Three of Swords

Empire Asunder, Book 1

By: Michael Jason Brandt

Narrated by: Matthew Jackson

Character-rich epic fantasy in the tradition of A Song of Ice and Fire and The Demon Cycle.

From humble beginnings is greatness born....

With one fateful decision, the Empire of Twelve Kingdoms drifts from tenuous peace to limitless conflict. Emperor Eberhart's unexpected abdication creates an absence of power just as the land most needs leadership. Kinship, unity, and hope give way to ambition, conspiracy, and tragedy. Royal families, once allied, now fight for the throne, heedless of a rising threat from abroad. All the while, an ancient, sinister presence looms in forgotten corners, awaiting the opportunity to reclaim a world it once enslaved....

Yet some stars shine brightest on the darkest nights. An unheralded prince places honor and conviction above privilege and prestige. A quiet soldier's unwitnessed heroism has the potential to save a kingdom. A common servant boldly confronts the face of unnatural evil. And the unlikeliest of love blossoms in the midst of hatred and violence.

Three of Swords is the irresistible first act of the Empire Asunder medieval fantasy saga, featuring political intrigue, turbulent warfare, and star-crossed romance.

©2017 Michael Jason Brandt (P)2019 Michael Jason Brandt

Great high fantasy series!

A great fantasy story, with many characters and nations to keep up with. Looks like a great series and worth following through. Hints of magic, but more of the sword than sorcery here. Likely heroes and heroines and many realistic characters. GoTs -ish, but without the graphic sex. Great narration to boot!

I received this book in exchange for my honest review. Glad I gave this author and series a try!

Excellent Audiobook version

This is a review of the audiobook version of the story.

This excellent, fast paced story of a tranquil and stable empire which suddenly finds itself unraveling into separate warring kingdoms really shines in the audible version. The narrator has a great voice for this type of story and the characters develop just as nicely to the ear as they do to the eye in the print version.

If you are a fan of audiobooks, you won't be disappointed by giving the first book in this series a listen.

Sword fights and Demons

Brandt creates a realistic world where magic plays in the background and brutality governs the people. This is not a fairly tale. Bad things happen to good people and it's how they react that makes it a good story. Brandt offers us political intrigue as well as choreographed sword fights. I was sincerely interested in finding out how the story would turn out.

Jackson is amazing in the way he narrates. I truly believe that he will be the next great fantasy narrator. However, because he is so good, I had to give a four star in the performance because I feel that he is at such a high level yet missing a key piece of the storytellers skill. I think that if there had been more voice acting of not only the dialogue but in the exposition between it would have been a perfect narration. There was no tempo change nor voice inflection change between scenes of sadness or action. Yet Jackson's read held such tremendous gravitas. Matthew if you read this I don't give the four lightly. I hope to listen to many more books from you.

If you like a more realistic medieval fantasy adventure then I recommend this book to you.


I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review

Great Book, Great Narrator

Enjoyed reading Three of Swords, the first book in the Empire Asunder series and when I saw there was to be an audiobook, was looking forward to listening to it. I was not disappointed. The story was easy to follow and I think the narrator's voice was perfect.

Solid start to a fantasy series.

Three of Swords is a great start to a fantasy series. There are tons of characters to follow from different kingdoms and they are all pretty interesting, I think it will be very interesting in future installments to see how they all come together. With all the characters I can see it being difficult to follow and keep track for some people. My only real problem with it myself I couldn't really picture where all the kingdoms are in relation to each other, I don't know if the physical copy of the book includes a map of the world but I think it would be really helpful to have and possibly supply a pdf version with the audiobook so you can better visualize things, I mean there are twelve kingdoms so I think it would be very helpful. The story begins with the Emperor of the Twelve Kingdoms suddenly abdicates his position which then leads to intrigue and civil wars within the empire as a power struggle begins. There is also a deeper danger that is eluded too and seems to be the reason the emperor has abdicated in the first place and seems to come to play near the end of this novel. There are so many 'main' characters that I won't really get into them in depth but there are a lot and they are all very interesting in their own ways and can't wait to see how things progress with them.

I would say this is somewhat Game of Thrones esque as there are tons of characters, power struggles, politics, intrigue, betrayal etc. I don't know if it is as grand but we will see how future installments progress. The narration by Matthew Jackson was great and fits the story and style very well. I would definitely recommend this book and I can't wait to read the next book to see how the story progresses and how the characters will evolve.

"Please note I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review."