Post will go live on our website 5th Feb.

In The Tyranny of Faith by Richard Swan, our protagonist Helena, Vonvalt, and his retainers travel from Galen's Vale to the empire's capital of Sova to unravel the pit of treachery it has become. Old mentors and leaders, and some of the very most senior justices in Vonvalt's Order of Magistrates must be cut from the body of the empire, lest they poison if further. And if the treachery and intrigue and action stopped there this would still be a very good book. But because it's a fucking great book, it doesn't stop there.

The Tyranny of Faith has a little something for every kind of dark fantasy fan. Intrigue, political manoeuvring, necromancy and other vicious magics used for both good and evil, small personal vicious fights and epic battles, and brilliantly well-fleshed out characters on all sides of the story. As we travel to Sova and experience something akin to the halls of Rome in Gladiator and then to the frontier fortress of Keraq which reminded me so much of Kingdom of Heaven, we are treated to a brutal, intensely personal, at times darkly funny (in an Abercrombie way), story about the collapse of the empire, and the degradation of the people who try to prop it up.

In The Tyranny of Faith Helena follows her mentor Vonvalt and his retinue into danger. Helena as a character is excellent and well thought out. She is principled as only the young can be, and her journey of starting to see the world and the people around her more realistically against the principles she thought they stood for is a riveting one. Her relationships with the three men in her party are well fleshed out, with each playing a role in her growth throughout, while also going through their own pain and growth in return.

One of the things I really enjoyed about the early stages of The Tyranny of Faith is how Swan’s history as a lawyer shines through in showcasing how the Order of Magistrates works. How people talk, what they value, and what drives them shines through in the way only authors with lived experience seem to manage. I'm not sure if it's my own white collar career upbringing in what's essentially project management kicking in here, but seeing the workings of a place like that--that isn't the standard senate setting that's in plenty of books--just makes me happy at this age. That and logistics, which Swan also seems to consider beyond a surface level throughout his books, really just add nice depth and nuance to the world.

As a book two in a series, The Tyranny of Faith is almost perfect. In my eyes it's a slightly better book than The Justice of Kings (which I'm pretty sure I five-starred, so this is awkward) and it doesn't rely on heavy clumsy exposition to remind you of all the things in book one that matter to book two. Swan ramps up the stakes throughout the story presented in the pages of The Tyranny of Faith, and also makes damned sure that just about every reader is going to be chomping at the bit for book three to land. Try as I might, I actually don't have a negative word to say about it.

The Tyranny of Faith is an absolutely unputdownable read. Swan ramps up the awesomeness of The Justice of Kings by giving readers more of what we loved in book one, and then building on it in book two. The emotional hits are harder, the action is bloodier, the magic out of control, and the stakes just keep going up as the tens of millions of people in The Empire of the Wolf are set up to be torn down.

5/5

I received an arc from Netgalley for an honest review.

I stumbled across the first book, wasn't expecting much and was very pleasantly surprised.

The new book continues where the last story left of, and to be clear, there are action pieces, but this is more of a grown up dark fantasy novel, a character driven novel. And it excels. The characters have depth, motivations, subcurrents. There's an overarching story, but it plays out like a detective story in between. There is no black and white here, the book excels in the grey.

The only disappointment was some tragic moments and the fact the story was still left hanging, in other words, I want more!

if you haven't started this series, and you like a mature, character story, then please dive in!

Possible Triggers:
Death | Gore

Summary:
This is the second book in the ‘Empire of the Wolf’ series. Events in this book follow about a month after the events in the last.

Characters:
Sir Konrad Vonvalt: Oh, how I love the gradual changes to Vonvalt in this book. It's great to see how Helena reacts to seeing someone she admires BE human. He is by no means a character that is perfect and it’s absolutely awesome to see that. A++ for drive and motivation that absolutely make sense.

Helena: I adore her despite her misplaced hero-worship. I can’t honestly say that I wouldn't have reacted in many of the same ways if my hero turned out to behave the way he did. You end up feeling so much for the ordeals you are going through with her. Poor thing, can’t wait to see how her story is going to progress. She seems to have a lot more going on (awful experiences) already despite just being a member of Vonvalts’ retinue.

Positives:
+ Holy heck, EVEN MORE magic and arcane (eldritch?) things happening!!! We got a taste of it in the first book, but there was so much more in this second and it was fantastic! So much MORE given out about the magics of the conquered lands and how they have been used/limited. What other awesomeness haven’t we seen yet?
+ All the political maneuvering. If you love politics in your fantasy, this has to be up there on your list. There is so much going on in the Empire. Such lovely hints at things and by the time you get to the end you are just grinning at a brilliantly unfolded shenanigan.
+ I love the monsters in this book. Yay for more uncommon horrors. Highly recommend you go peek on the author's Insta as he had some artwork commissioned. Though, you know, it's a spoiler if you do. Read the book, then go look!

Final Thoughts:
I really enjoyed the first book, but the second book was even better in my opinion. SO much more occult and political things going on. I love that the tone of the book is almost wry. Helena is a perfect storyteller. Always dropping little nuggets of “aw shit, what's coming”. I love that the beasties in this book lean way more towards horror than standard fantasy beasties. The characters are so much more flawed and you really develop more feeling towards them because of the unveiled pasts and also the amount of crap they go through in this story. CAN NOT WAIT for the next book in the series to come out.

An incredible second addition to this series. Felt like I couldn’t put it down. And when I did put it down, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

I enjoyed this more than The Justice of Kings, which I loved. While The Justice of Kings introduced us to this grim world of law and necromancy, The Tyranny of Faith elevates the story in many exiciting ways: it widens the scope of the story to involve the fate of kingdoms, journeys into the afterlife, visceral battle scenes, love, and loss. Vonvalt remains the central character to the narrative, but this volume is more about the growth of Helena. During the last book, Helena was unsure of her future; in this book Helena is decisive and displays great strength and bravery while facing terrible odds.

I won't go much into the plot of the story, other than the plot twists were surprising and welcome, and we get to spend time in several new locations that help to flesh out the Empire: from the capital to the fringes, from life into the afterlife.

The Tyranny of Faith is wildly entertaining, a powerful sequel that leaves me highly anticipating the conclusion to Helena and crew's story. Strong character growth, lean and biting prose, surprising turns of events, races against time and a kingdom-shattering mystery combine to make this story an epic page-turner. Recommended!

I requested a digital copy in order to sample the prose on my phone (since I don't have a eReader) before requesting a physical copy for review. My review will be based on the physical ARC I read (if I qualify)

[4.5/5 stars!] One of the best books I read last year!

I liked Justice of Kings quite a bit, but wasn’t blown away by it. Even though the unconventional narrative won me over and I enjoyed my experience, I found the main character a bit hard to read and the mystery a bit underwhelming. By grace of the book gods, I picked up the sequel immediately and I’m SO GLAD I DID!

Gone were my problems with the main character – she grew into her own in a way that felt progressive and organic. I found a personal connection to her I was missing in the first book and as a result was 100% invested. In fact, all of the characters were compelling in their own way, their story arcs taking totally different directions than I was predicting – I love that. My favorite thing about the book, easily, was the relationships and bonds between the characters and the overwhelming sense of camaraderie. I usually have to pick up a Greatcoats novel for that.

The mystery element was awesome, involving a lot of moving pieces and gradually revealing answers without being too over-complicated. If I wasn’t in it completely for the characters, I would’ve been compelled to keep reading anyway just to figure out whodunnit. I loved the mash-up of fantasy/mystery (it read like a fantasy) and especially appreciated the legal components included in the book. There was this great debate of morality and justice on the merits of following the letter of the law vs. the spirit of it, which was particularly good food for thought and added a lot of depth. It’s great when authors can present grey-area problems that don’t have a clear right answer. It’s up to the characters to decide which hard decision to make and I find the thought-process fascinating. This is an intelligently written book.

The magic system was also a lot more realized. I usually don’t have patience for metaphysical components, but here it was handled well enough that for once it didn’t bother me.

And to boot: it was funnier.

Overall, I can’t wait for the next one!

Recommendations: pick up this series for great character companionship, an interesting exploration of justice, and an unconventional POV writing style. This series gets better and better as it goes along.

I’d like to thank Richard Swan, Orbit Books, and Netgalley for the chance to read and review an early copy of Tyranny of Faith – I loved it! :D

Niki Hawkes - The Obsessive Bookseller

First of all I want to thank Orbit and Netgalley for giving me the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Let's get into it.

I read Justice of Kings about 1 year ago exactly and upon finishing I thought it was a great book that was entertaining front to back and a unique take on epic fantasy by smashing it together with the mystery genre. I have to say after reading the sequel, Tyranny of Faith, it may just be even better. While the first book introduces us to the characters, the magic, and the world, the second book really leans into all of that a lot harder since it doesn't have to do so much scene setting and exposition. The magic in this world is based around necromancy which is always a hook for me, and this book really goes into the magic as part of the plot with a fervor. And I don't mean that in a Brandon Sanderson kind of explain it like science kind of way. Swan just really expands on what we know about it and how it is used and abused with sometimes horrific consequences. And I use that term fully meaning that there are parts of this book that feel like straight up horror with eldritch beings and ghastly entities of all types playing a role. I loved it. Also, while it gets away from the "murder mystery" set up that was the essence of book one, mysteries and conspiracies play a prominent role here where they raise the stakes significantly. Finally, I enjoyed what this book does as the middle book of a trilogy. I think a lot of times authors end up having "middle-book-syndrome" because they aren't willing to take an "Empire Strikes Back" mentality to their book and having our protagonists take a few losses in serving the overall plot. I won't spoil anything, but Swan does not fall into that trap. This is a book full of adversity for our main characters and the series is better for it.

What I didn't like in this book is a pretty short list. Before concluding it I think my main gripe is that for a large portion of the middle of this book the characters are given a side-quest to accomplish before they can move on with what they actually want to accomplish. This is frustrating on the page for the characters, but I also felt frustration as a reader because while the side-quest wasn't boring it did kind of grind the main plot to a halt. For the longest time I was wondering how any of it matter, but Swan does indeed make it matter. I will still say it went on a little long for my taste.

Overall, I think I know how to put this among my favorite currently ongoing fantasy series as Swan has written what I think are 2 home runs. I'll be reading the third book in the trilogy as soon as I'm able, and I may even go check out his backlist space opera.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This sequel was not what I was expecting at all! In a very very good way. I really enjoy Richard Swann’s writing. It took me a bit longer to get into the sequel, but once there the ball never stopped rolling. It’s hard to compare this sequel to The Justice of Kings because they are very different in scope. I am excited to see what happens in the third book because “No man is above the law”.

I just finished the second book in the Empire of the Wolf trilogy. I liked the first book a lot, so I was excited to read this one. First, let me say…there’s a map! Have to love a book with a map. It falls right back into the story, and the end of the first chapter drops a bomb that impels you to keep reading. Vonvalt and the gang return to the capital, where things are kind of a mess. The empire is teetering on the edge of collapse, but the emperor won’t take the warnings seriously. He’s too preoccupied with expansion to see it’s on the verge of collapsing from within.

Vonvalt is an investigator, so of course there’s another mystery to be solved here. We meet new friends and learn more about our familiar gang. Our heros go through a lot as the villain always seems to be one step ahead. He continues to reveal new horrors through his growing powers, and the book builds to a surprising conclusion. I recommend it! It comes out February 14. Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for my copy.

A fantastic follow-up to The Justice of Kings, which was one of my favorite reads of 2022. The scope of the story expands immensely, perfect for a middle book, pitting the protagonists against political and otherworldly forces far beyond their ability to face. Multiple sub-plots converge neatly toward a spectacularly complicating conclusion, while deftly pulling in inconsequential-feeling threads from the first book—a testament to the author's plotting skills. I eagerly await the final book.

Ahoy there me mateys!  This was a satisfying second book in the series which was hampered a bit by the slow pacing and the subplot of a missing prince.  I didn't find the book boring or anything.  It just took a while for the pieces to connect and I kept waiting for the characters to make discoveries that this reader suspected.

This book takes place in the capital city of the Empire, Sova.  Helena is back to telling the story of the decline of the empire and where her boss Justice Konrad Vonvalt fits into the political machinations.  I continued to enjoy the four main characters of her group.  Helena is still the favorite and I still loved the story being told from her perspective.  Bressinger and Sir Radomir are excellent characters.  I was bit less enamored of Vonvalt this go around but can't get into the whys because of spoilers.  There was nothing particularly wrong with the plot but it is the relationships between the characters and how they develop in the book that I enjoyed the most.

The slow pacing eventually turned into a rather dramatic last quarter and finale.  Claver has become an excellent villain and the magic consequences were used to great effect once he is back in the action.  Helena in battle was so very enjoyable.  And I want more of the monster dog.  

Where the characters end up by the end of the novel makes me seriously want the next in the series.  It is supposedly out in 2024.  Arrrr!

Another masterful story in the riveting epic fantasy saga by Richard Swan, THE TYRANNY OF FAITH continues where THE JUSTICE OF KINGS left off and takes readers on a high-stakes ride with tightly-plotted twists and horrors that are downright eldritch.

The Tyranny of Faith further builds the world and unravels its mysteries for our storyteller, Helena. I continue to be impressed by the political and judicial systems and processes created by Richard Swan. The Empire of the Wolf is a series that displays the nuances of law, justice, and morality. The characters have depth to them, and each have their own back stories, habits, flaws, and strengths that allow you to understand them even if you don’t agree with their actions. Some parts may feel like they’re moving slowly, but -like any good mystery or crime story- Swan doesn’t put words on a page just for the sake of it. Each tidbit and story line is a clue to solving the mystery and seeing what is to come.

Truly thankful to Orbit Books for access to this ARC; I will post reviews to Goodreads and my Instagram two weeks prior to the publish date as requested in the approval email.

This book was an absolute wild ride, I enjoyed every page of this story from the first to the last page. We first start out traveling to the main location of the story where everything is already reaching a boiling point, then things only get worse and tensions build. As alliances and trusts begin to fracture, new events and hurdles are set into our main protagonists’ path that make the intrigue run so much deeper and the events so much more fast paced and gripping. This book was a roller coaster of ups and downs and I loved every page of it.

In The Justice of Kings I was uncertain about the series having a single POV that was writing a memoir and wasn't the most important character, but in Tyranny of Faith this narrative style is used to great effect. It's similar to what George R.R. Martin does in Games of Thrones in that a less influential character's viewpoint is provided to show how the world sees an important character and how their relationship changes. This also provides for a more detached assessment of a supposed hero's actions, as it can be all too easy for a reader, let alone the characters, to just go along with whatever they do.

The story begins with the party's arrival in Sova, the city at the heart of the Sovan Empire, and with that everything changes. The previous book took place at the fringes of the Empire where its might held less sway. That allowed for a lot of personal agency, but being here strips all of that away to reveal obeisance to institutional authority. The Empire could described as a liberal autocracy in that it has free markets and doesn't discriminate among its citizens. There's also a long tradition of secular common law meant to be applied fairly to all. However, all of that only continues to exist at the pleasure of the Emperor. If civil rights are dictated by the whims of one, or only a few unelected individuals, how much can their continuance be counted upon? Much of the book is in contemplation of the relationship an individual has to their government and the interplay between its estates.

Unraveling the conspiracy that was discovered in the first book is of the utmost concern. There's also a murder mystery, an infiltration, multiple battles, purges, relationship drama, and the occasional horror scene. The action-oriented scenes were nice, though I enjoyed the contemplative ones more. What interested me the most was the questions that are brought up along the way and my consideration of them, especially in terms of contemporary similarities.

The characters are of a decidedly gray morality. There's a clear delineation between being lawful and what many would consider being good. Mostly they're just trying to survive through their trauma and obligations. The utmost priority is the continuation of Empire, despite their reservations about its methods. The Emperor's directives must be obeyed regardless. Many ethical compromises are required to preserve the status quo. How much ought a person sacrifice to ensure the victory of the lesser evil?

The first book set up the world, this one sets up the stakes, and third is assumedly the consequences. I'm quite interested to see what form that takes, specifically whether it's viewed at a distance, as is done with the viewpoint protagonist. The outcome has been already been known since the opening of the first book, so it's only a matter of how they get there. I hope that it's a path less taken.

I received this advance reading/review copy (ARC) from Orbit through NetGalley. I appreciate being allowed to read it and have provided my thoughts on the book as anyone ought to do for having received early access for free.

Another masterful story in the riveting epic fantasy saga by Richard Swan, THE TYRANNY OF FAITH continues where THE JUSTICE OF KINGS left off and takes readers on a high-stakes ride with tightly-plotted twists and horrors that are downright eldritch.

The Justice of Kings left us with Vonvalt, Helena, Bressinger, and Radomir making a hasty journey to the imperial capital with urgent news of treason and dire warnings of treason and the misuse of forbidden magic for the Emperor. The Tyranny of Faith quickly shows us the conclusion of that journey and the start of a new one, as our heroes are immediately embroiled in the high-speed, pure chaos of imperial bureaucracy, traitorous schemes, dastardly kidnappings, arcane horrors and more that derails and frustrates their efforts. As things threaten to spiral out of control and illness prepares to claim one of the party, some disaster might be averted if Vonvalt and his party are willing to give everything they have.

A thrilling, fast-moving sequel that delivers on the promise of the previous novel with an expansive look at the beating heart of an empire on the verge of collapse (and some wild scenes of cosmic horror). There is some quality work done here showing the faults of the Empire of the Wolf, and illustrating the kind of compromises and betrayals that our principal characters make of the proclaimed "societal" morals and ethics that the empire purports to uphold and uses as justifications for its conquests. You can feel the tension as our heroes get thwarted at every turn, as the likelihood of success moves further and further away, and the last section of the book is an unputdownable nail biter.

Easily recommended for fans of the previous book and for dark fantasy fans in general.

Tyranny of Faith continues where we left off with Justice of Kings and it's non stop from the get go, if you loved Justice of Kings, you are going to love The Tyranny of Faith. I believe I enjoyed this book more than the first one as it does build upon the world that was established(Swan's world building is fantastic). It also dives deeper in the magic system that the Justices use and if you enjoyed the use of the Emperor's Voice and Necromancy in the first book, this one will blow you away. The final 20% of the book I had to finish in one sitting, it was that explosive.

I really enjoyed traveling to Sova and learning more about the Empire and the Emperor, but especially enjoyed the political unrest that is occurring with the politicians and the order. No man is above the law, and it was interesting to see the different perspectives the main characters had and the struggles with morality as decisions were needed to be made not only to serve as a Justice and uphold the law, but as a companion.

The character work and interactions was the stand out to me. I loved the interactions between the main 4(Welcome Sir Radomir!), but I believe Helena's interactions with Vonvalt was my favorite. Each main character had their own struggles with this book but they way Helena and Vonvalt relied on each other during their struggles was just next level for me. I am really impressed with how Swan continued to evolve Claver, he truly felt like an evil to me that was growing more powerful the longer he was offscreen.

The only mild complaint I had with the story was the middle quest(while I was reading it) was just okay, it did take up a good chunk of the book but the resolution of that quest was absolutely worth it. I can see people complain that it may seem dragged out and a "side quest", but the ending quickly squashed my feelings about that.

Overall, This series is 2 for 2 for me and where things left off with this one, I will be picking up the third installment as soon as possible.

Thanks to Orbit Books and NetGalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

“One day you will see that men are wolves; and on that day you will learn that you must either be part of the pack or be consumed.”

The Tyranny of Faith by Richard Swan is a phenomenal follow-up to last year's The Justice of Kings in pretty much every way. The rich world building continued to engulf my imagination with vivid details. The tale continued through the perspective of Helena Sedanka is written beautifully, and elevates Swan's prose to one of my favorites of modern authors.

This installment of The Empire of the Wolf takes our characters to the capital of Sova, which is a drastic change in atmosphere from the first book's backwoods villages. Even though the surroundings have changed the atmosphere is still bone-chilling and haunting at times. This in part due to the wonderful character work and world building Swan has developed. I felt like the city was a living breathing character in itself.

“The man who hears but one voice speaks with one; the man who hears a thousand speaks with all the world.”

We finally get the see how the empire runs and functions. There is a great political divide in this government and it's greatly illustrated by the encounters our characters face. With politics comes politicians, and we run into countless different senators along with the Justice's own Magistratum and the inner workings there. Adding the depth of political intrigue to this story opens up the narrative greatly compared to the first book.

“I have never known a road more littered with the corpses of senators, Justices, jurists, and philosophers, than that by which we attempt to convince the common man that his political superiors act in their own interests before those of any other.”

Of course the book is nothing without the wonderful cast of characters. I view myself as mainly a character driven reader, so while I appreciate and love rich worlds, what I'm searching for most is excellent character development. I believe I have found it here – like I said above the tale is continued to be told by Helena Sedanka, and she has certainly grown from the first book. You see her dealing with the traumas she has faced all while trying to fight on and help those she cares about throughout the various trials in The Tyranny of Faith.

That brings us to Sir Konrad Vonvalt, the justice to who Helena is apprenticed and who she will follow to the ends of the earth. He has certainly undergone drastic mental changes in this novel, due of course to the workings of Obenpatria Barholomew Claver from the last book. Our story is still mainly focused on that over-arching plot of stopping Claver and this is really weighing on Sir Konrad's fortitude and mental state. To make the matters worse – Konrad has to do the biddings of the Emperor and the various quests that entails before being able to try and resolve the issue of Claver.

Last of the original trio is Dubine Bressinger, Sir Konrad's right hand man and closest friends. Due to the events from The Justice of Kings we also see Bressinger coping. A very important detail that was shared in this book is some of the history between Sir Konrad and Bressinger, delving into the past for a bit really sheds some light on their relationship and adds a great deal of development to the person Bressinger is. How committed he is to the people he cares for, especially Konrad.

The secondary characters in this book are all also very well done. I'll only touch on a few, starting with Sir Radomir (sheriff from book one) who has joined the main group and makes a great addition to their dynamic. A sorta rivalry/friendship between him and Bressinger. I anticipate him playing more of a role and becoming more of a main character in the third volume.

Next is our main antagonist Obenpatria Bartholomew Claver. We see so much more of his desire and goals in this book, as well as how malicious he can be to achieve them. He went from being an annoying gnat in book one to a real threat and plague that has to be addressed. With his power and influence increasing at a drastic rate.

“The pathway to Hell is paved with good intentions.”

The magic system of the Justice's is displayed much grander in this book, especially towards the end. If you enjoyed the magic from the first book then this one magnifies it immensely. The immersion and ethereal nature that Swan has crafted with this magic system is very unique and I find enthralling. We don't just see the use of necromancy to gather information, but much more deeply and see the effects it can have on people and their souls. Even the emperor's voice is shown differently within this voice.. sometimes not even working as intended.

The Tyranny of Faith shows that Richard Swan has the ability to take his characters and world and amplify them to newer heights. His prose is beautiful (even while chilling at times) and makes the experience of reading the tales of Sir Konrad Vonvalt such a joy and pleasure. I never felt bored while reading this book and the pace moved smoothly with a very satisfying last quarter that kept me turning the pages at a break-neck pace. I am itching for the third and last book of the trilogy, and desperately hope Swan continues to write in this world even afterwards. Five shields out of five!

“Humankind is not so self-terminating that we would allow our greatest quality – that of our capacity to hope – to be fully extinguished. But I shall readily admit that there are times when we are reduced to fanning the embers.”

I'd like to extend a thanks to Orbit books, NetGalley and the author for allowing me to read an eArc of this book.