Grave Empire

By: Richard Swan

Narrated by: Nathaniel Priestley, Zoe Mills

From critically acclaimed author Richard Swan, Grave Empire begins the epic tale of an empire on the verge of industrial revolution, where sorcery and arcane practices are outlawed—and where an ancient prophecy threatens the coming end of days.

Blood once turned the wheels of empire. Now it is money.

A new age of exploration and innovation has dawned, and the Empire of the Wolf stands to take its place as the foremost power in the known world. Glory and riches await.

But dark days are coming. A mysterious plague has broken out in the pagan kingdoms to the north, while in the south, the Empire’s proxy war in the lands of the wolfmen is weeks away from total collapse.

Worse still is the message brought to the Empress by two heretic monks, who claim to have lost contact with the spirits of the afterlife. The monks believe this is the start of an ancient prophecy heralding the end of days—the Great Silence.

It falls to Renata Rainer, a low-ranking ambassador to an enigmatic and vicious race of mermen, to seek answers from those who still practice the arcane arts. But with the road south beset by war and the Empire on the brink of supernatural catastrophe, soon there may not be a world left to save...

©2025 Richard Swan (P)2025 Orbit

Another excellent start to a new series

I am really impressed with Richard Swans writing skills. He has made some very interesting characters who have made me either really love or really dislike. His story is top notch and seems to explore the supernatural that he outlined in his first series, which was an excellent series itself. Really liked this one and recommend it!

Sooo good!

Great addition to the world. Loved the story and characters. Richard Swan is a master world builder.

Slow and steady

It was very very dense and slow building the world, explaining the magic system, and showing us who is who and what is at stake. I think having it in print would have helped me keep the characters straight, I don’t think things really clicked for me until about 60%. But there was a thread of ominous mystery from the beginning that kept me curious, and I’m looking forward to seeing where the next book takes us.

The plot and world and the reader’s ability to distinguish characters and their feelings

I loved the audio. I loved the story. One of the characters I loathed, and it was difficult to read. One was okay. One I liked and felt for(Peter). As a character driven reader this somewhat mitigated my enjoyment of the book, but the plot and world were fascinating and made up for that.

Interesting story

The plot and world building was interesting, but I felt like the characters fell flat and weren’t that interesting. Loved the description and imagery, and it was cool to see more of the world outside of THE EMPIRE OF THE WOLF’s setting. I liked the male narrator’s performance, but the female’s performance was really grating whenever she did masculine voices. It made it difficult for me to listen and hear what those portions said because it was both annoying and also difficult to understand. Overall, it was a good book and I’ll be picking up the sequel whenever it comes out.

This book absolutely ruled

Ok so I half read the gorgeous Broken Binding SE and half listened to the audible version and both were fantastic. Amazing narrators and I highly recommend listening to it even if you’ve read it physically. This was my first Richard Swan work and it had everything that I love. Magic and naval battles and forts and ghosts and treehouses and booze and wolfmen. I don’t think it’s any surprise that the end of the book is just setting up the next one which I am 100% OK with and can’t wait for it to come out. The silver blood promise by James Logan was my favorite book last year and Grave Empire was my favorite book of 2025 so far! The Devils by Joe Abercrombie might take its spot in a few weeks when it comes out, but no matter what this book rocks and I highly recommend it!

4 🌟🌟🌟🌟 stars!

Grave Empire is a dark tale of war, fear, and lost hope. Not unlike Swan’s first trilogy, this is a genre blender-a mix of mystery, epic fantasy, a quest, and very clearly horror. The land is old and full of dread. The men who fight do not know what waits for them. The sea hides things that should not be seen. The woods hold ghosts of the past.

The book opens with Peter riding in a coach to a fort at the edge of the world. This reminded me of the first chapter of Bram Stoker’s Dracula in which Jonathan rides a coach through Transylvania to reach castle Dracula. Like Jonathan’s ride, Peter’s ride is long and full of dread. Also, at least part of Peter’s story is told in letters, the epistolary inspiration from Dracula is unabashed. The land is strange, the air thick with fear. The men who drive the coach seem to know more than they say. The trip is not just a ride—it is a step into the unknown. He hopes for a life of ease, but finds only death and cold fear. The land is strange, the air thick with doom. He writes to his dad, but his words grow dark. The men at the fort are weak and lost. The woods near them hum with pain.

Renata works for the crown. She must deal with the sea folk, but no one cares for her task. The ships that sail near them do not come back. The truth is deep and hard to find. She seeks peace, but war may be inevitable. The worldbuilding is exquisite here, Swan conjuring races, symbiosis between species, environs, habitats, that filled me with wonder.

Praise aside, the book was slow, probably intentionally so, for the first half and picks up pace in the second. The snail’s pace at the start serves to slowly build the dread, set up the mystery, lay out the various pieces - nations, races, religions and religious sects, their politicking, before the intentional convergence towards a quest and then the climax. The politicking here was not as interpersonal as Swan’s previous trilogy. The book presented big-picture political happenings and religious rifts in this world as a close backdrop of our characters’ lives playing out in the storylines of three main POVs. The pace intensifies in the last third where all the mystery and secrets are unraveled in a satisfying climax and ending. The end and the epilogue provide adequate anticipation for the next installment.

The book was grim and full of woe. The land vast and cold. Swan has spun a world that is full of awe and marvel. This slow-burn horror-mystery-quest was rich and deep, with words that pull you in.

Audio- in Renata’s POV there is a high pitched ‘s’ that is grating to the ear. Overall great audio.

Brilliant!

Richard Swan is perhaps the best lovecraftian horror writer since Howard himself. Brilliant prose and storytelling! The readers were also equally brilliant!

Great story but don’t care for one of the narrators.

Excellent story! The male narrator is good but I don’t care for the female narrator. I wish the narrator from Swan’s previous books did this one as well, she was great.