The House of Sacrifice

The conclusion to the Empires of Dust trilogy continues in much the same vein as the previous two books. These are stories of horrible people doing horrible things to people. Anna Smith Spark writes some of the grimmest darkest grimdark fantasy out there.

Coming back to the series after a short break reading other novels I was immediately grabbed by the unusual story telling style. These books are written in a very flowy, almost chant-like way. Something which I hadn't thought of previously was that this book was written much like I would imagine a story teller would if they were using a more aural rather than written tradition. This feels like some ancient bard telling the story. It gives the books a grandiose feel and a more literary styling. It can take a bit of getting used to - most fantasy readers are used to a more descriptive style - but I actually quite enjoyed it.

The book itself continues to follow the conquests of Marith, he of the many titles (they are listed frequently through the book). The book meanders a bit more than the second of the trilogy - the goal now being the more general ‘conquer the world' rather than the focused ‘retake my ancestral homeland of the second book' and the more origins story of the first book. The lack of focus detracts a bit from the story, although the set pieces are just as spectacular. Anna Smith Spark does the confusion of battle in a story really well - that chant-like style really helps capture it. As it stands, I feel the second novel in the trilogy was stronger - Anna had found her voice by then and the story had the focus it needed. This is still a good read and a worthy finale to her trilogy.

The characters are all thoroughly unlikeable. Even the most sympathetic have some pretty nasty traits. Marith himself is just a bloodthirsty a-hole. He has very few redeeming qualities and his motivation for trying to conquer and kill everyone seems to be ‘because I can'. He is also a drunk and a drug addict. Thalia, his wife is more sympathetic, but she is an enabler of the worst kind. Orhan, one of the political leaders of Sorlost (a city featured throughout the trilogy) is manipulative and Machiavellian. Whilst other characters are brought to fore from time to time, it is those 3 who have been the most consistent through the trilogy.

This is a bleak story, with despicable people doing brutal things. It is grim and it is dark. It is told in an unusual style. This trilogy will not be for everyone, but it is a refreshingly literary take on grimdark fantasy with its own unique voice.