A grim and dark military fantasy story about the children of the emperor, and what they do when the emperor dies. There are three major characters.
Valyn, who is in elite military training, and the most enjoyable character to read. Following the brutal efforts to become a soldier, and solve the mystery surrounding an assassination attempt on his life.
Adare, who was just there. She seems like a cool character to learn about, but has total of 5 whole chapters in the book.
And lastly Kaden, who is in a monastery learning to become a monk. Kaden's story has the most impact on what the greater scope of the series could be. But his story is so enjoyable to read simply because of the philosophy and thought exercises that he must endure to become a monk. They're very interesting and the level of enlightenment that the monks are searching for, feels very attainable in the real world.

At times the prose felt off, either it was slightly repetitive. It felt like in the author's desire to be adult with their prose, they hit the synonym button to find a "better" word for the situation. Almost all of the times, this works really well, painting a vivid and lush picture of the world. But there are some times where the word choice feels disjointed.

Overall, I had a great time with this book. It was really fun to read, even though it just ends, with very little resolution. I'm excited to read the next book in the series.