Book Review: The Empire of the Wolf series
Hello Dear Readers!
Last month I finished reading a series called The Empire of the Wolf by Richard Swan.
I have a lot of thoughts about this series, and I feel compelled to write about it. My reviews on Goodreads don’t do this series the justice it deserves so I want to talk about it more in depth here.
*** SPOILERS AHEAD! ***
I picked up the first two books at B&N because I thought the cover art was cool. And it really is, check it out:
Cover Art by incredibly talented Martina Fačková
The series follows Sir Konrad Vonvalt, a Justice of the Emperor. This means he’s like a policeman, lawyer, judge, jury, and executioner all wrapped up in one role. We see his story through the eyes of Helena Sedanka, an orphan who Vonvalt picked up along his travels and employs as his clerk. The first book, The Justice of Kings, started out a little bit slow, but it lays the groundwork for the whole rest of the series and having finished the series now, I can look back and say it was executed really well. By about 1/2 to maybe 2/3 through the first book things really start to pick up and I couldn’t put it down.
I’m not going to be able to do the plot justice, but here we go. To give you an idea Vonvalt, and his task man Bressinger, and Helena investigate a murder in the city of Galen’s Vale. This first book is like a murder mystery and a courtroom drama with a dash of necromancy in a fantasy setting. It was unlike anything I’ve read before and I really enjoyed it. We get a really good feel for the characters’ attitudes, and personalities, as well as the power dynamic and the feelings between Vonvalt and Helena in this book.
Vonvalt, as the Emperor’s Justice, basically enjoys unlimited authority, he takes his job very seriously as a lawman and works hard to be fair and just. We can see that Helena is a little attracted to him, although she’s conflicted on the matter at times. Understandably. The book ends after a climactic battle for the town of Galen’s Vale, with Vonvalt, Helena, Bressinger, and the town Sherrif Radomir heading off to warn the Emperor of the impending doom facing all of them in the form of one Bartholomew Claver.
(I gave this book 🦞🦞🦞🦞) (Why I use lobsters and not stars)
Cover Art by incredibly talented Martina Fačková
Book two, The Tyranny of Faith picks up more or less right where book one left off. Vonvalt, Helena, Bressinger, and Radomir enter the capital to warn the Emperor of Bartholomew Claver, who is consorting with demons and has access to occult powers that could bring the entire empire to its knees.
The Emperor of course does not believe him, and instead tasks Vonvalt with rooting out any and all corruption in the Magisterium (the organization of the Justices). To make matters worse the Emperor’s grandson is kidnapped and then everything comes to a screeching halt as the Emperor assigns Vonvalt to locate his grandson. Worse still, Vonvalt is suffering from some kind of strange ailment that no one can seem to figure out. Vonvalt suspects a connection between the recent disappearance of the Emperor’s Grandson and Claver, but no one seems to really believe him, and we all think Vonvalt is maybe starting to become a bit unhinged.
Eventually, we learn that Vonvalt is suffering from a supernatural hex placed on him by Claver and has mere weeks left to live. Helena, Bressinger, and Radomir must set off to steal back the accursed books that Claver has stolen from the Magisterium containing the cure to Vonvalt’s hex. As Sova’s most accomplished and competent Justice and Necromancer, if Vonvalt dies, there is no one in the empire who could hope to stand a chance of defeating Claver.
We can see in this book Helena’s growing feelings for Vonvalt, as well as his efforts to keep her at arm’s length to protect her. He confesses to her on his deathbed that he has feelings for her, and he wanted to court her. He explains he will write a letter to be given to her in the event that he dies before she makes it back with the book.
Helena, Bressinger, and Radomir set out. Only Helena and Radomir make it back. Bressinger’s death brought me to tears. It packed such an emotional punch.
Vonvalt dies mere hours before she makes it back. The raw emotion portrayed in this scene was fantastic. In a desperate ‘Hail Mary’, Helena descends into the afterlife and attempts to bring Vonvalt’s soul back from hell to save him.
She wakes up alone in her room and we have no idea if she was successful. There is a letter on the table. Guys. Reading this letter CRUSHED me. It was so beautifully done and I sobbed. (As a reader, we’re pretty sure Vonvalt is dead and all is lost at this point.) BUT, we learn that Vonvalt did in fact survive and that Helena was never supposed to see the letter. But thanks to the intervention of Margrave Osterlern, she now knows of Vonvalt’s true feelings.
They travel back to the capital and we learn that the Emperor’s grandson was kidnapped as part of Claver’s evil plans and Vonvalt was right along. Vonvalt is excommunicated and our heroes end book two on the run.
(This was probably my favorite book out of the three. I give it 🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞)
Cover Art by incredibly talented Martina Fačková
Book three, The Trials of the Empire is by far the most action-packed. A lot of reviews I read said this book feels like it could have or should have been broken up into two books and that the first half of the book feels rushed. I can agree to some extent. There is a lot of traveling and a lot of trying to gather allies, who tend to agree with what feels like a fairly convenient/fast acceptance. Everything in the first two books is a huge struggle, and it’s not to say that there isn’t difficulty involved in trying to recruit allies, but I can see why some readers said that there should have been more time taken to develop that part of the narrative.
Vonvalt behaves like a petulant brat, and gets pissy when people do not listen to him and immediately do what he wants or give him what he asks for. It almost made me hate him in the first part of the book. His character development makes sense though. He was the second most powerful person in the empire of Sova for a great many years and he’s not used to not having his way. Further, the burden of knowing what will happen if he doesn’t succeed, and that he really is the only one who can stop Claver, is bound to make anyone irritable.
For me, personally, the hardest part about reading this book was the character arcs. And not hard in that it was bad, on the contrary, hard because it was so masterfully executed. We watch Vonvalt slip into darker and darker behavior as he attempts to keep up with Claver and give the good guys any hope of winning. Claver is truly a terrible and dark villain and if he wins it pretty much means the end of the world as all the legions of hell will be unleashed into the mortal plane. In a lot of aspects it’s like a train wreck, you don’t want to watch, but you can’t look away. We feel like we’re watching Vonvalt become the villain himself.
Vonvalt and Helena’s chance for a relationship completely withers. Helena is horrified by the actions Vonvalt is taking, and they do get pretty dark. At one point Helena is abducted and they try to summon a greater demon to posses her. She manages to escape, but when she comes around, we find out the Vonvalt has tortured and mutilated her abductor in a horrific way as a result.
Vonvalt insists that he has no choice and that it is better to sacrifice his soul so that the people of the world might live on, untroubled. The whole book is a fantastic philosophical exploration of if you can defeat evil on your own terms.
If you have watched Andor, there is a scene in episode 10 where Luthen gives a speech about what he’s sacrificed to defeat the Empire. If you haven’t seen it, go watch it right now, I’ll wait. It’s only 90 seconds long. … < Waiting > .. Back? Ok, good! I get goosebumps every time I listen his monologue. His speech is, in my opinion, one of the best scenes in film I’ve ever witnessed. The Trials of the Empire is that entire speech playing out.
Taking all that into account, it’s so easy to see and believe how and why Vonvalt does all these terrible things. He’s willing to take the fall to save the world, even if it means losing the woman he loves and his soul in the process.
In the end, they are successful. Claver is defeated.
(Again, major spoilers for the series ending ahead, turn back now or skip ahead if you don’t want to know.)
In the very last crucial moments of the final battle, Helena reminds Vonvalt all the good that he stands for and urges him not to kill Claver in the battlefield and make a martyr of him, but indict him and try him in a court of law. In this way, we can see that Helena really is Vonvalt’s anchor and that even such a great and powerful man as himself has come to rely on her to keep him grounded and not let him slip completely into villainy. We also see the very end of the last book come full circle with the courtroom drama aspect as Claver is tried and convicted.
The ending is incredibly bittersweet. Winning was not without consequences. Bressinger perished, Radomir has terrible injuries that he’ll live with forever, Helena is emotionally and mentally scarred after having to traverse the depths of hell and fight demons, and Vonvalt dismantles the empire and then leaves Sova forever, to name just a few.
Even though I know and understand exactly why Vonvalt and Helena’s relationship didn’t work out, I still wanted them to be happy. It makes complete sense and if it had been done any other way, I don’t think it would have rung true for the audience. Swan is kind enough to give them one happy day before Vonvalt leaves Sova and disappears, supposedly forever. We are led to believe that their one happy day is the last time Helena and Vonvalt ever cross paths again.
End of series ending spoilers
I cried a couple of times reading this book as well. Upon finishing the series, I feel exhausted and empty. I don’t want to say goodbye to any of the characters. I’m disappointed by how it ended in terms that the characters didn’t get the ending that I wanted them to have, but life works like that. And I think any other ending would have been inappropriate and cheated all the major philosophical points of the series. The ending Swan gave us is the appropriate ending.
I cannot overstate how impressed I am with the character arcs. I felt each character’s actions were real, believable, and true to that character. We watch Vonvalt go from hero to villain and back again. It was so well done. I think part of the reason this worked so well is that we’re seeing him through Helena’s perspective which is one of admiration and affection, but at times frustration and repulsion. Swan does this in a way that feels authentic and sympathetic rather than whiney. Helena herself goes from apprentice to unsung hero of Sova. She really is the only reason Vonvalt succeeded, for a myriad of reasons, and her journey is just as compelling and heartbreaking as Vonvalt’s.
I, begrudgingly, also give this book 🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞, because any book that can move me to actual tears, not once, but multiple times, deserves no less.
Well, readers, I know this was a long one, but I sincerely hope you take the time to read this series. It is one I will be thinking about for a long time to come. Swan has inspired me, and someday I hope to be able to write with the skill, finesse, and exceptional characterization that he does.
Till next time dear readers, let me know what books you’ve read that had great character arcs in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you! <3 Tiff
