This Ebook was provided for me through NetGalley from the Publisher Orbit Books and the author Richard Swan, thank you very much for allowing me to read it ahead of time.

I want to preface this review additionally with the information that I am not in any real capacity a critic of any repute, but I enjoy giving my thoughts in a way that will hopefully be useful to both the publishers/author and any interested in this series, thank you for reading.

The Trials of the Empire is the third installment of the Empire of The Wolf series, and it feels like it could be the best ending to what is already a brilliant series. I received my copy nearly 25 days ago and I savored every minute with this story and its characters.

The Pro's: The Characters - If the characters hadn't already made you love them, I don't know if this story will do much to convince you otherwise but if you already had an appreciation for them, this story will take you to the depths and back. It will change how you feel about nearly everyone, and, in my case, it was for the best. It challenges what you know and brings about a natural evolution for many beloved people in this story, newer and old alike.

The Story - Obviously this story is meant to be the culmination of the series thus far and in that, the story needed to be climactic and also hopefully bring more to the table than the previous books (which is a hard thing to do given how brilliant they both are) and I'm glad to say that in the same way that the 2nd managed to expand the lore of and bring new interesting characters into the world, so does this one with great stride. The finality of everything feels at the forefront of the Plot and Story and the intensity of it builds so well as the book goes on.

The Pacing - Something that made me nervous about this was the length of the story, due to it being nearly a hundred pages longer than the previous but I enjoyed the hell out of each chapter. Everything felt to a point and if the chapter wasn't pushing the plot forward, it was giving great character moments and adding more to the lore/history of the world.

The Cons: It's hard to say. I really tried to think of one thing I didn't like about this book, and I came up short. The only thing I feel I may have not connected fully with was the full extent of the histories of the world. It does a great job reminding you of the conflicts that existed between different cultures and the religions of the world, but I did feel a bit lost at times remembering all the intricacies. That may very well have been something on me, but I would be remiss not to mention the only real "Con" I can think of.

I will recommend this book, and in-step series, to anyone who likes philosophical darker fantasy with a proclivity for Grimdark and Spiritual elements. I don't want to spoil much of the fun of this series but suffice it to say, it isn't a story I would recommend to the faint of heart. That potentially reluctant note said, the characters, their relationships, and evolutions gripped me through each part of this world. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I did.

I give this book a very 5/5.

4.5 stars rounded up out of fear that 4 stars sells it short.

It’s interesting to see how this series shifted, not just in story, but in tone as well. The Justice of Kings hooked my interest in this world and these people with the concept of Justices, while The Tyranny of Faith shifted the story and delved into supernatural/horror elements. I’ll admit that I wasn’t sure how to feel about the new additions at first, but was hooked by the end of book 2 and needed book 3’s ending to land perfect. I feel that The Trials of Empire accomplished a satisfying end to the conflict.

The world is expanded even more here, reaching out to lands that hadn’t been previously explored, at both ends of the Sovan empire, and the feel of everything grows even darker. I found myself at multiple times wondering if hope was gone and as to how any good could come from anything coming to the cast.

The writing itself is once again fantastic. Descriptive at times to a stomach turning level. The horror element is brought heavier than either of the previous books, really capturing the fear and hellishness of the world and lingering danger.

Endings to stories are always hard, but the conclusion to tensions all throughout the book didn’t leave me unsatisfied. Many ends were needed tied up quickly and perhaps a few didn’t get the full care that I thought they should, but in many ways the end of this story just seems like the beginning of a new one - though I am not sure that is the intention; I sure hope it was.

Summed up, Richard Swan has created and concluded an amazing story. He showed a transformation in characters - some that were viewed only as brave to have their own cowardice, some that cried to everything early on showing the will to push on when all they wanted to do was quit. He found a terrifying balance between horror and fantasy and this will surely go on as one of my favorite trilogies.

Wow what a book. I was happy to get an ARC of this from Netgalley so I bumped it to the front of my tbr and it did not disappoint. I almost want to say this this is my favorite book in the series, but that's hard to say because it is so different than the other two so I like it foe very different reasons. The first two books both had a detective or mystery "case" element the characters were trying to solve which made them pretty unique in the fantasy genre. Guess what this book also has something that makes it unique among fantasy books, but in this case it wasn't a mystery/detective element.

This book is a horror novel in fantasy dressing. And I mean that in the best way possible. In each book Swan introduces more and more of that into the series. By book 3 he is leaning all the way in and I'm here for it. And it wasn't just thr supernatural horror elements that get ramped up here. The violence and graphic descriptions there of are front and center. This is a book about a war on the physical and spiritual planes and the horrors of both are not glossed over. And it's not in a gratuitous way. It's in a gritty way that makes perfect sense in the context and tone of the story. And yes things do feel bleak and hopeless at times. And yes morally questionable actions in service to a "good" is one of the main themes. Is this a grimdark book? Who knows but if you like that kind of thing you'll like this.

So the big question is how well does it end the series? I think it does so beautifully. I was indeed questioning it in the lead up to and during the climax, but the falling action was perfect. The end was very satisfying. And kudos to Swan's writing and characters as well. Setting the plotting and action aside I very much grew to care about all of these people and their unique personalities. This made the falling action that much more poignant.

Overall one of my favorite fantasy books I've read this year and a definite recommend.

This trilogy was one of my favorite reads this year. Swan has created a world both unique and yet familiar to lovers of European history. The characters were relatable, flawed, and so easy to love. I hope this isn't the last we see of this world.

An amazing conclusion to the Empire of the Wolf series, Richard Swan casts a spell in the final instalment with a deep-dive into the demonic realms.

I wasn’t personally getting into the story itself, but it reads easily and feels like it eases into the plot/world, which is lovely when it’s the third book of a series! I am not totally confident it works as a standalone because it’s a bit heavy on worldbuilding, but it feels like it can. I stopped after chapter/part I (5%).

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for the ARC.

Special thanks to Orbit and to Netgalley for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

Richard Swan delivers in "The Trials of Empire", the series finale of Empire of the Wolf. At the end of the preceding novel, "The Tyranny of Faith", much is looking bleak for the Sova and the Empire. The Magistratum is disbanded, instability is becoming more rampant in the capitol city, and Bartholomew Claver and his Templars are getting stronger by the day. Justice Konrad Vonvault and his two followers, Helena and Radomir, have few allies- namely Margrave Severina von Osterlen of Sudenburg and Senator Jansen of Sova. But names alone will not stop the growing enemy host, so Vonvault looks for further allies...in both the northern and southern reaches of the empire.

"The Trials of Empire" involves a large-scale conflict, with the central characters constantly challenged throughout. Helena continues to assert herself as one who can make decisions independent on how Vonvault would receive them. Vonvault himself is challenged with themes of morality, justice, power, and legality. How could one correctly associate justice and power? How could one make the right decisions, when they fall outside of the law? These themes are further explored in this novel, continuing that of the preceding two books of the series.

The book was an exciting read, there was great plot progression, characterization, and world-building (this was what I liked best, with much more lore learned about places outside of the empire). The ending was well done, with the conclusion fitting the overall tone of the series. Also- the series opens to the possibility of spin-offs being added- whether they revolve around Helena or not, there's a vast world with changing times.

One last note- Heinrich is my favorite dog in SFF, along with Beer Mug from Brian Lee Durfee's "The Five Warrior Angels" series. That's another reason why I felt compelled to read as much as I could each day- I had to find out whether the dog kept out of harm's way!

Review is online here: https://www.grimdarkmagazine.com/review-the-trials-of-empire-by-richard-swan/

In The Trials of Empire by Richard Swan, book three of The Empire of the Wolf trilogy, we finally find out what is driving Bartholomew Claver to such great evil. We see the dark fate of Sova and the crumbling of the Empire of the Wolf. Most importantly, we also get to see the fates of Helena and Vonvalt play out across the page. Having started out so strongly with The Justice of Kings, and then followed up with the rare achievement of an even stronger book two in The Tyranny of Faith, my hopes were absolutely sky high–and Swan has delivered on those expectations in spades.

Cover image for The Trials of Empire by Richard Swan (Empire of the Wolf Book 3)In The Trials of Empire we once again view the story through the eyes of Helena, Sir Konrad Vonvalt’s clerk-turned-retainer. Vonvalt is in a dire position as the Magistratum has been dismantled, he and his people are outlaws, and Claver is in control of a significant force of Templars with eyes on the throne. They must span the borders of the empire to find allies, allies who the emperor has spent untold lives trying to conquer and are very unlikely to want to help. And while they travel and hide and hope, waking nightmares haunt Helena, bringing dark portents and promising a far worse end for the empire than just a sword in the guts.

Helena’s life seems to be on the path to a very different, far more bleak outcome than she originally hoped for when Vonvalt took her from the mud and into his service. Her internal monologue first person style once again wonderfully delivers the story, always hinting at more beyond the page, and describing her complex relationship with Vonvalt and the story through the lens of an exhausted young woman who sees herself as so small and insignificant when standing next to the colossal grandiosity of dark events she is a key part of.

The slowly building, but eventually drastic change in Vonvalt and Helena’s relationship is incredibly well delivered. It shows Helena’s growth and Vonvalt delivering on his darkly prophetic words spoken in earlier books. It shows the way that life cannot be black and white, and that good people must sometimes do bad things to achieve the right outcomes for the greater good, but that this also circles back to have a profound impact on those people and their friends and families.

We go deep into the otherworldly side of Swan’s world in The Trials of Empire, peeling back the religious Neman Church’s scripting and worship layers that sit over the reality of death. This theme and delivery was one of my favourite aspects of The Trials of Empire, with the depiction of the afterlife feeding on the fallen of a battle a moment where I needed to put down the book and just take in a deep breath of sheer enjoyment.

Early on in The Trials of Empire, I was missing some of the legal procedural aspects of the first two books as Swan really gets his epic dark fantasy chops rolling off the page in impressive form. Throughout there are ruminations on topics such as the death penalty that give you a high level theoretical discourse on Sovan law and Helena’s views on it, but I did miss the lawman’s consistent procedural aspect and the legal banter that I enjoyed so much in books one and two. I needn’t have worried, however, as Swan did an excellent job of holding it back in a way that made sense in the circumstances until just the right moment in one of the most satisfying scenes in the entire book.

The Trials of Empire by Richard Swan is a morose and satisfying ending to The Empire of the Wolf trilogy. It’s as bloody as Mathew Ward’s Legacy trilogy, as enjoyable as I could have hoped for as a reading experience, and certainly leaves a door open for more of Helena’s life to be put to page. There are very few trilogies I would commit to re-reading cover-to-cover, back-to-back, but Swan’s trilogy can take its place next to The Broken Empire, The Empires off Dust, and The First Law.

This was absolutely amazing. Richard Swan is now an auto-buy author for me. He has done it again and I can't wait to read whatever he writes next.

A lot darker in tone, setting, and characterization than the previous book. Still full of intrigue and questions of morality regarding the concept of justice. Swan always excels at character work.

The ending to any series is most difficult in my opinion. While The Justice of Kings successfully hooked me as a reader to the Empire of the Wolf series, The Tyranny of Faith kept me engaged, it was up to the final book to determine whether this would be a successful series. I am happy to report that the final book The Trials of Empire does in fact deliver a thematically apt and satisfying conclusion to the Empire of the Wolf trilogy.

Our protagonist Helena, her mentor Sir Vonvalt and secondary characters such as Sir Radomir all return to face one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after another. Difficult choices are made, with far-reaching consequences. And everyone is forced to confront the questions: what is Justice? What is the cost of Power? What does it mean to be human? And when one is forced to cross those barriers between the now and the beyond, can one ever truly be the same again. I kept turning the page to find out what happens to the Empire and our protagonists until the ending which felt tonally apt.

It was a very enjoyable reading experience. The writing, pacing, character work and storytelling were all on point. If there was one minor nitpick I had, it would be that some plot points felt a bit repetitive or perhaps a bit predictable given I had read the previous two books. But mostly, it was an engaging read.

The Trials of Empire delivers a very good and fitting conclusion to the trilogy. I recommend The Empire of the Wolf as a whole to readers of fantasy looking for an intriguing story which includes thought-provoking theming around power, justice and mortality through the perspective of a well-rounded cast of characters, especially our main protagonist Helena.

Many thanks to the publisher Orbit Books and NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

"The Trials of Empire" by Richard Swan is the third and concluding novel in the epic fantasy trilogy featuring Sir Konrad Vonvalt, an Emperor’s Justice who serves as a detective, judge, and executioner all in one.

In this installment, the Empire of the Wolf is in a precarious state, and to save it, Sir Konrad Vonvalt and Helena must seek allies beyond its borders. They turn to the wolfmen of the southern plains and the pagan clans in the north, but old grievances pose challenges. The enemies they face, particularly the zealot Bartholomew Claver, wield infernal powers granted by a mysterious demonic patron. To stand against this formidable foe, Vonvalt and Helena must navigate alliances on both sides of the mortal plane, even as these alliances come with a heavy price.

The novel promises a gripping conclusion as battle lines are drawn in both Sova and the afterlife, leading to a final reckoning at the heart of the Empire. With themes of justice, tyranny, and the struggle for survival, "The Trials of Empire" brings the trilogy to a climactic end. If you enjoy epic fantasy with intricate world-building and complex characters, this series might be worth exploring.