A great grimdark fantasy with Roman undercurrents, what more could a man want?

Seven Deaths of an Empire is not a quick read, though the plot does have a fair amount of pace for a chunky book. The world is well drawn out, I could picture it without having to refer to the map at the front. The characters too are well rounded, the two POV's have their flaws and drawbacks, one being the limitation of age, the other the inexperience of youth.

The plot itself is simple enough to follow: the emperor has died in the far north on campaign, in the company of the soldiers charged with bringing his body home is a young magician, Kyron. In the city at the heart of the empire to the south is the General Bordan, and whilst the magician must battle the wild northern tribes and fight to stay alive, Bordan must weave the honeycomb alleys of imperial politics, and hope he doesn't reach a dead end.

There are many other side characters, each bringing their own personality to the party. The magic system is described well, and the ending brings a brilliant little twist a lot of readers won't see coming.

This is a workmanlike fantasy, competently put together, but which did not grab my attention.

The background of the book is an empire very like the Romans, and with an incursion into northern woods which brings to mind the invasion of Germania. The descriptions of various skirmishes and battles are well communicated, so you can follow what′s going on, and get the impact of fighting.

There are two voices within the book, the older General and the young Magician and we find out how they are connected as the book progresses. I found the General′s parts more interesting to read. The seven deaths that give the book its title do not stand out particularly. I think if the book was divided into parts with the name of the dead person as the title of the part, it might give the book a better pace. (Although some of the deaths perhaps come a bit too close together to make this work.)

I think I was able to work out who was behind the plot(s) too soon in the book, so I was not reading on eager to find out what would happen. It′s certainly not a badly written book, and I think somebody else might read it and it would just hit their sweet spot of empires and magic.

I had a copy of this book early through Netgalley

Well, I can recommend this book to any fantasy reader that likes battle, magic and intrigue. Matthews wrote a good book with an interesting plot, a good mix of action and dialogue with just enough new information every time to keep you interested.
I also liked how he managed to show the tension between church, magic and army while making it possible to understand where each was coming from. Kyrion was an interesting main character and I cannot wait to see what will happen next now that he has to decide which path to take in life. You see him grow from unsure, and frankly, childish apprentice into a more powerful magician. Now the question remains what is he going to do with that power and how will the events in the empire evolve? All side characters were great too, each with their own distinct personality and I applaud any writer not choosing the easy way out just so the reader will be left feeling good.

***An ARC was provided by Netgalley in exchange for a honest review ***

The opening scenes and intro to the main characters failed to hook me or hold my interest so I gave up reading this book after 30 pages.
I'm a fan of historical fiction combined with fantasy such as Outlander and Vikings. I loved the Game of Thrones series.
I thought I would enjoy reading this particular book because it got so many good reviews from other readers, but I was disappointed with the slow-moving opening events and familiar character types from so many other similar stories.

That was really epic!! The story was awesome, we felt the stake of it all and we felt invest into it as a reader! The characters were well develop and most of them didn't fall into the clichés or tropes. Very well done for a newcomer, I least I think Matthews one! I recommend it!

This book was ok. I had much too high expectations, after seeing glowing reviews from Mark Lawrence and a few other authors. I didn't really like the young magician, his one mode of communication was complaining. I liked the aging general but I don't understand why he had to kill the messenger to gain one day of silence. He couldn't be confined for one single day, he had to be killed? That set me up to dislike the general too. I was happy when the wretched royal family started getting killed off though. After slogging through their ridiculous behavior I was glad there would be seven deaths. It was tedious reading, since nothing felt original. Twice Kyron explains gladiators to Emlyn. I had bigger expectations from Emlyn too, given the big shout-out the author gave to "the Emlyns". From the constant naming of weaponry and armor, woad paint, and other vocabulary, I presume this is an alternate Roman Empire expansion into the UK. I'm kind of just glad to be through with this one so I move on to something interesting. I think this book just wasn't for me, since it's getting high praise elsewhere.

This was a very interesting read for me overall. The plot seemed sort of straightforward at first but then as it went along I started wondering when the twists would happen. There were twists that I did not see coming and that was great although somethings I predicted did happen while some didn't.
The story centers around two main characters and those they interact with. Kyron and Bordan each serve the Empire but in different capacities. Kyron is relatively new to his service it seems and the Bordan as the General has served most of his life. Through these two we how they choose duty and service before almost everything.. I found myself really liking Bordan for his strength of character but he was not a perfect person. Kyron is a young man who is struggling to find out how he fits in the Empire. He is still learning and open to learning new things unlike the priests who hate magic and those who use it. The religion is not something that I really paid that great attention to but there doesn't appear to be a god but rather an abstract idea of some type of force. Most of the priests seem to be fanatics or heading towards that direction. I could see them as part of the Inquisition easily. The world seemed based off of the Roman Empire. There are no gods mentioned at all just worship of the Flame. There doesn't seem to be anything like a Senate but just the Emperor and his council that control everything.
The magic and combat were both good as well. The magic isn't all powerful but still able to do quite a bit of damage. The combat was thought out and written well I thought. The magic of the tribes wasn't gone into any detail but they seem to have magic users as powerful as those in the Empire perhaps but they use and see magic in different ways. At the end of the book I was already thinking about what may or could happen in the next book. I think this was a three and half stars for me but averaged it out to four stars. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book.

Minor spoiler included, not for the plot, but the timeline of the book

The death of an Emperor, and the machinations that will always follow such an event as all those with a vested interest vie for the position that they feel they deserve.

I love the sharp prose in this, there's no wasted words, every scene advances the plot without giving too much away, and while there's two perspectives throughout, each tells a story that holds without requirement of interlacing with the other, even though they are interlaced, and intimately so.

The magic is well thought out, which is excellent, given that one side of the novel is for The General, an older man seeing perhaps the end of the life where he still serves a purpose, and the other side is for The Magician, a younger man just starting out on the path of life, with all the uncertainties that youth brings, particularly in an unfamiliar world where he seeks to master powers beyond his comprehension.. The battles aren't over described, the same economy of words used throughout the book allowing tight and precise fights that get to the point (literally) without weighing down the narrative.

I liked the story, and would like to see what happens next, but as mentioned at the beginning of the review, I do have an issue with the timeline of the book . This is a complete story, but throughout the book, the chapters refer to the time in which they are set, not with a year, but indicating "Ten years before," or something similar. In and of itself, this wouldn't normally be a problem, but the last chapter is "Two years ago." which makes the entire of the book a prelude to what's going on right now, a time that we never reach in this book. It shouldn't have affected my enjoyment of the book, and certainly, while reading it, I was very much looking forwards to finding out what was happening in the present day, presuming that the last chapter would be something along the lines of "And here we are..."

But it wasn't.

I like the world, I like the characters, I just want to know what's actually going on with them now. It may be an irrational twitch on my part, and if it hadn't been told as events that came before the now, I'd have had no issue.

I will be reading the next book, but if we still haven't reached the present day by the end of it, that might be as far as I get with it.

"The hardest truth is the realization that sometimes there is nothing you can do"

Seven Deaths of an Empire is a tale about the turmoil that succession of power can lead to. The book takes place in an Empire heavily influenced by the Romans. The titular Empire is in a long-lasting conflict with the tribes surrounding its borders and one of the military campaigns leads to the death of the old Emperor. The novel focuses on people having to pick up the pieces after such an event happens. The book is divided between two protagonists: The General who has faithfully served the old Emperor his entire life and The Magician who is just beginning to grasp the extent of his powers.

"A sword might end a single life, but a word can lead to the death of thousands"

General Bordan has to keep The Empire from dissolving into chaos during the power vacuum until the new Emperor is crowned. He has to deal with plotting dukes, rebelling crowds and a reckless crown prince who is not handling the situation very competently. It is up to Bordan to ensure The Empire remains strong while an entirely different mission is underway.

The Magician Kyron is an apprentice to a powerful mage and has the task of protecting the old Emperor's dead body and escorting it back to The Empire from behind enemy lines. On the journey back he has to deal with bloodthirsty natives and zealotry priests who treat magicians as abominations of the natural order.

"Fire cleansed, the priests taught, but Kyron now saw the truth, heard it in those screams. It burned. It destroyed. Lumos of charred meat, scorched store, night dark charcoal wood, the residue it left behind was a husk of all it had once been. Smoke rose upon the air, spreading the pollution, the reach of the fire, to everyone and everything, tainting with its touch.
It was not holy to be cleansed, to be cremated, it was destruction. It was not a new beginning: it was the end.
Fire did not create, it consumed."

I had a great time reading this book and it was thoroughly entertaining all the way through. The pacing is quite fast and the chapters rather short. Structurally the PoVs alternate every chapter which worked really well for the story. It was easy to get in the "One more chapter" mindset. The plot was gripping and offered plenty of action alongside some mystery and even a few emotional gut-punches. I liked the way the novel tackled the juxtaposition of progressiveness and tradition. We saw the cultured Empire slowly dismantle the traditional lifestyles of the tribal community in favour of a progressive lifestyle. At the same time, The Empire faced a problem where their religious faction relied on tradition to weed out the magicians who were originally a huge part of the Empires own progressiveness.

I was happy with the overall experience and I do strongly recommend it although it does come with a small caveat. The author has said that the novel is a complete story but has a sequel written. The sequel is currently at the agent but it isn't completely clear how many books are actually going to be released. This is where the caveat comes into play: I do not believe that it is a completed story. It works really well as a part of a series and it feels like it is designed this way from the start. Having it remain a standalone would hurt the experience and there is a lot of potential to be tapped. I really do wish to see more of this world!

An ARC of this book was generously provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for this opportunity!

So this follows a conquering empire at the height of its power but troubled with internal and external conflict.

The author switches point of view between the general in the imperial capital and the magician in the unconquered northern lands. Both characters arc are distinct but throughout the story both arcs come together quite nicely. I do wish we could have had more interactions between the two.

The world building was very well done and quite original for a fantasy book. The empire itself is very Roman Empire inspired, at the time of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty but with the monotheistic (Christian inspired) religion, and also magicians. I did like the gender equality in all level of society including the highest office of the Empire.
The northern tribes depicted was more Roman British/Germanic barbarians inspired. I wish we had spend more time getting to know that culture, or having a main character with a pint of view would have been interesting.


The author’s writing style was really good, the prose was clear and precise it was really enjoyable to read.
The plot itself moved quickly, there wasn’t a moment when it dragged and there was enough twists and turns to get through it without feeling bored.

In terms of the characters, I feel they could have used more polish, because even if they were all grey characters some of their reactions were puzzling or even frustrating, like for example they’d go from being angry to calm to irritating a bit too quickly.

There was also some repetitions that could have been avoided, like one of the characters gets explained what the colosseum and gladiators are by the same character in two different moments in the book.

The ending was very grimdark, and I do hope we’ll see more of how two of the characters will continue after what happened.

All in all this was a very good read and I’ll probably check out other books in this series!

I was expecting a lot of action in this book, but the story starts out quite slowly and follows a dangerously journey through hostile lands. The story follows two main characters, a magician and the general of the army.

Most of the story of the magician is about the journey and I kept waiting for them to reach their destination. Once I accepted the journey was a large part of the story I started to enjoy more. Good and evil is not simple and our young protagonist slowly realises things are not so black and white, as he gets to know the guide from the tribes.

The General POV chapters follow multiple murders and trying to ascertain who is behind those murders.

I found the story of the emperors very interesting and I would be like to delve a bit more into the backstory of the empire and would be interested to read further in the story if there are later books released. I believe the ending definitely makes it possible for the story to continue further.

Overall 4 star rating and I would recommend if you're looking for a fantasy that focuses on the journey of the protagonist, with mystery, murder and politics thrown in.

Seven Deaths of an Empire was better than I was expecting. It looked interesting enough on Netgalley but once I actually started it, I found it to be a very compelling story.

The action follows two people, the General, Bodan and the Magician, Kyron. Ok, so Kyron is actually an apprentice but putting magician sounds more epic. The action is set in a Roman Empire inspired world and the Emperor has just been killed. Before the next Emperor can be crowned, his body has to be returned to the Capital so that the new Emperor can take in the centuries of memories of their predecessors and the dead Emperor can be returned to the Flame. Kyron and his Master are tasked with returning the body while Bodan tries to keep the new Emperor in line while also investigating several assassinations because it looks like someone is trying to intercept the body and claim the throne for themselves.

Seven Deaths of and Empire has a very interesting story. As well as the story about the new Emperor, there is also a thread about the conflict between the Church and the Magicians and the tensions between the Empire and the tribes it has conquered. All of these plot threads work well together and by the end of the book they have become inextricably linked together. It doesn’t feel like there’s too much going on even though there is a lot happening.

I enjoyed reading both of the POV characters even though they could be frustrating at times. Bodan is a good man but his loyalty leads him to do questionable things even in the face of death and Kyron could be irritatingly naïve at times but one the whole they were very interesting to read and carried the book well. The minor characters, for the most part, were also enjoyable, Emlyn being the best. Alhard and his sister, Aelia, seem to be cut from the same cloth in that they’re both bratty and come across as seemingly insane.

I very much enjoyed Seven Deaths of an Empire. The plot is solid and there are several twists and turns so a lot happened that I didn’t expect which was good to read. The characters are interesting enough and the world is very well realised. You can understand the views of the people oppressed by the Empire and why they aren’t happy but Matthews doesn’t make it a clear cut good tribes vs. evil empire because it is pointed out several times during the story that the Empire has done a lot of good. On the other hand, they’ve also done a lot of bad. It isn’t a perfect book by any means, and sometimes the characters did grate on me a little but on the whole it was good and the story is interesting and it ends on a nice little cliffhanger.

Lo primero que me llamó la atención de Seven Deaths of an Empire fue su portada, que es bastante impactante, ya que el nombre del autor era totalmente desconocido para mí. Pero todo el mundo tiene que empezar por algún sitio así que una sinopsis interesante y una portada tan espectacular son un bien motivo para darle una oportunidad.


Nos encontramos ante una fantasía correcta pero previsible que se inspira en el Imperio Romano, aderezándolo con algo de magia. Donde digo toma como base, se puede decir perfectamente que copia descaradamente la ambientación.

Parece una salida facilona para un panorama literario donde pueden verse todo tipo de escenarios mucho más logradas. No sólo puramente fantásticas si no también basadas en otras culturas con menos visibilidad y que resultan más interesantes y exóticas para el lector occidental.

Si ya hemos establecido que el escenario no es precisamente el punto fuerte de la novela, ¿qué podemos destacar? ¿Los personajes? ¿La trama? Desgraciadamente, ninguno de estos aspectos es especialmente novedoso tampoco.

La novela está estructurada en dos hilos convergentes. Uno está protagonizado por un viejo general llamado Bordan al mando del ejército de este Imperio pseudorromano que se queda en la capital a pesar de la campaña que está en pleno curso en el norte (contra los bárbaros ni más ni menos). El otro hilo presenta a Kyron, un aprendiz de mago que sale de la capital por primera vez como parte de la campaña militar. Es joven, inexperto y viene con muchas ideas preconcebidas sobre los «bárbaros» que vienen a «civilizar».

Las dos tramas tienen un interés parecido, y se ve durante la narración que están condenadas a encontrarse. No obstante, el ritmo es bastante parsimonioso, y aunque supuestamente se dosifique la información para saber cuál es la relación entre ambas, desde muy al principio de la novela se ve venir la conexión.

Ése es, posiblemente, el principal problema de la novela: la previsibilidad. Al principio el libro comienza con la muerte del emperador en el frente. Como consecuencia se desata una serie de intrigas para asegurar la sucesión al trono. Sin embargo desde el principio se ve venir lo que va a pasar y el lector moderadamente avezado podrá descubrir al verdadero culpable antes de llegar a la mitad del texto. Aunque el final en sí mismo no sea tan fácil de adivinar, saber estos detalles de la conspiración arruina bastante el disfrute de la novela.

Un punto a favor de la novela es la presentación de las culturas «bárbaras» como algo diferente, pero no peor. Kyron tiene un interesante arco de paso de madurez sobre todo por las conversaciones sobre esta otra cultura.

El otro hilo, protagonizado por Bordan, no tiene un arco de ese tipo pero resulta entretenido ver los tejemanejes que los diferentes miembros del consejo de llevan entre manos y los esfuerzos que lleva a cabo por mantener en vereda a los miembros de la familia real.

Cuando al fin ambas tramas se encuentran, la historia gana algo de ritmo, pero es muy tarde en el desarrollo del libro como para compensar la lentitud anterior. Y no es que sea un libro corto pero puede dar la impresión de que el autor se ha quedado con alguna cosa en el tintero y quizá le habrían venido bien algunas páginas más para para rematar la faena. O puede que simplemente se esté guardando material para la siguiente entrega, ya confirmada.

Un aspecto interesante aunque poco desarrollado en la novela es el sistema de la magia. No es el colmo de la originalidad pero los magos utilizan un sistema de ‘bordado’ con el que crean constructos o ‘tejidos’ uniendo con la mente los diferentes puntos mágicos que hay flotando invisibles por el mundo. Este sistema permite crear hechizos al vuelo pero también imbuir objetos con efectos mágicos que, generalmente, se agotan pronto. Hacia al final de la novela se presenta una aplicación de la magia distinta que permite almacenar poder en objetos para liberarlo posteriormente con sorprendentes efectos.

Ojalá se hubiese utilizado más este recurso, porque al final la novela queda un poco en terreno de nadie, algo de fantasía algo de retelling de historia pero nada definido. Y con ese sistema de magia quizá se podría haber dado algo más de originalidad a la novela, don del que anda escasa.

En la continuación, en la que esperemos el desarrollo de los personajes protagonistas continúe a un ritmo más dinámico, posiblemente se exploren otras áreas del Imperio y otras formas de utilizar la magia. Los que queden vivos, porque el título ciertamente está bien puesto.

Es difícil recomendar un libro que no termina de cuajar en muchos aspectos, así que creo que habrá que esperar para ver si la segunda entrega complementa la historia mejor que esta primera entrega.

This book was a fantastic read, one which I really enjoyed becoming not only sucked into the overall story, but invested in the main characters. Written from a duel point of view, we have Bordan the old General and Kyron a young magician.
The worst thing that could of happened to an Empire at the height of its power, the Emperor has died. This throws the Empire into a period of flux, as the Emperor's body is sent back from the battlefield, where his army has been subduing the Northern Tribes along a perilous route with a minimum force to protect him and Kyron along with his master and a Barbarian guide.
Meanwhile in the capital General Bordan is faced not only with the devastating news, but now the political wrangling, a balancing act between the faith of the flame and the Mages, but also protecting the heir to the throne as they await the arrival of his fathers dead body to officially crown the new Emperor. A job made all the harder by the fact the heir to the throne has his own ideas of ruling and seems unwilling to except that until power is transferred his position is precarious at best.
The author handles this all expertly with a fine line between politics and action, with some beautiful prose and some expert timing. For a fairly large read this moved at a good pace. Both Bordan and Kyron being tested at every turn. It had some excellent side characters and all had a part to play in bringing this book to an action packed ending. I eagerly await book two.

I received an advance copy of this book through Netgally.

Seven Deaths of an Empire was wonderful. Truthfully, I found a chunk of the story to be relatively slow, never boring but slow. The book is told in two perspectives, rotating every chapter between the General and an apprentice magician. I will admit I found the magician to be more intriguing and flew through those chapters with ease. The General tended to be more articulate and predictable. For the most part, I expected the plot progression and I was rarely surprised. Do not be mistaken, this story was rich and amazing, the last 20% of the story that had my heart racing. The ending hurt; it is not often that I find myself at the mercy of an author, crying and hopeless.

Interesting nd original narrative choices. I like it. The world and the character felt great so does the plot, but it's the way the author choose to tell his story that make it stand out the most. I will definitely continue with this series when it eventually come out and I recommend you read it!

"Seven Deaths of an Empire" is a new fantasy read set in a world of swords and sorcery where there is one might Empire slowly and inexorably conquering the barbarians in the forests surrounding the Empire. It is a sort of Roman Empire if you will at its height. There is a tension within the Empire between the priests and the magicians with the priests seemingly in the ascendancy and the magicians starting to wane.

The story is told in alternating chapters between the Magician and the General's points of view. The Magician (and Magician may well refer to the elder Magician or to his young apprentice or both) is with the Emperor on a long journey to the northern lands with a great army. When the Emperor is felled in battle, it is critical that his body be returned to the capital city along with the amulet of the royals so that his heir may take the throne. The magician, the apprentice, a forest warrior princess, and a relative handful of priests and warriors leave the main body of troops in the north and travel through the forestlands among the hostile villages to reach the far-off capital. Meanwhile, in the General's chapters, we have palace intrigue back in the capital as the young heirs are tested and impatiently await the Emperor's body returning and the passing of the crown.

In many ways, this is a coming-of-age fantasy as the torch is passed from the older generation of the General and the Magician to the younger not-quite-ready generation of the Emperor's children and the apprentice. In some ways, both the Emperor's children and the apprentice seem almost too young for their years, too naive, too quick to judge. A bit more well-rounding of their characters would be in order.

This is clearly the first of several books in a series and the magic works are barely hinted at in this volume. There is far more fascinating stories to be told of the awesome powers that can be wielded and the hidden realms behind the trees. All in all, quite a good read. Although it weighs in at 550 pages or so, it does not quite feel that lengthy.

I’ve waited what felt like ages for this one, and I couldn’t be happier with the story I got to read!

Seven Deaths of an Empire is a grimdark fantasy that is inspired by roman legions and forest tribes. It combines a lot of my favourite things, so in this book you’ll find political manoeuvring, loyalties and betrayals, a whole pile of bodies, action and fighting along with quiet and contemplative bits, magic as well as a realistic feeling world where actions do have consequences.

I especially enjoyed the two different POVs and main characters. One being a battle weary old general trying to hold the young heir and the empire together.

"Age was an enemy no one could defeat with cunning strategy, clever tactics, or sharp sword. It cut through armour, flesh, bone and blood without pause or care."


The other POV being a young and still rather naive magician and his sage master.

"Kyron looked down at the intricate carving, not understanding. A state of being he was used to."


These different styles and manners kept me well hooked and breezing through the chapters as I always wanted to know what would happen on the other side of the empire. I clicked with the early characters early on and found them well rounded and enjoyed seeing them grow over the cause of the book. Besides the darkness there’s also a little bit of humour and banter sprinkled throughout the book, which made the world a bit less bleak and helped to get a good balance overall. Like this one after jumping at shadows:

“I will be stabbing a tree in a minute,” he said.
“Me too, sir,” the soldier said.
“Get your own tree,” Bordan said, his smile growing wider. “Plenty to choose from.”


Another bit of the book I absolutely loved is the prose. Most of it is effective but unobtrusive, doing its job well without drawing attention to itself as more purple passages might. And then you get those little bits of more introspection, and it contrasts so well with the unembroidered style. I wouldn’t want to read a whole book this way, but the little bits and pieces strewn throughout worked incredibly well for me.

"Bordan chose each word with more care than he sharpened his sword. A cut here would not be healed with a simple bandage, but could put him in a grave of his own, next to the messenger, no doubt."


The setting also caught my interest quickly. I loved traveling the forest, and while I found the empire rather familiar having read quite a bit about the Romans, I was so very intrigued by the tribes! I really hope we might get to see more of them and their culture in later books of the series, but only time will tell! I didn’t even know who I was rooting for… I definitely hoped and feared for both sides of this conflict, which made the whole reading experience even more gripping to me. I can’t say I noticed even one infodump in the whole book, and the blend of new and well known to me cultures made it a good balance that was both fresh and yet not overwhelmingly new.

"Even as the sun rose above the trees, turning morning’s gemstone dew into a thin grey mist which drifted to the canopy above, the sense of despondency settled anew into his heart. The aroma of loss overpowered the smoke from the fires and the scent of porridge charring in the pots. He drew it down with every breath, feeling it sweep through his limbs on each pulse of his heavy heart, draining the energy from his legs, and every step became a struggle against lethargy."


I love grimdark as a genre, because it so often just feels more realistic than the classics. If you get an arrow in the stomach, it is very unlikely you will get up again later on. Actions do have consequences and the stakes just are a lot higher if you have no idea if your favourite characters will actually make it to the end. It can turn too dark and end up completely hopeless, which will lose my interest, if I can’t see any way forward for the characters at all. GR Matthews always dangles just enough hope in front of you to keep you always ploughing on, hoping for the best while also fearing the worst. So I’ll leave you with one last quote, and hope you’ll do yourself a favour and go read this one!

One spark is it all it will take for them to burn us down.”
“Let us hope for rain then,” Bordan said.
“Always,”