The Emperor's Wolves (Wolves of Elantra #1) by Michelle Sagara

 ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

This novel is set in the same world as Sagara's Chronicles of Elantra. It takes place before the first of the Chronicles books. It features Severn Handred as the main character, exploring his induction into the Wolves and his first case. It includes a cast of characters that have been seen in the Chronicles but it doesn't rely heavily upon the previous novels. It can likely be read as a stand-alone.

The novel begins with how Severn was approached to join the Wolves. He was caught following Kaylin around Elantra by the Barrani man who somehow is in charge of recruiting all of the Wolves. It then proceeds to introduce Ybelline and investigates Severn's motivations for protecting Kaylin and the actions that he took while in the fief of Nightshade. Finally, we come to the meat of the story which is Severn's first investigation as a Wolf where he is seconded to the Barrani man to investigate the murders of the Tha'alani that had been committed 20 years earlier but had recently come to light again during a more recent investigate. Along the way, we are introduced to more characters and settings that feature prominently in the Chronicles novels. We also have many moments where the other characters (not Severn) find themselves wondering about who Severn is, why he is so special, how he came to have certain skills, and it raises more questions about his past.

The novel, like almost all of the Chronicles by Sagara, was pretty long. As I have come to expect, the world-building is expansive and the characters are generally pretty well developed. I am not clear on certain characters' motivations, but that isn't uncommon. I did find, that almost all of the scenes that feature the highly political interactions between the Barrani to be annoyingly long and attempting to be high handed but not really making a lot of sense to the reader. 

I found that the story was compelling. I don't know that I have a better understanding of Severn than I did before the novel. He has always been a bit of a bland, mystery. He is stoic and his motivations were built upon the oath of a 10-year-old boy to protect a 5-year-old boy. That seems rather odd to me, but that's all we really get for his extreme protectiveness and devotion to the younger Kaylin. 

I wouldn't read it again, but I will read the next novel as I'm already investing in this epic saga featuring these characters.


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