Book review: The Tyranny of Faith by Richard Swan

The Tyranny of Faith, the second book in Richard Swan’s Empire of the Wolf trilogy, is an exciting new fantasy novel that combines the flavor and scope of epic fantasy with the trappings of mysteries, legal thrillers, and even a dash of fictional memoir. Is it worth reading?

This is a SPOILER-FREE review, meaning you can proceed without having read the book. I’ll talk a little about the first book in this series, The Justice of Kings, but I’ll try my hardest not to spoil that one either.

Book review: The Tyranny of Faith by Richard Swan

With some books, your brain keeps firing the whole time you’re reading. You pick up on inconsistencies, find yourself counting down pages till a chapter ends, or just generally have a hard time getting invested. With others, you’re swept off the second you start reading.

The Tyranny of Faith is the latter sort. I’m fresh off of reading both Tyranny and its predecessor The Justice of Kings back to back, and can safely say that this is a fantasy series that fans of authors like Joe Abercrombie, George R.R. Martin, or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle should have on their shelf.

Did I throw you with that last comparison? Let me explain.

The Empire of the Wolf is a series of novels told from the first person perspective of Helena Sedanka, clerk and apprentice to the most powerful lawkeeper in the Sovan Empire, Justice Sir Konrad Vonvalt. A Justice’s job is one part investigator, one part litigator, one part magical law enforcer, and one part executioner. Helena’s recollections of solving crimes with Vonvalt recalls the dynamics of Sherlock Holmes and Watson. Vonvalt is a brilliant and sometimes fickle character who works well with the bright-eyed and street smart Helena. By the time of The Tyranny of Faith, their relationship has evolved into something even more complicated.

The series is broadly about how the decline of the Sovan Empire begins, as framed by the erosion of its legal system and governing bodies. That’s not so much a spoiler, since Helena establishes this pretty much up front. The tale centers the empire’s legal system, which isn’t something you often see in fantasy fiction, and certainly not with this level of depth and clarity.

The Tyranny of Faith has highly detailed worldbuilding, fleshed out characters and well-developed conflicts. While many fantasy novels try to establish scope with multiple viewpoints and globe-spanning quests, Swan’s series is all about tight focus, putting you right there alongside Helena and Vonvalt. This makes it all the more shocking when the larger picture comes into focus through the lens of these two characters, and all the more gut-wrenching when they resort to dubious methods in the attempt to hold everything together.

The Tyranny of Faith mashes together A Song of Ice and Fire with Sherlock Holmes

That’s the broad strokes of The Empire of the Wolf trilogy as a whole; now let’s get into the details about The Tyranny of Faith specifically. As a sequel, The Tyranny of Faith is a near pitch perfect follow-up to Swan’s The Justice of Kings. It picks up the story right where the first book left off so seamlessly that I found myself engrossed once more after only a handful of pages.

Following the society-shaking events of book 1, Helena, Sir Konrad, and the rest of their small crew must head back to the capital city of Sova in hopes of stopping the many forces at work trying to dismantle the empire. The new book is permeated by a sense of dread that sets it apart from the first. During The Justice of Kings we started to see how the Sovan empire and its most loyal protectors could go off the rails. The Tyranny of Faith picks up that thread and runs with it. It’s fascinating, heartbreaking, and terrifying by turns. I spent a good portion of my read-through feeling like my stomach was tying itself into knots (but in a good way).

As with The Justice of Kings, there are plenty of mysteries to be solved in Tyranny, from the abduction of a member of the royal family to ominous tidings from the frontier south of the capital. Swan once again does a masterful job of peeling back the layers, gradually revealing one bit of information only to throw another wrench into the investigation. The mystery elements have slightly less of a focus than in the first book, with more traditional epic fantasy elements like curses and dark magic moving into the forefront. I found myself missing some of those elements, such as Sir Konrad’s courtroom debate from book 1, but it also felt like a natural progression for where the story is at this point.

Something I really loved about The Tyranny of Faith is just how much it broadens our understanding of the world Swan has created. While this book once again features large sections in a few specific locales, it also has a larger variety of landscapes and cultures at play. That felt very much needed at this point in the series, and Swan nailed it.

Another highlight is how Swan handles violence and necromancy, both of which feature prominently in The Tyranny of Faith. This book has plenty of action, but the battles and bloodshed aren’t the primary drivers of the story. Violence is used sparsely…but when it does crop up, Helena describes it in such vivid detail that it shocks the system in a way that sets it apart from the usual fantasy fare. The same goes for the horrifying glimpses into the necromantic workings of this fantasy world, which are actually scary. As someone who’s been reading in this genre for several decades, it’s easy to feel desensitized to magic or swordfights, so it’s great when an author can make you look at them in a fresh way.

Verdict

The Tyranny of Faith is a compelling follow-up to Richard Swan’s The Justice of Kings, full of the intrigue, foreboding, detailed worldbuilding and deep character explorations that made the first book so good while vastly improving on those foundations. I had high expectations going into this book and it surpassed them. A five star read, hands down.

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