The final installment in the Empire of the Wolf trilogy offers all the things to love in the the previous two books with a whole lot more intensity and brutality. The group of protagonists take on insurmountable odds to save the Empire of the Wolf to falling into the hands of Claver. The antagonist Claver and his demonic allies bring truly frightening horror elements and epic battles. Every novel in the trilogy has expanded the world and magic system in fascinating ways. This was a very satisfying finale to a series that has taken us on quite the journey. I highly recommend The Trials of Empire and the entire Empire of the Wolf trilogy to fans of epic fantasy.

Empire of the Wolf is easily one of my favorite fantasy series ever and Trials of Empire stuck the landing. An easy 5 stars.

This is a grim dark fantasy series with a German inspired medieval setting. The first of the trilogy, Justice of Kings, begins about a generation after the founding of the Empire of the Wolf and follows Sir Konrad Vonvalt, a Justice, who roams the empire and enacts the emperor’s Justice. He is essentially a medieval lawyer, but with magic. The story is told from the perspective of Helena, his clerk and protégée looking back on the events from many years in the future. They and a host of side character begin to investigate a murder, but in the process unearth a larger conspiracy.

The magic system is definitely one of the coolest out there. One of the best parts of this series is learning more about it as the world expands, but essentially the Justices have access to arcanum that teach them how to wield different powers which allow you to do things like command people with your voice and speak to the recently dead. But these powers are dangerous and somehow tied to the afterlife. It is creepy and horrific and so fun read.

I can’t say too much about the plot of this specific installment so as not to spoil the series, but one of the many things this trilogy does well is that each book builds on itself and becomes larger and larger in scope.

And we haven’t even gotten to my favorite part, the characters and their arcs and dynamic. I honestly can’t remember the last time I ended a book and was emotionally distraught because I would miss the characters so much.

This series asks the questions, how far do you go to do what is right? And, is it still right if you have to do bad things to get there? Watching the characters trying to figure this out is harrowing.

There is also a type of love between Helena and Vonvalt that I could not get enough of. This dynamic could have easily been creepy, but the author handled it beautifully in my opinion.

I love Helena and her dry wit and her philosophical contemplations. I love Vonvalt and his pretentiousness and sincerity. And I love all of the side characters and their quirks including Heinrich 🐶. This made it all the more devastating to watch them go through what they did.

I will miss them all dearly and I am begging Richard Swan to give us more.

Thank you Orbit and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy.

Final Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Sir Konrad and Helena may have dealt a brutal blow to the plans of their enemies, but that doesn't change the fact that the Empire of the Wolf is on the verge of collapse. With an army marshalling to march on the capital of Sova, Konrad knows that the imperial army won't be enough against a force empowered by demonic magiks. He and Helena must try to gather what allies they can before finally making a stand to defend the empire - or at least, what's left of it.

THE TRIALS OF EMPIRE is a bleak but rewarding finale to a series that has been building towards a clash of monumental scale since book one. Readers of the series may recall that THE JUSTICE OF KINGS, book one in the trilogy, announced in its opening pages that by the end of the account, the Empire of the Wolf will have fallen. After spending THE TYRANNY OF FAITH watching the tragedy of Sir Konrad, Helena, and their allies trying in vain to stop dominos from toppling, we are at the crux of events that will define the fate of that empire.

It's not a happy book. It's gruesome, gory, and brutal, with one or two scenes I would like to scrub from my brain. And yet it's exactly the kind of book where the stakes are so well done, I was constantly driven to pick it up. This is especially true of the second half of the book, when the focus is on the struggle for control of the city of Sova. It's not just enemies outside the walls our heroes have to contend with, but also enemies within, as well as allies jockeying for whatever power they can gain in these desperate times.

It is certainly wearying to see the daunting task ahead of the characters, especially when they themselves are bone tired from the sheer exhaustion of trying to find the narrow path to victory Throughout it all, there's a constant interrogation of what methods are justifiable when it looks like good is about to be crushed by overwhelming evil. Are evil methods, while still evil, permissible if they stop a greater evil? If they spare thousands of others from death or torment? Do you risk becoming the thing you are trying to stop?

Helena herself has certainly grown since we first met in her THE JUSTICE OF KINGS, and I appreciated the ways in which she tried to hold Sir Konrad accountable in his actions, questioning him often. At the same time, I found myself throughout the book grappling with my feelings about Helena as a character, but maybe I'm meant to. She's a particularly ordinary young woman thrust into extraordinary events, caught up in the orbit of a man she has an unhealthy emotional relationship with. What little training she has is in law, not martial arts, and she can barely defend herself when the need arises. Powerful forces work around her and she is trying her best to simply stay alive. At times, I found myself wishing she was more capable in combat, a more traditional fantasy heroine instead of one that constantly needs rescuing.

But perhaps what makes Helena extraordinary is that even caught up in events that are largely out of her control, faced with near certain destruction, she keeps on keeping on. She doesn't have might or magic, but she is the one who stands in the room and points to the moral line, who pushes back against things that are easier but aren't right. When hope is lost, she will still try to save just a few more lives. I don't know that Helena will ever be my favorite character, but I have certainly grown to respect her over the course of the series.

The one critique I have of THE TRIALS OF EMPIRE is minor and comes down more to preference. I've liked the more subdued fantasy nature of this series; while THE TYRANNY OF FAITH definitely increased our heroes' interactions with the realms of death and beyond, it still felt like a grounded story with gothic horror elements. But in this final battle, the magical stakes have cranked to eleven as incredibly powerful beings are interested in the outcome of the struggle, leading to one or two moments that felt a bit deus ex machina. I, however, was far more interested in the mortal struggles than the cosmic ones, though the two are intrinsically linked.

THE TRIALS OF EMPIRE has cemented the EMPIRE OF THE WOLF trilogy as a gripping read that fully pays off in the end. One small incident in a backwater town creates ripples that shake the foundations of an entire nation. I was absolutely engrossed in watching Konrad and Helena try to build a bulwark against the approaching tidal wave of destruction, both politically and militarily. I have to reiterate that there is much in this book that is not for the faint of heart, but if you are here for bloody and brutal strife, THE TRIALS OF EMPIRE will reward you.

Note: I was provided a free ARC by the publisher in exchange for my fair and honest review.

Swan finalises an excellent trilogy here. It feels something new and fresh in the genre, while still hitting all the hallmarks of a classic. This is very dark, maybe the darkest of the three, the horror is embraced here but it really adds to the story and the situations of the characters. I cant go too much into the plot for risk of spoilers, but this book is plot heavy, and so much happens it was a whirlwind! There were even some twists that i did not expect and really kept me on my toes. I love the aspects of morlity and philosophy that run throughout the series and this book was no different in that. The flow wasn’t the smoothest, the pacing felt a tad disjointed, with the second half feeling faster than the first, and I’m not 100% sold on the ending. But ultimately a good last book to the series and worth the read for sure

While I really enjoyed the first book of the series, the second and third (this book) were somewhat disappointing. The characters were fine as many of them were the same as the first book, but the second two books just seemed so much more a slog. A lot of words for not much happening. This book had the characters travel to a far away land to meet another species just to set up a few pages at the end. Much of it just seemed a bit ridiculous and the book could have been much shorter and told the same essential story.

This is a solid end to a solid trilogy. I would say that this will keep me on the lookout for any other books that this author may write in the future. If you have already reach to the third book, then there a good chance you already like the first two and I see no reason why you wouldn’t like the third. Like I said before I’m interested into what else this author has planned.

I received an eARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley.

This really brings everything full circle and packs a punch, wrapping up the trilogy. The way things were unraveling through the last book and a half or so, I didn't expect the ending to satisfy, but was surprised that it wrapped up the story pretty well.

On finishing the first book of the trilogy and sampling the opening chapters of this one, I've decided not to finish the rest of the books. It's a fine novel with an interesting world, but sadly doesn't fit my tastes as much of mainstream Fantasy these days. Vonvalt was the highlight of the book for me, but the story doesn't grab me, nor does the world this is set in either.

I cannot believe I've finally finished the series. This last instalment did not disappoint. The book picked up right where it left off in The Tyranny of Faith. Compared to the other two books in the series this book was a constant anxiety rollercoaster. It wasn't till the end of the book that I finally felt I had a moment to breathe. This series started out as a medieval fantasy thriller and ended as a medieval fantasy horror.

Claver is now in my top 3 favorite villains. I don't think I would've loved the series as much as I did had he not been such a strong character. Yes, he was completely unhinged but in a way I could understand why he was doing the things he was doing. The final battle with Claver was even better than what I had imagined it would be. Vonvalt was really put through the ringer by Claver's plans. I loved that Vonvalt had his morals and ideology shaken up by Claver and as a reader you were constantly guessing which version of Vonvalt we were going to get. I'm not going to lie but Helena did annoy me for most of the book. I understand her reasoning and her feelings towards Vonvalt but by the end I just wanted her to shut up about them. Still loved her entire character arch, I was just done with her whinging. The real hero of the book was my boy Heinrich! The amount of times that dog had to SUFFER had me ready to just kill everyone! I don't think I've ever read a book with a dog that I've loved as much as Heinrich. He really was the MVP haha I was constantly looking forward to every scene with him in it.

My only gripe with this book is that too much happened in a small amount of pages. I think I would've preferred this book to have been broken up into two. Then I wouldn't have felt like everything was going way too fast. Overall I absolutely love this book and series. I'd definitely recommend it if you're a fan of political high fantasy and medieval horror. This is a series I'll be reading over and over again. Richard Swan is now on my list of authors that I will blind buy any and every book he puts out. I'm so happy I read this series.

Empire of the Wolf #3. This one was really, um, loud. All that plot buildup from the previous 2 books leads to quite the crescendo, and a very long one at that. The first in the series read rather like a medieval murder mystery with just touches of the arcane. The second concentrated on the dark fantasy elements. This one is about going to war and then the battle, and the question, not only of who will win, but what will be the cost - including to Sir Vonvolt's and Helena's very souls. So the story is basically our heroes trying to get as many allies as possible, and then on to war, crash, bang, slash and wham. Destruction everywhere no matter which realm they're in. Sir Vonvolt is sure of his decisions while Helena, as usual, is not, and is increasingly more horrified as events progress. It definitely does all come together with a minimum of loose ends. You won't be as exhausted as the characters, but you'll definitely get a workout. Recommended only for those who have read the first two.

As many before me have said - Richard Swan stuck the landing. This final entry into the Empire of the Wolf trilogy brought us to the completion of the story with intensity and strength. The character growth and development were exceptional. I kept thinking how interesting it was that the narrator was later in life but yet was narrating herself as a 20-year-old. We saw the immaturity and lack of confidence of a 20-year-old but it was told with the gentle empathy and honesty of one looking back at their own life.

While overall this book was exceptional, I did have one sticking point. The first 40% was a bit of a calm before the storm. The story itself was not calm, but it didn't have the intensity of the rest and was hard to get through. I found myself only reading a handful of pages before getting distracted by other things.

Also, note that the supernatural horror aspects were very prevalent in this book. My favourite book in the series is still The Justice of Kings. The trial and law aspects of that book were exceptional, and Richard Swan's own experience as a lawyer shone through. While I was not opposed to the supernatural horror aspects, it wasn't what I had expected when I started (and finished) The Justice of Kings.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for a digital advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The Trials of Empire was a satisfying ending to this trilogy. If you liked the first two books, I don’t see why you wouldn’t enjoy this one too.

This installment was an action packed finale to Helena and Vonvalt’s story. I will say that I liked this book the least in the series. As much as I wanted to jump on the hype train and love this series, all three books were pretty average for me. My biggest complaint is that I never connected with Helena as a character, I think I would have enjoyed the story more of it had been told through Vonvalt’s perspective. That said, this is a very popular fantasy series that I think most readers would enjoy.

THE TRIALS OF EMPIRE has dynamic dialogue that comes to life, smooth narrative and unintrusive world building, with a focus on justice versus injustice, morality versus immorality, while raising questions of who decides life and death, what is considered just death, when revenge is righteous. Though this isn’t quite the book for me, I would recommend to fans this fantasy fans who enjoy in-depth words and political intrigue.

Good, not great simply because too much is crammed into one book in order to maintain this as a trilogy. This book might've been better as two or perhaps with stronger editing it would've felt like one book instead of a crammed one.

Richard Swan concludes his tale of a medieval empire set at the beginning of the age of gunpowder, where magic comes from the afterlife, Practicing magic requires horrible torture of victims, particularly when dealing with demons. To deal with the The Trials of Empire(hard from Orbit) Sir Konrad Vonvalt and his assistant Helena have to find allies in other lands, and ven travel to various parts of the afterlife. The mad priest Bartholomew Claver has allied with a demon and is using his armies, along with evil magic to conquer the Empire of the Wolf. The result is an intense and very satisfactory ending to a highly recommended trilogy.

Ah man, I remember when book 1 was being announced and how pumped I was. Now I’m reviewing the final book. Crazy how time works. So for finales, you never know how there going to go but this was just one big whirlwind till the very end and what a brilliant end it was. The first two books had a smattering of magic and supernatural event and murder, but the conclusion here was full throttle as it should be. The strength of the enemy is stronger than ever, the empire is in decline and we see Helena and Vonvalts characters shine even more. This is the 3rd book so like I don’t want to talk about it for too long, even saying if the ending wrapped up nicely or not is a spoiler in my opinion. I of course gave this 5 out of 5 stars as it deserves nothing less and I can’t wait to read what Swan is writing next.

*3.5 stars

In order to save the Empire, Sir Konrad Vonvolt and Helena must do the unthinkable- ally with the wolfmen of the southern plains and the pagan clans of the north. Helena must also wrestle with her conflicting feelings toward Vonvolt at the same time she’s battling evil, eldritch forces. Will they be able to stop the zealot Bartholomew Claver, or will Sova fall to tyranny?

After loving The Tyranny of Faith, with its embracing horror and how fast-paced and thrilling the ending was, I was so excited to read The Trials of Empire.

Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed in the ending. I still thought there were some heart-felt and gripping scenes, and I’m absolutely glad I finished this trilogy and would highly recommend you do as well, but the pacing felt off for me.

I loved the moments of quiet reflection between the characters, especially between Helena and Vonvolt, about when it’s acceptable to break the law in order to maintain the law, if it’s necessary to make moral compromises in order to stop a greater evil and how to navigate feelings for someone who is not the same person you thought you knew. Those themes and more were explored so well and came full circle to how the series started.

But I felt there was a lot of plot that needed to be wrapped up in a short amount of time. This might have benefited from being a quartet. We went from first going out to to find allies, to developing an entire battle strategy, to having a final battle and resolution all in the same book.

I’m still eager to read whatever Swan writes next, especially if he leans even more into fantasy horror.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for the digital arc. All opinions are my own.

This was an absolutely amazing conclusion to the trilogy. We follow Helena, a girl studying under Sir Konrad, a Justice who is in charge of keeping law in the country, along with a bunch of other Justices. In the first book, they solving a murder case which turns out to be connected to a plot against the Emperor. The second book involves the kidnapping of the Prince, plus more political stuff.

The Trials of Empire is where all that bigger political stuff comes together, plus an extra helping of some very creepy necromancy. If I haven’t mentioned enough times before, I am a huge sucker for any book with necromancy. Necromancy is my jam. Is it a little weird that I’m obsessed with death and decay and all the horrifying stuff that comes with that? Maybe…

we shall not talk about this

i have too many strange thoughts swirling around in my brain that i haven’t sorted through yet

.

.

.

.

fine

i have sorted through some of them

maybe i’m reminded of gideon the ninth

maybe i like the dark, creepy aesthetic

maybe death is edgy and i like being edgy

maybe death is cool because we don’t understand it

maybe i like thinking about the end in a philosophical sense

maybe i’m just really weird

maybe it’s all of the above

.

.

.

.

Point is…if you’re not prepared for a bit of horror, you won’t likely have a good time with this book. There’s one scene where this guy is doing very unethical necromancy experiments. I wasn’t as grossed out as I thought I’d be. And a small part of me (very tiny, which I immediately squashed like a bug) was kind of supportive of this guy’s experiments, because how else can you get this knowledge? Granted, it’s necromancy knowledge that can be used to hurt people. But it exists and is possible in the world. Why not figure it out, so that if someone else figures it out and tries to use it for evil you’ll know how to stop them?

In the first half, the main characters go to a foreign country to try and get an army to fight back against the cult that wants to take over the country. It wanders a little bit in this part, but very clearly starts to introduce the big themes for the rest of the book. Without this, the second half of the book wouldn’t have hit so hard.

And then in the second half, they square off against the evil necromancer and his cult army. When I say I don’t want to see this adapted, I mean it. It was horrifying. There was so much gore and so many moments where you’re watching these evil necromancers turn people into what are basically mind controlled zombies. I could not read this all at once. I couldn’t even read some scenes. And somehow I was enjoying it.

Don’t ask. I don’t know the answer.

In between the end of the first half and the big battle in the second half, there’s a small section where some really horrifying necromancy is used by both the bad guys and the good guys. I wanted to punch Sir Konrad in the face, because he has this moment where he really wants to stoop to their level in order to win, and does so a couple of times. Thank the gods that Helena had her head on straight and could talk (and by talk I mean slap) some sense into him. You don’t just dish back the same horrible hand you’ve been given. Sure, it might feel good in the moment, but you’re going to regret it the rest of your life.

There are so many amazing themes they get addressed in this book. Like, so many. Helena, for the first time, I’d realizing that maybe being so close to Sir Konrad isn’t good for her. She’s spent her whole entire life since she was picked up as an orphan on the streets traveling around, learning law with Sir Konrad. But has she really lived her own life? What does she want? There’s a part of her that wants to stay with Sir Konrad, just to have a sense of normalcy. But that’s not good for her. I’ve been waiting for the payoff for this thread for so long, and I’m glad it was done so well.

And because of the way it happens, it leaves so much more room for further books if the author wanted to write them. What is Helena going to do after the war? Where will she go? She’s had such an amazing legal education, but does she really want to use that in her life going forward? I would love it if we got a novella or something later where it’s just Helena, hanging out in some tiny town, trying to figure out what she wants with her life.

Another big theme that’s been threaded in since book one is the idea of power, and who gets to hold it. The Justices have so much power, which they could use for either good or evil. Is it ok for one person to hold that much power? Is it better to allow everyone to have it and make their own decisions? Or would it be best to destroy the knowledge altogether? Obviously, they can’t completely erase necromancy from the world, because other countries have it too, but it’s a great thought experiment nonetheless. This is something else I feel like the author could explore in a sequel series.

I’m both so happy that I read this, and very sad it’s over. I loved this trilogy, so much that it’s skyrocketed very high up on my favorite list. But now it’s over. Is this how I’m going to feel when Alecto the Ninth comes out and my favorite series of all time is finally done? (Not that Tamsyn Muir won’t just keep giving us short stories and novellas cause she has a fanfic brain, but still.)

If you’re looking for a dark, creepy, necromancy filled adult fantasy trilogy with a lot of big themes and so much nuanced discussion of said themes, give this series a try. I’ve heard it compared to books by Joe Abercrombie, but I can’t say one way or another, because I haven’t read any of his books yet. But just the fact that they’re similar makes me want to read them. Sigh…my tbr just keeps getting bigger. I’ll die and never be able to finish it. But maybe by then we’ll have figured out how to do necromancy? Maybe? Let me read books forever by any means necessary. Please. I just want to read forever.

When I started this series, what I thought it was going to be about and what it actually is about were completely different things. The series started as an almost courtroom drama/legal thriller set in a fantasy world and evolved into some kind of cosmic horror with incredible character arcs. Swan certainly sticks the landing with The Trials of Empire because I loved the ending of this trilogy. Can't wait to read more by him.

<b>4.0 Stars
Finally! A fantasy series with a solid conclusion. This is a rare and beautiful thing! </b>

I absolutely loved the first two books and I am happy to report that the third and final book in this trilogy landed the ending.

It is just refreshing to find such a consistent author. The worldbuilding, the characters and the plotting in all three books were near perfect. The prose is incredibly polished. I just love spending time in this world with Helena and Vonvalt. I am fascinated by the complex dynamics between these two. I also really enjoy the dark aspects of worldbuilding in this entry.

This has easily become a new favourite completed series and I would highly recommend it to readers looking for a character driven fantasy series full of politics and intrigue.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.