Unfortunately due to other commitments and time pressures, I was not able to read and review this book in time for the publishing date.

My apologies.

This is the first instalment in the Empire of the Wolf series.

Sir Konrad Vonvalt is the voice of the Emperor and the most feared Justice of all. He uses an iron rule, clever intellect and arcane powers to keep the furthermost reaches of the empire into upholding the law and enacts harsh punishments on those who break the rules.

Helena Sedanka is his talented protégé. She was orphaned in the war and Konrad has become her only family and solace. She knows only the ways he teaches her but she is growing to have a mind and free will of her own. When they uncover a murder plot that begins a conspiracy that will shatter all she thought as just and wright, the strength of their bond and the trust in the empire will be stretched to breaking point.

This was heavy on the politics but still such a fast-paced read and one I thoroughly enjoyed. Helena's mind was astute and her insights to all that they uncovered were endlessly interesting. I loved her explorations of both the geography of the lands and the political upheavals ravaging it.

Those who prefer mysteries and thrillers to fantasy novels will find much to love here as I found this a wonderful blend of the two with as much to puzzle out plot wise as there was to explore in these rich new lands.

The last time I was as impressed with a fantasy series as good as this was probably when I first read Robin Hobb and G. R. R. Martin. This is epic fantasy, bordering on grimdark at times, or perhaps more accurately horror; there is an eldritch Lovecraftian aspect that builds in a fabulously unsettling way throughout the trilogy.

This first book also incorporates a great 'police procedural' vibe as our narrator Helena helps her mentor, the charismatic Sir Konrad Vonvalt, investigate first an illegal ritual of a banned religion, and then a murder. There's a slow build (but I was never bored) and as you can imagine, absolute chaos ensues.

I could go on about how clever this is, as well as entertaining, but you should really just read it.

(ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley)

This book is so incredibly well written, that I struggled to read it, as the hurts and sorrows that come the main characters ways felt at times nearly unbearable and I stopped reading this book and setting it aside for a while more than once.
With the chosen narrative perspective of looking back at things that happened a while ago, a distance is introduced that allows the author to distill the story to perfection.

And what a story it is, of meting out justice and finding forces opposing the King's justice who have their own agenda and have become a force within the realm that have to be reckoned with.

And now to book two.

no man is above the law."









This book is the first in a fantasy trilogy, with Sir Konrad Vonvalt the main protagonist, a detective, judge and executioner all in one.





As an Emperor's Justice, Sir Konrad Vonvalt always has the last word. His duty is to uphold the law of the empire using whatever tools he has at his disposal: whether it's his blade, the arcane secrets passed down from Justice to Justice, or his wealth of knowledge of the laws of the empire. But usually his reputation as one of the most revered—and hated—Justices is enough to get most any job done. When Vonvalt investigates the murder of a noblewoman, he finds his authority being challenged like never before. As the simple case becomes more complex and convoluted, he begins to pull at the threads that unravel a conspiracy that could see an end to all Justices, and a beginning to lawless chaos across the empire.





The story sounded promising when I requested the arc. But boy did it fell flat and boring.





This book was not what I expected, it was a weird mixture of politics, monarchy, war and religious zealots. Not an intriguing Sherlock Holmes type intriguing mystery solving expedition, as it was marketed as.





Although the main characters is Konrad, but the book of fully narrated by Helena his scribe…. Who was interesting at one point but than she just becomes this dumb insta lovey person making weird choices. And her relationship with Konrad is also described in a weird way at one point in the book.





Konrad himself was dumb dull old board. At one point his "omg Law is the best!!! Law shall prevail", when everything in the book was going to chaos, because annoying. And he was adamant that law will win. I wanted to stab him. He just wouldn't get his head out of his ass too actually see the world was going to hell and he should actually get a move on.





There is supposed to be magical elements; but it's just this weird thing called emperor's voices that's leaves everyone in fear and they talk, but than random people can also be immune to it?? And some necromancy power where u can talk to a person who just died. Idk bleh. Tbh such a convenient power when investigating murder.





The whole 80% of the book was about solving this murder, and man it's was boring as heck with nothing exciting whatsoever. Atleast Sherlock Holmes is exciting.





The other 20% is about a religious zealots who the stupid mc doesn't even take seriously till 99% of the book.





So yeah all in all this adds to 100% stupidity and tedious-ness of a book which ends in chaos and zero satisfaction? And i wasnt a fan i have no idea how its getting 5/5 stars all around but thats the world hmm.









Thankyou so much for orbit books for providing me with an advanced readers copy.

Although this took me a short while to get into, once I was in, I was all in! I thought the exploration of justice, morality and the law and how they don't always coincide was really interesting. I also enjoyed the sparing use of magic, giving just enough hints to show a wider magical system, without getting bogged down within it. Vonvalt is a fascinating character and his progression through the narrative was very intriguing. I could have done without some of the teenage angst from Helena and Matas, but overall, this was a very accomplished and compelling first book in what I feel will be an excellent series.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

4 Stars

Honestly I've been putting this book off for the longest time, I was low key scared to read this because I wanted to love it and luckily I had such a great time with this one!

That ending has me so eager for book 2!

The Justice of Kings explores how even the smallest places and the most seemly ordinary of events can run far deeper than they seem and be part of the falling of an empire.

Set in a world where years of war, finally created an Empire. Justice’s were created to maintain peace and act as roaming lawman, investigating and judging those who break the law. Their power is second only to the Emperor.

Our narrator, the Justice’s clerk, reflects back on the events and investigation of a crime within one of the empire’s small towns. What starts off as a simple murder investigation quickly becomes a threat to the entire empire. With everything the Justice holds dear being twisted and chaos and rebellion stirring will the Justice remain true to his beliefs ?

I’m hooked, I can’t wait to dive into book 2 and find out more about the world, the characters and the events which are about to unfold.

This is a solid book, and I really think that we need more mysteries and fantasy molded together. This is one of the main reasons I read urban fantasy, but I'd love to see more mysteries with a more "standard" fantasy setting. So far I have read two books like this, and one of them it's this one, and I think that, in both cases, my expectations hindered me instead of helping me. Because both books were solid, with a lot of good things going on for them, and still, there was something lacking for me, to let me enjoy the story as much as I wanted.
I can't really pinpoint what didn't work for me, here, or better, I can tell you that my main problem with this book was the characters, but I can't really say what went wrong here. I liked them, and I really enjoyed reading the story with Helena's voice narrating it. Helena is an interesting character, and she is an interesting choice as a narrator, too. And Sir Konrad is fascinating, too. But I think that my favorite was the one that we see a tad less, Dubine. I wished for a bit more of him around, and to learn more about him, but this is not what didn't work. The problem was that even if I enjoyed the characters, I wasn't as invested in them as I need to fully enjoy a story and to fully immerse myself in the book.
And it was a shame because there were so many good things in there: we have a layered plot, with politics, on so many levels!, intrigues, a mystery or two, and a lot of actions, too. And I loved to see that women and men alike can be Justice, and soldiers and whatever. It was fascinating, and I enjoyed it, even if it wasn't 100% the right fit for me, and I can recommend it to everyone who loves politics, mysteries, and original books!

A really engaging and interesting book, it keeps you hooked because of its unpredictability and hence its an enjoyable read. I really loved the varied characters and their different arcs which bought the story together in the best way.

A great debut from Richard Swan. Set in a pseudo Eastern Europe the world building is fabulous, with unique magic, political machinations, exceptional characters who you really care about, all set against a background of religion and murder. What else could you ask for? The start of a great new fantasy series. Richard Swan is a fantasy name I’m sure we will be hearing a lot of ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of five.

A murder mystery against the backdrop of an epic fantastical world and supported by political and religious chaos. While the plot intrigues and the dark secrets hold attention, the emphasis on law and duty surprisingly —and unfortunately— weighs down the enigmatic characters. Though, the investigative fantasy continues to engross and the selective usage of brutality and gore makes it a calculative, focused story determined to run on the fuel of characters and their motivations instead of the cliches of an adult fantasy. The narrator would be a hit or miss for others but was a pretty-close bullseye for me. Will definitely seek the sequel.

Sir Konrad Vonvalt and his team investigate a lady's murder in a seemingly unassuming town; but it leads to a bigger threat than they could have imagined.

I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Despite the blurb for the book being all about the Emperor's Justice, our narrator is actually his scribe, a nineteen year old woman called Helena.
Helena is the only girl in the team, which has been travelling around the country for two years, checking laws have been upheld and providing justice where necessary. It's rare for women to be a part of a Justice's entourage, but Helena is smart, and you get the feeling that she could be a Justice herself one day.
But she is here primarily to regale us with the deeds of Vonvalt.

I liked the world-building and the magic system in this book.
I thought they were well thought out, and shown in a way that never felt like an info-dump.
I thought the Emperor's Justice system was original and very interesting. In the beginning, as we only have Vonvalt as an example, they come across as noble and just. Vonvalt can be swift and merciless, but he's also forgiving for milder crimes.
As the book goes on, his order is still portrayed as a beacon of good, but it's acknowledged that individuals are prone to human weakness.

My biggest issue with this book was the pacing, and constant spinning over the same few dreary details. Yet Helena kept remarking that "shit was about to hit the fan"... but no, really, peace is about to explode dramatically. Yes, we're continuing the same drivel, but things are really going to get fucked up!
It took me two months to finish this book, when I normally read a book this length in a week! I was tempted to DNF several times, but I noticed a few other reviewers that had the same issue, said that it picks up later on.
And it did. Eventually.

I think from when it becomes clear that a certain-somewhere is involved, things start to kick up a gear.
I really started to like our narrator Helena, when she started operating with some independence to the others.

I personally thought that the momentum dropped towards the end.
Yes, there are some big moves going on, but most of it is a bunch of guys posturing, which dampened down the effect.
Because everything was so drawn out, I found it hard to connect with any characters except Helena, so it was hard to feel invested in the result.

The book is well-written, but I just don't gel with the story-telling style.
I won't be continuing the series, but I wouldn't dissuade others from giving it a go.

The Justice of Kings is the first book in the Empire of the Wolf trilogy. I had this on my TBR pile before finally picked it up and I can't believe it took me this long to get to it. This was a fantastic introduction to this world. The characters are so well written, the world is a vivid one and the plot is compelling throughout. I highly recommend checking this book out and I can't wait for the sequel to come out.

Received arc from Little Brown Book Group UK and Netgalley for honest read and review,and this view is my own.
I really enjoyed this one, my favourite character was Helena who for me, was better than Vonvalt.
A good start,that for me will need to be more about Helena.
Quite brilliant at times, and also brutal as well.
It did take a while to get into, and was a bit of a slow burner,but all in all It was a good read.

I'm sorry, I really wanted to love this but I just can't get into it.

I've tried starting over a few times but I think this time it just isn't for me.

Unfortunately it's a DNF for me this time.

4.5/5

"Powerful men are closer in mind to wild beasts than they are to their supposed human inferiors."

Sir Konrad Volvat is a magistrate of the emperor, with the role of detective, judge and executioner to bring the Emperor's Justice to the empire. Although we follow his story as he solves crimes in a couple of cities, the narrator is Helena, his secretary/assistant/apprentice. The characters are interesting, with a very somber touch, although I did find Volvat's personality irritating at times.

The atmosphere of the novel is immersive, and goes very well with the dark personality of our characters, and somehow I imagined almost everything in gray. This does not imply that I was bored, on the contrary, but it gave me that "grey" feeling. The way it's written had me hooked from start to finish, and coupled with the super interesting plot of the story, it made for a book I couldn't stop reading.

The descriptions are quite meticulous, although the magic system is not entirely clear. Since it is a trilogy, I hope that in the following books they will reveal more details about it.

In my opinion, it stands out from other books in the genre because there is a large component of the police genre that becomes more complex as the story progresses, mixing with political intrigues (something I love).

It is definitely a story that I want to know more about, and it is going to be an author that I am going to read again.

Thank you to the publisher for my eARC copy of this book. Unfortunately I didn’t love this book and therefore didn’t finish, I just didn’t connect with this one. Not for me, sorry.

The Justice of Kings no es una novela de fantasía al uso, pues aunque tiene magia e intrigas políticas, tiene un tono mucho más pausado que el habitual y está más centrado en la investigación y en el reparto de justicia que en otros tropos más utilizados en la fantasía. La relación entre la narradora y el personaje principal, se asemeja mucho a la de Adso y Guillermo de Baskerville en El nombre de la rosa, como investigador principal y aprendiz que cuenta sus vivencias con posterioridad, bajo el pesado velo de los años que han pasado y que tiñen sus experiencias con una pátina deslustrada y cínica.


Aunque el Justicia del Rey es Vonvalt, como toda la narración la vemos a través de los ojos de su secretaria Helena, este personaje que podría ser muy atractivo pierde gran parte de su fuerza. Sus poderes de nigromancia y de uso de la voz (como método de persuasión mágico), los vemos muy en segundo plano, como en general todas sus actuaciones. Aunque el ritmo es bastante correcto, la trama de fondo queda un poco en entredicho cuando todo pasa por el tamiz de una joven inexperta que duda de que su auténtico camino sea convertirse en Justicia, con una gran inocencia juvenil a pesar de la experiencia callejera que se le presupone por sus orígenes y que se pasa gran parte del libro replanteándose lo que creía conocer con antelación.

El trasfondo de libro es el enfrentamiento entre la moralidad y la justicia, con un conflicto entre los distintos poderes del reino que sin duda servirá de escenario para las siguientes entregas de la serie. Asistimos al avance de la corrupción en las fronteras, donde los más avariciosos no dejan pasar la oportunidad de enriquecerse a expensas del más débil.

Uno de los principales problemas de la historia es como he dicho con anterioridad el punto de vista escogido por el autor, que nos escamotea información y que supone un lastre durante la nada desdeñable longitud del libro.

Decir que lo más destacado de una novela sea la portada no es muy halagador para la obra en sí, pero merece la pena destacar el impresionante trabajo de Martina Fackova.

Sir Konrad Vonvalt is an Emperor’s Justice – a detective, judge, and executioner all in one – in possession of arcane magic passed down from Justice to Justice to help him uphold the law as he travels the breadth of the Empire.

As he becomes entangled in an investigation into the murder of a noblewoman, the loyalties and beliefs of Vonvalt and his small entourage will be tested like never before as they uncover a conspiracy to destroy Vonvalt’s order and bring down the entire Empire with it.

Swan could have easily told this story through the obvious perspective of the story’s “hero”, Sir Konrad Vonvalt. His choice to step to the side and narrate in the first person from the perspective of Vonvalt’s clerk, Helena, is a stroke of genius. It allows the reader to get underneath the reputation and ego of a powerful man such as Vonvalt and lets us see his humanity in all its unflinching glory. It also adds greater weight to the mystery of the magic he possesses, and his motivations throughout the story.

I also just adored Helena and her development as a character. She is recounting the events in retrospect with the wisdom of age, giving additional commentary about her decisions, adding yet another interesting layer to the narrative.

The magic behind the Emperor’s Justice was fascinating and unique. Each new concept is introduced with purpose and clarity. I look forward to discovering more about it in later books in the series, as I feel Swan just scratched the surface here.

The prose was effortlessly captivating and dripping in atmosphere, easily grounding me in the settings and action. Swan’s writing is incredibly sharp, witty, and intellectual. The pacing was also pitch-perfect. The tension builds with every chapter, making it impossible to put the book down.

The Justice of Kings offers a fresh and engrossing epic fantasy that is perfect for fans of grittier fantasy authors such as Joe Abercrombie and George R. R. Martin. Easily one of my favourite reads of 2022, and a staggeringly accomplished debut novel from an exciting new talent in the genre.