Introduction

I'm always on the look out for good military fantasy, so when I heard about G. R. Matthews' latest novel I decided to give it a read (or, to be more specific, a listen). In short? I thoroughly enjoyed it. While the book isn't quite as heavy on the military aspects as I first thought, the writing is excellent, most of the characters are very strong, the narrator does a good job and, while the third act twist was something I predicted early on would happen, Matthews managed to keep me guessing and second guessing myself up to the point where I suspect he intended for his readers to see the tragedy unfold.

With that said, there are a couple of elements to the story and worldbuilding that I'm on the fence about, and future books will probably determine exactly how I feel about them. There's still plenty of room for subversion and new revelations, and these would definitely fit within what Kyron's arc appears to be, so I'm holding off on leaning one way or the other right now.

What I Liked

• General Bordun: General Bordun is my favourite character in the book, and the more I think about how he's written the more I like him. Bordun is competent both militarily and politically and, unlike so many fantasy and historical fiction generals, he doesn't have a mandatory one-per-chapter complaint about bureaucrats and politicians. He might not like some of the politicking or some of the politicians, but he's not contemptuous of them and neither does he seek to force decisions through with sheer obstinacy and threats of violence. Bordun is also an old soldier in both senses of "old", and Matthews does a fantastic job of writing someone who still has experience and skills, but isn't the same fighter they were as a young man. Time behind has a desk has removed some of Bordun's campaign fitness, even with him still training at home, and age has sapped strength and speed from him. He's not the determinator kind of old soldier, either, and I enjoyed how that played out in the story.

• Adaptation of History: While Matthews makes heavy use of history in inspiring his world, he uses it in ways that are fairly creative. The legions, for instance, might be heavily inspired by those of the Principate, but the internal structure and development of equipment and tactics are clearly different, while the Imperial cult seems to have inspired the concept of an artefact that allows the Emperor to pass on his or her memories to their successor. The twisting of history to create a world that is familiar without being a carbon copy is always something I enjoy.

• The Twist: I won't go into any serious details here, but even though I knew within the first five or six chapters that there would be a twist at the end, I found myself guessing and second guessing myself almost to the end. There's a moment about two thirds of the way where a hint is dropped that firmly implicates one character, but there were still some moments when I considered that there might have been a second character involved or that the first might have been covering for another. It's not a full on whodunit, but Matthews still did a great job with this subplot.

• The Writing Overall: While Matthews won't be the next GGK or Rothfuss with his prose, I found it to be right in the sweet spot between being terse or basic and being flowery and overwrought. The pacing is fast enough that you get through a chapter almost too fast, but not so fast that there isn't time to breathe or that the plot feels rushed, and as I've already said, the characters are for the most part very well written. Kyron, I think, may rub some people the wrong way with his naivety and distractedness, which is a problem as he's one of the two POVs, but I personally found that there were enough supporting characters and enough eventual growth in the character that I still enjoyed his chapters.

• The Military Aspects: While there's not much in the way of set piece battles and I have some minor nitpicks about combat dynamics, logistics and the lack of cavalry, overall the military aspects of the story are very good. Matthews doesn't overestimate the ability of the historical Romans, avoiding things like the building of a full fort every night or routine forty mile marches, and he takes in account the effects of injury, morale and lack of food when on a campaign. Opponents are capable, with inexperience or different frames of reference being plausibly portrayed, and political elements are very well integrated into the military plots.

What I Didn't Like

Honestly? I can't say that there was anything about the book that I intensely disliked. There are a few things, discussed below, that may end up in this category based on future books, but for now I have nothing but minor nitpicks and some uncertainties.

What I'm Uncertain About

• The Tribes: The tricky thing about the tribes is that we see so little of them, and almost all the knowledge we have comes from one character (Emlyn) criticising the Empire and contrasting them to her own way of life. There's room for bias, rosy glasses of her own and deliberate glossing over of negative aspects, but nonetheless the Tribes come off as being modern models of the Noble Savage. They live in harmony with the forest, allowing their animals to roam freely and not cutting down many trees (except for the Southerners influenced by the Empire), have no apparent ambitions of domination over others, are tolerant of all beliefs, are tolerant of magic, have a demonstrably correct belief system, are shocked by the concept of slavery, and are honest even when it doesn't suit them. It's all very Tacitean, coupled with a few Enlightenment and modern ideas, and it's something I'm not entirely comfortable with. Like I've said, there's room for this to be revealed as all a carefully cultivated mirage, and if so that will elevate the series in my mind.

• Religion: There's a clear contrast drawn between the flexible, tolerant belief system of the Tribes, which is demonstrated to be correct, and the rigid, intolerant and heavily hinted to be false state religion of the Empire. The tolerant polytheism/intolerant monotheism dichotomy goes back to anti-Christian attitudes of the 18th century and disguises a wide range of intolerance, both of violations of orthodoxy and of other beliefs, by polytheistic societies in Antiquity, as well as the fairly common practice of human sacrifice, which definitely goes against modern notions of paganism. While there's plenty of room for discussion to be had about religion and flexible vs inflexible belief systems, and I originally thought this would happen within the story, Matthews instead shows that the Tribes' belief systems are based in reality, while hinting three times that the Empire's system of faith is false. Perhaps this is just because Kyron knows so little of the world and is coming to grips with all the changes and traumas he experiences over the course of the book, and later we'll find that the Flame is equally valid, but my enjoyment of the religious worldbuilding was definitely dampened about halfway into the story.

Conclusion

Overall, this book is a 3 even if the elements I'm unsure of are intended to be played straight. If they're later subverted, then the book is a 4 for me, as I definitely enjoyed the story, the characters and the world. I look forward to the next book in the series!