The Justice of Kings

I picked this book up because everybody loved it. So I was curious even though the series is not yet finished.

It follows Emperor's Justice Sir Konrad Vonvalt and his small retinue as they travel through the empire and solve crimes. It's told through memoirs of his clerk Helena but the story is very much about Vonvalt himself and, as she often says, fall of the empire. This book is only setting it all up, though.

I was wondering what is so amazing about this book for 120 pages. Nothing was happening, mediocre mystery story that was progressing slowly. Then came the first quality spikes. Two scenes in span of two chapters (I think), one after another, where I couldn't breath, so tense the scenes were. I was finally hooked.

Then the book returned to its routine and then amazing scene again. Rinse and repeat basically until the end. To me it's very inconsistent. There are moments that are on the level of the best of the best authors and then there are whole chapters that are boring. There is one whole chapter dedicated to Vonvalt's opening speech in front of a jury. Like 15 pages of his monologue, going through the case he's been investigating. If you like TV shows Matlock you will enjoy this. I did not.

The good parts of this book are amazing. But for some uncomprehending reason Helena, the main character and Vonvalt's clerk, steps out of her character for one scene towards the end of the book, then back to herself, then behaves completely differently again. It's during the action sequence. I just couldn't understand why would she be written in such sloppy way in such crucial moment of the book. I suspect this comes from one of the first scenes Swan had written for the book and since then the character evolved but he did not adapt the scene sufficiently. That's entirely a guess, though.

Another thing that pissed me off is that the main villain was spared solely for the reason that he could be utilized in the sequel. Vonvalt had him but didn't kill him despite giving him judgment and punishment of death. He's also incredibly one dimensional religious zealot. Another disappointing thing.

And aside from that, what the hell is this?!

“(Knights) smashed bodily into [retracted] and his men. This was no arcane, elemental power drawn from ancient magickal tomes or siphoned off from the astral planes; it was naked force, raw, powerful and brutal. I found the effect enthralling. I felt as though I were at the centre of a storm, the thunder exploding through me, energising my blood as powerfully as any herbologist's concoction. I was filled with a bizarre urge to laugh, as though I had been overstimulated by excitement.”