Romance raises its head but the actual description of the love that exists between Helena and Matas is decidedly strange. There is a lot of huffing and puffing on behalf of Sir Konrad, and a few fight scenes thrown in, but in essence it’s a hurry there and back again book. But notwithstanding her particular contribution, the book is little more than a horseback ride from one place to another and often back again. Sir Konrad is more than ably assisted by a clerk, a young woman who has more brains than Sir Konrad will ever have. Then to have some individuals grow immune to the voice so that they are no longer affected, well, spare me!
Vonvalt is a Justice and I get that this is some sort of office in the Emperor’s service but to have him shout at some poor soul to make him confess to some misdeed is a bit rich, in my view. It all sounds terrific but to the reader turning page after page, searching for some logic among the various doings of Sir Konrad Vonvalt, there is only frustration.
As the stakes rise and become ever more personal, Vonvalt and Helena must make a choice: will they abandon the laws they’ve sworn to uphold, in order to protect the Empire? When the pair investigates the murder of a provincial aristocrat, they unearth a conspiracy that stretches to the very top of Imperial society. At his side stands Helena Sedanka, his talented protégé, orphaned by the wars that forged the Empire. Sir Konrad Vonvalt is the most feared Justice of all, upholding the law by way of his sharp mind, arcane powers, and skill as a swordsman. Only the Order of Justices stands in the way of chaos. Rebels, heretics, and powerful patricians all challenge the power of the Imperial throne. The advertising blurb tells us that The Empire of the Wolf simmers with unrest.
It weakens the whole concept of the fantasy novel. Richard Swan’s book is epic in size but certainly not in value. Richard Swan’s novel The Justice of Kings is a vastly different enterprise from Ken Follett’s Never, which is an epic tale of the fanciful. If there is no difference between a fantasy novel and a fantastical one, there should be.
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