Grave Empire Book Review

I won’t beat around the bush with this one. Richard Swan’s new book Grave Empire is the best mashup between epic fantasy and gothic horror I’ve ever read. There are many fantasies with horror overtones…who could forget the Black Riders and Shelob from Lord of the Rings? And there are also tales that are primarily horror, but which draw upon fantasy, such as numerous works by H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith and Brian Lumley. In fact, there are so many that I couldn’t possibly list them all. I’ve read a copious amount of both epic fantasy and horror. I’ve never read a better combination of the two than Grave Empire.

The book is to be the first of a trilogy by Swan, set in his mythical universe of the Sovan Empire. And as you may have guessed, this is not Swan’s first work set in that fantasy world. His previous Empire of the Wolf trilogy was also situated there. It was quite an impressive mix of horror, fantasy and even legal thriller tropes. But Grave Empire, first in what is called The Great Silence series, seems to be bigger, bloodier and more occult in every fashion.

I’ll try to describe the Sovan Empire set-up. First, it is not necessary to read the Empire of the Wolf trilogy at all to enjoy Grave Empire. It does enhance your enjoyment of Swan’s very meticulous worldbuilding and research. But Empire of the Wolf takes place roughly 300 years before the events in Grave Empire. None of the characters from the first trilogy are in the new book. Although, there are a couple of name-dropping sequences.

Sova is basically the equivalent of the Roman Empire, a powerful imperial force that stretches across multiple countries. Although the framework resembles Roman rule, Sova and the surrounding countries seem to have a heavily Germanic bent.

Magic exists in Sova, but its use is restricted to a very few. Empire of the Wolf followed the adventures of one of these few, Konrad Vonvalt, who is a wandering Justice. The Justices are basically judges, jury and executioners, traveling to all the provinces of Sova and dispensing final justice. They all have magical powers of a sort.

Vonvalt is able to communicate with the dead, which comes in handy when you investigate a murder. He can also compel others to tell the truth just by the sound of his voice. I won’t spend more time talking about Vonvalt and The Empire of the Wolf, but if you like grim, bloody fantasy with doses of mystery and horror, I highly recommend the trilogy.

Grave Empire takes place centuries after Vonvalt’s time, and the Sovan Empire has undergone some dramatic changes. It is now well into its early industrial age and science has replaced magic in many instances. Magic is actually outlawed, except for the Architect’s Guild, who use their powers to keep the empire’s infrastructure intact. It’s a time of rampant commercialism and exploitation, similar to England’s early industrial age.

It’s also a time of great danger for Sova. They are in a long-running war with “The Great Enemy”, which is the Confederacy of Casimir and its client state of Sanque. The battle rages in all countries to some degree and the Casimirs are starting to pull ahead.

The province of Kyara, which is inhabited by a race of giant wolfmen created by magic, was once a firm ally of Sova. However, now it’s torn by a religious civil war fueled by Casimir, whose forces are rapidly advancing. The loss of the wolfmen as allies would be devastating for Sova.

Incidentally, the wolfman are not lycanthropes that switch between man and beast, but rather men with the heads of wolves. They are one of several such magically created races…we will meet others later.

The Sovan/Casimir conflict also rages in the wild untamed lands of “The New East”, which are deeply mysterious forested realms inhabited by tribes of fierce pagans akin to Celtic warriors. The pagans have no problem with using magic as a weapon, which makes things difficult for Sovan forces. The Sovans have their own pagan allies, so this conflict resembles the old wars between the French and British in pre-Revolutionary America.

Our three major point-of-view characters—Peter the reluctant soldier, Renata the aspiring diplomat, and the sinister necromancer Von Oldenburg—are thrown into this tense international situation. Each of these individuals encounters a different type of horror until their stories begin to intertwine in the concluding chapters. Swan does this in such a masterful way that you are left in almost physical pain waiting for the next book in the trilogy to come out.

Peter Kleist is a modest young man who becomes a soldier to honor the memory of his late father. The Kleist family have been in the Sovan military for generations and Peter doesn’t have the courage to break the pattern even though he has no real desire to fight.

What happens to poor Peter over the course of Grave Empire will make your knees knock and your blood run cold, as he is thrust into the worst horror by far. He thinks, at first, he will be sent to a regular post in the heart of the Sovan Empire; instead, he is sent to the farthest edge of “The New East”, where Sova is facing deadly attacks from the Casimirs and the fierce pagan warriors who’ve allied with them.

The frontier outpost he’s stationed at is a miserable place, full of demoralized and insubordinate soldiers. The forest they are in is so impenetrable and haunted by dark forces that it seems to be more of an enemy than the Casimirs. Strange voices and blood-curdling screams are heard coming from the woods at all hours. Peter himself hears phantom voices warning him of danger. He leads a company of soldiers into the deep wood, where they find the horribly eviscerated bodies of missing warriors. The skeletons and skin are completely missing from these bodies, leaving a neat pile of organs arranged in perfect anatomical order. Something horrible is lurking in the forest, bringing both spiritual and physical danger.

After surviving a hair-raising battle against the Casimirs and their pagan allies, Peter is given little relief. He heads up a party of mixed Sovans and friendly pagans on a return trip to their home base.

Here is where the horror really takes hold of the narrative, as a bloodthirsty race of cat men stalk the intruding humans. The war with the Casimirs seems almost like a pleasant diversion compared to confronting these savage creatures, who are harboring a devastating secret. Poor Peter is pushed past all mental and physical limits by his experience and is terribly transformed by what he encounters. Exactly how he is transformed is a mystery that future books in the series will reveal. In many ways, Peter’s story is the rawest and most straightforward…pure survival horror with a mystical edge.

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The second major character is Renata Rainer, a young diplomat in training who has been buried in what seems like a useless job. She and her boss, the senior diplomat Maruska, are diplomats to a kingdom of undersea fish-men known as the Stygion mermen. They are so obscure, many believe the mermen don’t even exist.

Renata is about to have her boring world turned upside down, as she and Maruska are suddenly drafted into a dangerous expedition to recover a mystic object possessed by the mermen. Renata and Maruska are basically the only people alive who can speak the mermen’s language, and they also know the very barbaric and rigid customs of this dark and violent race who have domesticated sharks and other monsters of the deep.

This magical object is desperately needed because the spirits of the afterlife are missing. Something demonic has devoured all the souls of the dead, creating barren wastelands in the spirit world. As bad as this situation is, it only is the first part of a prophecy called The Great Silence, which is the end of both the physical and spiritual world. Monks who brought news of the prophesy, Brother Herschel and Brother Guillot, will accompany an expedition across a war-torn world to the far-off gate to the realm of the Stygion mermen.

Renata is a feisty and likable character who is thrown into a situation far beyond her depth. The expedition is immediately targeted by assassins from a cult that wants to bring about The Great Silence. They are forced to travel through the war-ravaged land of the wolfmen where the Sovans are in retreat. And there is also a weird demonic creature called The Knackerman who is stalking Renata and the rest. This being is hard to describe…a kind of magical android with a clockwork face, who can change his appearance and pass as human. When the Knackerman strikes, it brings a level of unpredictable terror to the story.

Swan does a fantastic job of creating and describing the undersea world of the mermen. Renata and her friends are temporarily turned into water-breathers so they can interact with the fish-headed humanoids. The Stygion society is truly alien and very contemptuous of the air-breathing humans who they regard as an enemy. Without Renata’s knowledge of their language and culture, the mission would be hopeless. And it still takes some very unexpected turns. The exploration of the mermen’s world is almost science fictional in its look at a very alien society.

Renata’s tale doesn’t quite have the sheer relentless horror of Peter’s story, but her journey is a harrowing adventure with its own bloody ups and downs. She’s forced by circumstances to grow very quickly into a hero with the fate of the world on her shoulders.

The final main character of Grave Empire is the dangerous and sinister nobleman Baron von Oldenburg, a man deeply interested in the forbidden arts of necromancy. In the beginning, he comes across as a cantankerous, arrogant man, but as the novel progresses, we see him transformed into somebody who is not only evil but dangerously insane. He is assisted…to a point…by the pagan witch Yelena, a complicated character who has mysterious goals of her own. At times, the Baron and Lena are almost lovers, at other times they loathe each other. We are not sure who is really in charge until the end of the book. And maybe not even then.

Von Oldenburg has heard of a peculiar plague which has struck the far northern reaches of Sova. Those struck by the plague seem drained of all intelligence and willpower. Despite that, they have an overwhelming desire to spread the plague to others by touch. Von Oldenburg senses an opportunity here and he decides to investigate with Yelena by his side.

The Baron finds a plague ravaged village of peasants and it makes for a most peculiar scene. All the people of the village are standing mindlessly in a field, not talking, eating or sleeping. Even in the midst of a downpour, they remain rigid. But when they sense Von Oldenburg and his retinue approaching, they come to life and begin pursuing the strangers. The only imperative they have is to spread the plague by touch. They are almost like living zombies!

Somehow, the intruders escape, and they manage to capture one of the “zombies”. Von Oldenburg plans to study this human automaton in the dungeons of his castle. This leads to a very gruesome series of experiments where Von Oldenburg learns how to take total control of plague victims and make them do his bidding. We find out now just how horrible and utterly immoral this man is, as his own trusted servants become victims of his cruel and gory experiments.

Ultimately, Von Oldenburg uses his knowledge to create a virtual zombie army, which he plans to use to gradually take control of the Empire…and perhaps the whole world. It looks like Von Oldenburg will become a major villain in future books of the series. But Yelena has a surprise up her sleeve…

Each of these three main characters are solid constructions and each experience horror in a different way. Peter is a complete victim of both war and occult monsters. Renata bit by bit finds herself in strange waters (literally!) and tries to make sense out of chaos. As for Von Oldenburg, he is a creator of horror and an example of the worst of mankind.

There are also some interesting side characters to flesh things out. Joseph is a brawling adventurer and former paramour of the Sovan Empress who joins Renata’s expedition and emerges as something of a love interest for her. Major Furlan is Peter’s immediate superior who finds himself thrust deep into an unthinkable situation. Colonel Glaser is a mercurial military attaché traveling with Renata. He seems to alternate between helpful and obstructive. Broz is an assassin on the pay of Von Oldenburg who lurks in the background and plays an important part in the story.

It’s the fantastical world of the Sovan Empire itself that almost seems to be another character in the story. It’s a place that feels real at times and utterly alien at other times. It comes across like a magical realm where the supernatural is dealt with in a realistic, almost ruthless fashion. It’s one of the best fantasy realms I’ve ever encountered.

I highly recommend Grave Empire to fans of both dark fantasy and pure horror. Rarely have the two genres been combined so well. I can’t wait for the future books in the series which is already off to an even better start than the excellent Empire of the Wolf trilogy.