Tag: Michael Sullivan

The Disappearance of Winter’s Daughter (Riyria Chronicles #4) ★★★★☆

~ Bookstooge ~ 30 Comments

32177852This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: The Disappearance of Winter’s Daughter
Series: Riyria Chronicles #4
Author: Michael Sullivan
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 344
Format: Digital Edition

 

Synopsis:

Royce and Hadrian are hired to avenger the death of Genevieve Hargrave who is the daughter of Gabriel Winter, a rich merchant. She married Leopold Hargrave, the Duke of Rochelle and Winter is convinced that Leopold married her for her dowry and then murdered her. But no body has been recovered. So Winter wants the duo to find out what happened to her and then avenge her death with a fountain of blood, a fountain he is willing to pay for with everything from his coffers.

Once the duo reaches Rochelle, things don’t quite add up. At the same time the head of the Church of Novron is calling for a new King and every noble must be present to be in the running. This leads into Church politic’ing and a desire for revenge by a Mir, a half-human, half-elf named Villar.

Villar wants to murder all the nobles, take over the city of Rochelle and make it the capital of a new Mir city-state. What looks impossible isn’t so when it is revealed that he has the help of dwarves who can bring stone golems to life.

All this time Genny is alive and held captive by a faction of the Mir who just want equal rights in the town and a peaceful resolution to everything.

Everybody collides in a finale of bloody death but thankfully Hadrian and Royce rescue Genny, she is reunited with her husband who really does love her and events are set in motion that will have repercussions in the Riyria Revelations series.

 

My Thoughts:

Most Important!

This ebook says it has an ISBN of 978194336317 but if you can count, that is only 12 numbers. The hardcover I got through the Kickstarter has the correct isbn listed as 9781943363117. Goodreads still has it wrong. Business as usual for that place!

/End Important!

I really enjoyed this read. The banter, the danger, the mystery. It all came together just like every other Riyria book has. There is a flavor, a tone, to the these books and Sullivan keeps it unique and never strays from it. I like that.

I also liked that we didn’t have to wait until the end to know if Genny was alive or dead. She had her POV almost from the beginning and while it lessened that particular mystery, it simply increased the tension on other parts as I tried to figure out WHAT was going on and who was motivated by what.

I tore through this in about a day and a half. Kind of sad since I had been waiting 2 years since Death of Dulgath but hey, I’m not going to waste time artificially stretching my read out. I paid my money and I’m going to get my enjoyment Right Now!

Now that I’ve read this, I kind of want to re-read all 6 Riyria Revelations books and the previous 3 Riyria Chronicles books. Just to get a fuller picture. Also, to see how Sullivan’s writing has progressed. Well, maybe in a year or two. Honestly, I’d really like to wait until there are 6 Chronicles books to balance the Revelations books and then have a go. But since Sullivan is independently releasing these through Kickstarters and he has contractual obligations for other books, I doubt that will happen any time soon.

★★★★☆

bookstooge

 

Age of Myth (Legends of the First Empire #1) (ARC) DNF@13%

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8b99db351c38f59f0462494cc36f6477I received this copy from the publisher through Netgalley.com and that in no way has influenced my opinion in regards to this review.

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot. wordpress.com & Bookstooge’s Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission.

 

 

Title: Age of Myth

Series: Legends of the First Empire

Author: Michael Sullivan

Rating: 1 of 5 Stars

Genre: SFF

Pages: DNF

Format: Digital ARC

 

My Thoughts:

Due to some of the subject matter, I will not be continuing this book or series.

The Death of Dulgath (Riyria Chronicles #3)

~ Bookstooge ~ 3 Comments

 008bfd326efa6224981c5bc8608bcc93This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot. wordpress.leafmarks.com & Bookstooge’s Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission.

 

 

Title: The Death of Dulgath

Series: Riyria Chronicles

Author: Michael Sullivan

Rating:  4 of 5 Stars

Genre: SFF

Pages: 432

 

 

Synopsis:

Royce and Hadrian are almost broke. So they take a job. A job that entails planning an assassination of the Lady Dulgath so that her security can prevent just such an assassination.

Of course, it being Royce and Hadrian, things don’t go quite according to plan.

 

My Thoughts:

Exhibit Number One:

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As soon as I read that the Lady Dulgath’s name was Nysa, I immediately suspected some things and was right. I just hadn’t suspected ALL the things and Sullivan did a good job of tipping me over.

This was fun. It was also VERY informative. I had not realized that Royce didn’t know of his Elven heritage and so that revelation came as quite the shocker to him.  Just like all the other Riyria books, this was just a romp. It doesn’t try to be all epic and weighty and that is good as Sullivan’s style doesn’t lean in that direction.

However, he sure is a great storyteller! I wish I had more to say about the actual story, but I don’t. You’ll either like this or you won’t.

I was one of the backers that got this booked created on Kickstarter. I own all the Riyria books in hardcover and wanted this one as well. So I put my money where my mouth was. As did over 1800 people. And now I’m famous. Well, maybe not famous, but “Bookstooge” is one of the backers listed in the book at the end.

I also really enjoyed the fact that Sullivan included the first chapter of his new series coming out later this year. It is a prequel series set some 1000-3000 years before the Riyria books and deals with the Empire of Man coming into being and throwing off their Elven gods. I’m sure that Novron’s beginning, one of the main splinter gods in the Riyria books, will be shown with some sort of twist.

I would like more of Royce and Hadrian. Preferably 3 more novels in the Chronicles series to match the 6 of the Revelations. Sullivan has not ruled out such but also hasn’t made any promises. Smart man.

The Jester (Riyria Chronicles #2.5) (Short Story)

~ Bookstooge ~ 2 Comments

dfe495fce310abe869e0481d629bfbe2This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.tumblr.com by express permission of this reviewer

Title: The Jester

Series: Riyria Chronicles #2.5

Author: Michael Sullivan

Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars

Genre: SFF

Pages: 33

 

Synopsis:

A short story about Royce and Hadrian having an adventure with a Widow, a Pig Farmer and a whole mountain filled with traps to protect a mysterious treasure.

 

My Thoughts:

This drops you in right at the end of the story and with a few deft conversations fills you in on what is going on, but not to the point that I would have liked, ie, I wanted a full novel out of this story!

I like Riyria so this little tidbit helped feed the hunger until the next book comes out [whenever that may be]. It is a standalone story as any references to other adventures are explained but it makes for a fuller, more enjoyable read if you have already read the previous Revelations & then Chronicles series. That being said, if you want to check out the Riyria series with no commitment, this story allows just that very admirably.

I took 1 star off because I would have loved to see this expanded into a full length novel. The material is certainly there for that. So maybe that is actually a plus?

The Rose and the Thorn (Riyria Chronicles #2)

~ Bookstooge ~ 1 Comment

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The Rose and the Thorn

Riyria Chronicles #2

Author: Michael Sullivan

Rating: 4 of 5 Stars

 

Synopsis:

Hadrian and Royce must work together to save the girls of Medford House without becoming implicated in an attempt on the Royal family.

My Thoughts

With each book that expands the Riyria world, I hesitate before reading, afraid that maybe THIS is the book that Sullivan disappoints me with. For even Sanderson, he who needs no first name, has let me down.

Thankfully, that book wasn’t this book.

I was just as impressed with this book as I was the previous Chronicles book. Royce and Hadrian are much more of a functioning team than just 2 individuals working for a common goal.

We get a good bit of the backstory of Melengar and Arista and Family that fleshes out what we know from the Revelations series. Some of the Church’s motivations and schemes are revealed and more of the political landscape is in sight.

And finally, we get to see Royce do some slicing and dicing.

Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com

The Crown Tower (Riyria Chronicles #1)

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cover

The Crown Tower

Riyria Chronicles #1

Author: Michael Sullivan

4 of 5 Stars

 

I was in the middle of making dinner and sitting down to write this review when I received an alarm call and had to go. So if this a tad bit disjointed, that “might” explain it.

So, I LOVED Revelations. The whole series. It was a nice light, engaging fantasy without that “epic” weight dragging in the middle of my stomach. I liked Royce and Hadrian. Their characters, their interactions [with others and each other], their adventure.

But considering how Revelations ended, I didn’t want “After the Story” stories. So when I heard there were going to be more stories, I was feeling very mixed. Then it was revealed that all stories would be prequels and suddenly, God’s on His throne and All’s Right with the World.

So I went into this book with pretty high expectations. And I’m glad to say that I was not disappointed.

It was quite the story, seeing how Royce and Hadrian came together. Not at all like how I was expecting or even thought of. In Revelations we don’t really see just how messed up Royce was, or how hopeless Hadrian was. We see them together, as a team. This book shows them as the separate individuals that they used to be.

In essence, this is the raw material that Revelations was forged from.

Seeing more of Gwen was nice too. I felt like she was a barely there character in Revelations, so to see her here, fleshed out, made her much more “real”.

After reading this book, now I’m looking forward to The Rose and the Thorn even more.

Percepliquis (Riyria Revelations #6)

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Percepliquis

Riyria Revelations #6

Michael Sullivan

5 Stars

 

Everything wraps up nicely. A dramatic buildup AND a happy ending.

And none of this “I’m happy, so somebody somewhere must be getting a knife in the back to compensate” angst.

Percepliquis was exciting. It was tense. And while critics and others might have analyzed things and realized things before I did, I had a great trip of discovery.

Man, I am SO glad the SFBC carries these in hardcover. They are a story worth being in hardcover!

And I would like to thank Liviu for introducing me to this series with his review of the first book, the Crown Conspiracy.

So, Michael Sullivan, Thanks! It has been a great ride and I hope to be privileged enough to read more stories by you in the future.

The Viscount and the Witch

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12746970The Viscount and the Witch
Riyria Chronicles #1.5
by Michael J. Sullivan
Ebook, 28 Pages
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

 

This story was over before I even got my head around that it was starting. That was my only complaint-too short 😀

Really neat intro to Royce and Hadrian and “their” noble. Now I REALLY want the final book, sigh…

Wintertide (Riyria Revelations #5)

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Wintertide

Riyria Revelations #5

Michael Sullivan

4 Stars

 

A very good addition to the Riyria Revelations series. [do you know difficult it is to remember how to spell Riyria everytime? I usually try about 4 different ways, then give up and copy and paste :)]

This definitely was a much tenser books than the previous 4. Where the other ones were more happy go lucky and madcap capers, this felt tighter, darker and a bit more serious. I didn’t get the feeling that everything was going to turn out ok somehow in the end, like the others.

Now I can’t wait for the final book. And I can’t wait to see what the Boojum actually is…

 

Wintertide

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Wintertide
Riyria Revelations #5
by Michael J. Sullivan
Ebook, 332 Pages
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

 

A very good addition to the Riyria Revelations series. [do you know difficult it is to remember how to spell Riyria everytime? I usually try about 4 different ways, then give up and copy and paste :)]

This definitely was a much tenser books than the previous 4. Where the other ones were more happy go lucky and madcap capers, this felt tighter, darker and a bit more serious. I didn’t get the feeling that everything was going to turn out ok somehow in the end, like the others.

Now I can’t wait for the final book. And I can’t wait to see what the Boojum actually is…