I’ve been meaning to get around to Mazarkis Williams’ “The
Emperor’s Knife” ($14.99 Night Shade Books) for a while, but a recent giveaway
of the ebook on the publisher’s site gave me a great reason to make it now.
Williams paints a picture of an empire being attacked by
magic. Strange patterns begin to appear on the skin of those infected, and
eventually that person will be consumed and controlled by the master of the
pattern. The emperor Beyon has ordered that all those showing the pattern be
put to death. Unfortunately for him, the lines have appeared on his own skin.
Thus far, he has hidden them well with the help of his mages, and the pattern
has not taken his senses. But a few key figures in the palace know about it, which
sets in motions the machinations to remove him from the throne.
Traditionally, when a new emperor is named, all of his
siblings are killed to eliminate rivals to the throne. In this case, one was spared.
Beyon’s brother Sarmin has been locked in a tower of the palace for most of his
life, spared the knife. He is about to become an integral part of the plots for
and against his brother. The fate of the empire may rest upon Sarmin, his
horsewoman bride to be Mesema and the aging emperor’s assassin Eyul.
To be honest, it took me a little while to get into “The
Emperor’s Knife.” I thought it was an interesting tale, set in an interesting
milieu. The middle-eastern setting is one that is picking up lately, but has
been underutilized in fantasy. Then, we got into the magical duel between
Sarmin and the Pattern Master, and the system truly intrigued me. I found the
pattern system fascinating and can’t wait to learn more about it and how it
works. It made the latter half of the book really sell me on the story as a
whole.
Though an assassin features prominently in the book and the
image on the cover is of the typical hooded man that graces many assassin
fantasy covers (this exact image, in fact), it’s certainly not the typical
assassin tale. The action and emotion of the story rests far more on the
shoulders of Sarmin and Mesema than Eyul, who, at times, I felt was almost
underplayed. He’s a fascinating character whose background I would have liked
to explore a little more.
Though I had mixed feelings about “The Emperor’s Knife” in
the early going, by the end Williams had completely won me over and given me an
emotional investment in the characters and how events unfolded. It’s a solid
fantasy debut, and it moves the second volume, “Knife Sworn,” released last
month, to the top of my stack.
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