The Garden of Empire by J.T. Greathouse is an average sequel but I wasn't as captured by it as I was with The Hand of the Sun King. Foolish Cur had some character growth and learning about new characters and magic types kept things interesting but not dynamic. I enjoyed the conclusion of the story.

ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The Garden of Empire did not live up to The Hand of the Sun King, but it is a good sequel—with issues—that also promises incredible things to come in the third and final book of the trilogy.

‘Ambition is only a failing if one cannot live up to it,’


The Hand of the Sun King by J.T. Greathouse was the best fantasy debut I read and published in 2021. I loved everything about The Hand of the Sun King. And as the first book of a trilogy, I think Greathouse’s debut is criminally underrated, and it deserves more readership. Knowing how much I loved the first book in Pact and Pattern trilogy, it is not an exaggeration to say that the second novel, The Garden of Empire, was one of my most anticipated books of this year. And now that I’ve read the book, I’m sad to admit that even though I enjoyed it, it didn’t manage to live up to the quality of its predecessor. Greathouse, if you’re somehow reading this review, stop what you’re doing and browse something else.

“Arrogance buries its roots deep. No matter how we think it is weeded from us, it springs back anew, masking itself with the flower of benevolent purpose.”

Look here, even though I looked forward to reading this book, I was honestly a bit afraid of reading The Garden of Empire due to one storytelling change I heard will be taken by the author for this sequel. Unfortunately, in this case, my fear was founded. I knew before I read this book that unlike The Hand of the Sun King, which is told exclusively from the first-person perspective of Wen Alder, The Garden of Empire will utilize multiple POV characters in the narrative. Those who’ve read The Garden of Empire will know what I’m talking about. I have nothing against multiple POV chapters; you should know this by now. Most of my favorite epic fantasy books are told through several POV characters rather than one. But it gets much trickier when this storytelling decision is applied in the second volume and beyond when the first book of the series is told exclusively through first-person narration. In other words, The Garden of Empire was almost Raven’s Shadow by Anthony Ryan all over again.

“Anger never motivated any pupil to the heights of success.”

For those who haven’t read Blood Song or Raven’s Shadow by Anthony Ryan, I’m going to give you a brief refresher. Vaelin was the sole main character of Blood Song, and he had a relatively small spotlight in the sequel: Tower Lord. Vaelin, the main character of Blood Song, pretty much became a useless supporting character in the third book: Queen of Fire. Fortunately, this degradation of the main character hasn’t happened yet with the series. Wen Alder is still undoubtedly the main character of Pact and Pattern trilogy. Though I will say this, Alder became as infuriating and clueless as Fitz from The Realm of the Elderlings, a character I dearly loved, in The Garden of Empire, but more on this later. My issue with the changes to multiple POV characters is that The Garden of Empire didn’t feel like it required this change.

‘You give me too much credit. As the sage Traveller-on-the-Narrow-Way writes, a sculptor is only as good as the jade in his hands.’

Alder stated in the detailed recap at the beginning of the book that this has turned into a story of an empire, which I understand and necessitate the inclusion of three other POV characters. One is an interlude character, and the other two POV characters are Hand Pinion and Koro Ha. But for about 60% of the book, close to nothing interesting happened in Hand Pinion and Koro Ha’s chapters. There was a big pacing issue or a middle-book syndrome with this. There was a heavy emphasis on magic and world-building, but many explanations were told in an info-dump manner resulting in a forgettable magic system. I would’ve loved having a POV chapter from Atar, but nope. She barely appeared in this sequel. In the first 60% or so, practically nothing crucial happened in the story, and then everything exploded insanely in the last 100 pages. It took me a week to read the first 350 pages and then one sitting to read the final 100 pages. That should show you the fluctuating level of investment I had with The Garden of Empire. If it weren’t for how well-written the prose was, I would’ve dropped the novel before I reached the tension-packed final quarter.

‘We can only arrive at genuine understanding by interrogating our misconceptions… There is no shame in being wrong, so long as one is able to accept correction from your teachers, your parents, and the sages.’

I’ve been pretty negative in my review so far, but I mean what I said that I absolutely loved Greathouse’s prose. This is one aspect where I felt the quality showcased in The Hand of the Sun King remains strong in this sequel. I felt Greathouse’s writing was beautiful, easy, and a joy to read. Regarding the quality of prose, I believe Greathouse is one of the best new fantasy writers. Vivid, immersive, beautifully structured, and Greathouse showed he can certainly write both melancholic and action-packed scenes. As proven in the final sequence of The Garden of Empire.

“When all things align according to their proper place, peace and harmony reign; when things fall out of their ordained position, all descends to chaos and disruption”

The climax sequence of The Garden of Empire was absolutely breathtaking. It is worth persevering to get to this point if you’re struggling with the pacing of the first half. I wondered where the story was going, and by the end, I was so pleasantly surprised by the turn of events. Maybe not the overall execution itself, but the result was just awesome. Not only does the brutal climax sequence escalate the scope and tension of the series, but the thrilling confrontations and ending also show big promises that the third book will be a return to greatness. Who knows, it is very likely the third book may become the best of the trilogy.

‘This might be our only chance. But at what cost? You are treating lives like tools. Worse, like pieces upon a game board, to be spent and risked and lost to achieve your aims. I wonder if this is the empire’s influence on you. I hope so. Then, at least, this callousness would be but a product of the evil I already fight, rather than some evil all its own.’

After all the pros and cons mentioned so far, and how much I loved The Hand of the Sun King, I wish I could give The Garden of Empire a higher rating and more positive review. But going back to the point of Alder being reminiscent of Fitz, and also, some parts of the execution of the climax sequence, there was actually one more major gripe I had with The Garden of Empire. I have to be careful about this because this is spoilery. For the entirety of the book, Alder is convinced he was rightfully doing things out of necessity. This is a great theme, even at the risk of making Alder an infuriating and selfish character to read. I did not mind this. The issue, however, is that people around him willingly did not prevent him from doing what he was determined to do for god knows what reasons. They intentionally kept secrets from him, and in the end, Alder is called stupid and an idiot for doing what he did.

“Every great and meaningful endeavour, I reasoned, must feel impossible to those who begin it. Yet I had no choice but to begin, or else to watch the pattern of the world either remade to suit the cruel vision of the emperor or submerged into the darkest depths of violence and chaos.”

Why are things being kept from Alder for the entirety of the book? No idea. Greathouse might be saving the full revelations for book three, which (once again) makes this an incredibly frustrating trope to use. Or maybe, in the worst case, Greathouse didn’t know what to do with the revelations. The bottom line, right now, the characters keeping secret from Alder throughout the book and then blaming him for his actions are just unforgivable and lazy storytelling. It’s reminiscent of Fitz, but at least for Fitz, we often find out, in the same book, why secrets are kept from him. Here, it doesn’t feel like something that needs to be postponed until the third book. And until I read the final book to find out, and judge for myself, whether the keeping secrets trope is merited or not, the lukewarm rating for The Garden of Empire stays.

“Every choice reshapes the pattern of the world—a heavy enough burden when those choices stood only to reshape one’s own life and the paths one might traverse. How could anyone endure a life so full of choices that shaped the paths of others?”

This review was not easy to write. In fact, I hated writing it. The Hand of the Sun King is one of my favorite books, and I genuinely wished I could love The Garden of Empire much more. I have to be truthful in my reviews. Otherwise, there’s no point in my positive reviews as well. The Garden of Empire is written beautifully, but sadly, it is afflicted with infuriating tropes and the middle-book syndrome. The good thing, though, is what happened at the end of the book showcased the big potential for the third book to be the best of the trilogy. And I sincerely hope that will end up becoming a reality.

You can order this book from: Blackwells (Free International shipping)

You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions | I also have a Booktube channel

The second book in the series is a more recent publication, and it picks up almost exactly where we left off. This instalment has one significant difference. We have multiple narrators, with three main ones who carry the story forward. Each narrator is based in a different role or place in the Empire and helps build a very comprehensive image of the events that occur in the book.
Wen Alder has been forced to make his choice (not much of a spoiler since it would not make sense for the series to go on otherwise). He is now the Foolish Cur and has to fight to be heard and taken seriously. His actions in the later half of the first book, as much as how he got there in the first place, count against him. His affinity for magic and the conversations he has with the Gods have put him in a special position of having a leg in multiple factions but belonging to none.
Given that many of the people who stumble upon this review may not have read the first and are only looking at this review to ensure that putting effort into getting invested in this series is worth the effort, I will not go into the particulars of who the other narrators are.
I actually enjoyed this aspect of the book since I got to know how things are situated and could see the surprises before they hit the people (sometimes). It is also interesting to see how people deal with the realities in their lives and what they believe and how far they would be willing to go for that belief.
Each individual narrative felt distinct, with their own woes but with mixed loyalties. The end goal is unclear for any of the people we encounter here, although, by the next visit, I think they will have to figure it out - given the way things ended.
The story does not take a pause in an actual cliffhanger but diverts the direction of the narrative as a whole. It is almost entirely a war story this time. Even the intermediate conversations are towards actions to be taken on the battlefield. If action is not something a reader appreciates in their fantasy, this may not be a book for them.
I am not always a big fan of action myself, but the human interactions within the world are quite fascinating to me. I think I have everyone figured out, but only the third book will tell me if I am right, and even if I am, if they will have the chance and courage to see their ideas through.


I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

Last year, J. T. Greathouse delivered a pleasant surprise with his debut fantasy novel, The Hand of the Sun King. Alder Wen was a particularly entertaining protagonist, despite his many follies. The book featured philosophical musings on the nature of power and Wen’s determined search for a third way between empire and rebellion that fomented disastrous consequences for those around him. I had a great time with it and eagerly anticipated the sequel. However, The Garden of Empire stumbles a little bit in its execution, succeeding in opening up the world, while paring back character and introspection in exchange for plot. Mild spoilers for the end of The Hand of the Sun King.

Foolish Cur, once known to the empire as Alder Wen, has thrown his lot in with the rebellion that has reached full boil with his homeland of Nayen. His uncle, wearing the mantle of Sun King of Nayen, leads a rebellion against the empire, bringing violent retribution wherever he goes. Nayeni traitors and imperial citizens are punished in equal measure. Foolish Cur attempts to mitigate the righteous rage of his uncle with the help of his grandmother, but he is still seen as an outsider. He’s also juggling his relationship with the gods by learning the ways of being a “witch of the old sort” through his tenuous friendship with the witch, Hissing Cat. He plans to honor the gods overlooking his newfound power by challenging the emperor Tenet, and stopping his war against the gods. Meanwhile, Foolish Cur’s old teacher, Koro Ha, is experiencing some ramification of Foolish Cur’s turn as he tries to start a school, teaching his own conquered people how to navigate the imperial system. Can Foolish Cur challenge the emperor on his own?

It’s not that The Garden of Empire is a bad book by any means. I enjoyed it though on a lesser level than The Hand of the Sun King. I’ll rip the band-aid off of the frustrating parts first. The previous book had an excellent back and forth of the philosophies and the magic systems that supported the ideals Wen encountered. Its limited perspective allowed the story to grow organically as Wen tested the boundaries of Sienese doctrine, while flirting with the old ways of Nayeni magic. His growth came through slow lessons learned painfully as his ambition exceeded his grasp.

In The Garden of Empire, these lessons are few and far between. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, and a change of pace can often lead to exciting developments. However, I felt severed from the flow as I watched Foolish Cur blunder blindly through obstacles laid at his feet. It didn’t help that his teacher, Hissing Cat, was purposefully vague and walked into the jungle whenever Foolish Cur had a conflict he had to resolve. I’m not saying Hissing Cat needed to have the answers, but the lack of a back and forth left me with Foolish Cur’s own thoughts, which often felt like a reversion. Maybe that was part of the point, but it never felt reinforced by the other perspectives within the story. On top of that, I was a little annoyed with his over fondness for his friend Oriole, reflected on with a nostalgia that was a little too sappy for my taste. Lastly, I felt his quest to challenge the emperor’s canon, with his own, progressed a little too quickly. I’m not one for “hard” magic systems, but I felt there was a lack of attention paid to the development.

That said, I really appreciated Greathouse’s attempt to open up the world. The introduction of three new perspectives expanded the view of the empire and how it sinks its teeth into the world. Koro Ha’s return to his once-free land of Toa Alon, the land of the stone speakers, was pure bliss. I loved that his story revolved around the idea of a great teacher still needing to be taught. It highlighted the restrictive nature of Sienese doctrine, while showcasing Koro Ha’s own reluctance to challenge it within himself. These sections maintained the philosophical interaction with the material world I enjoyed so much within Hand. It truly felt like high stakes, and it had a few moments that pumped adrenaline into my veins over debates, which kudos to Greathouse. I also enjoyed Hand Pinion’s perspective, showing the opposite of Foolish Cur’s story. He was someone who resorted to bending doctrine to reinforce the emperor’s will, even though he challenged core ideas within it. It was also an excellent portrayal of “doing the necessary thing,” which involved the sacrifice of lives to maintain a sense of order and purpose. My only gripe about his story is that I wish it was a clearer foil to Foolish Cur, bringing out some of the lessons Greathouse seemed to want to impart.

The last perspective was more of a set up storyline for the next book, so I won’t go into too much detail there, but it was definitely something I wanted to see more of, and I hope we, as readers, get deeper insights in the next book. They will certainly help set the stage for the conflict that’s brewing.

Beyond all of that, Greathouse’s prose is still a joy to read. It is colorful and introspective, painting the world with beautiful strokes. The dialogue has a poetic quality to it, as if everyone is taught to discuss things with care and grace. When characters don’t speak this way, it showcases their upbringing outside the empire and really solidifies what is at stake. It makes those outside the boundaries feel grounded and making a life on a whim, whereas those within are constrained and have to consider the few paths available to them. They are unable to shape their own destiny, unless it’s through the power of the emperor. Some lines took my breath away or sent shivers up and down my spine because of the delivery. I adored it immensely.

The Garden of Empire may have stumbled a little bit for me, but there is plenty to love about this book. It doesn’t feel wholly sacrificed to set up the third book, however, it does put Greathouse in a great position for it. It could have spent a little more time making certain aspects of the world and Foolish Cur’s journey a bit clearer, reducing the stakes of the in-moment rebellion. I’m excited to see what he has in store for Koro Ha, and see where Foolish Cur ends up. It isn’t quite the classic “sophomore slump,” but it contains aspects of it. But if you enjoyed the first book, I think The Garden of Empire is still worth your while.

Rating: The Garden of Empire – 7.5/10
-Alex

An ARC of this book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts on this book are my own.

While The Garden of Empire didn't live up to its predecessor for me, I believe that it set the stage for an out of this world finale.

I have received this book in exchange of an honest review, thank you to JAB Books and Netgalley for the opportunity.

I have my own blog now (www.https://daysinotherworlds.com), so please do give it a visit if you're interested in my other reviews :)

Release date: 4th of August 2022.

───────────────────

Unlike its predecessor, The Garden of Empire isn't just a single point of view anymore. There are now three of them from characters that I've seen before in an alternating fashion, and an added one for the interludes. That to me, was a brilliant addition, because the threat is now so much bigger than it was.

An outright war between the rebellion and the empire, is not going to be a small thing. That's without including the influences and other worldly beings that could be a problem as well moving forward. But, even then, I'll consider this book in particular to be more character driven, than a story driven one. Given that the focus was definitely on the characters and what they're doing, for 90% of the narrative.

Which again, makes the shifting point of views a very smart choice to add.

Wen Alder, or Foolish Cur is much more rooted in the rebellion after what happened in the previous book. And it was very interesting to me, to see what else he'll be coming up with now that he's got different allies and huge expectations. Which in turn, makes the exploration of the powers that he now has and his experiments, another interesting thing to see throughout his side of the story.

I won't mention the names of the other two point of views (or 4, if I count the interludes?) as it might be spoilery. But I will say that one of them showed a never before seen side of the culture and history of the world that I was dying to see in the series, and their struggle to save said culture from getting eradicated, easily made their point of view, my favourite one.

The other point of view, on the other hand (pun intended), was a frustrating one for me. Main reason for that is my lack of care about the individual in question, or their struggle as a whole. I will admit though, that seeing cowardice, revenge, jealousy and selfishness is always an interesting addition to most stories, this one included. But, it just didn't work as well when I didn't care much about the character in question.

However, there was a silver lining in the end, as I finally got the chance to see someone I was insanely interested to see since The Hand of the Sun King. So, I'll consider it an incredibly nice consolation prize.

The main idea here, is that there is something to gain from following each of the different point of views. Since the majority of the book, has them working for their own individual aims until a convergence for some of them at the end. The pieces of lore, and the look on history because of this was the icing on the cake. Seeing the magic systems, learning more about them and seeing small training arcs here and there was even more so.

The ending as well, raised the rating of this book for me because of how much it ended up expanding the world. The threats to see are going to be so much bigger moving forward, some of the choices they made are definitely going to come back to bite them, accountability must also be a thing in the sequel. And that's without including the power that's going to be brought by hidden new knowledge.

However, as a complete product, it wasn't the amazing experience I had hoped to get.

And it wasn't because The Garden of Empire was written poorly, there are many things to enjoy in it as I stated earlier. But instead because, I spent quite a bit of time being pissed off at some choices when it came to the characters themselves. For instance, one character feels completely different than their first book feel, while there are others who are incredibly paranoid and childish despite being full grown adults in VERY important places.

And the biggest offender was probably, the lack of relevant information in their relevant places, because those with knowledge refuse to share it for no good reason.

I understand this as a plot device, as too much knowledge could be a con depending on who knows it. But having it actually come up as a point of discussion in the book, feels like a weird way to create tension when there is no real shown reason to avoid having said explanation. Even more so when the results of being quiet, could and are shown to be catastrophic.

Now that I sit here and try to put it all together, the book feels like a weird mix of different elements from both The Rage of Dragons and The Poppy War. Those that frustrated me heavily in the former as well (especially the romance, which I thought was unneeded whatsoever in both) and I'm now curious to see if the finale would be the same scale or be truly unique.

And I say that because the finale, as implied here, has the potential to be one of the best and most memorable endings to a series I'm ever going to read in my lifetime. Mainly because of how interwoven the magic and the lore of this series is in it and I can't wait to do so.

Evidently, I'll say that I enjoyed big parts of The Garden of Empire and there were other parts that I didn't enjoy as much, with chances to change my mind going forward. But, I still consider it a very good series overall, one of the more entertaining first series to an author I've read recently and one I look forward to see the end of soon. I hope anyway, I'm really excited for that after that explosive ending.

Final rating: 3.5/5, but I'm rounding up this time because of that ending.

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this book early to give an honest review.

In the first novel "Hand of the Sun King", we are introduced to the main character who is split between two identities: Wen Alder the Empire's Hand, and the witch Foolish Cur. The first book's ending was great but now, in this recent installment, we get more of the world J.T. Greathouse has crafted.

Now, in the sequel, our main character has chosen who he is – Foolish Cur, a witch who joins the rebels opposing the brutal Empire he once served. But now, due to his decisions in the first book, much worse things are coming ahead for the Emperor has decided to take his quest for powers against the gods themselves and they will not go out without a fight. Foolish Cur is capable of dealing with the threat, all while other people (who we get perspectives on) are dealing with their issues.

J.T. Greathouse did an excellent job in the Pattern and Pact sequel, showing off another excellent display of his craft as he improves characters, worldbuilding, and now the different characters who we follow beside Wen/Foolish Cur.
5/5

This was a really great sequel that expanded the world and deepened the lore set up in the first book. While Wen Alder was the focus and only POV in The Hand of the Sun King, this book includes three different POVs and a fourth story thread in the interludes. Each of the characters struggled with the age old question of whether the end result justifies potentially questionable means to get there. All of them approached the question in a different way, and it was fascinating to read the various ways they thought through their decisions and the resulting consequences. The impacts of colonization and the price of rebellion were once again explored throughout this narrative, and the expanded POVs really helped to flesh out that discussion in exciting new ways. The magic system of this world was explored in a great deal of depth in this installment, and it lead to some interesting revelations about the gods and the plans of the emperor. The ending definitely wasn't what I was expecting, and it revealed that a much bigger game is being played than almost anyone anticipated, which has me excited for the next book. I also now really want to get some chapters, or a prequel, from the emperor's perspective because I think learning about his history and POV could be a fascinating exploration of how someone with good intentions goes horribly wrong. Although, that is also kind of what we got with this book. So, maybe it would be too repetitive? I don't know, but I am now much more interested in the emperor than many of the other characters after the way this book ended. My only complaint would be that this book felt a bit bogged down compared to its predecessor. The first book spanned a great deal of time and places, but this one was laser focused on one army chasing another for pretty much the whole book, at least for two of the three POVs. It allowed time for a wide range of good character moments and growth, but it also felt a bit slow at times. I kept wanting the battle to happen because it seemed like it took forever to get there. Overall, though, this was a great addition to the series, and I'm looking forward to seeing where the story goes next. Therefore, I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.