The Court of Broken Knives (Empires of Dust #1)

Following up on the last adult fantasy debut I read, Age of Assassins (which is from the same imprint, interestingly enough), I'm back with another fabulous new read for y'all! The Court of Broken Knives takes readers into the dark, gritty world of Spark's imagination. Here the title of Queen of Grimdark that I've seen the author labeled as truly comes to light. I actually had to look up was grimdark fantasy was because I'd only heart the name in passing but hadn't really read anything in the sub-genre. And then it all made sense. This book isn't nice. It isn't kind. It isn't all happy magic and saving the day. It's ruthless. It's vicious. It's utterly vile. And I loved all of it. I don't know what that says about me but... well, this book was beautiful. I think the writing is what captured me the most. Spark has a way with words, and I don't mean that as a joke. The words are woven in an almost lyrical way that both increases the dark atmosphere while also tempering it enough to make it readable from a morality standpoint. It reminded me a bit of Jay Kristoff's Nevernight in that sense and it's the kind of writing that I loved but I know doesn't work for every reader so if it's not your thing, this book might not be for you. The story follows four character perspectives, that of a soldier, a prince, a politician, and a priestess. And if you think these characters are heroes then you're not reading the right book. It's rare I read a book where there isn't a "hero" figure and a "villain," where morals are gray and then some, where the characters have questionable pasts and will do whatever it takes to get what they want. Not to be good guys. Just because they want to. No hidden motives to increase tension. No mysteries to give them something to reveal to the reader. What you see is what you get and I loved it. Truly, these characters didn't need to be good because they were interesting and I'd take that any day. Then there's the world-building. Well I mentioned the writing, right? Spark took that writing and brought this world to life with the perfect balance of detail to story. I never felt over- or underwhelmed by the world, nor was I confused by anything. I fell head first into this edgy, gritty world. It's violent and terrible but I couldn't put it down. The Court of Broken Knives is not for everyone. You have to know what you're getting into when you pick up this book and that's a beautifully crafted new fantasy that will make you question everything you thought you knew. There are no heroes here. There are no villains. There are people and the decisions they make, the journey they take, and the consequences that follow. Get this book on your shelves, y'all!

Months prior to its release, The Court of Broken Knives was already receiving significant and consistent praise from basically every fantasy reader that had managed to snag an advanced copy. That in itself, regardless of synopsis and fancy cover design, was enough for me to add it to my ever growing list of books to be read. At long last, I received my own copy and the anticipation was over! It was well worth the wait, as this is one of the most striking debuts I've read this year. If you're looking for an epic fantasy with heroes galore, happiness, and high moral standards this book doesn't meet those requirements. That doesn't mean you shouldn't read The Court of Broken Knives anyways though - it's way too awesome to ignore! The book starts out with a company of mercenaries that are willing to knife their own men in the night if they can't keep up the grueling trek through the desert, so we don't exactly have any heroes in the mix. It only gets more interesting from here as additional characters are introduced, storylines weave together, and situations get progressively worse. Our main protagonist, Marith, is a particularly interesting piece of work. Entire character studies could be done on him and his host of personal demons. He's has the appearance of naive innocence at first, but as the story progresses you realize he's a bloody monster and he'll be watching the world burn to ash before it's all said and done. I loved to hate him and hated to love him and can't wait to read more in the sequel. Anna Smith Spark's writing style is unusual and suited perfectly to her story - I would describe it as elegantly blunt, if such a thing is possible. She details the world, the characters, tidbits of history, and incredible battle scenes with an artist's touch. I could easily visualize EVERYTHING. Whether that is actually a good thing is still up for debate. This book has all the interesting stuff you could ever want - battles, politics, betrayal, attractive love interests, flawed characters - so if you haven't already you should really check this book out. Unless you're only into heroes, then maybe not. Overall, this is definitely one of the coolest debuts of the year. The continual reinforcement of dual natures/feelings was really interesting and made me think harder about, well, life in general. This was particularly strong for Thalia, as she was both attracted to and abhorrent of Marith, depending on which side of him he was showing. Their relationship was an interesting one and I'm curious to see how it will play out over the course of the next two books. Excitingly enough, we already have a cover, title, and exceprt for the second book, The Tower of Living and Dying, at the end of The Court of Broken Knives.