Days of Shattered Faith

It's a bit like a Culture novel about a Special Circumstances operation, only fantasy, and way more ambivalent about absolutely everything. The Pels may be utopian idealists, but there's never been any question that what they're building is actually utopian outside of their own indoctrination. Here we have a country where the Pel had a precarious foothold and the Outreach agent was sidelined until a major shift in affairs suddenly put her in ascendance on the cusp of a succession crisis that seems tailor made for the Pel soft takeover. Emotions, however, are getting in the way, as are a lot of other things, some more physical, some a lot less. There's an exiled prince, a force of Pel irregulars, an oddly incompetent aide, a prison full show more of ghosts with a familiar pair of wardens, a street hospital with a familiar cast of medicos, a frog god, an acquisitive and cunning Pel archivist, and some shark-worshipping pirates are lurking around the docks. It's a heady brew of plot and setting, with characters all bouncing between variousn rocks and hard places. show less

A story with a persistent present moving too quickly for those cast into the fray to realize they are being left behind. The pace of time leadens them; moving, thinking, and fading in slow motion. Or not feeling in their dissidence.

They are half-formed hollow outlines of what they might have been. What you see they could become, if only, if only they weren’t so lost.

Encompassing an inherited burden is the brothers. The conclusion of their clash will cast a ghastly shadow.

The sword and the pen have long battled as to whose most impactful. Who holds more influence.

Perhaps a better wisdom is when to parse or parry - respectively.
(August 12th, 2025)

The third in a complex series about the undoing of a fascist empire, Days of Shattered Faith brings us by boat to Alkhalend, the capitol of a kingdom with a grieving king and the wrong Prince inheriting.

Loret is a new cadet who shows up at her assignment to the Pallaseen Resident. Only when she arrives, the Resident is not at all what she expected—and she's immediately roped into seconding in an illegal duel with another ambassador. From this death, we are led in an ever-widening spiral toward a forbidden romance, a relic hunter who won’t let common sense get in the way of her future, and of course, the demons. The kingdom, already on the brink, tilts toward disaster. And Loret unravels along with it.

I was so happy to see Jack and show more his friends plying their trade in the slums of Alkhalend. Not all of the group are present, though, and freeing those missing from the ghost-laden prison is a story that the main plot rides atop like a train. The two converge in the end with chaos and an ending that promises this fabulous series isn’t yet over.

The first book in this series was difficult and trusted the reader to do some heavy lifting. The second book was deeply emotional and trusted the reader would lay their heart in Tchaikovsky’s capable hands. In this third, we are far from the empire’s fist, off the battlefield, and this distance allows the reader and Tchaikovsky to relax a little and have an adventure. The underlying threat of fascism stays, but it’s beginning to fray, and I’m excited to see what happens when it snaps.

Thank you to NetGalley and Head of Zeus, Ltd for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. show less

Days of Shattered Faith is a fantastic conclusion to the Tyrant Philosophers trilogy. The story takes us to Alkhalend, a city coded primarily as 'foreign', with hot climate, fratricidal succession and a host of warrior-monk orders. Our main viewpoints are Gil (Sage-Investigator Angilly) and her aide Loret, representing Pallaseen Outreach, a department of diplomats and spies that uses imperfect means to advance perfection.

Things are bad in Alkhalend, with the old Alkhand Oparan blind, dying, and listening most to the trapped ghost of his murdered brother. His designated heir, Dekamram, is pro-Pallaseen and considered too soft to be an effective ruler. The elder son, Gorbudan, has been exiled to a fortress and is gathering raiders for a show more new war against local enemies and the Pals. But if things are bad in Alkhalend, they're worse back home, where the cults from the previous book have caused the government to open concentration camps and root out heresy by any means necessary.

The fulcrum of the story is the love between Gil and Dekamram, two people who have to choose between their love of each other, and their love of their people. They're mutual outcasts who have found themselves at the precipice of greatness, and who know that the last step requires a great sacrifice. Other standouts are the return of the hospital from book two, and Helgrim and his wife from the first book (Helgrim and Yasnic are the founding members of the Difficult Wives Club).

But where the story really shines are the battles, with Pallaseen firepower against local heavy cavalry mounted on dinosaurs and some kind of terrestrial mantis-shrimp thing. There's plenty of meat in the action, and plenty of originality. show less

This is the third book (I think) about the Palleseen Sway, an expansionist fascist empire, with some recurring characters. Palleseen is having some troubles back home, but still interested in taking over new lands and sucking their magic dry. The Palleseen resident in one city-state is allied with, and maybe in love with, a ruler’s younger son who has suddenly come into favor, but his warlike older brother has other plans. That’s only one fragment of the story, which is rich with politics and other maneuvers. Basically everyone in the story was unlikeable—primarily out for themselves if they had any self-control at all; making bad decisions if they didn’t. It was not the right book for me to read at this point; there were at show more most a few flashes of grace. show less

Back towards the inventivity and exploration of the first. Enjoyable.

We're now in another city within the Sway but not fully converted to Empire's rule. Our main heroine is the chief diplomat. The city and country are contested by another race, and only recently has the Empire held prominence. But rather than outright war, this is politicking and trade deals and influence with the current elderly ruler. And any elderly ruler worth his salt has heirs, 4 of them in this case. One exiled vigourous fighter, one studious diplomat, one religious weed, and the rebellious daughter. Of course our diplomat and the heir get on well together that's what diplomats do. However the ruler dies, the fighter invades and Empire decides the Sway's time show more has come and needs to be audited. So it all gets a bit tense.

There's our favourite team of runaway healers, mad ghosts, frog gods and weird mantis like assassins along with everything else AT can throw at you. Enjoy the ride. show less

A decent installment in the series, but I found it to be much more workmanlike than the earlier books and particularly the novella.

Still good and well narrated as usual. Just not one of the best.