The Emperor's Blades
core novel 2014 Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne
Record
| First published | 2014 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.09 (41,980 ratings, collected 2026-09-05) |
| Page count | 480 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780765336408 |
| Internal chronology | 1 |
Synopsis
The Emperor's Blades opens the Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne after the emperor of Annur is assassinated by unknown enemies, throwing his three children into danger. Kaden, the heir to the throne, has spent eight years training in a remote mountain monastery devoted to the Blank God, learning a discipline whose true purpose he barely understands. His brother Valyn, an ocean away, endures the brutal training of the Kettral, an elite military order that fights from the backs of giant hawks, while their sister Adare is elevated to a ministerial position in the capital by one of their father's final acts and sets out to prove herself while seeking justice for his murder. Scattered across the world and each shaped by their father's private designs for them, the three siblings must survive their separate trials while trying to uncover who killed the emperor and why.
Where it sits
- Universe: Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne
- Series: Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne core; position 1 of 3 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Brian Staveley
Awards (verified)
- David Gemmell Morningstar Award (Best Debut Novel), 2015: won; Won for The Emperor's Blades.
Notes
- From the series record (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne): A continent-spanning empire in crisis after its emperor's assassination, following his three estranged children -- a monk, a soldier, and a politician -- as they try to unravel the conspiracy against their family.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings, but they resolve to the exact same sequence for this book, so one combined line is shown instead of two identical ones.
- Reading order, within the series Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne: position 1 of 3: next The Providence of Fire (2015)
Sources
- Wikipedia: Brian Staveley
- https://brianstaveley.com/epic/the-emperors-blades/
- Reactor (formerly Tor.com): Announcing the Winners of the 2015 David Gemmell Awards for Fantasy
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