A brilliant end to an incredible series. Swan once again quickly pulled me in with his incisive, hard-hitting, eloquent prose, and the ever-escalating stakes kept me glued throughout. The fate of the nation hangs in the balance as our heroes(?) juggle the weight of good people doing bad to prevent worst-case outcomes.

I've always felt that this was going to be a difficult story to finish well, especially with how book two ended. So much was left on the table, and there were a substantial amount of dangling plot threads. I was pleased to see that nearly all were addressed, with Swan throwing curveballs and subverting expectations.

The arc of VonVal throughout the trilogy ranges from lawful to 'whatever it takes for the greater good' and it's a beautiful, sad, and thought-provoking series of decisions that made me question what I'd do in these situations.

The first two books had a smattering of magic and supernatural events, but the conclusion went full-on crazy-town and it was a sight to behold. It was great fun to see just how far the morality of our protagonists could be stretched, and even more interesting, how the repercussions of said decisions were going to affect the world at large.

This is a rare series where each book is more entertaining than the last. Richard Swan has cemented himself as an author of whom I'll read whatever he writes, day one of publication. A truly excellent series, one I'll be recommending for years.

***Thank you to the publisher - Orbit Books - and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

To what lengths would Vonvalt go to preserve the system of justice that Empire has brought? Do the ends justify the means? What price is too high?

All fascinating questions which this series attempted to explore. Unfortunately, the execution failed for me. What began as a mystery ultimately exposed a larger conspiracy; however, the conspiracy grew beyond what three books could reasonably handle.

In addition to the mundane things that make up Helena’s life (following through on revelations from a previous mystery, solving a new kidnapping, navigating a romantic relationship, attempting to save the life of a colleague, debating philosophy and religion), we also have the exploration of numerous planes of existence leading to uncertainty about the afterlife, gods, demons, avatars, prophets, and multiple forms of magic. But that’s not all. We’re also told of this world’s far distant past wherein a Cataclysm created wolfmen in the South who coincidentally become desperately sought after allies and the inclusion of their culture beliefs. There are also apparently mermaids.

Each of these elements when put together overwhelmed what the author did well previously. The background explanations Helena attempts are numerous yet insufficient. Overall, I felt dissatisfied with the resolution of the series.

I want to thank the publisher Orbit and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is the final novel of the very satisfying Empire of the Wolf trilogy by Richard Swan. Since this is the third novel of the trilogy, spoilers will be avoided when explaining the plot. The novel begins after the events of the last novel with Sir Konrad Vonvalt, a necromancer and man-of-law, and his main associate Helena on the run working on a gameplan to defeat the evil religious zealot, Bartholomew Claver, and to save the Sovan Empire. It is a conflict that takes place within the mortal and the spiritual plane, and the boundary between these planes is blurring.

As with the other novels in the trilogy, the author is applauded for creating a new take on the modern epic fantasy in style and substance. The novel has a medieval setting that many familiar with epic fantasy will recognize, but this isn’t your run-of-the mill heroic adventure where you have a bigger than life character- in this case Sir Konrad Vonvalt- trying to save the world. The argument could be made that this is a horror novel disguised as an epic fantasy. The visits to the spiritual plane, afterlife, are imaginative, gruesome, bloody, frightening and at times cringe-worthy like what you would expect to find in a good horror novel.

From my past reviews of this trilogy, the author’s decision to tell the story through the first person and have Helena as the narrator brings depth and substance to the novel. Helena who was twenty at the time of this adventure, now decades older, is retelling this adventure with eyes that may not be wiser but have the ability to re-examine her and Sir Konrad Vonvalt’s actions with a fresh perspective that is now several years removed from the events that are told in these pages. Also, this helps the reader to do the same. It encourages the reader to examine and make their own judgements when it comes to what is a just act when those actions are done to save an empire from an evil tyrant. Ultimately besides being a great grim-dark adventure, it is an examination of what is justice. Horrifying things are done for what is considered the greater good, but do those actions and events make it acceptable to do uncivilized things under the banner of what is needed to thwart evil.

Now, there were limitations to having a first-person narrative that disrupted the enjoyment of the novel. The action sequences on the mortal and spiritual plane of existence were enjoyable. This first-person perspective did give the reader the sensation of what it was like as if the reader was fighting side by side with Helena during the combat scenes, but the first person took away a little bit from the suspense and surprise aspect during the many scenes with Helena in turmoil. Because as a reader, we know she was going to make it out of every situation with her life- no spoiler here- or else she wouldn’t be able to tell us the rest of the story. Also, the other limitation was that minor characters that you may become invested in come and go, and then when they reappear, there was no context for how they got from point A to point B without a retelling when the opportunity presents itself to Helena of what they had been up to after they had left the company of Helena, our narrator.

Still, with these qualms, I hope others will give the novel and trilogy a chance. Richard Swan has created a unique spin on the epic fantasy. He has created a complex character in Helena, and from reading the epilogue, there is a hint of possibly more adventures in this world with Helena that I would be excited to read. The action scenes are creative, surprising, and bloody, like one would expect from good epic fantasy. But more than that, it is an excellent examination by Helena and ultimately the reader of what is considered just and can an action still be considered just, no matter how horrific that action was, if that action was done to defeat a more unjust entity to hopefully bring peace and stability to an empire?

Thank you to the author Richard Swan, publisher Orbit Books, and Netgalley for providing me the eARC in exchange for my honest review. This title will be released on February 14, 2024.

3 STARS

Whereas the previous books in the series had me hoping that Empire of the Wolf would be one of my favorite fantasy series, this conclusion made my opinions nosedive. I suffered through lots of monotony: geography, traveling, and filler conversations while traveling. In the previous books, I reveled in the dark atmosphere and felt such a sense of wonder. Here, that was killed by the author introducing too much. The dark magical horror elements--necromancy, afterlife, and monsters--ramp up and take a central role in the plot. The political and war backbone of this series' plot feels so grounded, but those extremely fantastical elements felt disorienting to me. In my opinion, these reveals would have worked better if more of that information had been spread across the three books with greater foreshadowing or if the series had been stretched further than a trilogy. As it is, I felt the visions and afterlife journeys veered into the abstract and the explanations ran too long and info-dumpy.

What I loved most about this book were the moral and thematic discussions and how they were woven into the character arcs. The stakes are at an all-time high. Vonvalt and friends are determined to stop Claver from conquest of the Empire of the Wolf and from causing mass casualties. But are good ends worth immoral means? Does a noble cause justify abominable actions?

Whereas I often hate epigraphs, the ones author Richard Swan employs are short, snappy, effective, and on topic.

Vonvalt and Helena stole the show for me. When The Justice of Kings released, I saw from other reviewers that the framed narrative from Helena's POV was a controversial choice. I think this entry in the series once again proves how wise the author was in making that choice. Since Helena is not the central decision maker in a conflict with international impact and destruction on a mass scale, it makes her role as observer all the more critical. - Helena observes the other members of her crew who are war-weary, somewhat traumatized, disillusioned with the empire’s justice, but determined to stop Claver and the forces of evil. They bring together allies with clashing interests, values, worldviews, and agendas. How can one person as Vonvalt bear such power and responsibility, serve the greater good, and keep his soul intact? We see even more cracks in Vonvalt's facade; where he was once a paragon of virtue and symbol of good in Helena's eyes, he is now a fallible human.

The weird relationship between Helena and Vonvalt fascinates me. The age gap, mentor-student relationship, and trauma they go through all factor into making their close relationship charged with attraction a bit disconcerting (as it is clearly intended by the author). I enjoy Helena’s internal reflection about it and how she herself feels dissonance between the attraction, the repulsion, and her conflicted feelings about Vonvalt himself as a flawed arbiter of justice. I was satisfied with how this codependent, toxic relationship is addressed head-on in dialogue in this book.

The story ends with as satisfying a conclusion as I would expect for a trilogy. It ends where Vonvalt and Helena's involvement ends but leaves us with quiet questions about the fate of the empire. If Swan was going for an anticlimactic ending based on pragmatic views of governance, then he succeeded.

I have been waiting for this book since I finished the second one. Definitly has a satisfiying ending tieing up loose ends but the journey this third book took let a lot to be desired. What drew me in to the first two books especially the first one felt missing in this one. This book felt like a completely different genre and style and the plot seemed to be moving on conviences then rather cohesive tissue. Still was great to see the characters get their endings. One plot point from the second book that felt unnecessary is handled much better in the third book of Vonvolt and Helenas romance where it didnt feel pushed. Overall I would rate it 3.25 mostly because of how most of the book felt repetitive. Overall loved the series and would rate that a 4 because of the intial journey

A solid ending (I think at least) to a series. Helena, Vonvalt and friends are in a fight for the survival of the mortal plane. This book deftly combines magic, religion and politics together in a fast moving story. Others now see that Claver is the enemy, but the war is bigger than just the moral world, it also intersects with the spiritual realm and Helena is at the center of it all. I enjoyed how Helena continued to grow throughout this book and have an impact in the way that Vonvalt handled things. A bit of the student teaching the teacher moment. There is no shortage of political intrigue here. It is also a dark and kind of gory book. Be prepared for that. Overall, pick up this series if you enjoy political intrigue, magic and religion, and exploring the morality of actions.

Richard Swan's conclusion to the trilogy is just as fascinating and mesmerizing as the previous entries, but I think this one was a truly astonishing conclusion to cap it all off. The brilliance displayed in weaving the story to a tidy conclusion is a big undertaking for even veteran fantasy writers. This trilogy has cemented Richard Swan as a must watch and must buy author into the future.

This trilogy should be on every fantasy readers list and I can't wait to see where Swan takes his career next, wherever it goes I will be there for it!

The worst part about this book is that the series is now over.
Seriously.
This was...superb.
AND I KNOW, I said that about Justice of Kings. AND Tyranny of Faith...BUT THIS WAS BETTER
Somehow, Swan has upped the ante every single book and blown me away.

Picking up after the dramatic conclusion to book 3, Trials of Empire sees Helena and Vonvalt travelling far and wide to gather allies to push back against Carver and try and understand where his power and demonic strength comes from.
The creepiness factor was upped this book as we see more of what lies beyond the veil, and uncover the war that rages there using mortals as pawns...

I cannot go into my favourite aspects of this book without some pretty heavy spoilers but there are some excellent returning characters, dramatic and well written battle scenes, but MOST importantly, a full length legal battle.
OH MAN I HAVE LONGED FOR THIS
For 3 books I have begged Swan to let us see full laywer hat Vonvalt and finally FINALLY we have been blessed!

Worth reading the whole trilogy just for that moment really.

Basically, 11/10 for the book, 20/10 for the series.
Roll on a prequel novella or 7 please....

I am sad this trilogy is over but so glad I had chosen to read this series. The Empire of the Wolf was a great trilogy filled with detailed battles (worldly and otherworldly), struggles with morality and mortality, and great characters besides.

After book 2 Sova is in a crisis and it is the center point for the ensuing struggle for power. Vonvalt and Helena, must reach outside of Sova to find other allies, including the pagan clans and the Kasar who are the wolfmen. The wolfman were an interesting addition to the world and made me wish there was even more exploration of this world. So much of the story is narrowed to just the empire and it appears that there are so many other areas to explore.

Claver is continuing to grow in power to where all hope seems lost. His end goal is Sova and Vonvalt and Helena must employ all their allies to thwart him. Claver has assistance from the spiritual realm in which he has received a demonic benefactor. Helena must continue to fight on both sides of the mortal realm. Helena’s character has really developed over this trilogy and I enjoyed how her sense of justice and right never wavered. She continues to question and search for answers but she tries to always follow what she knows is right.

Vonvalt’s character also shines in this book and he utilized his authoritativeness to the advantage of everyone. There is also another good legal/trial scene in this book which I enjoyed.

As a warning, this series does have a lot of dark violent scenes where some gruesome moments are explained in detail. It adds a realistic element to the story and also shows the mental strain on the characters from experiencing these traumatic moments. I definitely recommend giving this series a try, I loved books 2 and 3 and I am so glad I got to enjoy this world and characters. I loved the exploration of justice and faith as well as the unique world this story brings.

Excellent conclusion to a meticulously thought out, complex, intriguing trilogy. With the grim foreshadowing throughout all three books, the ending was more positive than expected. At the end of this third book, Vonvalt finally returns to being a Justice, after taking a book and a half to overthrow the government and win a war. He also, maybe, returns to being a good person, after setting aside his ideals for the benefit of the greater good. This conflict between optimistic idealism and grim pragmatism is the gripping dilemma for both Vonvalt and Helena throughout the latter half of the trilogy, and it's a thorny, well explored theme. The relationship between Helena and Vonvalt is also very interesting, and not one typically portrayed in the genre. It's good to see Helena evolve in the relationship. She has a pretty self-derogatory portrayal of herself in her narration, so you have to read deeper into how much her companions care about her to find her likable. Vonvalt believed, and taught Helena, that the afterlife contained entities that were not good or evil, just that they have entirely different agendas than humans. In this book, we explore a bit more nuance of these entities, with the Trickster actively aiding Helena, while Claver descends fully into evil insanity. There are some pretty awful torture scenes detailed, and the thought of an afterlife of being toyed with or hunted by indifferently cruel entities is quite dire too. I was glad to have things lightened up a bit in the end!

In The Trials of Empire, Richard Swan brings his Empire of the Wolf trilogy to a fine conclusion. Complete with political intrigue, bloody and epic battles, and inter-dimensional horrors, I enjoyed this. Fans of the first two books will no doubt be pleased with how the author has brought the story to a close.

Vonvalt and Helena’s quest for allies in their fight against Claver takes them to a number of different locales in this world, expanding readers’ knowledge of the various factions and nations that surround the Empire of the Wolf. As our heroes navigate the various allegiances, plots, and agendas (not to mention hostilities) of this world, they must drawn on everything to convince others that Claver is by far the greatest threat not only to Sova, but pretty much every surrounding nation. Given the existing resentments, not to mention the Sovan empire’s history of attacking and subjugating others, this is no easy task.

Swan has a gift for world-building. Not only has he infused each nation with their own character, style, ideology, and so forth, he’s also done a very good job of remembering to include “third culture” characters — those who have grown up either under the rule of others, or who have just migrated during their lives, picking up quirks and habits from different regions. The magic system is also interesting and well-constructed — in the third book, the characters also learn far more about the nature of their gods and magic (perhaps more than many of them would like to have learned, too). I think it’s safe to say that Swan is a fan of Warhammer (he has written for Black Library), as there are certain things that brought that franchise to mind as I was reading — the nature of this world’s gods, for example, and some inspiration from the Old World was noticeable.

The Trials of Empire has a bit of the Return of the King movie (extended edition) about it, too: that is, what felt like multiple endings… I won’t give anything away, but I did like this. Rather than an abrupt of too-tidy ending, Swan shows how the end of a massive campaign/rebellion is by no means neat. In fact, if it’s as bloody and catastrophic as this one, it would have to take years to clean up. Vonvalt’s place in it is also well-handled. And, speaking of “bloody”: the final confrontation is bloody. This novel has a high body-count.

Aside from some minor momentum/pacing issues, this is a solid conclusion to a trilogy. I’ll certainly be interested in reading Swan’s next book (whatever it happens to be). The Empire of the Wolf trilogy should be on every fantasy fan’s radar.

Recommended.

Killer ending to this series. I loved the writing. It was suspenseful and well paced. It definitely leans hard into the horror aspects and I loved that. Dark and gritty and oh so satisfying to finish. I hope we see more from this world. Richard Swan is definitely a writer to watch and follow..

In The Trials of Empire, Justice Konrad, Helena, and their few remaining allies are scrabbling to build a force strong enough to not only preserve the Empire and stop the designs of Bartholomew Claver and his growing templar rebellion, but to also understand and avert what they realize may very well be an apocalyptic catastrophe in the making. Their journey for aid and answers will take them to foreign countries, the crisis-ridden heart of a collapsing empire, and bizarre dimensions barely understood by the human mind, and readers will be swept right along with the action. This is a book that feels like it just doesn't stop and demands to be read in a few sittings, but it also isn't afraid to really dig into a given scene or situation and let it simmer. This was a very worthy end to the series as well, with some great character work, a solid conclusion, and a playful nod that leaves the door open for more adventures in this world.

This is definitely a must-read for loyal readers of the series. Fantasy fans will be more than satisfied with this completed series, and with every book available to them now there really isn't any excuse not to start reading The Empire of the Wolf.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for this ARC - 'Justice of King's' and 'Tyranny of Faith' are some of my favorite books of all time, and this final entry may now make this my favorite trilogy of all time. This book takes a DARK turn, which was totally expected and welcomed. While the first two books largely deal with crime mysteries (the death of Lady Frost in 'Justice' and the kidnapping of the royal heir in 'Tyranny'), this final book is all about planning for the final confrontation between Vonvolt and Claver. While at first I was slightly disappointed that the mystery element was sort of left out, the pure horror and action made this book's book pacing break-neck, and a mystery would detract from that. The first quarter of this book was very adventure-driven, following Helena and Konrad trying to win the support of the wolfmen and pegan armies. I will admit I'm relieved that this only took about the first 150 pages, as I was expecting, from the ending of the second book, for this to be the majority of the third book. I found the relationship dynamic between Vonvolt and Helena to be extremely satisfying! I cannot wait to actually purchase this book to complete the trilogy.

This was a sound conclusion to this trilogy with an ambiguous ending which I quite liked. I did find parts of this book to be quite boring but if you like political intrigue with your fantasy then this is right up your alley. 3.5 stars.

This is a review that is going to be really tough to write because this book is the culmination of what is one of the best fantasy series I've ever read. We tend to overuse this phrase in book reviewing spheres but in this case it truly cannot be understated what a monumental achievement Richard Swan has bestowed upon readers with this fabulous trilogy. As this is the final entry in the Empire of the Wolf story I will of course attempt to avoid any spoilers for those who haven't yet read any of the previous ones.

THE TRIALS OF EMPIRE picks up right where the middle book The Tyranny of Faith left off. The Empire is in quite a state of flux and uncertainty and it is left to Justice Konrad and Helena to attempt to set things right. The problem is they are going against an enemy that seems invincible given the fact that there are otherworldly powers and entities backing his mission. Claver is one of the more fanatical villains you will ever meet and it's obvious that his deeply rooted extremist beliefs take precedence over whatever rational thought once existed within him. Events and circumstances set up perfectly for what was in my opinion a brilliant finale and wrap up of the compelling plot laid out in books one and two.

Again I have to praise Richard Swan for the method in which he tells his story, having a supporting character Helena convey the activity of the main character Konrad Vonvalt. I've mentioned the uniqueness of this delivery in previous reviews but I can't stress enough how effective it is in telling this particular story. Helena serves as the rational foil to the sometimes unhinged Vonvalt. We often experience her trepidation and skepticism of him via her inner thoughts juxtaposed against her vivid descriptions of Vonvalt's sometimes questionable behavior and zealous actions. It's a cool way of absorbing the story and it takes a gutsy writer to try and pull it off, but it works beautifully in my opinion.

This book did so much to justify the reading investment of the first two and the final half of it seemed to speed by for me up to the thrilling and highly moving conclusion. Richard Swan lays out the blueprint for exactly how you should end a series. Every plot thread is wrapped up tightly, the action is remarkably frenzied, characters are put to the test and challenged to overcome overwhelming adversity, and you as the reader leave the story feeling as though you've had every single box checked in what you look for in an entertaining and thought-provoking read.

I do believe that Swan left the door open for more books to come in this universe upon having read the epilogue. I guess we will see if that ultimately happens. Regardless, this is a series that stands proudly on its own as a towering example of how great fantasy can completely wow us and make us feel transported to another wondrous place and time. I for one am so delighted that I had the pleasure of taking this journey. I highly recommend that you do to. It's one that you won't soon forget, I promise you that.

“It is a difficult thing, to have one’s world burned down. It takes a person of special character to see anything except ashes.”

The Trials of Empire conclude our journey with Sir Konrad Vonvalt as told through the writings of Helena Sedanka. This third book in The Empire of the Wolf trilogy is a good ending to a fantastic set of characters, storyline and worldbuilding and Richard Swan should be very proud of the job he’s done with this fantasy debut.

Now since this is the third book, there may be spoilers within this review from the first two books The Justice of Kings and The Tyranny of Faith. Please be warned if you have not read those books already. As for this book, there will be no spoilers.

I’d like to start by saying I sat on this review for a few weeks after finishing the book, to let it sink in a bit. Overall this book I thought was the weakest of the three. However, I still think it’s a good book and a good conclusion to The Empire of the Wolf. These books are not long and while reading this one I had a sort of feeling that things moved a bit too quickly. As if some things were all of a sudden tied up in a page or two when they should have had more development. Characters that were built up to be all powerful and world-breaking ended up being dealt with a little too easily. This may not be the case for some readers and it’s certainly just how I felt while reading this final book. The weight of the final confrontation did not seem to be that heavy and climactic even though it was supposed to be.

Other than that I still really enjoyed the book, still adored the characters and settings. Swan has such a gift to illustrate his world through his writing. Whether it be walking amongst the cobblestones of Sova or in the back country in that little town of Rill or my favorite, the hauntingly eerie spiritual realms. The atmosphere certainly is one of the strongest points of this series. The politics of Sova were front and center here, confrontations with the emperor and other politicians. Definitely moments of not knowing who the group could trust and who they couldn’t.

“It is better to die in service of the law than serve a regime which does not uphold it.”

The character work continued to impress me, witnessing Sir Konrad go from a ‘by the book’ enforcer of the law to sometimes breaking the rules. It really makes you question how far some might go in order to do what is right, even if the law or their religion forbids it. We also got to see some more races other than just humans, which was nice and gave this book more of a fantasy feel.
We got a little backstory on Claver, which was much needed. Sometimes it is good to have a mysterious villain, but it was good to see what contributed to this crazy man. It would have been nice to see more of his influence, but as this is told thru Helena’s point of view that was something we missed.

I’d have liked to see more of the magic system utilized in this book. Another low-point for me, we experienced a bunch of it in the first two and that certainly wet my appetite to explore it more deeply. However I feel we really didn’t get to spend as much time with Sir Konrad as we had prior, this book much more focusing on Helena’s travel and experiences. While I really love Helena as a character and these books are her experiences, I felt we still needed more Sir Konrad.

“Tyranny loves apathy, but it fears a sword in the hand of a good man”

Like I stated above, I think this is the weakest book of the trilogy – but still a good book. The ending was good. Overall I score this a 4 out of 5. I’d like to see more books in this world, maybe a series with multiple point of views. That would really enrich the settings, lore and depth. My absolute favorite parts of the series was the delving into the other realms, more with the demons and the arcane would be welcome if Swan wants to explore more in this world he has created.

Thanks so much to Orbit Books and Net Galley for providing me with an early eARC of the book!

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Man this trilogy rocks. I've been patiently waiting to start it until the release of the third book was in sight and here we are at the end of a satisfying conclusion for the Empire of the Wolf.

This is definitely fantasy horror, more so than the previous two books which had horror elements but less pervasive than this one. I'm personally a horror fan so I loved the inclusion of the horror and visceral violence in this book. I think sci-fi and fantasy needs more of it.

I have a hard time ranking the three books in this trilogy as I feel like they're consistently good but also fairly distinct from one another. This one has a bit more focus with the finish line in sight and a clear resolution to wrap things up which means a lot less side stories but it still holds a number of surprises.

I think if you liked the previous two books you'll like this one and if you haven't you'll like these if you want a good blend of interesting, morally gray characters, supernatural horror, and great combat and battle scenes along with some mystery.

Overall this trilogy has been one of the highlights of my reading year and I highly recommend reading them.

Who knew I needed medieval horror in my life?

The Trials of Empire brings this trilogy to an end and what a ride it has been. I could probably write a 10 page document about how refreshing and unique this series is but I will keep it brief since I've made a deep-dive into this series on my channel!

With The Trials of Empire this trilogy has become a new favourite of mine. While the series initially unfolds as a legal thriller, this final installment transforms the series into a haunting medieval horror-fantasy narrative, delving into dark and chilling depths. Moreover, Swan masterfully brings all the character arcs and plotlines to a satisfying conclusion.

Empire of the Wolf is truly unlike anything I've ever read. If I were to describe this series, it's a blend of legal intrigue and character exploration that turns into an crazy medieval horror tale— it is undeniably unique. The most impressive part is that Swan is able to make the plot utterly compelling and addictive.

My only nitpick is that the final book maybe focuses a tad bit too much on the horror elements, but I am unsure if Swan could have changed anything considering this is the conclusion to the series. Regardless, I will read anything Swan writes going forward!

4 / 5

OMG so good! Richard Swan knocked this out of the park. A must read! Characters and story was fantastic but the world building brought this to the next level!