The premise of this book is very interesting, and this might be my first time trying out an epic military fantasy. From what I've read so far, the world was very creative, well-thought out, and original, and the writing was excellent. Geography is a big part of this book. Unfortunately, the ARC did not provide a map of this fantasy world, so I could not fully enjoy myself while reading this. I decided to wait until the publication of this book to continue reading it so I could fully enjoy and immerse myself more into this fantasy world with the finished copy. Final review will be on my Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/christiangalano

This is the first book in an epic fantasy with artifice setting series. Another name for it would be "The Hawkspurs have a very bad time."

Reasons to read:
-Great world building, establishes a lot of the setting but touches on interesting history to put the hooks in
-Demon and Dragon churches
-Political intrigue
-Colonizers having a bad time
-Sudden explosions
-Large animals
-Doesn't dance around a reveal for 4 books when it makes sense to do it now
-Powered armor

Cons:
-That's not how a panther hunts... Sorry MSc in Animal sci
-Not enough Sted

Thanks again for the ARC and I'm interested to see where it goes

This is a very plot driven story and has several POVs in which the story is told. I enjoyed the hell out of the magic system. It’s like if John Gwynee and Brent Weeks had a book baby this is it. I believe all the characters are important and have a unique voice throughout the story. I wish the characters were more developed and I cared about them a little bit more. 

I enjoyed the idea of machines and magic together. The different types of magic and how it integrates with machines. I find this part the most fascinating of the book. I hope there is more exploration of the cultural and custom differences. The story was very surface level with both character development and those parts of the world. I think if these parts were more developed I might give it a higher rating. I blew through this book in a couple of days. Even if I kind of saw the ending coming I will be buying future installments of this novel. I really can’t wait to see what will be next!

3.5 stars

The first book in Ford's Age of Uprising series, Engines of Empire follows primarily the members of the Hawkspur family as they try to survive uncovered secrets and treachery that threaten to swallow all of them home. There's the strong and collected Rosomon- the matriarch of the family who has been leading them since the death of her husband in a duel, Conall- a young man eager to prove himself worthy of his family name on the battlefield, Tyrete- a willful young woman who wants nothing more than to escape the expectations of her mother and forge her own path, and Fulren- the youngest, who must try and survive deception and betrayal after he has been framed for a crime he didn't commit. We also follow the POV of Lancelin- the man who killed the Hawkspur patriarch in a duel and whose true intentions are secret to all but one. That being said, I enjoyed all these characters well enough but the POVs definitely felt like they favored some characters over others in both length and number- leaving the others feeling a bit underdeveloped and lacking the emotional stake for me to truly care that much about what happened to them in comparison to those that got a majority of the attention. Aside from that, the characters were all fairly well done and none of the perspectives really felt boring once past the first few chapters. The characters were all definitely distinct and while I can't say I was super attached to them, I could clearly see the difference in their voices through the text.
The setting for the book was also pretty interesting as we are in four different locations in this world as we follow the cast- from a steampunk city that runs on magic rocks, to a desert army post where soldiers are in battle with the goat-headed native inhabitants of the land. The setting was always pretty dynamic and fun to learn about as each one was vastly different from the others, and while I do wish we got a bit more depth and development from each I have to remind myself that this was the first book in a series which leaves me hoping for even more in depth world building in the upcoming books.
The plot itself was fairly average and if you're an avid fantasy fan then I think you'll be able to predict where it's going pretty fast. While it wasn't really anything new it was well done and well-paced and definitely had several world elements that made it stand out. My only real issue with it is one specific storyline that followed the result of a conflict that had lasted for over a decade and a character seemed to solve within a matter of weeks but I hesitate to really even call that an issue as it was a great opportunity to learn more about the fascinating magic and world provided.
The magic is probably what I have the least to say about as while it was there and it was prominent- it hasn't really been developed all that much yet. Most of what we have now are just hints at what is to come and what it means, which leaves me pretty excited about the next book as I was genuinely interested in the clues we were given now.
All in all, this was a pretty good start to a series and while the beginning was a little slow and some of the characters weren't as fleshed out as I would have hoped for them to be, the story we were given was still intriguing and leaves you wanting to learn more. If you're looking for a steampunk inspired fantasy world with magic based in empathy and a connection to nature then I have no doubt that you'll find something to enjoy here.

That was disappointing...

I really thought the premise showed real promise, specially because it seemed that the book was going to be really interesting steampunk fantasy. But what I found in this book were only badly executed cliches and tropes and characters I could not care about. Every time a new situation presented itself, I could tell exactly what was going to happen since the beginning.

The book is a mess of all the possible fantasy cliches thrown togeteher in order to try to establish the world and to develop the story. The attempt to create "danger" for characters that I didn't care about simply didn't work, just made the plot convoluted and without real stakes. Even the dialogue "-you won't get away with this!! -I already have" was used in order to convey the evil of the main villain (telegraphed since page 1).

The world created is also uninspired... It's barely explained, and the reader just gets bits and pieces of the world and the magic when it's convenient for the plot. There is no history, no structure, just information thrown in order to be able to move the plot along. There is no explanation for so much of the characters interactions, why some people hate some of the characters aside from the fact that the author wanted to throw some unnecessary hostility at them in order to create tension that went nowehere.

The main plot of the book has been done so many times and so much better in other books. I really wished we've gotten the story that was promised in the blurb.

Thank you Netgalley, author, and publisher for the ARC.

Engines of Empire (The Age of Uprising #1) by R. S. Ford

3.5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit Books for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Content Warnings (may contain spoilers): Violence/Gore, Body Horror, Medical Content, Death/Death of a child, Colonisation, Necromancy

Engines of Empire is a steampunk fantasy novel which follows the Hawkspur family through political, military, and familial turbulence. In Torwyn, the country where the novel is primarily set, vast amounts of power are held by families in charge of particular guilds, which are each responsible for a particular area of the country’s economy. The Hawkspur family’s guild is in charge of transportation, and it is headed by the family’s resourceful and determined matriarch, Rosomond Hawkspur. The novel also follows Rosomond’s three children, Connall, a soldier looking to make peace with himself and his role in the family, Tyreta, a webwainer (someone who can utilize the magic of the world, pyrestones - a natural resource - which are primarily used to power mechanical devices) who is reluctant to assume the responsibilities her mother wants her to, and Fulren, Rosomond’s youngest son, an engineer whose life gets turned upside down when he is indited in the murder of an ambassador from the country of Nyrrakia, which has just opened up to Torwyn again after a thousand years of silence. While all the characters start off in the same place, their plotlines quickly diverge.

Overall, I had a fun time with this book. I found it to be generally fast-paced (although I did find that Connall’s plotline in particular was sometimes a bit dragged out) and I thought that the setting was quite unique, compared to previous fantasy worlds that I have read. The economy of Torwyn in particular was quite different from what I’ve read prior, with its focus on industry.

I found the author’s prose to be a good fit for the story he was trying to tell here. (Disclaimer: I’m not really picky about prose, so long as it does not make a story incomprehensible.) I found the author’s sentence structure and use of descriptions to be such that it enhanced the story but did not make it difficult to read, so I was very satisfied.

I also found the characters comprising the Hawkspur family to be quite well-constructed. I would say that my favourite two perspectives to read from were Tyreta and Fulren. However, while I think the POV characters were inherently complex in their conception, I wish we had gotten a bit more time to focus on their development over the course of the story. Without spoiling any of the plots, I only felt that one of the POVs really experienced a lot of growth over the course of the book. While the other characters were still definitely interesting to read about, it sometimes just felt like events were happening to them, which then led to some of the plotlines feeling at times over repetitive or convenient. As well, this resulted in me feeling slightly less attached to the characters than I would have liked, so consequently some of the elements of the plot were less impactful to me than they may have been otherwise.
As mentioned above, while the very fast pace of the book did make it quite exciting to read, I do wish the pace had slowed down a bit so there could have been a bit more political intrigue, especially in Rosomond’s perspective. A lot of times, she would uncover a mystery in one chapter and it would be solved in the next chapter of her POV. As well, while I found the industrial element of Torwyn to be very interesting, I wish we had gotten a closer look at how the industries were actually run and the politics of those processes. I hope there is more information about this in the sequel!

Another thing that I really did appreciate about this book was that the author addresses one of the real world tragic impacts of imperialism and industrial complexes, that being colonisation. Two of the characters in the book travel to colonies of Torwyn, where the nation is attempting to suppress the sentient species which were initially living on the land so they can acquire resources to help fuel the empire. While I appreciated the messaging of how one of these arcs ended, I did feel a bit iffy about how some of the characters who wanted their land back for themselves were portrayed. (Note: I have not directly experienced the impacts of being a victim of colonisation, so these insights may not be of particular significance.) I hope the author continues to explore this theme (in a nuanced manner) in future books, especially given the industrialised setting.

This start to an epic fantasy really immerses you in the world wishing for more. This story follows the many members Hawkspurs one of the guilds Torwyn. We are following Rosomon the matriarch of the hawkspurs and the sister the the emperor Sullivar as well as her three children Conall, Tyreta and Fulren. Torwyn is controlled by guilds where each guild is responsible for certain aspects of the city such as transportation, farming, administration. These guilds replaced the old religion of Torwyn the Draconate ministry that worships great wyrms that have saved the in the far past. Sullivar is also attempting to form an alliance with a nation who uses demon magic called Nyrakkis. The Draconate ministry does not agree with this alliance.Now the guilds and the religious zealots are clashing over who should have the right to rule Torwyn.
I really enjoyed this story the world was vast and the magic systems were unique really leaving you wanting you to know more . I also really enjoyed the characters as well they were easy to like and root for and the struggles they went through really kept you immersed in the story. My only complaint was I really wanted to know more about Nyrakkis, the story started off really focusing on the land but felt like toward the end it really didn’t show enough information. I am really hoping there is more to come about on in the next book.

Thanks to the publisher for an advance listening copy of Engines of Empire (The Age of Uprising #1) for review consideration. This did not influence my thoughts or opinions.

Engines of Empire is proper epic fantasy; a world chock-full of monsters, magic, political machinations and a wonderful array of characters. If the world asked for a steampunk Elder Scrolls laced with Matthew Ward’s Legacy trilogy, Engines of Empire would be the result. Definitely going to be on my Best of 2022 list.

This was my first foray into Ford’s work and made me an instantaneous fan. In fact, I went out and bought everything he’d ever written that was available online (including an unreleased novel for joining his newsletter – which you can join by clicking here). I even listened to this book twice over the course of two days. That’s 44+ hours of audio, y’all. Not an easy feat with a full-time job and a kiddo.

I believe what really boosted my enjoyment of the novel was the full cast audiobook. Narration by Alison Campbell, Ciaran Saward, Phoebe McIntosh, Ewan Goddard, Andrew Kingston, Martin Reeve & Stephen Perring really brought this story to fruition and nailed every single voice. As a daily listener of audiobooks, having one (1) narrator cover multiple POVs can be jarring – especially if you are constantly redirecting your attention elsewhere. While, of course, multiple narrators for every multi-POV audiobook out there is impossible, having one every now and again is awesome.

With regard to the story itself, it did take some getting used to in the beginning. Like a vast majority of series “firsts”, you are thrown into a brand-new world and have to work fairly quickly to acclimate yourself in order to feel comfortable in your knowledge of what is going on. It was a bit of a slow start this go-round, but dadgum if Ford didn’t hammer down the gas pedal a few chapters in and never let off. This story flies by as you become enamored with each individual member of Hawkspurs as they venture on their own (whether voluntarily or not) and have to fully realize who they are and what they want from life.

Tied in with these stories is a frame job that sends massive ripples into the heart of the Hawkspur lineage, a revolution from without the nation of Torwyn that moves ever closer, and creatures either thought fable or underestimated. Ford intertwines all of these individual threads so well, which lead to a climactic ending and a leave a lovely little morsel at the end that will have you begging for Book 2.

Engines of Empire is a definite recommend.

Engines of Empire was a fast-paced fantasy with fun worldbuilding. I would say the steampunk, industrializing world was my favorite aspect. There were a lot of very cool concepts. I would have liked to see a bit more of a breakdown of some of these things though, because the strange words and technology were sometimes hard for me to follow.

The characters were mostly around one family or guild which I really liked. They had cool dynamics and experiences despite being from the same family. I would have liked to get more in depth into the original characters, connect more deeply with at least a few. With so many POVs it can be hard to feel really connected to them.

The seperate plots and adventures were fast, entertaining, and kept me reading. I especially enjoyed the searching in the jungle. I hope future books tie the plots together a bit more because while this was very entertaining, not much was really accomplished in terms of the individuals goals.

If you're looking for a longer book to enjoy some fast-paced, steampunk fantasy, if definitely recommend giving this a try!

Arc provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The concept of this books speaks of magic-powered machines, guilds, empires, and war. In my mind, this was sort of a steampunk fantasy which is something I am really interested in. This book follows 3 siblings with vastly different paths, and each POV was unique. The concept of this book is what originally drew me to it. That and the fact this book is published by one of my favorite publishers, Orbit, I was really excited to read this book. Unfortunately, this seemed to be missing some key elements for me to be able to really love it.

One thing I think could be improved upon is the beginning of this book. There are a lot of character that are introduced and I forgot most of them right away. I think taking the time to explain the political hierarchy would have been helpful, and how each members contributes to the Guilds and the Empire. This might have created an info dump, but I think it would have been helpful to the reader in order to understand the setup better. After I continued reading, there never seemed to be a clear explanation of this in the entire book, so the majority of the time I was confused while reading this.

I also failed to see what the plot of this book was. It seems that all the characters were doing completely different things for completely different reasons. It didn’t really seem like anyone was working to achieve anything, apart from Fulren. I would have loved to see a more cohesive goal from all the characters, but the majority of this book I just kept wondering “What is the point? What is the reason this is happening or this choice is being made?” I could not find an answer, which left me bored and a little frustrated.

I still feel like this book could work for some people. I would say if you are drawn to the concept of this book, give it a chance. Unfortunately, this just didn’t work for me.

Engines of Empire is a terrific, lighthearted epic fantasy story. The nation of Torwyn is governed by specialised Guilds, which cemented their power based on their technological advancements. The machinery is powered by special ores, which can be manipulated by gifted individuals. I did like the way it is handled in the book. It's a nice mix between steampunk and magical elements.

Overall, the introduction into the series happens gradually. Way too often, the first book of an epic fantasy series simply bombards you with places, characters, or competing political factions. At no point did I feel lost or even overwhelmed. But make no mistake, this does not mean that the story itself is bland.
Richard S. Ford created a captivating world with fascinating characters and a lot of potential for future books.

I’m giving this one 4 stars because it was a page turner of an ARC even though quite long, There’s several main characters that get focused chapters, all family, and they are rapidly plunged into dire peril! This is a very intriguing and enjoyable start to a new epic fantasy series that looks worth reading. I haven’t read anything by this author before but I hit follow this author on Goodreads so I could hear about book two. I’d recommend this one to a reader that wants an epic fantasy that’s a fun adventure read where even when the stakes are high and all looks dire isn’t too grim a read.

Fast-paced and action-packed! This will appeal to fans of John Gwynne and Brian McClellan. I loved the unique use of technology and fleshed-out worldbuilding.

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit Books for providing me with a digital copy for review.

Sometimes you just want a good fantasy world to escape in, and Engines of Empire delivers in spades. The world building is painstaking but pays off well. The characterization was well done, but the plot was what kept me engaged. It really started once our main characters went their separate ways and took off from there. Each of them finds themselves embroiled in different but no less intense situations. Though the novel itself was over 600 pages, the story flew by and sets up the sequel quite nicely. I would recommend this novel to any and all fans of fantasy, excellent world-building, and multiple POVs that keep the reader engaged from page one.

This first volume of a new fantasy series (The Age of Uprising) by R.S. Ford is a solid, well-plotted adventure story told from the points of view of five major characters tied together by the frayed bonds of a ruling family in an empire about to come apart at the seams. It’s non-stop action in a steampunk world powered by pyrestone and the magic certain individuals cultivate to make it work. In this empire managed by Guilds, the powerful Hawkspur family is tested in war, conspiracy, treachery and hand-to-hand combat. Rosomon, matriarch of the Hawkspurs, is sister to the overly sanguine emperor Sullivar. Her husband had been killed by the superskilled warrior, known as a swordwright, named Lancelin Archwind of a rival guild but closely committed to Rosomon and her children. The children, Fulren, an artisan skilled in producing the engines and machines that keep the empire going, Tyreta, learned in magic, and Conall, a soldier - are all eager to prove themselves and also take vengeance on Lancelin.

A complex series of events, starting with the assassination of an enchanting visiting emissary quickly evolves into a general conspiracy to overthrow the government of the Guilds. It thrusts each member of the Hawkspur family into close encounters with death at the hands of various enemies and traitors. The action scenes are all well-rendered, but there is always a sense that each member of this family is likely to survive. And in general I found the turns of plot and fight scenes all predictable, though all are quite well realized and exciting to read. The characters are engaging, and the very different environments and communities the Hawkspurs are thrown into are carefully constructed and believable. But there is nothing much beneath the exciting surface of this fast-paced adventure. So if that’s what you’re looking for, this will be a completely satisfying story. There are so many writers of much greater ambition, daring and originality in fantasy fiction that this story left me wanting more.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars.

This was a fun, fast-paced story set in a steampunk fantasy world. It follows three siblings and their mother as they become embroiled in political machinations within their Empire and surrounding, rival polities. The magic systems were intriguing. The story had great action scenes as well.

One downside to this book is everything felt surface-level. I never connected with any of the characters and there was a lot of plot armor that got the characters out of danger pretty easily. I still enjoyed my time reading this book, but it is not a new favorite.

Absolutely incredible story from a master craftsman. This book sucked you in from the beginning and refused to let go, culminating in the extraordinary and unexpected ending.

A good book, excellent worldbuilding and magic. Like game of thrones. A good book, excellent worldbuilding and magic. Like game of thrones. A good book, excellent worldbuilding and magic. Like game of thrones. A good book, excellent worldbuilding and magic. Like game of thrones

Ford has written a great first sequel to a fantasy novel that will keep the reader engaged throughout. The book deals with treachery, government inaction, monsters and a diverse group of characters.

There really is nothing like new, epic fantasy - the massive undertaking in worlbuilding, character development and system-growth, when done right, is like nothing else. You feel like you're just slowly starting to wade into a shallow sea or lake, but with each step you uncover more details and sink further and further into the story. R.S. Ford's Engines of Empire exemplifies that feeling and experience, as each step deeper into the story presents the reader with more and more information; at no point can you sit back and just say 'yeah, I get it all now'. Ford's characters feel vivid and alive, with motivations and growth driving their actions. The worldbuilding, both in settings and inhabitants fleshes out the story so well you can picture the map from a bird's-eye view, with conflicts and subterfuge driving the story through this initial entrant. I'm definitely excited for the next book in this series.