Son no. 1 got me this as a birthday present, and it's an enjoyable read. Son no. 1 has a knack for getting people books they will like (and then borrowing them, so that they are never seen again). 
   The Emperor's Blades  is a fairly generic swords and sorcery fantasy, heavier on the swords than the sorcery. It has a few good twists, and the characters are good. It's a lot more gritty than your run of the mill fantasy - much more so than those written even a handful of years ago. It's the first in a trilogy, so I have ordered the second two because I'm quite keen to find out what happens. That is, I guess, the definition of a good read: you want to turn the next page.
   Weirdly, there was a Brian Staveley in my class at school. It's not exactly a common name, so I looked up this Brian: it's not him. But maybe his father had the same name. Now that would be a coincidence. Perhaps I will write some day to ask.