My first exposure to Simon Turney’s work was the ‘Marius’ Mules’ series, following the career of Marcus Falerius Fronto, Legate of the Tenth Legion, closely tied to the rise of Julius Caesar. That series is still going strong.
The author has subsequently written a wonderful four book series set in the late 15th century – The Ottoman Cycle – which is probably my favourite work of his (start with The Thief’s Tale!).
Alongside these works, he has also written a series called ‘The Tales of Empire’. These are stories set in an imaginary world, which takes its ideas and cues from a number of ancient cultures, and although some characters are clearly inspired by historical figures, the author is not tied to actual events, allowing his imagination to run free.
This book is the fourth in that series. (I say series, but each book is a standalone story, and although there are occasional links between them, it isn’t really necessary to read them in any particular order.)
It tells the story of the Emperor Kiva, his wife Jala and his brother Quintillion, who together have kept the empire stable for many years. But their relationship is about to change, and the empire will be threatened from all sides.
For this series of one-off books, the author has adopted a different narrative style to his longer series such as ‘Marius’ Mules’. In those he has the time to slowly develop characters, and include simultaneous time-lines.
Here, that is pared down; he has to draw characters more quickly, and the story is moved forward with just the one time-line. However, it still works; there is nothing unnecessary, nothing spare, but it is still well told and involving.
Simon Turney has become a seriously good story-teller, and his work is never less than entertaining. If you have not read anything of his, this is as good a place to start as any.
This is a review of the Canelo 2016 Kindle edition.
It is an extended version of my review previously published on Amazon and Goodreads.
