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The Emperor's Knives

(Empire Series #7)

By Anthony Riches

​By the time you reach book seven in a series, you should know what to expect.  If you didn’t like the previous books, what the hell are you even doing here?  With Wounds of Honour, Anthony Riches opened up a whole new world of books for me; one with Roman Legions marching through hordes of blue-nosed barbarians.  I have become a huge fan of Riches, as well as a few others in the genre.

For me, The Emperor’s Knives has brought Marcus Aquila’s story full circle.  In book one, Marcus fled Rome before his family was unjustly destroyed by a corrupted, incontestable power.  Now Marcus is back in Rome with vengeance on his mind.  Riches has made Marcus a part of my life – I want him to avenge his loss, obtain some sort of peace of mind and enjoy the life that he has created for himself.

This book was different from the previous books in the series.  Riches has built a compelling story filled with intrigue, twists and turns.  It made me curious as to how Marcus would go about getting vengeance.  It was filled with several side stories that kept the flow of the story moving.  He had some old friends and enemies show up for fun and shock value.  But The Emperor’s Knives was on a smaller scale.  Riches’ strength has always been the epic battle scenes.  He has the ability to give an exact description of the big picture/bird’s-eye view of the action, while zooming in and out on certain key individuals within the battle.  The Emperor’s Knives lacked the epic battle; I missed it.

I know that there are more books to come in the series.  I am certainly curious to see where Riches takes his characters, however, The Emperor’s Knives could stand as a fitting end to the series.

*4 Stars

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