The Court of Broken Knives

First and foremost: this was a fantastic book. It is also a divisive book. More on that later.

It's hard to compare The Court of Broken Knives to other books. It's...different. Unique. Literary grimdark with a compelling cast of characters in an intricately detailed world.

On to the story.

Many years before the start of our story, a legendary conqueror known as Amrath laid waste to most of the known world. The only city not to fall to his armies was Sorlost, home to the holy Emperor.

In the present day, Sorlost is no longer the great city it once was. Generations without facing an outside threat have made the city soft and vulnerable to invasion. The Emperor is a mere figurehead. The priesthood continues to make human sacrifices, with even their own priestesses killed in the name of their god.

Enter Orhan, the head of a major noble house. He hires a mercenary company to kill the current emperor and most of his advisors, with the goal of rebuilding Sorlost stronger than before.

Tobias leads a small group of these mercenaries, smuggling them into the city to lay low before the ultimate attack. He's competent, logical, and not afraid to kill anyone in his way.

Marith is a new recruit to the mercenaries. He's nearly inhumanly beautiful, addicted to several drugs, and alternates between kindness and crazed bloodlust. I can honestly say that I've never seen a character like Marith before; he is fascinating to read about.

In parallel to the assassination plot, the high priestess Thalia slowly becomes disillusioned with the doctrine that requires her to murder and main innocents.

The main thing that sets this book apart from others is the prose. Take the first few lines:

Knives.

Knives everywhere. Coming down like rain.

Down to close work like that, men wrestling in the mud, jabbing at each other, too tired to care any more. Just die and get it over with.

Target Audience:

Literary prose

Grimdark at its grimmest and darkest