Book Review: The Empire’s Bladesmen – Forbidden Relics by Clay Vagrant

The Empire’s Bladesmen – Forbidden Relics was a fast paced, Asian inspired military, historical fantasy full of high-stake action sequences that kept me entertained the whole way through.

Shao Lien is a young warrior, loyal to the Ming Empire. As one of the Empire’s imperial brocade guards, he has given his life to his emperor and his country. His task is to track, find and take down the Blood Foot Syndicate by whatever means necessary.

At the head of the Blood Foot Syndicate lies Yeng Biao. A notorious criminal known for using unconventional methods to get to the top. Only this time, he has gone too far. Biao wants the empire to pay after everything he holds dear was stripped from him as a young man. Biao seeks the power of the supernatural, from an ancient tomb hidden in the depths of the desert. It soon becomes apparent that it was hidden for good reason.

Biao unleashes an ancient evil to gain control over ten lesser syndicates in his climb to power. But soon, too much blood has been shed and there is no way of controlling the beasts unleashed. Biao and Lien will need to put their differences aside and work together in order to save the empire, and everyone in it.

The Empire’s Bladesmen feels like an Asian inspired Indiana jones story, full of tombs, discovery and things that go bump in the night. If you are looking for a fresh take on the classic vampire story, where the creatures of the night are scary not sexy, this is a book you are going to want to check out.

While this book hasn’t been my favourite read of the year, it has done some cool things while playing with an older trope. The author has incorporated an almost, alternate history aspect in this book when talking about their version of vampires. We have the ancient tomb that has been sealed for good reason and the insatiable blood lust once the beasts awaken, but the way they multiply and create factions of their own felt rather unique. The creatures themselves made way for some short, sharp horror elements which added to the depth of the book when they were on the page, and paved the way for some epic action sequences.

The reader never had to wait too long for action in The Empire’s Bladesmen, whether the factions were fighting amongst themselves (as crime syndicates often do) or the characters were facing a bigger threat, there was plenty to keep me entertained. The sequences were often well thought out and read quickly. The combination of martial arts, ranged weaponry and traditional feeling sword fighting felt tactical in execution, meaning our characters had to think about their actions. This to me added to the military elements of the story. Personally I liked the rooftop hopping to gain vantage and had a lot of fun in these sections.

There were a few things in this book that didn’t work for me personally, the first being a disconnect in some of the language verses the tone of the story. There were a few phrases that would come up here and there which felt too modern to be in a historical military novel. One that comes to mind is people falling on their “butts” during some of the fighting. There was also a point where the word “hella” was used towards the end of the book. When these situations would arise It would take me out of the world I was following and make me think … ‘would these characters have actually said that, given how formal the language has been throughout the book?’. Fortunately, these phrases didn’t come up too often and I could move on each time. Another aspect was how elements of the real world were incorporated into the story. When talking about other countries, some countries had their names slightly changed to be in line with a more fantastical book whereas others didn’t. One of our characters Liliana was from “Europa” and was deemed as foreign. She talked about her country which was quite obviously fictionalised but drew from our world. We would then talk about Japan without that section of the world feeling as fictionalised.

All of that said, I can see this series being a good palate cleanser series for people looking for a fun adventure. I would argue that the Empire’s Bladesmen could be read as a standalone, but I don’t think the world is quite done with us yet.

A huge thank you to the author for providing a copy of The Empire’s Bladesmen in exchange for an honest review.