[Book Review] The Trials of Empire (Empire of the Wolf 3) — Richard Swan
The tale of Justice Konrad Vonvalt, Helena Sedanka, and company comes to its gripping conclusion as war is fought for the survival of the Empire of the Wolf, while simultaneously fighting for the souls of mankind against immortal Eldritch horrors.
Along with the rest of the Dark Fantasy cognoscenti, I too was floored by the first book in the series The Justice of Kings which followed a more procedural detective and courtroom mystery narrative set in a gritty fantasy setting with plenty of violence and the macabre. We follow the exploits of the Autun Emperor’s Justice Sir Konrad Vonvalt and his retainer Helena Sedanka as they solve a murder mystery in the nobility, with more sinister underpinnings yielding to a larger plot that would shake the very foundations of the Empire. The series is narrated as a nostalgic recounting of events by Helena, now a wizened and emotionally weary veteran. The Justice of Kings felt like a cross between the philosophical etudes underlying occult themes a la True Detective Season 1, and the badass arrogant surety of the judge-jury-executioner of Judge Dredd. An extremely tight narrative with enough legalese jargon to sate the lawyers in the audience, but steeped in classic dark fantasy/grimdark settings, made the first entry in the series a new venture in an ever-crowding space.
The sequel, The Tyranny of Faith continues the narrative structure as a retelling of events by Helena, as they follow the threads from the conclusion of the plot in the first entry, drawing them to Sova, the capital of the Empire of the Wolf. The Tyranny of Faith delves deeper into the larger world-spanning plot, as the antagonist, Bartholomew Claver delves deeper into occult magicks in efforts to take over the Empire and impose his tyranny of faith. This novel moves away from the detective noir style into more classic dark fantasy tropes, yet still manages to keep a finger on the philosophical themes of sticking to judicial principles in a world quickly devolving into violence. Throw in classic palace intrigue, coups in the nobility, and good ol’ fashioned epic fantasy warfare, and you have a sequel worth its weight in salt and blood. Along with the trusty sidekicks, the cheeky, resourceful, and frightfully loyal Bressinger, and the foul-mouthed but ultimately good Sir Radomir, the protagonists are beset by the ever-growing threat of Claver, not only in the mortal world but also in the afterlife. There is plenty of extreme violence, torture, gore, and netherworld horror in this novel as Helena is forced to tackle (mostly run from) forces much larger than what can be imagined by a mere mortal.
A chief focus of The Tyranny of Faith is the relationship between the enigmatic, yet still badass Vonvalt and the naive-but-hardening Helena, as she gets pulled through various harrowing and emotionally crushing ordeals. The novel also delves into the budding feelings Helena develops for her role model, as she wrestles between faith, duty, and love, all while trying to survive in a world where death is only the start of your troubles!
The third and final entry to the Empire of the Wolf trilogy, The Trials of Empire is where all the plotlines merge towards the final showdown between our protagonists and the near-Eldritch demigod, Claver as his megalomania reaches new heights (or rather new depths), and his motivations become clearer as the Greater Evil is finally revealed. The scope and scale of each of the books have constantly escalated, and as we reach the endgame, we are thrown head (and soul) first into various locales of the underworld, each with its own motifs and horrific entities. This is where the reader’s mileage will begin to vary. I truly enjoyed the small-scale of Justice, and could even wall with the expanded plot in Tyranny, but surprisingly felt myself spacing out through the sections where Helena is chucked into the netherworlds ever so often only to be yoinked back to the mortal plane with just enough plot-progressing content to get the folks to the next checkpoint. I found the violent shenanigans in the mortal plane much more interesting, even though they followed a much more formulaic path toward an expected crescendo.
As a side note, every single cover image in the Empire of the Wolf trilogy has been among the best I have ever seen in the dark fantasy space. The composition of a chief character with a grandiose backdrop is truly breathtaking and sets the tone for what readers can expect. The Justice of Kings featured Konrad Vonvalt in front of a fantasy rendition of the blindfolded Lady Justice, and wolves for extra pizzazz; The Tyranny of Faith made an older battle-hardened, but still youthful Helena the center now backed by the religious figurehead of the series, the great antlered deer that symbolizes the fore of good. Continuing the theme, The Trials of Empire features [redacted for spoilers] in front of a badass two-headed snake. The question of the significance of this character and imagery formed a nagging question at the back of my mind through most of the novel, but I was rewarded for my wait, and you will be too!
The most striking part of The Trials of Empire was the trials that beset Vonvalt and Helena (now joined by the warrior templar Severine von Osterlen and Sir Radomir) as they wrestle with their deteriorating morality in a world set by unabashed violence on small and cosmic scales.
“Is it ever possible? To achieve good by doing only good? Could we have stopped evil by adhering to all of our rules, our systems. Are we evil for using evil methods?”
This quote from one of Helena’s rants, as she challenges Vonvalts use of “extra” judiciary measures to deal with the escalating threat, forms the central theme of the novel (and the series). We follow Helena's internal monologs as she helplessly faces the downfall of the icon that Sir Konrad was to her, as he is forced to compromise his moral stoicism and steadfast stricture to procedure as he gets increasingly violent to deal with an increasingly violent world. I wish Swan delved deeper into this philosophical morass a bit more, but it would indeed slow down the pacing of the central narrative.
Unfortunately, I was a tad disappointed by the seemingly milquetoast conclusion to the main plotline as war is fought between the forces of good and evil as Claver’s occult forces finally attack Sova, while Helena is thrust into the afterlife to challenge Claver’s Higher Evil master. It was a predictable, yet reasonably satisfying conclusion, yet I felt a tad bit… cheated?! I fully admit that I am so warped by my grimdark sensibilities wherein there is no victory, no peace, no salvation for any character in my stories, that a stereotypical victory feels very passe.
Still, The Trials of Empire is a fitting end to a masterful trilogy, and I eagerly await any project Richard Swan undertakes in the future. He has quickly climbed into my list of must-read authors in the dark fantasy and grimdark fantasy space.
“Beware the tyrant — he clothes himself in the armour of ignorance. Tyranny loves apathy but it fears a sword in the hand of a good man”
Richard Swan is that good man.
