Echoes of the Imperium is exactly the kind of fantasy that I love, filled with wonderful and complex characters, an action packed plot with high stakes and woven through it all enough humour to keep me smiling as I read. Oh and to top it all off ,there's pirates! The book follows the adventures of the crew of airship The Iron Rose, with their goblin captain William Blair, who are surviving as best they can in a world that is still reeling from the overthrowing of the Empire twenty years before. What seems like a relatively simple job for his crew soon goes sideways however and Blair finds himself forced to face not only the literal ghosts of his past his past but risking the lives of a crew which has become family in order to save the world, as unlikely as it sounds.
If you love character driven stories and the found family trope this is absolutely the book for you. That being said there is plenty of plot and narrative direction to keep the reader hooked if character is not their thing, its just that I loved the characters here so much, they are what made me fall in love with the book. It's also a lot of fun to read a book with a goblin as the main character, something that I haven't really seen before. Though the tone is often light hearted and the book fast paced, there is a lot of time and attention given to grief and redemption.
This book just made me happy from beginning to end and I can't wait for more.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Ok where do I start. A steampunk, Titan AE/Treasure Planetesc world pirate story?? Need I say more? 🤪

First off, I think the aspect I loved about this the most is the subversive tropes. In Olivia and Nicholas' note at the end, they explained how this story came to be from a writing prompt where they turned tropes on their head. This is why it felt so refreshing to read! As far as main characters go, a, dare I say asexual, goblin captain that's focus is in found family and trying to move on from the mistakes of your past really hit the spot for me. It felt like my dream main character. Finally a character in a multi species fantasy story that does have fae, is not a human or fae, or vampire or werewolf, or some variation of the mix. Don't get me wrong, I do love those books as well, but let's give someone else a go! He is not the chosen one, or was even someone important to the old regime (Unlike someone else....) A goblin main character who doesn't have the basic standard goblin personality that we all just created is one of the biggest wins for this book.

That being said, this is a high epic fantasy quest where they are tearing across the stars in their steam punk pirate ship. So don't worry, there is plenty of action while not lacking in depth of characters. Outside of the main cast, I will say some of the backgrounds characters might have felt flat at times, but this doesn't detract from the story as it is fast paced. I personally don't think it dragged at any point, but for the first 20ish percent of the book, you are stuck on the pirate ship, but that didn't bother me because PIRATES! ☠️The morally gray pirate life but still trying to be better than their sordid pasts path is such a hard path to travel so get ready for some angst. The emotional aspect to confronting the past coming back and trying to make different choices.. chefs kiss.🫡

Themes like dealing with grief, and redemption, and following your own morals and values as well as finding friendship and family are what you will find in this adventure. It had everything I hoped for with seamless writing, fun dialogue, and some plot twists. The comedic aspect of this book caught me by surprise. I am sure others have mentioned this but Captain William Blair and his damn hat... Actually laughed out loud at bits while trying to read this book discretely at work lol I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves adventure and does not need romance from a main character! I cannot wait for the next book and will be buying the physical book ASAP.

Thank you Olivia and Nicholas Atwater for providing me with a ARC in exchange for an honest review! Echoes of the Imperium, OUT NOW!

I confess I asked for the ARC because while I had the book on preorder for myself I didn’t want to wait to read it another day! I read the prequel A Matter of Execution because I really like Olivia Atwater’s books and I was seeing what else she has. Her husband’s novella sounded like fun and I figured he had a good beta reader at home so I tried it. It was a fun read of of plucky adventures and scallawags with a sky ship having a proper heist in a world with a bunch of different species of people. I wanted more! The start of this one does introduce the characters and world with a bit of a back story and brings in some darkness! I shed a tear, I gasped at the level of trauma they were tossing on the characters at a tender age. I kept turning pages…. Very different tone from her writing (which I also recommend if you want something light!) but a great deal of fun if you enjoy character driven adventures.

This was OK! Not sure I was a fan of two authors. It seemed that there was a writing style issue back and forth between some chapters.

ECHOES OF THE IMPERIUM - NICHOLAS & OLIVIA ATWATER

This book blew me away. The writing, the worldbuilding, the characters - it's honestly one of the best high fantasy books I've ever read. Here's a quick synopsis:

A fallen empire. A goblin airship captain. One big, blasphemous problem. Captain William Blair has taken shady jobs before - what goblin hasn’t? But this shady job has pirates off the port bow and legendary aethermancers knocking at his cabin door. Unfortunately, Wil has sworn an Oath to escort his newest dubious passenger wherever she wants to go… and a goblin must be worth his word.

This barely touches the surface of how wonderful Echoes of the Imperium is. Wil and his ragtag crew survived the fall of an empire and, having fought for different sides during the war, have come together as a crew to survive in their new world and to somehow come to terms with the past.

The storytelling is impeccable, where each chapter brings more knowledge about the past but also about the characters' current whereabouts and activities. The characters are complex and endearing, and I loved being taken to the different destinations within Wil's world.

The steampunk vibes and airships are two of the best elements, but this book also happens to be really witty, with great banter and unexpected moments that I don't think I'll ever forget, like a scene straight out of Dragon's Den and a comical moment with Wil's hat.

Yes, this book is on the long side as all high fantasies tend to be, but if you love this subgenre, you have to read Echoes of the Imperium. In Wil's world, 'echoes' also refers to ghosts, and - at its core - this is a heartfelt story about learning to accept yourself for who you are in the present, and choosing to relegate ghosts back to the past.

Release date: 29 October 2024

Review score: 5/5

TWs: Violence, injury detail, d*ath

In a word, awesome. Full of adventure and reckoning with the past, honor, and an unlooked-for measure of hope, Echoes of the Imperium was an absolute blast. A magic laced pirate fantasy in a world after an empire has collapsed, this was a great ride. And yes, I teared up at the end. Highly recommend reading the novella that precedes it before you dive in.

I think I stayed up all night reading this . This is my first fantasy about pirates and my first steampunk fantasy, and I ate it up!! the first 60% gives you whiplash (IN A GOOD WAY) because it's soo much action and so many things are happening. as soon as one chapter was done I had to read the next one. I also was not expecting it to be so funny. I can't tell how many times I laughed and literally almost woke everyone up in the house at 2am . and uhhhh Captain blair is one of my favorite characters that i've read in a long time.

Nicholas and Olivia you both really made the characters come to life for me, there were times were I was reading but didn't realize I was reading. the words literally played a movie right before my eyes and I think that's what made me forget that I had work the next morning while reading this

I do want to say if you don't like a lot of action happening at at the very beginning and a book more based on plot and characters and not a lot of world building then it might not be for you. but do remember this is the first book. I tend to enjoy the world building as series goes on.

Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to be one of the firsts to read this book 🫶🏼

Thank you to NetGalley and to Starwatch Press for the ARC of Echoes of the Imperium by Nicholas Atwater and Olivia Atwater.

In January 2023, I was lucky to receive an ARC of Olivia Atwater's The Witchwood Knot and I fell in love with her writing style and her atmospheric faerie tales. I read The Witchwood Knot in one sitting, and then did the same one night after the next for her Regency Faerie Tales trilogy. Suffice to say, I was an instant Atwater fan. Having signed up for her newsletter that same week, I was able to receive the first two chapters of what would be fully released as book 1 of Echoes of the Imperium and I devoured that too. It's now been close to ten months since my first exposure to the Iron Rose, as well as the short story The Good, The Bad and the Goblin, and the novella A Matter of Execution and I also truly love this world and what it is building. I'm not sure on the exact split/style of writing Nicholas and Olivia share together, but I would qualify them as Ilona Andrews level spectacular, where two minds truly are making a phenomenal story together. Any fantasy fan should add them to their TBR.

To some degree, the series reminds me of Scott Lynch's Locke Lamora, just in a more steampunk, Tuath Dé mythological imbued world setting. There are hijinks and heists and a world history that has put down the little guy time and time again and the ragtag crew of the Iron Rose is both intent on survival, but also on found family and helping to correct the mistakes of the past.

In Echoes of the Imperium we join Captain William Blair, Evie, Little, MacDougal, and the rest of the crew as they take on a transport job that ends up having much larger and darker consequences than intended. One attempt to score a high payday instead leads to pirates chasing their ship, a mysterious new passenger who secures an oath for passage in exchange for saving the crew, and the reveal of a new invention that could lead their world from it's 20 years of (semi) peaceful revolution back into the control of the defeated imperium.

I think the steampunk world building is absolutely top notch, and while I wish there was a bit more to help me understand the Tuath Dé mythology and how it plays into the larger make-up of how the world functions, there is a lot that can be gleaned from context in understanding the overall setting and implications.

I didn't expect the Atwaters to go as extreme as they did in the first book with the plot - but I'm not mad about it. Having had other exposure to the world/characters, I was fully onboard at the 25% mark with the book being about helping Pelaia and making small inroads into making change where it counts (I also was emotionally broken at one particular plot point I did not see coming, so the intent of the story at this point seemed like it would understandably resolve in this one space). When instead things went full steam ahead to an entire world level crisis instead of city level I was a bit shocked, but it also made total sense as the story grew and it has definitely helped set the series up for an explosive sequel.

A fabulous steampunk pirate adventure!

I loved the main character/narrator of the story - Captain William Blair, goblin airship pirate with a difficult past trying to do better. He and his found family and ragtag crew take on a perilous job that leads them towards ever increasing danger. The current day story is interwoven with the story of a younger Blair and how the Imperium he served was destroyed.

With fabulous airship fighting, a mysterious Fae helmsman, screaming shades of the dead, and hidden identities, this is a wild ride of a story!

But in addition to the swashbuckling fun there are also some deep themes - grief, guilt, remorse and ultimately redemption as the captain and his crew deal with the aftermath of a war they lost.

If you enjoyed Jim Butcher's Cinder Spires, you’ll love this first book in the Tales of the Iron Rose!

Generally speaking, I am loath to find meaning in books. I’m not here for theme and deeper understanding. I want entertainment. That said, even I could see very early on that in its heart, this book is about redemption–about being true to yourself and your understanding of right even when that understanding comes later than you might like to admit, and more especially even with it’s soul-rendingly difficult.

That said, this book is also an absolute romp. Adventure, action, humor (just saying but the scene where Blair almost loses his hat might be my favorite). The characters within these pages will become so real you forget that they’re just words on paper (or a screen, thank you technology). I’ve been a huge fan of Captain Blair and his crew since Nicholas introduced me to A Matter of Execution and, let me tell you, I had high expectations for this book. Each and every one was not just met but surpassed.

I’m not one to highlight passages in books, but if I were, this book would be a rainbow of witty banter and spectacularly worded lines. The talent and imagination of the authors is clear in every beautifully polished sentence.

Before going into this I was warned that Echoes of the Imperium was a chonky book. Despite that, plot tension and genuine curiosity kept me turning pages until the very end. If you enjoy expertly crafted worlds, intricate plots, and characters you want to invite over for tea and cocktails, this book is for you.

As one might expect in a story that involves what amounts to sky pirates living in the aftermath of a devastating war, there is violence. It’s graphic without being overdone. Be forewarned that there is a scene early on that deal with suicide–again, not horrifically graphic, but could be a problem for some readers.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for a chance at reading this.

I enjoy my fantasy / airpunk stories. I liked the combination of flying warships and humans / fantasy creatures. Reminded me of Treasure Planet.

However, I only made it 20% into this book before dropping it. There was... a lot of nothing going on. One hand you got a lot of character information, but the characters weren't really grabbing me. They didn't really scream interesting or the plot itself didn't seem interesting. I also felt that outside the military aspect, you really don't understand the world they live in, its people. Everything is confined mostly to the airship.

I somewhat dislike books where all the action is confined to one spot, because you rely on the characters to make you forget that they can't move anywhere. However, when the characters themselves are boring what can you do?

3.85✨ rounded up.
This book completely snuck up on me.
You can tell that the authors spent a lot of time building their characters - they are all so unique, in the absolute best way. The found family is extremely heartwarming.
I would say that this book is action packed. I cried at 14% and I kept thinking : I can’t believe I’m crying right now! 14% is so early to be so attached to characters.

I’ve rarely read a pirate based High Fantasy - so this was a nice change. IMO - this is also Epic Fantasy. The stakes are incredibly high.

The world building is well done, though I will say that the strong suits of this book are 1) the characters and 2) the unique plot and storyline.

From 1-50% something is always happening - then it slows down a bit between 50-80%. It was mostly well balanced but sometimes it was a bit overwhelming, to be quite honest.

I loved the ending a lot. It wrapped up the story beautifully and I’m excited for book 2.