re in it for the characters, then I’ve got news for you: you’re in for a meaty treat with the impressive yet tragic figure of Sir Konrad Vonvalt; who is what you get when you swap Geralt of Rivia’s bedding of women for long thoughtful treatises on the minutiae of the common law (though to be fair to Sir Konrad, Geralt would be up against it in a sword fight and, when he gets angry, The Hulk himself might not be enough to stop Vonvalt). Swordsman, possessor of arcane magic, mildly boring jurist, essentially good human being but also a man struggling to show emotion and a figure so wedded to his belief in the law that he struggles sometimes to see the wood for the trees. In this book we have a character that will dominate the fantasy landscape for many years to come.Meanwhile, the narrator of the story – Helena – is a 19 year old girl from humble origins who has been taken under Vonvalt’s wing, his hope (though not necessarily her dream) being that she will one day be a justice like him. She is also a remarkable character – at once terrified, headstrong, wickedly intelligent, prone to acts of teenage stupidity and stubbornness, stupendously brave – and the relationship between them (parental? Or something more?) is poignant and revelatory; the burning heart of this book. Even the secondary characters, though, are vividly drawn figures that will have you rooting for them (always a sign of an author confident in his writing). I was particularly drawn to Vonvalt’s assistant Bressinger, a witty, hard-drinking but likeable character (sort of Vimes from Discworld meets Bronn from Westeros) with a melancholic side to him. Swan cares about these secondary characters too, as you will see when you find out Bressinger’s backstory.Oh and did I mention this tale is tense and exciting? Not that much even happens in the first half, it revolving around a seemingly self-contained murder mystery that, like all good fantasy mysteries, soon has relevance to the wider story, but every single page is as addictive as a caffeine-injected gummy bear, swapping between engaging worldbuilding (and this really is an object lesson in how to worldbuild without hammering it in your face), heartfelt emotion, intriguing character analysis and fascinating thematic content – sometimes within the same paragraph. And when things crank into gear in the final third, they really crank up, and the slow deliberative style of the first half pays off as your heart practically beats out if its chest in terror at what will befall the characters we have come to care about so much.All this begs the question of how Swan has done this all while avoiding the usual mistakes of even the most accomplished debuts (pace, hesitant writing, stilted worldbuilding etc.). A brief foray into Swan stalking (much safer than the animal equivalent) tells me that the author has already written several self-published novels, so perhaps that explains the remarkable assuredness of this fantasy debut. But this shouldn’t take away from the sheer achievement of this; this is still his fantasy debut. In fact, it must be up there with one of the most impressive debuts of recent years; a story that succeeds in everything it attempts and that sets up a trilogy that promises to bring the house, and possibly the empire, down. There’s many injustices in this supposedly lawful land, but the greatest one will be if you don’t inhale this book immediately.

I had heard good things about this book before I started it, so I was excited when I began reading. At times this book seemed a little sluggish and slightly dense with the law and political side of the story but most of it was interesting. The interaction between the characters was really enjoyable to read and the overall story was very interesting. The book just kind of tapers off at the end though and was expecting a little more from it.All in all though an enjoyable read and I will be carrying on with the next book.

An early renaissance world, investigations by a feared swordsman with the power to influence others through magic, and an unwieldy empire imposing its will on a collection of conquered people – The Justice of Kings has just about everything I love about The Witcher, but without the undercurrent of sexism that made the series difficult for me to connect with.In short, I loved this book. Legal systems and the application of justice can be incredibly slow and boring in reality, so any author wanting to capture your attention has to be able to translate that into something exciting, which Richard Swan does perfectly here. Vonvalt is a dry and calculating justice of the empire, but his flawed intelligence creates for a dynamic depiction of law enforcement that is never boring. He, along with his companions, are thrust right into the machinations of an uncaring political game, and from the pettiest of crimes to the grandest of mysteries, the character writing for them made everything believable, unnerving, humorous - whatever the plot needed most was delivered.One of my absolute favourite aspects was the necromancy. There’s a boring way to write necromancy, where someone mutters a few vaguely ominous sounding words and a skeleton pops up to no fanfare; and then there is the way Richard Swan writes it, being so spectacularly visceral that you can almost smell the peeling flesh and oozing pus as you’re transported to the afterlife and made to confront its uncomfortable truth. If you care at all for gripping depictions of what necromancy might actually look like when the curtains are peeled back, then this book is absolutely worth a read.The only major flaw of the book was one of my cardinal sins, that being that the narrative is told from the perspective of one of the characters who is now much older, and so it’s full of lines to the tune of “we didn’t know it then, but that was a super important thing that happened, which we would only fully realise later”. I hate it with a passion, partly because it tells me that the author has absolutely no faith in me as a reader to remember important details, but also because it often straight up spoils the very story its trying to tell, and all without a fixed purpose.In another book that might have soured me enough to turn my overall opinion, but thankfully the few instances where it happened didn’t bother me quite that much, and when I think back on my feelings towards The Justice of Kings, it is everything I loved that comes to the forefront of my mind. If anything I’ve mentioned here appeals to you, then consider this a strong recommendation.

So I heard about this book through an email from Orbit which said for fans of Brandon Sander and John Gwynne, being a major fan of both it immediately caught my attention.I was sceptical to start with, it didn't immediately pull me in within the first chapter as Brandon Sanderson and John Gwynne do. For me, the first couple of chapters are a little disjointed (particularly transition between chapter 1 and chapter 2) however I could see real potential for a plot that could be pretty good so I stuck with it. Best decision! By chapter 4 I found myself becoming more intrigued and unable to put the book down. The concerns I had with the flow of the first couple of chapters very quickly disappeared as it developed into a well written and immersive story. A strong debut which leaves me wanting to read more.

I recognised the quality but found it hard to enjoy it. There's a lot of foreshadowing, which is a technique I'm not fond of, and the depression and anxiety of the main characters is so well conveyed that it jumped over to me.In the end, the book did manage to grip me, and I'm looking forward to reading the sequel.

Quando adquiri o ebook foi na base da curiosidade, me parecia um plot totalmente diferente dentro da categoria de fantasia, e como leitora voraz e sempre a procura de novidades resolvi dar uma chance a este primeiro volume.Será que uma história baseada em um personagem que deve aplicar as leis do imperador, julgando e até mesmo executando a lei ele próprio teria base e folego para se tornar atrativa ?!Para minha surpresa me peguei gostando muito da leitura, Vonvalt não é um personagem que se ame, pelo contrário ele é rigoroso ao extremo, irascível, dificilmente demonstra seus sentimentos mas é o cerne e o personagem que dá vida ao livro.O livro é narrado por Helena, sua aprendiz de 19 anos e como podemos prever pela sua juventude, existirão momentos que eu revirei os olhos pois temos esta personagem se debulhando em lágrimas, depois sendo forte, depois tendo recaídas, tendo muitas dúvidas, mas no frigir dos ovos, Helena acaba sempre ao lado de Vonvalt pois o mesmo exerce uma atração quase magnética em Helena.Bressinger é o guarda costas, ex colega de armas de Vonvalt que o acompanha juntamente com Helena, vários diálogos entre Bressinger e Helena dão a dimensão da complicada relação entre os três personagens.Claro que darei sequencia a esta trilogia pois o segundo volume da série consta na lista de melhores livros lidos de 2023 na lista de muitos booktubers gringos.

In an ocean full of modern fantasy books being published,being unique in it’s plotting and characters is a great way to differentiate themselves. That’s exactly what Justice of Kings is. Very interesting premise. I won’t spoil anymore other than that this book is being told through framing Narrative like Suneater. The framing narrative felt just a bit overdone very few times,but mostly great at keeping the tension high. And I feel Helena Sedanka is a very relatable character and I am neither a teenager nor female. She reminded me of myself at that age. I would’ve hated her for being a whiny teenager if the story is not being told from her perspective. I am very excited to read Book 2 and eventually book 3 just to see how Helena’s character developed from whiny cowardly teenage brat to a wise old lady.

Spannender Kriminalfall, glaubhafte Charaktere und viele Wendungen, und das ganze in einem mittelalterlich anmutenden Setting. Es gab viele Momente, wo ich auch ein wenig Schmunzeln musste. Die Erzählerin macht Laune, ebenso die Aussicht auf mehr.Definitive Empfehlung!

Seldom have I been engrossed in such a slow burn story that attaches you to its characters. Surfacing without warning, The Justice of Kings drags you into a deep and haunting world. The magic system is modest, something I really enjoyed, which only added to the dark setting. There's no fireworks launching from a magicians fingers here. Instead, its creepy and unique, with subtle power wielded only by the learned. If this ever gets turned into a film, please let me be an extra.I can't wait to read the next one.

The narrative starts slow, and early on I really found myself questioning the storytelling device. This book is basically "epic fantasy Sherlock Holmes," and like the Sherlock stories, the narrator is the Watson character, Helena, who is frankly much less interesting, to the point that it's worth asking, why not just make the most interesting character the POV?Despite this, the story really explodes in tension and intrigue around the halfway mark and doesn't let up til the end, and my narrative quibbles aside, the entire book is very smartly written. Overall it is a strong opening act.