Breaking An Empire Review

I’ve been wearing my war hat this week. Or should that be war helmet? Anyway, I have been reading Breaking an Empire by James Tallett. Like Bloodaxe and Tarranau, also by James, Empire is set in the fictional fantasy world of The Four Part Land.

Breaking an Empire may be a work of fiction but it reads a bit like a war memoir, although in the third person perspective. 

The book follows Rhyfelwyr and his merry band of soldiers as they are sent off to declare war on Niam Liad because of a rebellion. Like Tarranau, which I have previously reviewed, I once again found myself struggling to remember all the characters names as well as how to spell them - which is tricky for review purposes. 

So for the remainder I shall nickname them Rhy, Taffy, Llof, Gwyth, Locsyn and George. (That’s Gwewyr’s nickname if you were wondering). I think that’s all the main characters…(there’s so many to remember).

Anyway, where were we? Yes, Rhy and his friends are training for a war in the south. The book takes the reader through Rhy and his companions training new recruits, through the march and to the battles on the way to capturing Niam Liad.

The story is fast-paced, dragging the reader from one battle to the next. The fights themselves are told at the same pace, flow well and convey the combat on the battlefield with good intensity. It does feel like you are there in the thick of it. 

However, I felt this depth did not pour into the lull periods between battles. There was very little description of the cities and places the soldiers visited, so it made it difficult to vision exactly what the landscape around them was. Simply, it did not do all the locations justice. But besides that, Empire is a good, if slightly short, fantasy novel set in a world that has lots to offer. 

Breaking an Empire gets 7/10 and is available here.