Seven Deaths of an Empire

Man, talk about a cover pick. There???s a style of cover art that uses the distinct paint strokes to build up the art and get a textured feel that just makes me want to pick the book up immediately.

There???s Roman influences in the structure of the army and it???s the most I???ve enjoyed any Roman influenced fantasy. I just don???t get a long with it. The setting was built up fairly minimally and done through conversation mostly so you built up a wider picture in little chunks. I thought that was a good balance to strike considering how little the setting plays a part in the story.

The dialogue felt overly stiff and formal for how well characters knew each other. And then there were moments when I couldn???t believe things happened for any reason other than the plot requiring it, like torturers giving information away freely while trying to interrogate someone. C???mon man. The character felt like they were mostly just designed to fit the plot rather than having layers and feeling more real.

I had a fun time reading Seven Deaths of an Empire, it was a cool premise. I was hooked quite early on but unfortunately it didn???t end up a hit for me.