#The Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne

[bluesey-182]

i hate when the ending of a book is like "yeah i GUESS that makes sense for the story" because you can't even be mad at the author for writing an ending that doesn't fit the book. instead you're sitting there like "but WHY THE FUCK would you make the CHOICE to end it like that?" did you successfully end the story? yes. do i like how you did it in the slightest? no

[mapas-fantasticos]

Map of the Annurian Empire from Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne series by Brian Staveley.

[auroranoctem]

“She was jealous of it, she realized, this unwavering fidelity to one’s own code, the keeping of unspoken promises offered up in silence from the self to the self.

She envied his ability to stay true to his convictions, and more, she envied him the convictions themselves.”

— The Providence of Fire by Brian Staveley, Chapter 46

[joncronshawauthor]

From Shadows to Steel: Evolution of the Assassin Fantasy Genre

Throughout the vast realms of fantasy literature, there exists a subgenre that focuses on the moral ambiguities of being a killer—the assassin fantasy genre. From the mysterious and silent killers of ancient tales to the morally complex anti-heroes of modern sagas, the portrayal of assassins in literature has evolved significantly over time. Today, we’ll delve into the evolution of the assassin…

[automaticharpy]

thinking it's finally time to dive into malazan. wish me luck

[wyvernwinds]

gonna post my tentative tbr here so i’ll maybe be held accountable by someone other than myself:

- crooked kingdom (reread, starting tonight)

- finish chronicle of the unhewn throne (providence of fire, the last mortal bond, & skullsworn)

- start fitz and the fool trilogy (will not emerge from this one unscathed)

- maybe start the unhewn throne sequel series . if i feel like it after rote

i’m also attempting to work through lord of the rings on audio but we’ll see how that goes

[sephiraallen]

Brian Staveley’s epic fantasy trilogy The Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne has been put into development as a television series titled after its first novel, The Emperor’s Blades, by Legion M.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy co-producer and second unit director Rick Porras (Forrest Gump, Contact) and writer/producer Robbie Silverman (Hero) join as executive producers together with Legion M’s Terri Lubaroff and David Baxter. Legion M has also engaged with Weta Workshop to create concept artwork for The Emperor’s Blades and contribute throughout production as they have done in The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and Avatar franchises. Get all the details here: legionm.com/blades

[vaniate]

Wondeful art by Giselle Almeida (gisalmeidagpa on IG)

I’m in love with this portrayal of Chronicle of the Uphewn Throne’s characters. Hopefully official animated series will live up to this level.

Permission granted by the artist. Do not repost or edit without personal permission. Support the artist on their page for more brilliant art.

[fantasybooktournament]

Send a Review!!

The first round of books was eliminated and I wanted some help talking about the book eliminated. There are so many amazing books that unfortunately were cut but still deserve their time to shine. I was hoping I could share people's reviews of the books eliminated, as I have not read them all.

I was hoping people would send asks with reviews or send me a review they had previously written to reblog. I'll post ones for the books I have read over the next week!

Not all reviews need to be glowing reviews, but if you didn't enjoy some of the books, also please feel free to send a review explaining why as well!

I'll use the tags of the eliminated works as well as "book reviews"

List of books under the cut!!

mercy thomas by patrica briggs

lightbringer by brent weeks

the golem and the jinni by helene wecker

prince of thorns by mark lawrence

chronicle of the unhewn throne by brian staveley

between earth and sky by rebecca roanhorse

criers war by nina varela

among others by jo walton

dead jinn universe by p. djeli clark

the raven tower by ann leckie

the grace of kings by ken liu

shades of milk and honey by mary roinette kowal

a land fit for heroes by richard k morgan

the stardust thief by chelsea abdullah

witchmark by cl polk

tailchasers song by tad williams

darkest powers by kelley armstrong

three dark crowns by kendare blake

the queen of tearling by erika johansen

mirror visitor by christelle dabos

we hunt the flame by hafsah faizal

the naming by allison crogan

iskari by kristen ciccarelli

kaikeyi by vaishnavi patel

a song of wraiths and ruin by roseanne a brown

book of tea by judy i lin

elatsoe by darcie little badger

blood heir by amelie wen zhao

labyrinth lost by zoraida cordova

girls made of snow and glass by melissa bashardoust

the reader by tracie chi

shadowshaper by daniel jose older

[bakalterasia]

Looks familiar???

(Just another reason to love both Valyn and Anakin :3)

[funnybookquotez]

Kaden: Aren’t you the one who claims the only schooling a man needs he can get from a butcher, a sailor, and a whore?

Akiil: The butcher and the sailor are optional.

[starboymp3]

that joy and excitement you feel when you buy a book and you can't wait to read it

[dzelonis]

Iepalicēji #20

Iepalicēju raksts ir mājvieta gan darba, gan neliela slinkuma dēļ iekavētiem individuāliem rakstiem, gan apzināts galamērķis grāmatām, par kurām pēc to izlasīšanas diži daudz nemaz neatrodas ko teikt.

***

Brian Staveley – The Emperor’s Blades (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne #1)

Annurian Impērijā gaidāmas lielas pārmaiņas, tās imperators ticis nogalināts pirms sava laika. Visbiežāk, kā to māca…

[veliseraptor]

Hi Lise, if you are still doing the top 5 meme: Top 5 high fantasy book series. I am kind of looking for recommendations as I am between books.

ooh this is a fun one. always love throwing book recs at people. I mean, first disclaimer is that I have a very hard time distinguishing genres so "high fantasy" is going to be sort of loosely considered here, since I never quite know what counts.

for instance, Wikipedia tells me that The Last Unicorn is high fantasy, which I would not have called, though I suppose it makes sense. (and incidentally, I do recommend.)

completed series only on this list!

1. Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan. I'd be remiss if I didn't, because this series is both formative and beloved of me, and for all it gets flack largely for being very long (which it is) and having some slow pacing in the middle (which it does), it remains probably my favorite high/epic fantasy series, with the exception of Lord of the Rings which kind of occupies its own category.

2. Coldfire Trilogy by C.S. Friedman. It's been a hot minute since I read this one, and it's definitely a bit of an oddball as far as fantasy goes, but that's kind of what I love about it. And the dynamic of the trio of main characters is *chef's kiss*, and in particular the Damien & Gerald relationship is. Delicious. I need to reread this one.

3. Malazan: Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson. This is sort of a complicated one, as I attempted to express in my retrospective that I wrote after finishing the series. But it is also one of those series that I keep circling around and really want to do a reread of, even if it would be even more of a time commitment than Wheel of Time, I think, despite being...technically shorter. I think it's because they're harder to read, for multiple reasons. But god, it really is...very good. And not like anything else I've read. I'm sure people compare it to A Song of Ice and Fire but I don't think I would.

4. Farseer Trilogy (and company) by Robin Hobb. Old favorite but still a favorite - one of my O.G. painfully angst-ridden fantasy protagonists! (FitzChivalry, that is.) I loved all of the books I read in the Farseer/Liveship/Tawny Man trilogies, and also the Fitz and the Fool trilogy (though that one slightly less, I'd say). These are very classic epic/high fantasy in a lot of ways, though there's some unique worldbuilding going on here. I wouldn't necessarily call it the most sophisticated series on this list but it is very enjoyable, and very emotionally crunchy, which is a thing that is important to me.

5. The Inheritance Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin. While it's definitely not as strong as the Broken Earth trilogy (which I think is probably her strongest work to date, though that's setting a very high bar), I have a lot of personal affection for this one, both for hitting some personally satisfying notes and also as my first N.K. Jemisin series, and the one that pulled me back into fantasy as a genre after I'd been sort of jaded with it for several years.

bonus recs to Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin, Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne by Brian Staveley, and Kushiel's Legacy by Jacqueline Carey, which it feels weird to call high fantasy but it probably counts. (Also wasn't sure if the Divine Cities trilogy counts as high fantasy, but that one's also very, very good.)

the only reason the Silm isn't on this list is because calling it high fantasy feels wrong. it's mythology more than anything else.

I have some general book recs lists floating around on this blog, too, if you're looking for more, including my starter kits (for very specific categories) and a more general list of my favorite books (not all fantasy, but mostly)/top 25 sff of the decade from 2010-2019. there's other recs lists somewhere around in my #sometimes i read things tag, if you're inclined to go fishing.

(also incidentally, Wikipedia's list of high fantasy also claims that the Bas-Lag series by China Mieville is high fantasy, which, are you drunk. very good series! would not call it high fantasy.)