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Author Richard Swan concludes his fantastic Empire of the Wolf trilogy in this novel, and he both breaks your heart at all the loss and violence, but also gives you fantastic character interactions and growth.

The novel opens with the Sovan Empire in crisis, and the trio of Helena, Sir Konrad Vonvalt and Sir Radomir on the run. They're on the hunt for allies, for what Vonvalt hopes will be an army with which he can return to save Sova. Bartholomew Claver's power and influence grows by leaps and bounds, and everywhere they turn are enemies.

The trio find no love for the Wolf Empire in the north amongst the pagans, and head south. There they find a Doctor Moreau-inspired race of wolfmen, who, while also having no love for the Empire, are at least willing to listen to what Konrad proposes. It helps they have a powerful hatred of Templars.

At the same time, Helena's terrifying visions are growing worse. And much as she can see the rightness in opposing Claver, Helena is growing increasingly worried at the lengths to which Vonvalt is willing to go, seeming comfortable with the terrible choices they must make and the resulting violence. It’s ironic that the harder Vonvalt works to save the dying Wolf Empire, the faster he loses himself. Helena despairs watching his growing fallibility, defensiveness, and seeming callousness towards those harmed along the way.

She, on the other hand, continues to act as our moral centre to this incredibly dark last book in the trilogy. Though she understands the need to stop Claver, Helena keeps challenging Vonvalt for his decisions. Her growth over the three books has been phenomenal, and such a pleasure. She begins, in book one, as a naïve young clerk to the famed Justice Sir Konrad Vonvalt, and idolizes him. In book two, while still respectful, she's beginning to see the man, instead of the icon of rectitude, and asks him not to do certain, awful things in the service of the Emperor. By book three, Helena is confronting her mentor repeatedly, telling him that he is obsessed, that his choices are suspect, if not outright bad, and will take him down a terrible, black road.

It's an astonishing progression and creates much tension and sometimes acrimony in their relationship. All this plays out against numerous battles, where one can feel the bodies smashing into one another, the metal ringing, the black powder explosions, and the blood and other bodily fluid covering everyone, including a terrified and sickened Helena.

The final conflict plays out both in the streets of Sova, but also in the frightening afterlife that Helena has been able to go to repeatedly since book two. While there are victories along the way, we knew from the beginning of book one that the Wolf Empire was doomed, and we were going to see it come apart, which Swan does get us to by this book's end. But for all gruelling, hard efforts we see Helena and company make, we also get a quiet ending for this fantastic story. Story threads are wrapped up in a way that left me sad and satisfied, with Helena literally riding out to her future, tougher and wiser than when she first appeared. This trilogy was often brutal, often shocking, but its ending is the essence of hope.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Orbit Books for this ARC in exchange for my review.

The Trials of Empire was a very hard book for me to review. I am a big fan of the writing and the characters grow enormously as the plot escalates up to this final book so there was a lot to like and love about this series. Unfortunately, I think this book suffers from the same issues that plagued the Covenant of Steel by Anthony Ryan. Fantastic first two books, bit of a let down in the last and could not stick the landing.

Why do I say this about the Trials of Empire? Well, there are many strands in this book that do not quite fit together. We have the ongoing disintegration of the morality of Justice Konrad and him slowly descending into a villain, but the author does not actually commit to this idea and has him come back to himself (somewhat) unconvincingly because of Helena. Which brings me to the next point: they have this intense love/infatuation with each other that Konrad said in the last book he was going to damn the costs and pursue but literally went nowhere in this book. Then we have several journeys that the characters went on which made very little sense. We have to cross the sea to enlist the help of the Wolfmen! Uh why? Especially since only a small number actually came back with them.... Lastly, the ending was quite anti-climactic but I do not want to spoil it for anyone who has not read it yet.

This is not to say that the book was all bad. In fact, it had lots of fascinating ideas/musings about morality, justice, tyranny, philosophy of state etc so it was definitely very thought provoking and the dialogue involving these ideas was so well written that it did not feel at all forced. There is also an event which makes you wonder if Swan was referring to how to handle leaders who break foundational rules in society and how to dismantle a messianic figure. Very relevant to modern times.

To sum up, first two books were excellent, last one was alright.

[3.5/5 stars] Not quite as slam-dunk as the second book, but still a satisfying ending to a great trilogy.

I don’t often regard middle books in a series as the best, but I’ll continue to talk endlessly about how much I loved Tyranny of Faith. And it’s not that the story peaked in that book, as this final installment still had a fantastic momentum, culmination of events, and a great ending. It’s that it had less of those slow, deep character connections. It was also more bleak, not leaving much room for that great humor that tipped the second book from good to phenomenal. There were glimmers of those elements, but they were few and far between.

I liked the exploration of character and morality – a common theme in this series. This really good examination of sticking to the letter of the law vs the spirit. Is it just to break the law when it’s for a greater purpose? And who determines that purpose as righteous? I love how it looked at both sides of that argument and illustrated how it can be used for both good and evil (and a lot of in-between). A nice food for thought that added substance to an already entertaining story.

The main character, Vonvalt (who isn’t actually the POV character, but I still consider him the star of the show) was incredibly unlikable, and not written in a way where you can tell the author is making an unlikable character more appealing to the reader in a “but you’d like him if you could just get to know him” way by showing redeeming qualities. I loved it. As a result, he was one of the most interesting characters I’ve read about in ages. And seeing him through Helena’s eyes made it work even better, as it didn’t provide the reader any means to judge him by but off his actions. It’s such a creative series in that regard, with style and voice, and one of the reasons I’m looking forward to reading more from the author in the future.

If you listed out all of the components in the first two books and told me to pick my least favorite one, it would’ve been the supernatural stuff. I generally like supernatural, but it felt kind of out of place in the first book and took the story away from the legal conflicts and interpersonal character work I was enjoying so much. Unfortunately, supernatural is what Trials of Empire focused on almost exclusively. It was integrated a lot more seamlessly the further I read, and overall I enjoyed it, but my lack of enthusiasm for the story to take that direction might be another reason why I didn’t enjoy this as much as I could have. Totally a preferential thing. Also, I could’ve used more time with the wolf men…

Overall, I’m happy to have read this series and, as mentioned, I can’t wait to see what the author will come out with next!

Recommendations: if you’re in for a well-balanced, totally engaging trilogy with interesting character work and moments of pure brilliance – give this a try!

Niki Hawkes - The Obsessive Bookseller

The Trials of Empire is an epic conclusion to one of the best, newer fantasy series that I've read. The stakes in this final book are at an all-time high, and character relationships have become dynamic and layered in a way that keeps the story engaging from beginning to end. Richard Swan's exploration of morality is balanced incredibly well with the book's other themes of law, justice, and religion. I absolutely loved everything about this book.

This book was honestly a let down after how much I loved the first two. It was just boring. The ending was satisfying, but didn’t make up for the rest.

The Trials of Empire by Richard Swan is the conclusion to the Empire of the Wolf trilogy. It is a very good finale, and a fitting end to the series.

Sir Konrad Vonvolt and his friends are desperate to stop Bartholomew Claver from using the knowledge he has gained, and possibly the demon who is possessing him, from taking over the Empire, let alone the world. To this end, they spend a lot of time trying to convince various groups to put aside their differences, and sometimes extreme hatred, to stop Claver and to save the Empire, or at least what is left.

This was an entertaining book, with very well-drawn characters. It is narrated, as are the first two books in the series, by Konrad's young assistant Helena Sedanka. It is also told as a memoir of sorts, so while Helena's survival is never in doubt, there is a sense of finality and terror that comes through. Other supporting characters are fleshed out very well and add to the depth of the story. However, it is Konrad Vonvalt who is the star. He is generally a good man bent on serving justice, but he is willing to do whatever it takes for that justice to be served.

I enjoyed The Trials of Empire by Richard Swan, as I did the whole series. I would recommend it to fans of fantasy mixed with horror (a little too much horror for my tastes).

I received a preview copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The final installment in the Empire of the Wolf trilogy offers all the things to love in the the previous two books with a whole lot more intensity and brutality. The group of protagonists take on insurmountable odds to save the Empire of the Wolf to falling into the hands of Claver. The antagonist Claver and his demonic allies bring truly frightening horror elements and epic battles. Every novel in the trilogy has expanded the world and magic system in fascinating ways. This was a very satisfying finale to a series that has taken us on quite the journey. I highly recommend The Trials of Empire and the entire Empire of the Wolf trilogy to fans of epic fantasy.

Empire of the Wolf is easily one of my favorite fantasy series ever and Trials of Empire stuck the landing. An easy 5 stars.

This is a grim dark fantasy series with a German inspired medieval setting. The first of the trilogy, Justice of Kings, begins about a generation after the founding of the Empire of the Wolf and follows Sir Konrad Vonvalt, a Justice, who roams the empire and enacts the emperor’s Justice. He is essentially a medieval lawyer, but with magic. The story is told from the perspective of Helena, his clerk and protégée looking back on the events from many years in the future. They and a host of side character begin to investigate a murder, but in the process unearth a larger conspiracy.

The magic system is definitely one of the coolest out there. One of the best parts of this series is learning more about it as the world expands, but essentially the Justices have access to arcanum that teach them how to wield different powers which allow you to do things like command people with your voice and speak to the recently dead. But these powers are dangerous and somehow tied to the afterlife. It is creepy and horrific and so fun read.

I can’t say too much about the plot of this specific installment so as not to spoil the series, but one of the many things this trilogy does well is that each book builds on itself and becomes larger and larger in scope.

And we haven’t even gotten to my favorite part, the characters and their arcs and dynamic. I honestly can’t remember the last time I ended a book and was emotionally distraught because I would miss the characters so much.

This series asks the questions, how far do you go to do what is right? And, is it still right if you have to do bad things to get there? Watching the characters trying to figure this out is harrowing.

There is also a type of love between Helena and Vonvalt that I could not get enough of. This dynamic could have easily been creepy, but the author handled it beautifully in my opinion.

I love Helena and her dry wit and her philosophical contemplations. I love Vonvalt and his pretentiousness and sincerity. And I love all of the side characters and their quirks including Heinrich 🐶. This made it all the more devastating to watch them go through what they did.

I will miss them all dearly and I am begging Richard Swan to give us more.

Thank you Orbit and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy.

Final Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Sir Konrad and Helena may have dealt a brutal blow to the plans of their enemies, but that doesn't change the fact that the Empire of the Wolf is on the verge of collapse. With an army marshalling to march on the capital of Sova, Konrad knows that the imperial army won't be enough against a force empowered by demonic magiks. He and Helena must try to gather what allies they can before finally making a stand to defend the empire - or at least, what's left of it.

THE TRIALS OF EMPIRE is a bleak but rewarding finale to a series that has been building towards a clash of monumental scale since book one. Readers of the series may recall that THE JUSTICE OF KINGS, book one in the trilogy, announced in its opening pages that by the end of the account, the Empire of the Wolf will have fallen. After spending THE TYRANNY OF FAITH watching the tragedy of Sir Konrad, Helena, and their allies trying in vain to stop dominos from toppling, we are at the crux of events that will define the fate of that empire.

It's not a happy book. It's gruesome, gory, and brutal, with one or two scenes I would like to scrub from my brain. And yet it's exactly the kind of book where the stakes are so well done, I was constantly driven to pick it up. This is especially true of the second half of the book, when the focus is on the struggle for control of the city of Sova. It's not just enemies outside the walls our heroes have to contend with, but also enemies within, as well as allies jockeying for whatever power they can gain in these desperate times.

It is certainly wearying to see the daunting task ahead of the characters, especially when they themselves are bone tired from the sheer exhaustion of trying to find the narrow path to victory Throughout it all, there's a constant interrogation of what methods are justifiable when it looks like good is about to be crushed by overwhelming evil. Are evil methods, while still evil, permissible if they stop a greater evil? If they spare thousands of others from death or torment? Do you risk becoming the thing you are trying to stop?

Helena herself has certainly grown since we first met in her THE JUSTICE OF KINGS, and I appreciated the ways in which she tried to hold Sir Konrad accountable in his actions, questioning him often. At the same time, I found myself throughout the book grappling with my feelings about Helena as a character, but maybe I'm meant to. She's a particularly ordinary young woman thrust into extraordinary events, caught up in the orbit of a man she has an unhealthy emotional relationship with. What little training she has is in law, not martial arts, and she can barely defend herself when the need arises. Powerful forces work around her and she is trying her best to simply stay alive. At times, I found myself wishing she was more capable in combat, a more traditional fantasy heroine instead of one that constantly needs rescuing.

But perhaps what makes Helena extraordinary is that even caught up in events that are largely out of her control, faced with near certain destruction, she keeps on keeping on. She doesn't have might or magic, but she is the one who stands in the room and points to the moral line, who pushes back against things that are easier but aren't right. When hope is lost, she will still try to save just a few more lives. I don't know that Helena will ever be my favorite character, but I have certainly grown to respect her over the course of the series.

The one critique I have of THE TRIALS OF EMPIRE is minor and comes down more to preference. I've liked the more subdued fantasy nature of this series; while THE TYRANNY OF FAITH definitely increased our heroes' interactions with the realms of death and beyond, it still felt like a grounded story with gothic horror elements. But in this final battle, the magical stakes have cranked to eleven as incredibly powerful beings are interested in the outcome of the struggle, leading to one or two moments that felt a bit deus ex machina. I, however, was far more interested in the mortal struggles than the cosmic ones, though the two are intrinsically linked.

THE TRIALS OF EMPIRE has cemented the EMPIRE OF THE WOLF trilogy as a gripping read that fully pays off in the end. One small incident in a backwater town creates ripples that shake the foundations of an entire nation. I was absolutely engrossed in watching Konrad and Helena try to build a bulwark against the approaching tidal wave of destruction, both politically and militarily. I have to reiterate that there is much in this book that is not for the faint of heart, but if you are here for bloody and brutal strife, THE TRIALS OF EMPIRE will reward you.

Note: I was provided a free ARC by the publisher in exchange for my fair and honest review.

Swan finalises an excellent trilogy here. It feels something new and fresh in the genre, while still hitting all the hallmarks of a classic. This is very dark, maybe the darkest of the three, the horror is embraced here but it really adds to the story and the situations of the characters. I cant go too much into the plot for risk of spoilers, but this book is plot heavy, and so much happens it was a whirlwind! There were even some twists that i did not expect and really kept me on my toes. I love the aspects of morlity and philosophy that run throughout the series and this book was no different in that. The flow wasn’t the smoothest, the pacing felt a tad disjointed, with the second half feeling faster than the first, and I’m not 100% sold on the ending. But ultimately a good last book to the series and worth the read for sure

While I really enjoyed the first book of the series, the second and third (this book) were somewhat disappointing. The characters were fine as many of them were the same as the first book, but the second two books just seemed so much more a slog. A lot of words for not much happening. This book had the characters travel to a far away land to meet another species just to set up a few pages at the end. Much of it just seemed a bit ridiculous and the book could have been much shorter and told the same essential story.

This is a solid end to a solid trilogy. I would say that this will keep me on the lookout for any other books that this author may write in the future. If you have already reach to the third book, then there a good chance you already like the first two and I see no reason why you wouldn’t like the third. Like I said before I’m interested into what else this author has planned.

I received an eARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley.

This really brings everything full circle and packs a punch, wrapping up the trilogy. The way things were unraveling through the last book and a half or so, I didn't expect the ending to satisfy, but was surprised that it wrapped up the story pretty well.

On finishing the first book of the trilogy and sampling the opening chapters of this one, I've decided not to finish the rest of the books. It's a fine novel with an interesting world, but sadly doesn't fit my tastes as much of mainstream Fantasy these days. Vonvalt was the highlight of the book for me, but the story doesn't grab me, nor does the world this is set in either.

I cannot believe I've finally finished the series. This last instalment did not disappoint. The book picked up right where it left off in The Tyranny of Faith. Compared to the other two books in the series this book was a constant anxiety rollercoaster. It wasn't till the end of the book that I finally felt I had a moment to breathe. This series started out as a medieval fantasy thriller and ended as a medieval fantasy horror.

Claver is now in my top 3 favorite villains. I don't think I would've loved the series as much as I did had he not been such a strong character. Yes, he was completely unhinged but in a way I could understand why he was doing the things he was doing. The final battle with Claver was even better than what I had imagined it would be. Vonvalt was really put through the ringer by Claver's plans. I loved that Vonvalt had his morals and ideology shaken up by Claver and as a reader you were constantly guessing which version of Vonvalt we were going to get. I'm not going to lie but Helena did annoy me for most of the book. I understand her reasoning and her feelings towards Vonvalt but by the end I just wanted her to shut up about them. Still loved her entire character arch, I was just done with her whinging. The real hero of the book was my boy Heinrich! The amount of times that dog had to SUFFER had me ready to just kill everyone! I don't think I've ever read a book with a dog that I've loved as much as Heinrich. He really was the MVP haha I was constantly looking forward to every scene with him in it.

My only gripe with this book is that too much happened in a small amount of pages. I think I would've preferred this book to have been broken up into two. Then I wouldn't have felt like everything was going way too fast. Overall I absolutely love this book and series. I'd definitely recommend it if you're a fan of political high fantasy and medieval horror. This is a series I'll be reading over and over again. Richard Swan is now on my list of authors that I will blind buy any and every book he puts out. I'm so happy I read this series.

Empire of the Wolf #3. This one was really, um, loud. All that plot buildup from the previous 2 books leads to quite the crescendo, and a very long one at that. The first in the series read rather like a medieval murder mystery with just touches of the arcane. The second concentrated on the dark fantasy elements. This one is about going to war and then the battle, and the question, not only of who will win, but what will be the cost - including to Sir Vonvolt's and Helena's very souls. So the story is basically our heroes trying to get as many allies as possible, and then on to war, crash, bang, slash and wham. Destruction everywhere no matter which realm they're in. Sir Vonvolt is sure of his decisions while Helena, as usual, is not, and is increasingly more horrified as events progress. It definitely does all come together with a minimum of loose ends. You won't be as exhausted as the characters, but you'll definitely get a workout. Recommended only for those who have read the first two.

As many before me have said - Richard Swan stuck the landing. This final entry into the Empire of the Wolf trilogy brought us to the completion of the story with intensity and strength. The character growth and development were exceptional. I kept thinking how interesting it was that the narrator was later in life but yet was narrating herself as a 20-year-old. We saw the immaturity and lack of confidence of a 20-year-old but it was told with the gentle empathy and honesty of one looking back at their own life.

While overall this book was exceptional, I did have one sticking point. The first 40% was a bit of a calm before the storm. The story itself was not calm, but it didn't have the intensity of the rest and was hard to get through. I found myself only reading a handful of pages before getting distracted by other things.

Also, note that the supernatural horror aspects were very prevalent in this book. My favourite book in the series is still The Justice of Kings. The trial and law aspects of that book were exceptional, and Richard Swan's own experience as a lawyer shone through. While I was not opposed to the supernatural horror aspects, it wasn't what I had expected when I started (and finished) The Justice of Kings.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for a digital advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The Trials of Empire was a satisfying ending to this trilogy. If you liked the first two books, I don’t see why you wouldn’t enjoy this one too.

This installment was an action packed finale to Helena and Vonvalt’s story. I will say that I liked this book the least in the series. As much as I wanted to jump on the hype train and love this series, all three books were pretty average for me. My biggest complaint is that I never connected with Helena as a character, I think I would have enjoyed the story more of it had been told through Vonvalt’s perspective. That said, this is a very popular fantasy series that I think most readers would enjoy.

THE TRIALS OF EMPIRE has dynamic dialogue that comes to life, smooth narrative and unintrusive world building, with a focus on justice versus injustice, morality versus immorality, while raising questions of who decides life and death, what is considered just death, when revenge is righteous. Though this isn’t quite the book for me, I would recommend to fans this fantasy fans who enjoy in-depth words and political intrigue.