Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Skullsworn
    Skullsworn
    Skullsworn
    Audiobook15 hours

    Skullsworn

    Written by Brian Staveley

    Narrated by Elizabeth Knowelden

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Brian Staveley’s new standalone returns to the critically acclaimed Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne universe, following a priestess-assassin for the God of Death

    “Brilliant.”—V. E. Schwab, New York Times bestselling author

    From the award-winning epic fantasy world of The Emperor’s Blades…

    Pyrre Lakatur is not, to her mind, an assassin, not a murderer—she is a priestess. At least, she will be once she passes her final trial.

    The problem isn’t the killing. The problem, rather, is love. For to complete her trial, Pyrre has ten days to kill the seven people enumerated in an ancient song, including “the one who made your mind and body sing with love / who will not come again.”

    Pyrre isn’t sure she’s ever been in love. And if she fails to find someone who can draw such passion from her, or fails to kill that someone, her order will give her to their god, the God of Death. Pyrre’s not afraid to die, but she hates to fail, and so, as her trial is set to begin, she returns to the city of her birth in the hope of finding love . . . and ending it on the edge of her sword.

    ""A complex and richly detailed world filled with elite soldier-assassins, mystic warrior monks, serpentine politics, and ancient secrets.""—Library Journal, starred review, on The Emperor's Blades

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateApr 25, 2017
    ISBN9781511365017
    Skullsworn
    Author

    Brian Staveley

    Brian Staveley is the author of the award-winning fantasy trilogy, The Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, which has been translated into a dozen languages worldwide, and Skullsworn, a stand-alone novel set in the same world. After teaching literature, philosophy, history, and religion for more than a decade, Brian began writing fiction. He now lives on a steep dirt road in the mountains of southern Vermont, where he divides his time between fathering, writing, mountain biking, splitting wood, skiing, and adventuring, not necessarily in that order.

    Related to Skullsworn

    Titles in the series (4)

    View More
    View More

    Related audiobooks

    Fantasy For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Inventions of Witches

      Oct 30, 2017

      The Inventions of Witches
      7 min read

    • Article

      Two Poems by Phillip B. Williams

      Dec 15, 2017

      The masters are yet dead. Wanting to be human,I tried to rewrite The Waste Land. The canon’s reachcasts ruinous light. The masters’ pens breachthis page where, above, my own hand spectates. Babylonrisen, exorcism in reverse, whose nature upended now?

      6 min read

    • Article

      Four Poems

      Jan 1, 2022

      followed—in front, as horses—into daisy& silver dancing, knowing the jaw who unkeysin the danced earth to drink me down to haints,& will go again. was willed. distrusted happiness, addicted to it.a god needs of a god. here, i don’t want to reachfor g

      3 min read

    • Article

      Poetic Licence

      Nov 21, 2020

      THESE human bodies will never seize to fail us. Their fragility can not be stressed enough. Mosquitoes kill more of us than we see them. We are waging too many wars against mother nature. We can never forget the inevitable death, but it will always b

      2 min read

    • Article

      Dark Tales

      Dec 2, 2021

      Dark Tales
      6 min read

    • Article

      Five Poems

      Nov 1, 2022

      To be the fish on the ladderand not know what it means. To feel the bronzes,the pearls, the greens, but in a contextof pure combat. To fight the literal stream we hurl ourselves into for nodiscernible purpose, other than some moleculesays it will be

      4 min read

    • Article

      Same River Twice

      Feb 3, 2022

      Same River Twice
      8 min read

    • Article

      Collins Ferry Landing

      Jul 1, 2020

      for my father Only rivers bottom out like this.Only rivers bottom out with this kind of conviction.Not humans, or, at least, not humans asindisputably human as you were,trapped in consciousness’s surplus, exilic,animalized absurdity, writhing in its

      5 min read

    • Article

      from BLACK PASTORAL

      Nov 1, 2023

      somewheres, some lifetimes ago I have run so far, so long.There is nowhere I haven’t beenBut here, in this field, a bodyLength from the ragged brinkThat gives way to forest.I collapsed here, the thin, hard slipOf me whittled at both ends.I want badly

      4 min read

    • Article

      Five Poems

      Jul 1, 2019

      There is no difference between a murdererand a sip of wine. Delight is stoppingthe flow of blood. Let lifewilt on the hand. Let crystalsevaporate. Everyone finds his position,dead or alive. The poet is a craftsmanwho makes social balance possiblefor

      2 min read

    • Article

      SHORT STORY by MARGARET ATWOOD

      Mar 22, 2023

      SHORT STORY by MARGARET ATWOOD
      7 min read

    • Article

      SHORT STORY by MARGARET ATWOOD

      Mar 22, 2023

      SHORT STORY by MARGARET ATWOOD
      7 min read

    • Article

      Three Poems

      Jan 1, 2020

      In class, I stared because of the blood going blue.The chalk that coated our fingerly teeth.The way we lapped each other (on the shorewhere the flowering). I gave away our location. Smacked my lips in the coat closet.Sucked at her teeth. We, on all e

      4 min read

    • Article

      Five Poems

      Sep 1, 2020

      Five Poems
      4 min read

    • Article

      Four Poems

      Jan 1, 2023

      And god created the waves and we the graves beneath, bodies madeparticulate by the force of water against water, water against rock, againsttime. I descend into the deep in a kind of prayer, listen to its centuries.Make me pay, will you, make me hurt

      3 min read

    • Article

      Four Poems

      Nov 1, 2022

      Day after Thanksgiving. I give thanks for Eveto beat the rush of appreciating hernext year and let her sleep inuntil three hundred o’clock.Thank you light on the mountainfor being my star on cloudy nights.Thank you all the guns I’ve never ownedand ki

      6 min read

    • Article

      Must-Read Poetry: September 2017

      Sep 11, 2017

      Isn’t that one of the purest goals of poetry—to justify our breaths? To recognize that we matter? The post Must-Read Poetry: September 2017 appeared first on The Millions.

      8 min read

    • Article

      Echo and Narcissus

      Mar 7, 2022

      Echo and Narcissus
      7 min read

    • Article

      Poetry Rx: This Is the Year

      Jan 3, 2019

      Poetry Rx: This Is the Year
      7 min read

    • Article

      Mrs Macarthur’s Secret Diary

      Jun 17, 2020

      Mrs Macarthur’s Secret Diary
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Final Truth

      Jan 21, 2020

      The Final Truth
      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Skullsworn

    4.5/5

    243 ratings15 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Skullsworn is the origin story of Pyrre, a character from The Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne. Having read this before the main trilogy, I can safely say it stands on its own. The characters occasionally mention some history of the world that may be explained better in the series, but it's easy to understand the goings on of the setting: The city of Dombang was conquered by the empire two centuries ago, but there remains a sizable faction that wants Dombang to again be free. The local Dombang religion that worships the gods of the delta has been banned, which creates further resentment toward the empire.Pyrre has come here to complete her final trial to become a priestess of Ananshael, the God of Death. For her trial, the two witnesses who accompany her sing a song listing the targets she must kill. She must kill every target within two weeks, and must not kill anyone else. Should she fail, the witnesses will kill her. Easy enough for Pyrre except for one: one of the targets is someone she loves, but Pyrre has never loved anyone. Pyrre and her witnesses, Ela and Kossal, are fun to read as they banter, discuss their faith and help Pyrre understand what it means to love and to follow Ananshael. While most people would see the the Skullsworn as little more than murderers, the Skullsworn understanding of death paints them as merciful. Ananshael's gift is the end of pain and suffering, one that is given to all without playing favorites. With this logic, they oppose torture and killing out of anger. Pyrre puts together a plan to stir up a rebellion to get close to Ruc Lan Lac, a man she believes she can love. Pyrre feels conflicted about it every step of the way, since it is questionable if the love can be genuine with an ulterior motive. The setting is well described, and feels like a part of a larger world. The delta is teeming with life, all fighting to thrive in a hostile environment. The people are no different, both those in Dombang and the Vuo Ton, a group of delta natives who shun the city that made people soft. The characters are fun to read, and interact with each other naturally. Everyone has a clear motivation behind their actions that move the plot forward.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Wonderfully told tale. I can't wait to see what's next.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 2/5
      I really enjoyed the Unhewn Throne trilogy and loved the character Pyrre, so I was looking forward to this book…
      3 out of 4 ain’t bad. This book doesn’t compare to the others. I cannot get invested in any of these characters. I just find the book boring.
    • 5/5
      The book is, in its essence, a philosophical quest of the self: the search for the meaning and purpose of life, that can only be found in understanding and ultimately accepting death, because the beautiful perfection is exactly the ephemeral. To me, the characters, the storytelling, the world building, the dialogues are only adjacent to that quest, but they were undeniably well constructed. To summarize, I chose to read a fantasy book for the genre, and ended up really pleasently surprised by the depth of it. I highly recommend it! I absolutely loved it!
    • 5/5
      Was pleasantly surprised! Was a really good book. I need to check out more books by this author
    • 5/5
      Riveting and beautifully performed. Killed my wireless headphones even with their excellent charge life. Did not want to "put" it down.
    • 5/5
      Anteo -3 review of this book is horse shit, this book is amazing.
      I love a different story line in this universe.
    • 5/5
      The story kept my attention and was entertaining as well as interesting.
    • 3/5
      It was okay, but the details seemed to draw on and on while the substance seems thinner than I'd hoped. The ending too felt rushed, as did his previous books. In the end, I felt like I just wanted to get the book done rather than anticipation for more.
    • 4/5
      Fun read the ending was satisfying but the main character is hard to like because she is definitely a psychopath.
    • 5/5
      excellent book, a little predictable but then most fantasy is. a great addition to the original trilogy!
    • 3/5
      I liked the beginning quite a bit, and as with all of these the story dragged me in pretty effectively - always anxious to know what happened next. But a lot of the philosophical musings on love and death wrapped up in the story did not seem to fit well. And there were enough little annoyances that I can't recommend it highly.
    • 5/5
      Skullsworn is the origin story of Pyrre, a character from The Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne. Having read this before the main trilogy, I can safely say it stands on its own. The characters occasionally mention some history of the world that may be explained better in the series, but it's easy to understand the goings on of the setting: The city of Dombang was conquered by the empire two centuries ago, but there remains a sizable faction that wants Dombang to again be free. The local Dombang religion that worships the gods of the delta has been banned, which creates further resentment toward the empire.Pyrre has come here to complete her final trial to become a priestess of Ananshael, the God of Death. For her trial, the two witnesses who accompany her sing a song listing the targets she must kill. She must kill every target within two weeks, and must not kill anyone else. Should she fail, the witnesses will kill her. Easy enough for Pyrre except for one: one of the targets is someone she loves, but Pyrre has never loved anyone. Pyrre and her witnesses, Ela and Kossal, are fun to read as they banter, discuss their faith and help Pyrre understand what it means to love and to follow Ananshael. While most people would see the the Skullsworn as little more than murderers, the Skullsworn understanding of death paints them as merciful. Ananshael's gift is the end of pain and suffering, one that is given to all without playing favorites. With this logic, they oppose torture and killing out of anger. Pyrre puts together a plan to stir up a rebellion to get close to Ruc Lan Lac, a man she believes she can love. Pyrre feels conflicted about it every step of the way, since it is questionable if the love can be genuine with an ulterior motive. The setting is well described, and feels like a part of a larger world. The delta is teeming with life, all fighting to thrive in a hostile environment. The people are no different, both those in Dombang and the Vuo Ton, a group of delta natives who shun the city that made people soft. The characters are fun to read, and interact with each other naturally. Everyone has a clear motivation behind their actions that move the plot forward.
    • 1/5
      “’If I wanted you dead, you would be dead’?” He sucked some blood from between his teeth, then spat it onto the cobbles. “What is that? A line from some mid-century melodrama? You hear that onstage a few nights ago?”In “Skullsworn” by Brian StaveleyReasons to avoid some Fantasy:1. Trilogies - a story seldom needs 3 volumes, nobody wants to read the 'excluded middle' of tosh, let alone wait for the third volume when they have forgotten the contents of the first - strike George R.R. Martin;2. Sequel proliferation. Ditto objection 1 squared - strike Eddings et al;3. Formulaic - It's often better to re-read Tolkien, skipping some of his embarrassing attempts at females than read the whole thing again with different silly names - strike all sorts of piffle;4. Silly names - countries; cities; people. How about concepts; recipes; politics - invent something - move to include Iain M. Banks 'Culture' - or does invention have to belong to THE science fiction part of SF?5. Written by die cast. Surely much is the product of hashish and D&D - this you can make up for yourself;6. Poor writing - to wit the obviously much beloved Staveley - whilst his books were entertaining they are limited by his repetitive vocabulary; why can't his educated characters master the conditional subjunctive…?One of the common failing of most fantasy fiction is that the morality and emotional conflict of the antagonists is never explored or it feels gimmicky. We get a lot of stuff wherein the good guys become less good, and the bad guys stay smart-alecky. Characters tend to be stupid. It’s how an author can impart information to the reader that the character themselves haven’t picked up on yet. It’s also an engagement tactic: did you guess, right? May as well read the next chapter and find out, you stupid reader. What else? Ah yes. Strong romance...check, Romance the focus...check, World Without Plenty of magic...check, some clichés...check, Some semi-explicit stuff...check. All genres of books have many poor and average writers and some great ones - fantasy writing is just as good as any other kind of writing and the best fantasy provides some excellent analysis and criticism of reality as well as imagining coherent alternative realities and managing to be both funny at some points and gripping at others. I despair of so much fantasy fiction. There is a lot of landfill quality stuff out there; but also, too many multi-volume epics with formulaic plots. How many more times will that downtrodden turn out to be the heir to the kingdom? (feel free to substitute “ploughboy orphan” by “Assassin that has ten days to kill ten people enumerated in an ancient song, including ‘the one you love / who will not come again.’” or by any other input placeholder you wish).I don't know why I bother reading crap like this. Staveley no more...SF = Speculative Fiction.
    • 5/5
      Pros: excellent characters, great world-building, variety of fightsCons: Pyrre has reached the final test for becoming a priestess of Ananshael. She must kill seven people in fourteen days. But her final target must be someone she loves above all others, and Pyrre has never known love. So she returns to the city of her birth and the man she once knew, hoping he’ll be The One.Pyrre appears as a side character in Staveley’s Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne. This is a stand-alone novel where she - and her worship of the god of death - are in the forefront. While the previous books aren’t necessary to enjoy this one, there are descriptions of Rassambur, the assassin’s home base, in book three, Last Mortal Bond, which flesh out the city and the practice of Ananshael’s priests.Witnessing her trial are two priests, Kossal, an older man who speaks truth and has few cares for the world, and Ela, the woman he loves, who loves everybody and who’s as graceful as she is deadly. Ela tries to teach Pyrre what love is, a conversation that involves as many knives as you’d expect from a duo of professional assassins.There’s a surprising amount of banter considering the premise of the book. I enjoyed Pyrre’s attempts to understand her own emotions as she alternates between getting closer and further away from Ruc Lan Lac. Her plan is overly convoluted but has some fascinating consequences. I especially enjoyed the chapters dealing with the delta and life there.The world-building was top notch, expanding an unexplored area of the world but tying it and its history into that of the previous books. The delta felt vibrant and the dangers - and how to deal with them - realistic. The local religion also had weight to it, practiced differently by the city folk and the delta people.As expected, there are some fabulous fight scenes, against a surprising variety of people and things.This was an excellent book.