My previous review was a strong second book in a strong series. This review is another strong second book in a strong series. The Tyranny of Faith by Richard Swan blew me away. I couldn’t put it down. Helena Sedanka returns to chronicle the adventures of Sir Konrad Vonvalt. Readers, once again, get to explore the Sovan Empire in its declining days. The Justice of Kings set a high bar to start this series off. The Tyranny of Faith cleared that bar easily as it explores Helena’s world.
Disclaimer: The publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Any and all opinions that follow are mine alone.
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TL;DR
The Tyranny of Faith by Richard Swan continues the adventures of Sir Konrad Vonvalt and his retainers as they seek to save the Sovan Empire from itself. Highly recommended.
!!!SPOILERS BELOW!!!
In the review below are spoilers from the first book. The fallout from The Justice of Kings sets up the story here. Go read the first book, then come back and read this review. Then go read this book. Deal?
From the Publisher
Action, intrigue, and magic collide in the second book in an epic fantasy trilogy, where Sir Konrad Vonvalt’s role as an Emperor’s Justice requires him to be a detective, judge, and executioner all in one—but these are dangerous times to be a Justice . . .
A Justice’s work is never done.
The Battle of Galen’s Vale is over, but the war for the Empire’s future has just begun. Concerned by rumors that the Magistratum’s authority is waning, Sir Konrad Vonvalt returns to Sova to find the capital city gripped by intrigue and whispers of rebellion. In the Senate, patricians speak openly against the Emperor, while fanatics preach holy vengeance on the streets.
Yet facing down these threats to the throne will have to wait, for the Emperor’s grandson has been kidnapped – and Vonvalt is charged with rescuing the missing prince. His quest will lead him – and his allies Helena, Bressinger and Sir Radomir – to the southern frontier, where they will once again face the puritanical fury of Bartholomew Claver and his templar knights – and a dark power far more terrifying than they could have imagined.
Review: The Tyranny of Faith by Richard Swan
Helena Sedanka is back chronicling the further tales of Sir Konrad Vonvalt, Justice, Veteran, and all around BADASS. Helena, Vonvalt, Bressinger, and Sir Radomir are heading towards the imperial capital, Sova. Vonvalt is suffering from some sort of sickness that seems to come and go. It makes their travel slow, but since Vonvalt sent word about the rebellion in the North in the first book, preparations have already been made for the Empire to quell the rebellion. However, Vonvalt’s mind is focused on the revelation that the Master of the Magistratum, his mentor, has betrayed the Order. He knows the ambitious priest, Claver seeks the eldritch and forbidden knowledge kept by the Order of the Magistratum. Upon returning to Sova, Vonvalt and crew go straight to the Master of the Magistratum. He acts as if nothing’s amiss, blaming the problems on rogue Justices. Vonvalt isn’t convinced, and a visit to the Emperor confirms his fears about his mentor. Vonvalt is instructed to cleanse the traitors from the Order of the Magistratum. While there, the Emperor hands down a new decree changing the law regarding traitors. These changes sit uneasily with Vonvalt. Helena thinks they’re wrong, but Vonvalt plans to enact them regardless of his personal feelings. It’s another task he must complete before turning his attention and the empire’s to the danger Claver represents. Before he can accomplish that, the Emperor’s grandson – third in line for the throne – is kidnapped. Vonvalt must find the child before he can pursue Claver. But while he’s playing politics in the capital, Claver is in the South, increasing his abilities with forbidden magics. The race is on to save this declining empire.
The Tyranny of Kings is book two of The Empire of the Wolf series. It’s a fast paced story set in a secondary world fantasy that reminds me of Germany and Eastern Europe. Swan balances the political, the personal, and the magical to give readers an entertaining ride. The book continues the first person point of view of Helena Sedanka.
Once Again, The Real Star Is...
Helena. Helena is the star of this series. She’s a bit more mature in this book, which makes sense after all she’s been through. But Swan keeps her on the naive and idealistic side. This makes her the perfect foil to Vonvalt’s world-weary pragmatism. Helena has hidden depths of strength that continue to surface as Swan puts her through increasingly deadly tests. Throughout The Tyranny of Faith readers get to see the whole of her. She’s smart; she’s tough; she’s vulnerable; she’s petty; she’s jealous; and she’s wounded. Despite the horrors that she experiences, Helena continues and somehow maintains her idealism. It’ll be interesting to see if she can maintain that as the Sovan empire continues to decline.
Political Support
The Justice of Kings concerned itself more with the Sovan legal system, and it was as much a fantasy legal thriller as it was a fantasy adventure. The Tyranny of Faith, however, delves more into the politics of the Sovan Empire. In the countryside, Vonvalt is the law, but in the capital, he’s less lawman than political player. By virtue of the Emperor throwing him into a political maelstrom, he’s embroiled in the necessities that high level politicians engage in. Swan shows us how politics really works, though. Vonvalt is just the face of the machine. Bressinger, Sir Radomir, and Helena do all the legwork, research, and unofficial meetings. (These support personnel are in turn supported by the housekeepers, cooks, and attendants that the upper crust depend upon while disdaining.) This reflects politicians in the our world. The politician is really just the public face of a team. Swan gives readers a look into how that works. We don’t follow Vonvalt into the high level meetings; we follow Helena and Sir Radomir as they do whatever errand Vonvalt thinks is a priority. Vonvalt’s promotion isn’t a welcome one, and it further removes him from the traveling lawkeeper that he seemed to enjoy being. Now, he’s wrapped up in the machinations of empire, and he’s unable to save it from itself.
Eldritch Magic
The Tyranny of Faith sees Helena explore more of the magic of her world. For all the harshness and cold-hearted horrors that she experiences, her journeys into the so-called holy dimensions sound worse. In the first book, Swan showed us a little of the magic of that world. The Order of the Magistratum regulates the use of magic, limiting it to the Justices. But the knowledge was once the church’s. The church, in general, and Bartholomew Claver, in particular, seek to repatriate that knowledge from the Order. However, those books contain danger at an existential level. In book one of The Empire of the Wolf, we see Vonvalt use the Emperor’s Voice and have a seance to solicit testimony from the dead. An entity, The Trickster, showed up to say hi and scare them. In The Tyranny of Faith, readers learn that there’s so much more to the magic. It’s reminiscent of eldrith horror tales because the first danger is to the practitioner’s sanity. Beings beyond the understanding of humanity exist just a ritual away.
I loved this exploration of the magic. Swan balances it with the rest of the story, and he got the mix right. The struggle for the heart of the empire is a struggle for who controls this magic. It’s a wonderful bit of storytelling that the political, the existential, and the magical all feed into one another creating a plot that drives straight to the very end of the book.
While magic always adds to the wonder of a fictional world, in Swan’s hands, it made Helena’s world feel small and insignificant. This is a good thing. This magic felt like its a knowledge humans are better off losing than actually being out in the world. The ‘holy dimensions’ that exist beyond Helena’s daily reality are alien and compelling, but they’re also a danger that humans only partially comprehend. Swan makes them seem enticing yet clearly conveys the danger they and their magic possess to humans. Helena’s tutelage in the eldritch arts makes me worry for her. She’s dipped her toes into waters that’s much, much bigger than she understands, and the consequences are yet to come.
Conclusion
Richard Swan’s The Tyranny of Faith is an excellent sequel. It builds upon and expands the established world. Helena continues to remain the focus on this series, and thank goodness because she’s awesome. Swan found the right mix of action, philosophizing, magic, and character growth. Highly recommended.
The Tyranny of Faith by Richard Swan is available from Orbit Books now.
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