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Grave Empire

The Great Silence, Book 1

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Grave Empire

By: Richard Swan
Narrated by: Nathaniel Priestley, Zoe Mills
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About this listen

'Dazzling and immersive epic fantasy' Publishers Weekly (starred review)

'An absolute treat . . . crammed with imagination, horror, epic scale, and characters I simply could not put down' Grimdark Magazine

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 . . .

Grave Empire is the first novel in an unmissable new series from Sunday Times bestselling author Richard Swan - a dark flintlock fantasy filled with epic adventure, arcane powers and creeping dread

Books by Richard Swan

Empire of the Wolf
The Justice of Kings
The Tyranny of Faith
The Trials of Empire

The Great Silence
Grave Empire

©2025 Richard Swan (P)2025 Hachette Audio UK
Epic Fantasy

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A Great Fantasy/Horror Ride

Wow, "Grave Empire" was quite a disturbing but enjoyable ride! It's firmly in the fantasy/horror genre, presenting a potpourri of unsettling themes. Mr Swan relentlessly builds tension throughout the well-paced story. It follows 3 POV characters gradually learning about the dark powers affecting their world, with varied responses. I enjoy Mr Swan's writing; this is the first book I've listened to under 1.25 in a while.

I liked 2/3 of the Empire of the Wolf trilogy. I thought the last book in the trilogy was disappointing because of the over-reliance on previously unrevealed powers from an alternate dimension. While not containing a "magic system", Grave Empire hints at more consistency.

I'm really looking forward to the next instalment.

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