Review: The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan

Title: The Justice of Kings
Author: Richard Swan
Series: Empire of the Wolf #1
Genre: Dark Epic Fantasy/ Mystery
Publisher: Orbit
Publication Date: February 22, 2022
Edition: 496 pages, Kindle Edition
Source: Library
Purchase: Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | BAM | Bookshop | Powell's | Thriftbooks

 

 

 

Synopsis:

   The Empire of the Wolf simmers with unrest, rife with rebels, heretics and powerful patricians who would challenge the power of the imperial throne.
   Only the Order of Justices stands in the way of chaos. 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. In this he is aided by Helena Sedanka, his clerk and protege, orphaned by the wars that forged the empire.
   When the pair investigate the murder of a provincial aristocrat, they unearth a conspiracy that stretches to the very top of imperial society. As the stakes rise and become ever more personal, Vonvalt must make a choice: will he abandon the laws he's sworn to uphold in order to protect the empire?

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 This book was quite the read. More "dense" than I was expecting. A lot of political and religious intrigue. I wasn't expecting the book to be told from the perspective that it is, it's told from the perspective of Helena as an old woman, recanting what happened in her youth in her time as the clerk for the Justice. Her fate in all that's going to happen is relatively clear, but everybody else and what exactly has happened is still a mystery.

 It takes the majority of the book, and you find out as the story is being told how everything connects together. It feels disjointed and rambling in parts of the book, though that feels like a narrative choice since the narrator is an old lady who goes on small tangents, but it's all relevant in the end. 

 Because the choice to tell things in past-tense the fate of a side character was one that I suspected, but it didn't make it any less sad when it happened. Honestly, this author masterfully wrote from the perspective of an older woman reflecting on herself as a young woman. Something that I haven't read from many authors, especially male authors.

 A lot happens in this book, and I think it's best to go into this book mostly blind. This book ends on a strange note, and I am very much looking forward to reading the sequel, which I believe comes out soon.