TLDR:

Please note that I received an advance reader copy of this book.

The man who hears but one voice speaks with one; the man who hears a thousand speaks with all the world.

Book Blurb

A Justice’s work is never done.

The Battle of Galen’s Vale is over, but the war for the Empire’s future has just begun. Concerned by rumors that the Magistratum’s authority is waning, Sir Konrad Vonvalt returns to Sova to find the capital city gripped by intrigue and whispers of rebellion. In the Senate, patricians speak openly against the Emperor, while fanatics preach holy vengeance on the streets.  

Yet facing down these threats to the throne will have to wait, for the Emperor’s grandson has been kidnapped - and Vonvalt is charged with rescuing the missing prince. His quest will lead him – and his allies Helena, Bressinger and Sir Radomir – to the southern frontier, where they will once again face the puritanical fury of Bartholomew Claver and his templar knights – and a dark power far more terrifying than they could have imagined.

Review

I was so glad that I was approved to received an ARC for this! I read The Justice of Kings last year and I was in love with it. Honestly, I always think about going back and bumping that rating to a 5/5 since I rave to my friends about it and constantly recommend it.

This time around, my life was a bit chaotic and my motivation to read (or do anything really) left me for a good few months. I'm happy to say this book definitely helped me out of it.

The characters are still great.

I loved that there were still more things to learn about the characters! I'm always scared that sequels will either ruin them by making them act so out of character or drag on a story that felt as if it were already completed. Yet Swan did such a wonderful job giving us more about Vonvalt, Bressinger, and Sir Radomir without it being such an obvious info dump.

We got glimpses into the war that Vonvalt and Bressinger met, we get to see that Sir Radomir isn't just a drunk but a good detective from his time of being a sheriff, and Helena really grows into her own person.

Helena became my favorite character in this book. I love her to death and I'm glad that this book remained in her perspective. She has her own opinions and I enjoy reading whenever she decides to speak against Vonvalt.

OK, fine I lied. Bressinger is my absolute favorite--he has been since the first book–but Helena is a close second.

Love the snide commentary on politicians/politics.

Some people might not appreciate this but some of the political commentary was very in your face about it. This is a not a spoiler but at some point, Helena has the opportunity to watch a meeting in the Senate House and it went as well as you expect it to go in todays world. It made me chuckle though.

"It was as though by standing there and being as obnoxious as possible until the Haugenates tired of it, they considered that they had skillfully outmaneuvered their opponents.

I'm from the United States so that quote above reminded me of certain politicians that I just won't name. It's just so horrible to think how many of us  across the world, unfortunately, know politicians that are like this.

The romance never steals away from the main plot and I love that.

It might appear that I don't enjoy books with romance but I really do. I'm just critical about them because so many books tend to let their plot take a backseat to it. Which is fine if romance is the main plot to it but most times it isn't.

The relationship between Vonvalt and Helena is as confusing as ever. We are experiencing things from Helena's point of view and damn, did I feel for her. Admittedly, I liked the idea of them together even from the first book so I really enjoyed this scenes.

Though I must warn you, if you're reading this solely for the romance you probably will disappointed unless you like slow burns. Romance is featured but never the sole focus.

We get to know more about the magic and its world.

The magic used by the Justices is explained a lot more here. You get to learn more about the other plane(s) alluded to in the first book. Some of the magic scenes are just straight up eldritch horror. Which really affected me since I am playing The Sinking City (and finished the Sherlock Holmes The Awakened) and that game just creeped me out a lot!

The scenes of Helena in the other plane really creeped me out and I loved how chaotic it was written. It totally gave me the sense of reading a bad dream: change of sceneries, things that just happened, and characters that come out of nowhere.

Final Thoughts

Tyranny of Faith lived up to the hype. I devoured this book because it has all the elements I love: well written characters, an exciting plot, an even some romance sprinkled in.

Do I recommend this book? Yes! I'm so glad that the sequel did the first book justice and cannot wait for the third book. Richard Swan is an excellent writer and wrote such a chaotic world that always leaves you hanging on to what will happen next.