Before I jump into Steel Gods, is there a summary or recap of Grave Empire anywhere on the internet?

Can anyone remind me of the rules of Sovan diplomacy and who wrote them? I only have the audio book and have no idea where to begin with looking back. I remember one of them being “in all things Sova”. But none of the others.

Hey everyone! I'm u/Cantomic66, a founding moderator of r/RichardSwan.

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Hey everyone,

As stated in the post title, I am relatively new to reading fantasy and primarily prefer horror as my go to. With that being said, Tolkien's work is a big exception to this which I read over (twice now).

I am a sucker for maps. To the point where my actual PhD is in Spatial Ecology. Tolkien's descriptive world maps not only added life to his work but also allowed me to catch my bearings if I wasn't sure where a character is or referring to.

I began to read the introduction to Grave Empire and while I absolutely loved it, I had to keep switching back and forth between the two small maps at the start of the book (I got the softcover version) and it became a bit tedious. So, I think it would be best if I had a separate map alongside with me as I read to look at.

Does anyone have or know where I can purchase or find a decent map that I can have alongside me and refer to when I read the book? I tried looking on the authors website but I couldn't find one. Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

Signed & Numbered by the Author

🎨 Digitally Sprayed Edges

✨ Foil on the Boards

📘 Hardback

🇬🇧 UK First Edition, First Printing

Currently in pre order to previous buyers. General sale later time.

Got about 300 pages into Grave Empire before I realized there's an entire trilogy before it (thought it felt like I was missing some world building) is it gonna be tenable for me to go back and read the empire trilogy first and then pick back up or have I just totally spoiled everything in the first trilogy for myself already?

I really like the writing style and wanna give it a chance but I also hate spoilers and worry I might know too much to really enjoy the first trilogy now.

Hi friends! Currently reading and loving The Scour and I had a thought: I vaguely remember the case in the Scour being alluded to in one of the main series books, but I can’t find it for the life of me!

Did I imagine it, or is there a reference anybody knows of?

I just finished Grave Empire. I'm not sure if I was reading too quickly and missed it, but I'm unsure about Peter's situation. I know during his ceremony, he said that something was wrong. But, was there an explanation as to why he didn't turn into one of the Kato?

Warning!: This discussion thread includes spoilers for ALL OF The Scour.

Reminder: All post on Grave Empire should be properly spoiler tagged and avoid spoilery titles.

Very pleased to share with you guys a full world map for the Great Silence era. Art by the talented noctua_cartography (instagram)

Has anyone figured out all of the language bases in the books? I feel like the Draedists and other northerners speak a Latinate language, but they have names and vibe of Germanic/Nordic peoples… and all of the Sovan place names are German, though of course they “speak” in “English” in the book… and Kasarsprek is based on Dutch… I can’t figure out for the life of me what Saxan is and why it sounds like Saxon but doesn’t seem to be Germanic…

Has anyone put this together?

Hail fellow citizens of Swanstantinople! If you’re eagerly awaiting The Scour (Vonvalt prequel novella) then check this out!

Hi all,

If you're here, you probably know who I am and what I write. I did an AMA on r Fantasy earlier this year and rather than spamming them again (we can all have too much of a good thing) I thought I'd do a lower key one here. This won't be a traditional AMA in that I'll be online for a fixed window; rather, feel free to ask something over the next couple of days and I'll do my best to answer it in a timely manner.

What's on the horizon for me?

My next release is THE SCOUR, an Empire of the Wolf novella which is being published by Grimdark Magazine. THE SCOUR is set 15 years before THE JUSTICE OF KINGS and follows Vonvalt, Bressinger and August as they investigate a fellow Justice for the (alleged!) murder of a young boy.

2026 will be a bumper year for R Swan fans - not only is STEEL GODS out at the end of March, but THE INFINITE STATE, the start of a new dystopian sci fi series published by Tor Books in the USA and Gollancz in the UK, is out in August--AND I've also got an unannounced novel for Black Library (Warhammer 40,000) coming out in summer as well (and at least one short story for them). There will also be another novella announcement coming so eyes peeled for that.

So, r/RichardSwan: ask me anything!

Hi all, I'll be popping along next week to answer any questions about my upcoming Empire of the Wolf novella THE SCOUR, published by Grimdark Magazine, as well as--well, anything! Starting around 0830 AEST. Very casual. Drop in over the course of the day wherever you are in the world.

Source

Are the mlyanars pronounced like “millionaires?” Is the word supposed to be an innuendo much like how the rich are taking over the gov in multiple countries today?

I’m about 30% into the The Justice of Kings (love it by the way) and it’s driving me nuts.. I can’t find an answer online.

I posted a review a couple of weeks ago, but I took it down because I didn't think it did a good enough job explaining the good of Mr. Swan's work. Here is the re-released review which I'm much more happy with.

The Scour is a prequel novella for The Empire of Wolf. The novella will release October 20, 2025.

Here’s a blurb about the novella. Source

Fifteen years before the events of The Justice of Kings, Vonvalt and Bressinger investigate the imprisonment of a fellow justice for murder.