The Court of Broken Knives

3.75

Now this is grimdark. This story is extremely bleak and extremely morally grey in many places. Just the sort of thing that I enjoy!

The first area to be praised here is the world building. Anna Smith Spark has built an incredible world full of myth and interesting political machinations. Some of these political themes lurk in the background whereas some (particularly in the city of Sorlost) are front and centre to the plot, but the net feel is of a real living breathing world.

The main protagonist is at times likable in his childlike joy and at times very unlikable when he goes off on one of his drug fueled binges. His strangely childlike glee at things is touching though. Anna Smith Spark takes the classic unsuspecting prince in disguise and turns it on its head with a morally bankrupt and exiled prince forming the centerpiece of the story.

The casual disregard for life and the high stakes politicking give a cynicism to the story that in someways grimly reflects real life. You can certainly imaging some of these plots coming to pass back in the past.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I look forward to continuing on with the next novel in the trilogy. Bring on the grimdark!

There might be (or not) a story there, but no matter how hard I tried, i could not get past the writing in order to find it. It is the most un-musical, un-artistic, impossible to enjoy writing.
What do I understand by good writing, to make myself clear? Either art in words, like Gene Wolfe or Patrick Rothfuss, or ”straight to bussiness” (but still not just words), like Stephen King or PK Dick.
This is neither, and the opposite of both.
Did not like it? No, actually hated it.
Before buying it, please read the first pages...

The Yellow Empire cannot be invaded. Or, that's what the people living there believe. All of them except for Orhan. He can't shake the feeling that they are vulnerable to attack. Everyone has grown complacent. Orhan believes that the only way things will change and get better is by getting rid of the Emperor and all of his cronies. So, he hires a company of men to cross the desert and wipe them all out. They come highly recommended, but one man stands out. Marith. He is not just a soldier, he is so much more. I LOVED this book! The plot and the characters just sucked me right in from the start. One minute I felt bad for Marith, the next minute I thought he was a bastard, and back and forth it went. I'm still not sure. I highly recommend this book to everyone!

First and foremost: this was a fantastic book. It is also a divisive book. More on that later.

It's hard to compare The Court of Broken Knives to other books. It's...different. Unique. Literary grimdark with a compelling cast of characters in an intricately detailed world.

On to the story.

Many years before the start of our story, a legendary conqueror known as Amrath laid waste to most of the known world. The only city not to fall to his armies was Sorlost, home to the holy Emperor.

In the present day, Sorlost is no longer the great city it once was. Generations without facing an outside threat have made the city soft and vulnerable to invasion. The Emperor is a mere figurehead. The priesthood continues to make human sacrifices, with even their own priestesses killed in the name of their god.

Enter Orhan, the head of a major noble house. He hires a mercenary company to kill the current emperor and most of his advisors, with the goal of rebuilding Sorlost stronger than before.

Tobias leads a small group of these mercenaries, smuggling them into the city to lay low before the ultimate attack. He's competent, logical, and not afraid to kill anyone in his way.

Marith is a new recruit to the mercenaries. He's nearly inhumanly beautiful, addicted to several drugs, and alternates between kindness and crazed bloodlust. I can honestly say that I've never seen a character like Marith before; he is fascinating to read about.

In parallel to the assassination plot, the high priestess Thalia slowly becomes disillusioned with the doctrine that requires her to murder and main innocents.

The main thing that sets this book apart from others is the prose. Take the first few lines:

Knives.

Knives everywhere. Coming down like rain.

Down to close work like that, men wrestling in the mud, jabbing at each other, too tired to care any more. Just die and get it over with.

Target Audience:

Literary prose

Grimdark at its grimmest and darkest