Staveley's first two novels in the Unhewn Throne setting were superb - I read them back-to-back, engrossed in the story and fantastic world he's created. The third novel was good, too, if a little over-long. It's been a while since I finished the trilogy, but I wanted to get caught up on the series before he starts his new series (set in the same world).

Skullsworn focuses on one of the most interesting characters from the Unhewn Throne trilogy, Pyrre Lakatur. In this novel, she is still an acolyte, and about to embark on her final trials to become a priestess of Ananshael, the god of death. It's an interesting novel (not to mention shorter), and has everything that has made Staveley's novels so popular: solid writing, good pacing, and some intriguing world-building. I enjoyed the ways in which Pyrre struggles with her trials - it's not the killing that's a problem, but whether or not she'll be capable of getting into the situation necessary to commit the final murder.

An interesting novel. Recommended if you enjoyed the first trilogy, and also if you've been enjoying the Grimdark fantasy trend (with some dark humour).

All of Tor's books are always really well written and edited. This is much the same. It's very dense with fantasy world-building description, in a solid way. It's not my favourite type of fantasy, unfortunately, as I'm not quite interested in primative-type worldbuilding. But I'm always really thrilled to have the opportunity to read Tor books, so this was a treat.

This may offend the author but this was really a primer on the myriad meanings of love disguised as a fantasy novel. It is not a romantic fantasy with heaving bosoms or sex starved virgins but a thought provoking look at what does love actually mean in the context of a medieval type of culture.

The skullsworn, a name they dislike, are pledged to the god of death. They believe it is their duty to kill in the name of their god. This isn’t religion by the sword but a more individual killing that seems to, in some cases, right some wrongs. The main characters are Ela and Kossal, priestess and priest, and Pyrre their priestess to be. Pyrre is on a quest to undergo her trial to be a priestess by killing seven people in fourteen days. The victims are not just the first seven people she sees but chosen through the format of the trial.

Ruc, who Pyrre decides will be one of her victims, is unaware of her religious leanings. The interaction between the characters, the various gods and Pyrre’s drastic methods of achieving her goals provides the process of the story.

This was an interesting look at love and death.

I enjoyed it.

Utterly immersive and violently brutal, Skullsworn is one of the best books that I've ever read. Addictive characters, breathtaking moments, and a story that grabs hold of you and refuses to let go. Staveley is the future of fantasy.

This is the first book I've read by Brian Staveley, but he is definitely going on my must-read list now! I'll go back and find his other books.
The main character in this book is a young acolyte of the god of death, beginning her trial to see if she can become a full priestess. If not, she herself will be her last offering to the god. Two Witnesses, priests who have given her the task, will accompany her to see if she succeeds.

Pyrre, our main character, chooses to go back to the town she left behind in order to fulfill her task. Dombang, a city lost in the reeds of an absolutely deadly marsh, is sort of a Vietnam equivalent. It was conquered about two hundred years ago by the Anurrian empire, and has had its religion suppressed, roads to it built, but many have not forgotten the old ways.

Certainly not Pyrre. She was left to die in the delta as a sacrifice for those gods, and she is ready to sacrifice the city itself in order to further her own goals. She must kill seven people in 14 days- and these people must be particular sorts: one who is right and one who is wrong, a woman whose belly is ripe with life, a giver of names, a singer lost in song, (one who I can't remember), and the final stickler- one who makes her heart sing with love. Pyrre has never loved anyone like that, and now she's got 14 days to fall in love and then kill the object of her affection! This conundrum is the heart of the book, if you'll forgive me. Pyrre has a candidate all right- a brilliant soldier who is charged with keeping Dombang pacified. She met him once before and knows him for a fighter with unexpected depths- perhaps she could love him?

I enjoyed Pyrre questioning herself on this subject throughout the book. Her brokenness has led her to the God of Death, where her detachment has served her well, but now she must leave her safe detachment in order to succeed in honoring her god. Pyrre is damaged, no doubt, and the priests she travels with are happy to end whoever needs ending. In most books they would be the villaians. It's fascinating to see the author get inside this young woman and make her sympathetic while allowing the reader to see her damaged destructiveness. Ruc, her intended, would normally be the hero, and he definitely ticks all the boxes for that, but his limitations are also clear.

There's a mystery in the book. Prophecies are coming true that herald the old gods returning. These gods are avatars of the delta, of poisonous snakes, deadly storms, and drowning mud. Ruc, a man of logic, thinks that these signs are all political. But Pyrre is an acolyte, and she isn't so sure that a mundane explanation is the answer. Are there truly gods out in the delta awaiting sacrifice? That's the question.

The delta itself is an amazing character. I haven't read of a deadlier environment since Dune. Killer crocodiles, jaguars, deadly poisonous snakes, spiders and centipedes (not to mention the plants), waterways that change and keep you lost, storms to drown you, this is not somewhere to enjoy becoming one with nature because nature here wants nothing more than to become one with you in a very final sense.

Several times I wanted to guess how this was going to end, but I never got it all. Amazing fight scenes, fascinating characters, and a vivid setting mean that I'll be reading more by this author.

Can someone please explain to me WHY I haven't read anything by Brian Staveley before? Because clearly I've been delusional for not doing so. Skullsworn was absolutely amazing. I don't often find fantasy, or really anything in the realm of SFF, that manages to pull off the extensive world-building and large character cast while still maintaining a solid narrative voice. ESPECIALLY one where that voice has personality.

By that, I mean that Staveley keeps the story engaging while building this intricate world. Now, I haven't read any of the other books in this world (though you can bet they're now all on my TBR list) but I had no problem falling into this masterpiece.

I absolutely loved Pyrre. This is her story of becoming a priestess of Ananshael, the God of Death, and as she's completing her Trial, you can feel her struggles. Especially that of finding love and it's such a subtle but powerful theme through her entire story. Part of me knew the ending, somewhere deep down from all those little clues offered up among the turmoil of the rebellion, but it still took me by surprise. She's such a strong person who overcame a rough childhood and found her calling, and she's good. In that understated kind of way. Pyrre can kill a man and it doesn't seem like anything because to her, it really isn't. And that amazed me, the casualness of how she and the other characters treat moments that (in another book) would be drawn out and dramatized.

I've heard rumors that she's in the other books of this world and perhaps I went about it all a bit backward reading her origin first but now I'm REALLY excited to check out the rest.

But I could talk about Pyrre all day. She quickly became one of my favorite fantasy heroines to-date. Yet I can't ignore this world. Most of the book is focused in the city of Dômbang while Pyrre completes her Trial and I definitely was there. I felt the heat pressing against my skin, tasted ta and quey, floated down the waters of the delta and came face-to-face with the Three. I stood next to Pyrre as well as in her very shoes seeing through her eyes. Every little detail sprang to life and maybe that seems like a bit of an exaggeration but trust me, read Skullsworn and you'll see it's really not.

And let's not forget the rest of the cast. While I can't speak as much on grumpy Kossal who I adored, Ela who was beauty and death in one, and Ruc with a history left mostly unspoken of and something I want more of, they added to every bit of Pyrre's adventure.

This book was amazing, hands down. If you've already read Staveley's Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne books, I think you'll find this an excellent addition to the world. But if you're like me and haven't yet, don't let it get in your way of grabbing a copy of Skullsworn as soon as you can!

Pyrre is one of my favorite characters from The Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne and I couldn’t have been more excited about her getting a whole book for herself. Pyrre stands out as a hardcore badass in a world full of kickass people and I thought I couldn’t love her more than I already did, but Skullsworn gave a whole new perspective on her and her life which did a lot more than just substantiating why she is my favorite. Reading Skullsworn was both satisfying and frustrating. While I learned a lot more about a favorite character it also left me wanting more.

For the first time we don’t just get to read about Pyrre from the point of view of other characters, but we see the world through her own eyes, which was a lot of fun. Pyrre might be in a completely different place in her life than where she is in the original trilogy, but that’s exactly what I wanted from this book. While I love seeing her as an established assassin, knowing exactly what she’s doing, it was interesting to see her slowly becoming that person, to see her struggling at becoming the A+ assassin we know her as. Reading from her point of view about events from the past certainly was different than reading about her in the original trilogy, but I loved her voice right from the very first page and knew I won’t be disappointed.

While the summary already hinted at a romantic sub-plot, I certainly wasn’t prepared for what Skullsworn had to offer. I was actually a bit nervous before reading it, as I often prefer my books without romance and liked how there was next to none in the original trilogy, but Brian Staveley once again caught me by surprise and created something amazing that I didn’t know I wanted. Skullsworn doesn’t just introduce as to a side of Pyrre we hadn’t seen before, one of deeply caring about other people and even falling in love, but it explorers the actual meaning of love itself.

Just like The Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne, Skullsworn comes with a plot that kept me guessing, without ever knowing what comes next or how it might end. Brian Staveley keeps proving himself as a great storyteller who is able to keep me on the edge of my seat. Dramatic action plot lines as well as inner conflicts, combined with great humor made this easily another favorite book of mine.

I also loved to see more about the world of The Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne and learn more about the forces at play in the trilogy as well as seeing what it was like before the Emperor died. Reading Skullsworn definitely made me want to read a lot more books set in this world. Staveley’s take on gods and mythology still has me all heart-eyes and I would love to learn more about certain aspects and characters of this world.

Staveley took a character who we already knew (and loved) and gave us something completely new. Skullsworn gives a whole new insight into the life of my favorite assassin and can easily hold pace with the original trilogy, once again delivering what I already loved about the The Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne: diverse, strong, sassy characters and an exciting plot that I couldn’t get enough of.

With his new standalone novel Skullsworn, Brian Staveley returns to the world of the Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, focusing on one of the characters from that trilogy: Pyrre. This priestess a dedicated follower of the God of Death, wrapped in mysterious and deadly by any measure. But even after three epic fantasy books, little is know about her: who she really is, what she truly believes, and why she loves death so much. And if you are a reader who wants to discover more about Pyrre or someone who just wishes to sample Brian Staveley’s writing without committing to an intimidating epic fantasy trilogy, then Skullsworn is a novel you might want to try.

Taking place years before The Emperor’s Blades, Pyrre is twenty-five years old and a mere acolyte of the god Ananshael, trained in the sacred arts of dealing death in all its myriad ways. But, now, she is faced with a final trial before she is anointed a true priestess of death, one she fears she cannot pass.

It isn’t the seven murders she must commit in 14 days, or the fact that she must kill particular types of people — including a pregnant woman — that worries Pyrre. Rather, it is the final offering she must give to Ananshael: the one she loves. Problem being that Pyrre has never loved anyone. Not anyone she recalls anyway. And if she can’t fall in love and kill her beloved within the prescribed time, then she not only fails the test but must sacrifice herself to Ananshael!

Never one to be intimidated by insurmountable circumstances, our strong-willed, determined, and resourceful acolyte sets out with her two “Witnesses” to journey to her home city of Dombâng with a desperate plan. Many years ago, there was a young man whom Pyrre was involved with there. She can’t say she loved Ru Lan Lac (Well, she isn’t sure, because she really doesn’t know what love feels like.), but he was close to her at one time, someone she felt affection for. And, now, she returns to that past determined to unleash a rebellion in the always volatile city in order to get close to Ru Lan Lac (He is the local constable), certain that once they are together the old flames of their passion with rekindle, to be followed by love; at which point, Pyrre will kill him.

Fantasy romance, I’m sure some of you are assuming right about now. And Skullsworn is about someone trying to understand love and fall into it . . . sort of. But it isn’t the kind of love most of us think about when we say “romance,” because Pyrre is an assassin whose perspective on life (including love) is abnormal: absent any normal connotations. Something which isn’t really surprising when dealing with a woman who has been trained to unflinchingly kill anyone, anytime, anyway. Her whole life one without common boundaries, lacking traditional moral limits, surrounded by people who believe as she does. Love merely a word without any real meaning to her. This trial really a journey — both literally and figuratively — of self-justification for her warped view of life. So, while the word “love” is thrown about, there really isn’t any real romance to be found here.

What can be found in Skullsworn is violence, action, and lots of killing — by assassins, crocs, spiders, and even less savory things. All of it conveyed beautifully by Brian Staveley’s wonderful, flowing prose. Many of the passages in this narrative memorable and immediately quotable. Where Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne showed the author’s ability to tame a sprawling epic, this more narrow, more personal, first person story shows Staveley at his best, creating a vivid setting in the hot, swampy Dombâng, while taking readers on a guided tour of the bizarre psyche of Pyrre, an acolyte of Death. The novel a textbook illustration of a fantasy author at the top of his game.

But somehow, someway, this amazingly written novel only received 2.5 stars rating. And I’m certain that puzzles many of you. The reason is fairly simple, however: Pyrre.

As I always say, stories are all about characters for me. Mesmerizing magic, awe-inspiring worlds, and pulse-pounding plots only take a book so far. Eventually, it all comes down to whether I connect with the characters. If I love them or love-to-hate them, then what happens matters to me, causes me to keep turning the pages, desperate to find out what transpires next. However, when I don’t care about the characters or outright loath them, then it doesn’t matter to me if they succeed or fail, live or die. And, unfortunately, Pyrre was someone I didn’t care about, at all.

Now, to be completely transparent, I have to admit I was concerned about this reaction when I picked up Skullsworn. Unlike so many other readers of Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, I never cared much for Pyrre. Sure, she was deadly, mysterious, edgy. I still felt fairly “meh” about her. But in the trilogy it didn’t impact my enjoyment, because she was a minor character, surrounded by others whom I did come to deeply care about. Here, though, she is the narrator, the guide, the whole show. Every word, every thought, every philosophical musing on life, love, and whatnot filtered straight through her twisted mentality. And, frankly, her ideas and beliefs didn’t interest me very much, especially her final epiphany about the true nature of love, which made me dislike her even more than I had previously — even if it was very fitting for Pyrre’s personality.

For the simple reason that I disliked Pyrre, Skullsworn just wasn’t for me. It isn’t a bad book by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I would say Brian Staveley’s writing is superior here to that in Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne; his amazing weaving of action, mythology, and philosophical commentary spectacularly done, showing definite growth in his writing skill. Hopefully, others will be able to appreciate its fine qualities without being turned off by the main character. As for me I’ll pass on Pyrre but will definitely be reading Brian Staveley’s future offering.

I received an advanced reading copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. I’d like to thank them for allowing me to receive this review copy and inform everyone that the review you have read is my opinion alone.

I make no bones about announcing that Brian Staveley is my go-to-author when it comes to reading some seriously crunch-worthy fantasy books, that are original, thought-provokingly jarring ( and I mean like bone-deep!) and swathed in enough grim-dark to keep it dialed way beyond 'just interesting' for me. His first series, that started with The Emperor's Blades was suitably epic but didn't exactly set things on fire. But the amazing follow up in the next couple of books, really blew things over in a true-blue kettral-style explosion, concluding a fantasy series in one of the best possible manners.

His writing is modern in it's sensibilities. With the first series books that feature an expansively rich world with a hefty twist to it's history, epic in it's sheer scale (Gods, men both mortal and immortal, empires clashing and the world balanced on a knife's edge), we knew there were more stories lurking in the depth of this beautiful world.
And so came Skullsworn!

Frankly when Brian wrote back in an email about this secret project on this side-character ( I was just learning back to 'breathe' normally after having gone all-cardiac-arrest-mode-excited about The Last Mortal Bond conclusion) I was super thrilled and now that I've read the book, I must say - It's perfection in book-form.

A standalone in this universe, focused on a side-character from the series called Pyrre - a priestess of an order that worships Anaenshael, the God of death. The events in this book, however, document the story of how this suave, smooth-talking and self-assured assassin became what she is, a Priestess of the order. So it is set in a time-frame ahead of what happens in the Unhewn Throne series. To ascend to the level of a true priestess, the acolytes in the order are supposed to undergo the ultimate trial set by their God, in which they are asked to perform seven killings, each presaging a certain condition. The last one, being the cruelest - a sacrifice of your true love, to the God she worshiped proving her fealty to the order and thus becoming a true priestess of death.

So yes, while it is cruel for Pyrre, the predicament that bothers her is not the act of killing a true love itself but it's the preset condition of having to fall in love, before she offered her sacrifice. Because while she has had several physical relationships, she has never fallen in love. It's a feeling she's never got the hang for.

"Could that sickness in my gut be love? It seemed unlikely, but that's the trouble. Love is not like the things of the world - Trees, sky, fire - to which you can point and affix a name. "

For the purpose of making sure Pyrre goes through with the trial, Pyrre is assigned her chosen witnesses, Ela and Kossal. A most delightful pair of priest and priestess of the skullsworn order who form pivotal characters in this 'love' story that pulsates (A bright flame of explosion whenever Ela enters the frame!) and withdraws into itself, in those quiet moments of reverent solitude and meditative reflection as Pyrre seeks to understand her violent world. Pyrre and her witnesses proceed to this riverside city of Dombang, a city conquered by the Annurian Empire (Long live the Malkeenians!) - the city of her birth, a squalid dangerous and desperate city poised on a tightrope as the seething natives are plotting a revolution against their rulers. Dombang also happens to a place from where Pyrre escaped and made her way to the solitary mountains of Anansumbor for her training to become one of Ananshael's priestess. So while the choice of Dombang is deliberate, Pyrre is also set on her goal of offering the sacrifices to her God and plans to seek out a former 'lover' and friend, Ruc Lac Lan, now the commander of the city's garrison of soldiers locally known as Greenshirts entrusted with keeping the peace. But as the days progress, bodies pile up and the revolution looms large, Pyrre and her friends are drawn into a much more larger wheel set in motion, ages ago as older legacies and demons from Pyrre's scarred mysterious childhood come back to haunt her.

So while yes, this book is about the trial for Ananshael's acceptance, we would expect this one to be exceptionally dark - littered with dead bodies and blood as the sacrifices to the God of Death fall in line. But it's actually not. Believe it or not, it's about love - Goddess Eira and her blessings. In a weird and twisted manner, its about Pyrre accepting and understanding the concept of love. Of how her character goes through a massive change of personality. From being riddled with doubt about her devotion and piety to quiet acceptance and a heightened understanding of her God's ways in the world and more. It's a first person narrative, from Pyrre's point of view and hence, we are subjected to the tsunami of doubts and fear that plagues the young acolyte's minds. This Pyrre is a far-cry from the cold, smiling cocky assassin we've seen in the earlier series. And Brian's turn of prose, ah so lovely and rich, makes us go through those layers and layers in her personality as she molts through these uncertainties in her life, to attain a higher truth about herself and the world around her. She is undoubtedly the star of the tense narrative but Brian has always had this knack of writing the best secondary characters. True here, as well.

I think I am in love with Ela - the smiling, seductive and absolutely deadly priestess who seems insatiable with her appetite for sex, the grace and enigma in her teachings about love and death to Pyrre ( One of my favorite scenes from the book is this! Goosebumps!!) and that glib silver-coated tongue of hers that is at once, entertaining and deadly. Kossal, the seemingly grumpy old priest who is terse with his words but is the picture of ultimate devotion to his cause for Ananshael is also an enigma and it's a pleasure to watch the depths of this character unfold across the pages. Ruc, the troubled commander in charge of the city is also brilliant - in his own way, the honest duty that defines his character and his earnest straightforward, almost brusque manner of dealing with prophecies and revolt alike - in an efficient and practical manner would no doubt, endear to the readers. He is the tragic hero, the man every girl would pine for.

The book is doubtless one of my best reads in 2017 till now. The depth of the characters, the emotional heft that matches the adrenaline surges makes it a book that punches way beyond its weight. The writing is beautiful - those quiet moments of soliloquy that helps clear Pyrre's mind and the mysterious city of Dombang with it's lethal delta crawling with death in every shadowed corner comes alive in Brian's lovely turn of phrase. Have no fear, there are action scenes aplenty in there - in fact the very beginning of the book features a collapsing bridge and a frenzied fight in the roiling muck of the dangerous river delta - and this sets the pulses racing right off the bat. We settle, long breathing moments in between these manic moments of action as Pyrre sets out to pass her trial, in a manner befitting a priestess of death, an assassin.

As Pyrre sheds her inhibitions and doubts - and grows into her own, we know this molting process is painful and yes, it involves death. But this is death and love balanced against each other in a crumbling world fraught with dangers and prophecies that seems to come alive - of forgotten Gods come alive, of love and friendships tested to their last limits and of love, soaked up and thoroughly realized. Skullsworn is that small tiara among Brian's acclaimed works, that I daresay shines the brightest. A very accessible work that introduces a new reader into this complex world where wheels set in motion by Gods eons ago, still wreck havoc among mortal lives. It is at once intimate and gloriously epic in it's treatment of it's universal subject : Love and Death, entwined close together. A must-read for fans of Brian and any true-blue lover of this genre.

Fantastic! I loved this book so much, even more than the original trilogy. The best part of this book was learning about the origins of one of the most enigmatic characters in The Unhewn Throne trilogy. I loved seeing who Pyrre was when she was younger; she grows so much over the timeline of this book, but there's also so much growth between Pyrre in this book and Pyrre in the trilogy. I had so much fun trying to figure out and Pyrre's secrets, especially since she was so secretive in the first book.

I really loved how this book also revealed a lot more about the mythology of the world. We learn a lot more about Ananshael's priests and priestesses, and how much they sacrifice to become masters of their order. It's also interesting to see how they view the world, because as foreign as it seems, their beliefs actually make a lot of sense if you think about it. I loved how our own questions were answered when Pyrre questioned the seeming paradoxes of their belief system. Aside from Ananshael's mysteries, we also learn a lot about more local gods from Pyrre's home town. Then there's all the connections between the new mythology in this book and what we know from the trilogy. It was a feast!

I also loved how the setting was such a big character in this book. Pyrre's home town is on the banks of a swampy delta, and like many other things in this series, it is vicious. This delta is full of terrifying animals like crocodiles and snakes, aside from the river itself, which moves and changes paths as if it has a mind of its own.

I loved so much about this book, it's really hard for me to think of anything I didn't like! I loved the new characters, the wit and humor, the rich writing style, and just being in this world again!

A free eARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

This is like nothing I have ever read. I have never read anything by Brian Staveley but I will definitely be looking into his other books. The language and the way Brian uses to describes different scenes and aspects make the world come alive in a way I have never come across before. I'm pretty sure I would read this book start to finish just for the way Brian writes, even if the plot was terrible. Thankfully the plot of this book is most intriguing, and I was fascinated by both the plot line and the history that adds so much depth to the story.

Skullsworn by Brian Staveley

Pros: excellent characters, great world-building, variety of fights

Cons:

Pyrre has reached the final test for becoming a priestess of Ananshael. She must kill seven people in fourteen days. But her final target must be someone she loves above all others, and Pyrre has never known love. So she returns to the city of her birth and the man she once knew, hoping he’ll be The One.

Pyrre appears as a side character in Staveley’s Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne. This is a stand-alone novel where she - and her worship of the god of death - are in the forefront. While the previous books aren’t necessary to enjoy this one, there are descriptions of Rassambur, the assassin’s home base, in book three, Last Mortal Bond, which flesh out the city and the practice of Ananshael’s priests.

Witnessing her trial are two priests, Kossal, an older man who speaks truth and has few cares for the world, and Ela, the woman he loves, who loves everybody and who’s as graceful as she is deadly. Ela tries to teach Pyrre what love is, a conversation that involves as many knives as you’d expect from a duo of professional assassins.

There’s a surprising amount of banter considering the premise of the book. I enjoyed Pyrre’s attempts to understand her own emotions as she alternates between getting closer and further away from Ruc Lan Lac. Her plan is overly convoluted but has some fascinating consequences. I especially enjoyed the chapters dealing with the delta and life there.

The world-building was top notch, expanding an unexplored area of the world but tying it and its history into that of the previous books. The delta felt vibrant and the dangers - and how to deal with them - realistic. The local religion also had weight to it, practiced differently by the city folk and the delta people.

As expected, there are some fabulous fight scenes, against a surprising variety of people and things.

This was an excellent book.

Brian Staveley wrote one of my favourite epic fantasy trilogies of recent years, so I was excited to read this. It's a standalone novel set several years before the Chronicles Of The Unhewn Throne, focussing on one of the secondary characters from that work. When we meet her here, Pyrre Lakatur is approaching her final trial before becoming a fully fledged priestess of Ananshael, the god of death. She has a kill list to follow, and two older priests observing her at every moment. It's a relatively short book, but Staveley fits in an awful lot - the rituals and customs of the assassin priests, an occupied city reaching tinderbox levels of frustration and rebellion, a long suppressed religion with a nasty line in sacrifices, an enigmatic tribe living in the swampy delta nearby and mysterious old gods. There is a good sense of place throughout - you can almost hear the insects and feel the sweat of the delta. Pyrre is a very different character from the version we see in the later books, full of doubt and uncertainty. Unlike the Unhewn Throne, this is a first person narrative that stays in one person's head throughout. You don't need to have read those other books to enjoy this. It's a true standalone - there is a shared background, but no knowledge of the earlier (later, depending on your sense of time) books is necessary to get this story. In fact, it's probably a good entry point to decide if you like Staveley's writing before embarking on the thousands of pages in the trilogy. Well worth reading.

I'm going to be honest and admit that I haven't finished the last book in Staveley's Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne trilogy yet. I adored the first two books but I can't bring myself to read The Last Mortal Bond because I'm not ready for it to be over. One of my favorite characters from that series is Pyrre! She's the character that the others are wary of in a series full of badasses and professional killers.

Skullsworn is a standalone that takes place in the same world as Staveley's Tang Era-inspired debut trilogy. It works as a prequel that focuses on the origin story of my favorite Priestess of Death.

Pyrre Lakatur, as an acolyte of Ananshael, has been training with some of the most deadliest men and women in the world to become a deadly assassin since she was eight. She's now ready to attempt her final trial that will allow her to become a full-fledged Priestess of the God of Death.

It won't be easy. To complete her trial, she must kill seven people in fourteen days, all of whom are tied to an ancient song, which includes “the one you love/who will not come again”. If she fails, she'll be put to death at the hands of her witnesses, Ela and Kossal, as an offering to their God. The problem is that Pyrre has never been in love. The only solution she can come up with leads her back to her hometown and the only man that has ever caught her attention.

This book was everything I wanted it to be! We learn of Pyrre's humble beginnings and even though she escaped once, she ends up back in a place she never wanted to be. We meet the man, Ruc, that she intends to fall in love with.

I just... loved every damn thing about it this book. It was full of conflict and macabre humor. And I loved how we got to be in Pyrre's head for the whole story! I didn't think I could love her more but I do after this book! I went into this book expecting blood and gore but I wasn't expecting it to take a philosophical approach to trying to define what love is but I'm so here for it! I'm here for all of it!

I devoured the book in one sitting. It was a fast-paced and masterfully told story. It was full of twists and turns that I had no hope of predicting the ending. This book was also wonderfully diverse and body and sex positive. I loved that it was delightfully feminist in a story filled with killing and death. Like the original trilogy, I found this refreshingly original and loved how it deviated from how a lot of fantasy books portray women. I would love to see more books like this in the genre.

The book comes to a satisfying conclusion but it still left me wanting more. I want a series chronicling her life up until she shows up in The Emperor's Blades. IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?!?

If you haven't read the original series, you can easily pick this book up first. I loved it and I can't wait to see what Brian Staveley writes next! I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that we'll get a standalone book about the Flea at some point.

4.5/5

Last year, Brian Staveley wrapped up his Tang-China inspired sprawling fantasy series, The Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne. However, while The Last Mortal Bond effectively concluded the storylines of most of its main characters by its end, there was still plenty of room left to explore in the invented and interesting world, and the various cultures created to populate it. One of the secondary characters of those previous novels was the scene-stealing, Ananshael-worshiping Pyrre Lakatur. Skullsworn is her book, chiefly following the story of how she became a priestess of Death in the city of Dombâng, decades before the events shown in the later trilogy.

The story of Pyrre's Trial is fantasy (and mirrors Hull's Trial from The Emperor's Blades), though it's not quite an epic fantasy novel. The world from Staveley's first series is once again used, but Skullsworn is narrower in scope, tighter in plotting, and also contained to this one volume. It's a fast-paced return to the world of Eridroa and an excellent introduction to the rest of Pyrre's backstory. Despite the fantasy trappings, the plot of Skullsworn is much more focused on interpersonal dynamics and conflicts, rather than involving a larger-scale dispute. Despite the changes in storytelling and (sub)genre, the author adapts his thousands-of-pages-spanning style well to crafting a viable adventure fantasy standalone: the world of Eridroa is expanded and explored and Pyrre's adventures are intense and well-paced. Her life is fleshed out with nuance and care -- all the characters in the book are layered and complex, but none more so than Pyrre herself.

There are a lot of moving parts going on in Skullsworn's pages, all of it tied back together by the central character and her quest to kill 10 people in 10 days. Where before the Kettral and the scattered imperial heirs were the focus and journeyed all over the Annurian Empire, this prequel/standalone concentrates narrowly on the seething city of Dombâng, a city long-conquered and always primed for rebellion. Pyrre is joined there by a well-rounded and interesting cast of secondary characters to complicate her life and Trial. There is so much depth and detail and thought given to crafting to every aspect of the story: from how Pyrre's unique history is tied into the main plot of the Trial, to how the gods of Dombâng fit within the known pantheon of Eridroa and with Pyrre. Stavely is an author built for worldbuilding and he does it with creativity and lack of infodumps.

The world Brian Stavely has created has always felt very real and very big with parts unknown, with lots of room for further exploration. His gift for creating new worlds and cultures is readily apparent in all aspects -- even cursing in Eridroa has its own rhyme and reason, relevant to how the various cultures within it view hell/damning (aka they don't so they use in-world curses like "'Shael-spawned", etc..) One of my favorite reasons for reading and reccomending his books is that he creates fantasies that don't feel like pseudoEurope mid 1200s; they don't feel like a tired retread of something already done. Skullsworn and particularly Dombâng, its environs, its history and culture, and the plot centered around the city are wildly different from anything shown in The Emperor's Blades or The Providence of Fire or The Last Mortal Bond. Staveley is an ambitious author but he's also inventive and rigorous enough that his reach doesn't exceed his grasp.

I am a fan of the author for his technical writing abilities; that much is obvious. But it's worth noting that the writing in Skullsworn is wonderful. Even when depicting harsh events -- murder-by-croc or spider eggs -- to describing the way light shifted, Staveley is an author that can write. It's no surprise that his background is in poetry because the descriptive and unique style used in his novels is lyrical and visual. Take this quote from The Last Mortal Bond since the ARC of this is not for quoting:

"Night was a foreign nation. It had always felt that way to Adare, as though the world changed after the setting of the sun. Shadow elided hard edges, hid form, rendered sunlight’s familiar chambers strange. Darkness leached color from the brightest silk. Moonlight silvered water and glass, made lambent and cold the day’s basic substances. Even lamps, like the two that sat on the desk before her now, caused the world to shift and twitch with the motion of the captured flame."

A fantastic standalone prequel, Skullsworn is a high-stakes adventure encompassing rebellions, killer spiders, love, and murder. It feels a bit short at just 304 pages but Pyrre's backstory is concluded smartly and with a few open possibilities for more in-world novels. Sure to please fans of the previous trilogy and also able to be read independent of Staveley's earlier books, Skullsworn is an excellent adventure fantasy.

4.5 of 5 stars

Brian Staveley returns to the world of The Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne with this new standalone novel starring one of the most intriguing characters from his debut trilogy. When we first met Pyrre Lakatur, she was shrouded in mystery. Whether she was ally or enemy, it was hard to tell, but clearly, the imperturbable priestess of Ananshael was one capable, dangerous woman.

Skullsworn is her story. Just who is Pyrre? Where did she come from? What is it about her god that inspires so much of her love and loyalty? If you’ve ever asked yourself any of these questions, then this book is for you. But even if you haven’t read The Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, this book would make a splendid introduction to Staveley’s work—especially if you want to get your feet wet with something that has a less intimidating page count before taking the plunge into the full trilogy. This book stands alone from the others, and is a prequel of a sort, taking place in a distant corner of the Annurian Empire.

When the story begins, Pyrre is still an acolyte, twenty-five years old and pledged to Ananshael—the God of Death. For years she has trained in the sacred arts of death, learning countless ways to deliver victims into her god’s embrace. But unless she can pass her final trial, she will never become a priestess…and the problem is, Pyrre isn’t sure she can.

It’s not the actual killing that has her worried, but rather who she has to kill—and not for the reasons you’d expect. The rules of the trial are very specific. In a span of fourteen days, Pyrre must make seven offerings to her god—no more, no less: one who is right, and one who is wrong; a singer snared in a web of song; a dealer of death; a mother ripe with new life; a giver of names; and finally, we come to the last one that gives Pyrre pause—“Give to the god the one who made your mind and body sing with love / Who will not come again.”
The trouble is, Pyrre doesn’t believe she has ever been in love. And if she hasn’t been in love, she can’t kill the one she loves, and if she can’t kill the one she loves, she fails her trial, and all those acolytes of Ananshael who fail the final trial offer themselves to their god. Now you see her problem.

Still, Pyrre is determined to pass the test, which means hitting the road with her two trial Witnesses in tow. Their destination is the swamp city of Dombâng, where Pyrre was born and where she first felt the spark of something special for a man she used to know. It is her hope that with proximity and maybe a little…encouragement, perhaps that spark could be rekindled again and grow into something more. However, it has been years since she last saw Ruc Lan Lac, the object of her probable affection. He is now the captain of the Greenshirts, the constabulary force charged with keeping order in Dombâng, and at the moment his hands are full trying to keep dissenters from tear the city apart. Pyrre intends to get close to Ruc by offering help—but in order to do that, she’ll first need to further incite rebellion.

And now I’ve probably gone and mucked up my summary by making this one sound like a romance. Well, it is. Kind of. In a…weird, twisted sort of way. Leave it to Brian Staveley to inflict the cruelest kind of cognitive dissonance, making you root for the main couple even knowing that no matter how the situation turns out, the end will be filled with blood, violence and death.

The fact that Pyrre appears more agitated by her seeming incapacity to love rather than the idea of actually killing a loved one should tell you something about her character. This is a woman who has given herself entirely to her god, and she also hates the idea of failure. In this sense, she is the Pyrre we knew and loved from The Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne. However, in Skullsworn we also get to see a more youthful and less confident side of her, which was fascinating; in time, we know she will grow into an even more deadly weapon, but right now her personality and skills are still in the process of being tempered.

Unlike the books in the trilogy, Skullsworn is also told from the first person perspective—a nice touch as that puts us right inside of Pyrre’s head, giving us a front row seat to all her experiences and tumultuous emotions. While this does take away some of her mystery, the wealth of knowledge we gain about her character and background is a much bigger reward. Don’t get me wrong; Pyrre is still bloodthirsty, insane and zealously devoted to Ananshael, but this book went a long way in making her feel more like a genuine person rather than just a cold, calm unstoppable killing machine. It shows she was once young, naïve and inexperienced, filled with self-doubt and questions about her god and her faith. It shows that she has a softer side to her that isn’t all about death and killing, a part of her that she wants to stay connected to because love has more to do with death than she expected.

I also want to talk a bit about the writing. It always amazes me to follow an author’s releases year after year and see their style evolve and grow, and clearly Staveley has come a long way since The Emperor’s Blades. His prose is fantastic and well-suited for the narrative mode, making a complex and nuanced character like Pyrre feel fully-realized and believable. The story also takes us into a very different part of the world, introducing readers to the hot, humid croc-infested marshes of Dombâng. It’s a city that holds many secrets, filled with shadowy factions and self-seeking individuals all operating to the raucous sounds along the bridges and canals. Despite being a dangerous place, Staveley’s incredible world-building and detailed treatment of Dombâng made me wish that I never had to leave.

So, do yourself a favor and pick up Skullsworn. Brian Staveley deftly weaves a fast-paced and compelling tale filled with excellent characterization, vivid world-building, and high personal stakes, making this one an outstanding novel on every level.

It may have taken a few months, but I am finally ready to hand out my first 5 star rating for 2017.

And as much as I loved the Unhewn Throne trilogy, Skullsworn has taken seat for my favorite of Staveley’s book. One thing Staveley did well in Unhewn Throne was create fascinating secondary characters that you wish had more page time, and even without knowing everything about them, you just love them. Well, Staveley has now proven he can take one of those intriguing secondary characters and create a very rich and full story that makes you understand and appreciate the character on a whole other level.

Pyrre stood out in Unhewn Throne as one of those intriguing secondary characters that really added to my enjoyment of the series. This book is the story of her trial to become a priestess of Ananshael, the God of Death and really gives us an amazing background on her to understand how she became the character we met earlier.

One would expect her trial to be full of death (which, it was), but it is love, not death, that really takes the spotlight. To complete her trial, Pyrre must take the life of someone she loves. Problem is, Pyrre can’t think of anyone that would qualify. So within the short span of her trial, she must both find love and do so knowing that there is an ulterior motive and a not so happy ending for the relationship. One has to wonder if it is possible to find love under these circumstances. And while the rest of us are wondering how she could kill them if she does love them, well, you have to understand they see “sending someone to their god” as a mercy or gift, not as violence or murder. Her perspective on death is so incredibly different from how we think. But through the course of this book, I came to really understand her and how she sees the world. For Pyrre, this is not unthinkable on the level one might expect, and yet she still comes across as quite humanized and someone you want to root for.

The prose in this book seemed to be a step above his earlier books as well. Don’t get me wrong, I very much enjoyed his other books, but I never really considered prose a strength. I would find myself reacting not to just what Staveley was saying, but how he was saying it. I would think “wow, I love that description”. I honestly don’t remember noticing this in his other books, but I found myself just really impressed with his word choices, descriptions and the general flow. I enjoyed not just the entire story, but also how it was told.

While this book is told from Pyrre’s perspective, it is told in both a current timeline as well as flashbacks. These flashbacks increased our understanding of Pyrre and how she came to serve her God. They were integrated with the current day events very well, keeping the pace going and holding my interest just as easily as the current timeline.

Also adding to my enjoyment of this book were Pyrre’s companions. Like I said earlier, Staveley does secondary characters very well, and this book is no exception. Pick one at random, and I would love a book dedicated to them.

So, yes, as much as I enjoyed The Unhewn Throne, Skullsworn is now favorite of Staveley’s books. It is as exciting and fascinating as Pyrre herself. Perhaps it just struck my mood, but I loved getting a single perspective and just immersing in Pyrre’s character. It just felt like a quicker and more gripping read to focus on just her. And what a character she is! Even as a secondary character I found her interesting, but this book delivered more than I expected. Highly recommend, especially for fans of female characters that like to kick ass and not always follow the rules.

Skullsworn is a story about the Annurian Empire's most sacred league of assassins, a group of men and women dedicated to the God of Death . . . except it's really a story that's more about life than death.

Brian Staveley's newest addition is everything readers could ask for, a worthy addition to a familiar world, and a stunning prequel that actually lives up to the original trilogy's legacy. What's more, in addition to fleshing out the story of Pyrre, it also introduces a small cast of new characters, any one of whom I'd be happy to read more about. In fact, I'd go so far as to declare Ela to be one of the best characters he's ever written.

Skullsworn is a story about the final trial of Pyrre Lakatur, a sacred charge to kill ten people in ten days, including someone she loves . . . except it's really a story that's more about learning to live than kill.

A story of personal conflicts, this is (quite naturally) a story of relationships. There's Pyrre and her quest for love with Ruc Lan Lac, a rekindling an old friendship, old lusts, and old secrets. It's a complex relationship, an affair that began just as it's destined to end - in violence. There's also Kossal and Ela, priest and priestess of Ananshael, Witnesses to Pyrre's trial, and dueling lovers who dance around one another as well as they do those who they aim to kill. Finally, there's Chua, an old woman caught between families and faiths, as doomed as she is by the death of her husband as she is tied to the delta because of him.

Skullsworn is a story about a long-prophesized rebellion, a religious-and-civil uprising against a land's conquerors and oppressors . . . except it's all based on deliberate lies and tragic misunderstandings.

Where the Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne was an epic fantasy, this is more a pulp adventure tale, complete with daring escapes, killer snakes, killers spiders, killer crocs, and . . . well, killers. It's a violent, action-packed story, but it's also a rather intimate tale, with its focus on love and death playing well against the sarcasm, dark humor, and razor-edged pillow talk. It's a story of layers, where every scene having a dual meaning, with what's said and what's done not always matching up in the way you'd expect. For a story that's wading towards a foregone conclusion, Staveley still manages to keep the reader in suspense, even as he engages our emotions along the way.

Skullsworn is an attempt to flesh out the world of the Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, an attempt to provide backstory for one of its most memorable characters . . . except . . . well, there's no exception here.

Whether you're already a fan or a newcomer to the world of Brian Staveley, this is a story that's guaranteed to please. It works as well as a standalone story as it does a prequel, expanding the world and the mythology, without spoiling anything to come. Staveley has already proven himself to be a master of world-building, character development, and sheer storytelling, and what he's done with Pyrre (and all the rest) just adds to that legacy.

"Music is inextricable from its own unmaking. Each note is predicated on the death of those before. Try to hold them all, and you have madness, cacophony, noise."

I've made no bones about how much I love Brian Staveley's writing, and when I saw he was bringing one of my favorite characters back for her own story I was overjoyed! The bad news is that this took a bit for me to feel pulled in, but full disclaimer - I have been in the most epic of epic reading slumps. Literally the worst slump since I learned how to read. I'm pretty sure that's what my disconnect was all about but the start was a little heavy, a little purple-y, but that could just be me right now.

This story is about Pyrre, who became one of my ultimate faves in his Unhewn Throne series, and it was super awesome getting inside her head and learning some of her past. This story is set before the Unhewn series and is about Pyrre becoming a Priestess for her god (the god of death). She decides to go back to her homeland to carry out her Trial with Ela and Kossal as her Witnesses. Ela is enchanting and I would happily devour a stand alone or more of just her (please, Brian!!), and Kossal was the perfect compliment to both women. Pyrre, of course, knows that she must give to the god someone for whom she loves but she can't quite decide what love is and how to get to that point. Ela and Kossal can only do so much to help her understand what love is, and there were some serious philosophical conversations within Pyrre's own head on this matter. Her story is a tense waiting game to see if she'll succeed or meet her god.

"The goddess makes us in endlessly different ways. Our Struggles are no more the same than our face."

Pyrre is fascinating to crawl inside of: her childhood was shocking, her training relentless, her mind a warren of endless entertainment. I loved going between deep philosophical debates on love and worship to seeing her biting humor and adventurous spirit. Seeing her find the one person she might be able to love and going through that journey with her was tough. The synopsis tells us what she has to do so as I'm falling for Ruc I'm all upset that his death is coming and I would go back and forth between glaring at Staveley and feeling sad for Ruc and mad at Pyrre. Even in my horrific slump Brian Staveley knew just how to draw me in.

"All that they have is the old stories, stories of snakes in throats and violets in eyes - those stories are their only weapon, and stories are only weapons if you repeat them."

"As long as they remained unspoken, they could be denied, disowned, but saying a thing gives it strength."

This book is a true stand alone but I can't recommend the Unhewn series enough, Pyrre is a supporting character there so you really can read this without them, but it's the same world which always makes the reading that much more interesting I think. This book has all that I love in stories: action, adventure, love, sex, humor, myths, legends, and fun. It is an easy read being pretty short for a fantasy which is a great way to break into the genre if you're not already a fan - or don't like reading super long books. Brian Staveley is a must-read author.