Skip to main content

Member Reviews

After really enjoying the Empire of the Wolf trilogy I was hoping this would up the stakes and the world. Unfortunately, nothing about this story really worked for me. I never latched onto any of the characters, the stories felt all over the place but never had a moment that really pushed me forward or captured my attention. A couple of brief moments or scenes stood out but I never got the sense of the story.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit for providing this arc.
A great start to a sequel trilogy. Greatly appreciate the new povs and there wasn’t one that I didn’t enjoy reading which is awesome. To sum up the book in three words would be dark horror fantasy. I’m excited for book 2.

Was this review helpful?

Absolutely loved this. Such a unique setting, as well as characters. I love the worlds that Richard Swan creates!

Was this review helpful?

Alright well Richard Swan needs to keep writing more and more books. Loved the diversion from his other wonderful series and can't wait for the next book! His characters are written so well that it takes you into the pages!

Was this review helpful?

Really loved this. An excellent continuation of the world without feeling like a direct sequel. The horror elements were very well done and I think the magical creatures/expansion of the world was so cool. One POV I didn't love but hopefully will going forward.

Was this review helpful?

“The spirits are silent. The dead no longer speak. And the world is beginning to notice.”

Holy hell. This book hits like a warhammer to the chest and keeps swinging.

Grave Empire is Richard Swan at his most brutal, most ambitious, and most feral. This is the kind of grimdark fantasy that doesn’t just flirt with darkness—it drags you into it, kicking and screaming, and then makes you beg for more.

Set in a world on the brink of industrial revolution, where sorcery is outlawed and the veil between life and death is beginning to rot, this book is soaked in dread. There’s plague to the north, war to the south, and at the heart of it all—an ancient prophecy unraveling like a noose. The Great Silence is coming, and it’s dragging the Empire down with it.

Renata Rainer is the exact kind of protagonist I crave—no-nonsense, stuck in way over her head, and completely unprepared for the horrors she's about to uncover. Sent on a doomed diplomatic mission to consult with mermen—yes, vicious, brutal, unknowable mermen—Renata is the unlikely linchpin in a rapidly collapsing world.

Swan’s worldbuilding is grotesque and gorgeous in equal measure. Arcane practices and industrial ambition collide. Wolfmen rage through proxy wars. Blasphemous monks whisper of dead gods. There’s something dark under every surface, and not a single soul gets out clean.

The action hits hard. The horror lingers. The political intrigue cuts deep. And the atmosphere? Absolutely suffocating in the best possible way.

This is not a light read. It’s heavy, brutal, and intelligent, filled with moments that made me physically tense. If you like your fantasy with teeth, blood, and cosmic stakes—this one’s for you.

Also, @richardswanauthor, how dare you leave us with that ending. I am not emotionally equipped to wait for book two.

Was this review helpful?

Grave Empire (The Great Silence #1)
Written by Richard Swan
Read by Zoe Mills and Nathaniel Priestley
Book 55/250
Genre: Fantasy, Horror
Format: Audio/Digital, RC
Pages/Time: 464/16hr 35min
Published: February 4, 2025
Rating: 9/10
Narration: 9/10

“There was never a good time to die, but it also seemed like now was a particularly bad one.”

In retrospect, I probably should have finished “Empire of the Wolf” before starting this, however my Libby hold was available on this first. Set roughly 200 years after the events of the first trilogy, Sova has outlawed magic, firearms are standard weaponry, and dark threats are stirring. In both this and “Justice of Kings” Swan does a fantastic job at mixing fantasy and horror into this bloody flintlock fantasy. Action, horror, politics, and excellent character work are all on full display in Swan’s newest tome.

Swan’s work manages to feel both familiar and fresh. The typical European-style fantasy is infused with a Germainic/Holy Roman inspiration becoming something altogether unique. And on top of that, there is no shortage of cultures, races, and monsters that make the world feel fully developed and lived it. I am beyond excited to see what comes next.

Was this review helpful?

I was not certain what to expect when I started GRAVE EMPIRE by Richard Swan. I certainly wasn't expecting a compulsively readable epic tale that includes philosophy, politics, religion, the arcane, colonization, economics, and so much more. With the scope of the novel as large as it is, Mr. Swan's world-building is decent, keeping to the areas you experience firsthand; I am assuming that we will get greater detail about the other areas in future books.

The characters are amazing, though, and make up for any deficit in the world-building. The story is mesmerizing. The pacing is perfect, never too slow or too fast. Mr. Grave doesn't hold back on exposing certain religious hypocrisies or having a chuckle at the FAFO aspect of the magic policy of one of the governments. Unlike some other long epic fantasies, for such a large-scale story, it is easy to follow and to keep all of the characters straight.

And you want to follow. As I said, GRAVE EMPIRE is immensely readable. It is one of those stories that keeps you telling yourself "just one more chapter" over and over again. I stayed up way too late reading and don't regret one second of the lost sleep. If you are looking for a rather unique epic fantasy that reads a bit like a classic adventure story, look no further than GRAVE EMPIRE.

Was this review helpful?

Beautiful, breathtaking enticing and wonderful in glad to have read this and miss the way reading this for the first time made me feel, thankyou for this chance and this world

Was this review helpful?

Many thanks to the publisher Orbit Books, author Richard Swan, and Netgalley for providing me the eARC. This reviews honest opinions that are my own. This title was published on February 4, 2025.

3.5 STARS

Grave Empire takes place in the same world as Swan's Empire of the Wolf trilogy (first book is The Justice of Kings) but hundreds of years later. If the previous trilogy felt medieval, then this outing gives off something closer to early industrial or pre-industrial.

We follow three characters. (A) Peter is a newbie lieutenant in the Sovan Army whose father bought his commission and who is unequipped to deal with leaderships and the peculiarities he encounters in the woods. (B) Renata is a bureaucrat who finally gets a chance to tackle her ambassadorial duties to the mermen when supposed religious zealots make noise about an existential threat. (C) Count von Aldenberg is an arrogant, dirty old man with an agenda that will intervene with dark magics and the precarious balance of the empire.

I found the pacing dubious at times in Swan's previous trilogy, but it was worse in Grave Empire. This book tackled the challenge of keeping up a reasonable pace across three narratives, which should also complement each other. Part of the problem was that I was not endeared to any of the main characters. Peter started out rather milquetoast, but his confrontations with harrowing realities present him opportunities to react and grow. The Count is polarizing from the onset and is contemptible but is at least boldly characterized. I struggled to connect with Renata (or maybe it was her plot arc).

Richard Swan excels in the details and deftly blends the magic, religion and geopolitics. This book was just too much. That is to say, the author took his time with the individual plots to make all the big reveals make sense for the larger picture and for the sake of individual character building. However, the focus was too broad and the cool ideas got watered down. I still enjoyed analyzing how this world has changed over centuries and how the threats in Grave Empire came to be. I cannot wait to see how the three POV characters work together and plots interweave in the next installment of The Great Silence series.

Was this review helpful?

Grave Empire is a blend of fantasy and horror but sadly I did not enjoy the fantasy/world building in this book. I loved the horror elements but it wasn't enough to keep me entertained. The pacing also felt off as certain parts dragged quite a bit.

Was this review helpful?

Grave Empire was a sprawling fantasy epic that gives you a shot of adrenaline whenever it felt like it was going to be dull. There were some instances that lost me due to not knowing all the things of the world but it quickly righted itself. I think this was a great jumping on point for this author.

Was this review helpful?

This is the sweeping first book in a new epic fantasy trilogy. Grave Empire is the beginning of the end. The end of the world, that is. When a pair of necromantic monks face the threat of death in order to warn the empire that the end of the world might be here, a series of events are set into motion. Diplomat Renata has never had a chance to put her skills into action, since the merpeople race she works with are so distant and unimportant to the empire, but the Stygion may be the only chance for the world, so she sets off on a diplomatic mission into territory at war. Meanwhile, a strange plague ravages the north, leaving people mindless in its wake. Count Von Oldenberg, a practitioner of forbidden magics seeking to relegalize magic, dives deep into depravity to profit off of the plague. And far to the east, a young soldier, Peter, experiences horrors beyond anything he could have imagined.
This was a solid book. I liked the industrializing, imperial setting; it was unique, as was the explanation for the existence of humanoid races aside from people. I really liked Peter's horror story in the woods. Renata felt slightly simple in comparison to her male counterparts, unfortunately, and she did have a very silly mid-action kiss. Von Oldenberg was a fantastically loathsome villain. So, in all, this wasn't a book I regret reading, but if I don't come across easy access to the sequel, I probably won't keep going on this series.

Was this review helpful?

this goes deep and dark, definitely for all the high fantasy lovers out there who want a deeply complicated and brutal world. i think i really should have read this author's original series set in the same world, because there was soooo much to catch up on in the worldbuilding that at times it was overwhelming. but this was cool, and following these characters made the worldbuilding not so daunting.

Was this review helpful?

Set in the same world as Swan's Empire of the Wolf trilogy, but in a later, more modern age, readers of Empire of the Wolf will find much has changed beyond recognition, and the world has simultaneously become larger and smaller. The Sovan Empire is being restored, and must now deal with new threats from within and without: mer-people, haunted outposts, and sinister magics.

The story follows Renata, an inexperienced ambassador to the mer-people who has never actually met one, Peter, an earnest lieutenant posted to a highly undesirable fort in the hinterlands, and von Oldenburg, a man who has discovered something perhaps best left forgotten. For much of the book their lives are separate, but heading toward an inevitable collision that has the potential to destroy the empire all over again.

Swan's writing is atmospheric and his worldbuilding is strong (I am privately amused by his use of Esperanto as one of several non-Sovan languages, since I happen to speak it, and undecided whether this was a clever use of a conlang or not.) Linguistic choices aside, this feels a bit like Garth Nix's Old Kingdom, but not specifically intended for young readers. Which is to say, I enjoyed it pretty well, as I suspect I'd enjoy the whole series, but these are long books which probably take a while to write, so I will wait until the series is finished to read anymore. My brain will not recall all the necessary details otherwise. (Do not be daunted by the length of the book, by the way, it is a very quick read.)

Was this review helpful?

Easily one of the best book l've read this year. It is absolutely brilliant fantasy.
The story in itself is a real page turner. The stakes are immediately high, the pacing is perfect and the mysteries are layered in the most interesting way. I really liked that magic is present but must be rediscovered after being banned.
I loved the different points of view. Every POV character is set on a different path, in a different part a world, and it is great for the pacing and the world building. Each one is confronted to its own mysteries and horrors. The quotes introducing each chapter weirdly resonated with me.
The characters are brilliantly written, very human and faulted. There are no heroes, and some of them are not even good people. But they are compelling and even the side characters feel fully developed.
Even though it is set in the same world as the previous trilogy, The Empire of The Wolf, and around two centuries later, you do not need to have read it to fully enjoy this book.
There are references, but it's not crucial to the appreciation or comprehension.
I can't wait for the next book!

Thank you Orbit for providing me with an ARC for my honest feedback

Was this review helpful?

3/5 Thanks to Net Galley for the review copy of Grave Empire! This book takes place about 200 years after the events of The Empire of the Wolf in a segregated and diplomatic world. This leans towards more flintlock fantasy than the previous series. While I loved the empire of the wolf, this book left me slightly underwhelmed. With the change from a single, first person pov to three third person pov’s, I felt that Swan lost some of the character development. I honestly didn’t have an attachment to any of the main or side characters. He has some really cool world building and history but the characters involved just didn’t grip me. The same as with the previous series, this book gets hyper focused and religion, politics and philosophy. With Swan being a lawyer, his tone can get heavy on legal jargon and obscure vocabulary. I found myself searching the meaning of a word at least once every few pages. The first half of the book starts off pretty slow and uneventful but the story finds its legs about midway through and pivotal events start unfolding. I really enjoyed the ending and am fairly excited to read the best installment. Overall, if you’re a fan of the previous series, definitely give this a read. I also mixed in the audiobook as well. Pretty solid narration that helped add some depth to the relatively simple characters.

Was this review helpful?

Werewolves, catmen, mermen riding sharks and Dr Frankenstein in pursuit of a zombie army while the world ends... and they're Duolingo fans.

Richard Swan said "Oh, you like Empire of the Wolf? Bet. I made the bitch larger"

I only miss the creepy necromantic stuff, we had way more in the first trilogy and with this premise it makes sense that is not there, but it was my favourite part.

Also one of the characters is capitalist Claver and that's a POV I could do without.

(Only ten months left for the sequel to come out, be patient)

Was this review helpful?

I was really excited to get back to Sova and Richard Swan is an auto-buy author for me. That being said, Grave Empire felt vastly different than Empire of the Wolf. Instead of first person Helena, we had third person multiple POV. I have nothing against third person POV, and usually prefer it, but when there's a character POV that I'm just not feeling, it tends to make me put down the book more often. And that's what happened with Peter's POV and Grave Empire. This book shouldn't have taken me 3 months to read because when it moves, it moves fast with a lot of dynamic plotting and engaging scenes. And then I get to Peter and I'm just not that interested.

Once again Swan borrows heavily from European history and other literary works for Grave Empire. This is flintlock fantasy, which normally I don't mind. But it's flintlock fantasy with sea creatures and I'm probably the only woman on the planet who just doesn't care about mermaids. This is my not like other girls moment. But for all the build up of Renata's expedition, it felt like the actual meeting was anti-climatic. The pacing felt off and I was just not that into those scenes. I also felt like the romantic elements between Renata and Joseph didn't build organically. As a romance reader, I have higher expectations for my romantic arcs in my fantasy and this one felt shoehorned in. Helena's romantic leanings with Vonvalt in the first trilogy were done much better, so I know Swan can write a romantic arc. This just wasn't it.

Von Oldenburg's chapters were suitably creepy and I really liked how Swan delved into the science combined with mysticism. The capitalistic tendencies were right on point and I really enjoyed this aspect of the story. While the underlying explanation for all the events didn't grab me and I was pretty meh on that part, the actual zombies were cool, creepy, and more interesting than their reason for existing.

Overall, I liked the book, but didn't love it like I expected to. I'm looking forward to book 2 and Swan still continues to be an auto-buy author for me.

Was this review helpful?

Grave Empire was one of my most anticipated reads of 2025, so I went into this with high expectations. I think for most folks, it will definitely deliver.

To start, I wasn’t expecting there to be such a heavy emphasis on the horror elements, but that turned out to be a strength. There’s a ton of great world-building and fantastical elements (yes, there’s mer-men riding SHARKS), along with Richard Swan’s excellent prose. But despite all the things on paper that I really like, I also found myself not really connecting with two of the POV characters and just overall wanting more as the story progressed.

Grave Empire is an interesting book to review for me and I fully accept that my initial reaction might be skewed by my expectations. While I think it’s really good, I think it could have been great. This is probably a case of me needing to read it again to fully appreciate it, so I plan on doing that. For now, it’s a good setup to a series I’ll definitely continue.

7.88/10
4/5 stars

Was this review helpful?