I want to thank NetGalley for an arc of this book.

I also want to apologize, because I was not able to get through this book fully like I wanted to. It sound amazing at the time when I read the blurb and was excited to get it. However as I began to read through it, I could not get my mind to settle with the book and just struggled with each page. I'm sure it is an amazing book for others to enjoy and I hope in the future I get another chance at reading this again!

I would recommend that before you read this book, you read the prequel novella, A Matter of Execution. It’s not necessary to understand Echoes of the Imperium, but it does set you up mentally for it.

The authors did such a great job developing these characters and giving them so much depth, I really enjoyed how unique each of their personalities is. This eclectic cast is a crew on a pirate ship and their adventures give off major Firefly/Treasure Planet/Atlantis: The Lose Empire vibes. This is very much found family in action.

This book was quite fast paced (until around 75% where is slows down, but it picks back up again at the end) we have a smuggling agreement gone terribly awry, airship battles, hidden identities, unholy aether, betrayal, goblin overlords (underlords?), not-quite-necromancy, otherworldly Fae... this book had so much going on (in a good way)!

I recommend this to those who enjoy steampunk fantasy, pirates, fae, and serious socio-political topics like Imperialism and the consequences caused by it. Found family trope is prevalent.

The plot on this book was really good! I felt like the story was non-stop, and I never really wanted to put the book down. There were parts that felt a bit sluggish whilst I was reading than others, but in retrospect I can’t really remember exactly what these parts were!
There were some parts that were quite confusing- like the Iron Rose (is it in the sky? The water?) the connection of gods to the Fae, as well as why the war began in the first place. More explanation on the coalition vs the imperial armies would have been really good, as well as a map of the world.
In a steampunk / fantasy setting this was really good, I really enjoyed the use of aether in this book and how it was different to what I’d read before! I also really loved the characters and the complexity of relationships between everyone, especially Mary’s growth! I really love the found family trope, so this was really great to read in this book, as well as everyone learning sign language for Little.

In the interest of full disclosure, I did not buy this book, I received an ARC from Net Galley in exchange for a review. But I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of reading this book even if I had some tiny nitpicks, so I'm probably going to go buy my own copy as soon as it comes out in paperback. Nicholas Atwater is an author I'm happy to support, and will probably end up on my auto-buy list (which is incredibly short, and incidentally includes his partner Olivia whose books I 10/10 recommend).

So you know those really annoying blurbs on the back of your book, the ones that say “Delightful! Entertaining! Passionate!” about a book that is clearly anything but, making it painfully obvious that the reviewer hasn’t even looked at the book, much less read it? Well that isn’t the case with Echoes of the Imperium. Everything complimentary I’ve read so far has proven true, over and over again. Detailed, intriguing worldbuilding? Check. Optimistic steampunk setting? Check. High octane adventures full of space pirates and magic? Check check check.

If you told me that this book was born from the authors experience in tabletop RPGs, I’d believe it - reading it felt like watching an old episode of Critical Role in the best way. You can almost feel the author/DM cackling in delight as his characters make a bad roll and end up on another side quest adventure. The book is very well thought out, with different story threads and call backs coming together throughout, adding deeper layers of emotional depth to what would otherwise be a simple adventure tale. The only nitpick I would make here is that this adventuring style makes the book feel almost episodic. Each chapter is a gripping, exciting look into Wil’s latest shenanigans on behalf of his crew, but at the end of the chapter, it feels almost like “well that side quest wrapped up nicely. Let me take a break and tune in next week to see what else that rascal has been up to.” Personally, I do most of my reading at night so this worked in my favor, as it meant I actually got some sleep in between chapters. But if you are looking for a book that you absolutely can’t put down, that pacing just isn’t there. Since it personally didn’t bother me, I’m not even gonna knock off a quarter of a star.

Things I loved: The knitting gunnery ladies, bloodthirsty Mary, how very very different the fae in this book are, how nothing is quite black and white - even the bad guys have understandable motives and aren’t just caricature villains, and the goblin underground (which I won’t say much more about because spoilers). I also really loved the relationship between Miss Hawkins and Aesir.

Things I didn’t: I love Dougal, I loved Aesir and his mecha-arm, I didnae love reading his highland accent though, laddie. I get what the author was going for, but I hate reading accents, it gives me a headache. I bet it sounds amazing on the audiobook though.

Also, while I appreciated that the author took great care to make sure there were no alpha-holes in this book, at some point he took it too far. A very important plot point hinges on the fact that in a moment of great emotional distress and incredible tension, a main character snapped something unkind at another character who is basically a brother to him. It was not a statement calculated to hurt, but it landed poorly. This main character then spends a solid chapter worrying how to make amends, and getting the cold shoulder from several other characters for the thing he said. It just read as disingenuous to me, because while this character was bending over backwards to make amends to his friend, and everyone offended on his friend’s behalf, it didn’t seem like anyone was hold grace for him, and I didn’t love it. Again, my only criticisms of this book are incredibly nitpicky, and I won’t knock off stars for something that is my personal preference but not actually a flaw in the storytelling.

Recommended for: Fans of Becky Chambers, Critical Role, and Firefly, people as allergic to grimdark nonsense as I am, people who don’t mind reading accents, people who want to envision their magic fighter pilots in kilts, people who want magic fairy swords, gunpowder grenades, and heists all in the same book.

As I grew up on Star Trek, later enjoyed the first Star Wars movies, and lost myself reading The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, non-human creatures such as goblins (and the requisite world building) add to my reading pleasure. At the beginning I was reminded of the animated Treasure Planet (2002), although here the sailing ships are in the sky not in space.
Anyway, I much enjoyed reading and becoming engrossed in this fantasy world. The destruction of Pelaeia and its population brought the Highland Clearances to mind. Wil is often a source of humor. I loved the no-nonsense gunnery ladies, Mary's creative execution of orders and the cameraderie and gentle teasing among the crew.

Echoes of the Imperium is the first full length novel of the Tales of the Iron Rose. I read the prequel to this series when it was free on the author’s website and loved the idea of a series that went out of its way to break some of the common classic fantasy tropes. For instance the Captain of the Iron Rose, might be swash buckling but he is a green goblin and only a swamy five foot tall. While I do highly recommend reading A Matter of Execution, it isn’t necessary to join our goblin captain and crew on this adventure.

William Blair now is a beloved captain of the Iron Rose and her eclectic crew. All of them have a past of some kind, but when you come onboard the Iron Rose, you leave that life behind and you have a chance at a new found family and possibly redemption of a sort. Sailing the skies in a privateering ship Captain Blair and his crew take questionable jobs to make ends meet. Think a little bit Firefly, if it was all on one planet and the crew consisted of a Faery navigator, a granny type that is a hell of a shot, an engineer obsessed with keeping a tea set in one piece and a sixteen year old brought up on mystery novels ready to run cons and outmaneuver the adults. They sail the skies from port to port but this new job might just get everyone on the Iron Rose killed and Captain Blair could be in over his head.

“Miss Hawkins,” I said, “I am used to being the biggest troublemaker in town. I’m not certain I like the suggestion that you’re about to outdo me.”

This is a world where the mortals were used to fight a war for the Seelie against the Unseelie breaching through into this world. Twenty years ago that war was brought to a halt when a rebellion broke out and the Imperium was destroyed. The members aboard Captain Blair’s ship are from all sides of that conflict and have found a peace and a way to coexist. The story is told mostly from Captain Blair’s PoV in present and past as we learn how that fateful day 20 years ago ruined the Imperium. Years later and there is evidence the Unseelie have breached into this world. Captain Blair will revisit some of the atrocities the Imperium committed and find a way to keep the Imperium from returning from the ashes to conscript the unwilling into a new war.

I had a great time with this story. I like that all the characters in the ship are different and have interesting character development to make them three dimensional. Syrene is Fae and I think the author did a fantastic job of showing us how ‘other’ she is; in her demeaner, her emotions, the way she moved and her appearance. I enjoyed the worldbuilding as well and how aether powers ships and can be harnessed as a weapon too. The fights and flights were entertaining and nail biting at times, without going on so long that I lost focus.

Overall I am enjoying this series and how much fun the authors seem to be having with it. I recommend it to people who enjoyed Firefly, Treasure planet and the new Star Wars movies.

“Everything matters, Wil,” Evie told me. “But I don’t think penance is about fixing things. I think… it’s about…” There was a strange conviction in his dark eyes now, though he struggled to find the words to convey what he was thinking. “It’s about becoming the sort of person who would never make that mistake again. It’s about caring so much that you have to fix all of the little cruelties that you can. Until it’s the most natural thing in the world to you.”

Steampunk pirate adventure? Yes please, count me in! I loved the characters in this story instantly, and the fast pace was so action packed that it made this hard to put down in parts. Things do slow down about halfway through, but the overall story is really good and interesting. Just a note - this a darker tale than some readers may be used when you see Olivia Atwater’s name. It’s great but it’s not light or a romance.

Note: ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book took me by surprise and blew me away. I absolutely adored all the characters, with all their flaws and complexities. Each one felt distinct and individual, and their relationships with each other were built on solid and believable foundations. The action scenes were awesome, and the world building really painted a clear picture in my head. The steampunk pirate vibes were immaculate, and I think fans of the show Arcane would really love this book.

Something unfortunate seems to have happened with the marketing of this book. In that, I follow upcoming fantasy releases very closely (obviously, I need to for the blog!) and am even more on the look-out for new titles from authors whose books I’ve enjoyed in the past, like Olivia Atwater. But the only reason I became aware of this book was through a note included on the Kickstarter email I received when my order of the special edition of ‘The Witchwood Knot” was shipping out! Of course, I then immediately skipped off to place a request on Netgalley. But with my packed reading schedule, here we are with a review coming out about a month after the book has actually dropped, all because I didn’t hear about this one in a conventional manner!

Olivia Atwater always talks about her husband’s influence and input into her books in her author’s notes, so I’m not surprised to see a book coming out that is now written by them both together. You never quite know how well a book will worked when trying to combine two people’s writing styles, but I think this one turned out well! I can recognize elements of Olivia’s style, but the book is also very different from the one’s she’s written alone.

Overall, the main difference is one of tone. Olivia’s books are often on the lighter side, with a few creepy elements thrown in here and there. This one, however, is much darker in a lot of ways. Right from the start, the authors don’t shy away from putting their characters through the ringer. There was a particularly impactful scene that came within the first 20% of the book that had me surprisingly emotional, especially coming from characters whom I’d only just been introduced to!

One of my favorite parts of this book was the world-building and overall themes of pirate adventures! While the plot was very fast paced (especially in the first half, things slowed down towards the back half), this was definitely a character-based story. Much of the fun of the reading experience was simply following the characters as they got into one type of trouble or another. Pirates are always a good time, but pirates in airships are something else! That said, much of this action does revolve around the characters themselves, so your enjoyment of the book will come down to how invested you become in these people and their stories.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this book! It reminded me a lot of “Treasure Planet” and is definitely a breath of fresh air from the type of fantasy books I more often gravitate towards. That said, while I appreciate the inclusion of an asexual main character, I did find myself missing Olivia Atwater’s lovely romance storylines. But that’s mostly a me issue, as that’s not what this book is or was ever meant to be. I guess I’m mostly just hankering for the next entry in her “Victorian Faerie Tales” series!

Rating 8: All the best of the steampunk genre, this character-driven story is a romp of a ride from start to finish!

Link will go live on The Library Ladies on Nov. 23

Too dark for my taste, but as far as I read (not very far), well done.

Opens with a bloody and destructive battle at the fall of the Imperium; in the next chapter, 20 years later, the narrator is an airship captain with a serious drinking problem. The words "dark," "gritty" or "brutal" are not in the blurb, but ought to be, because they warn people like me off books like this that we won't enjoy. I've enjoyed the much, much gentler books of Olivia Atwater before, so massive death and destruction in the first chapter blindsided me.

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.