Thoughts on : Rise of Empire by Michael J. Sullivan

Posted by Kay on January 9, 2019 1:53 pm in 4 stars reads | 2 comments

Rise of Empire by Michael J. Sullivan
Narration : Tim Gerard Reynolds
Genre : Fantasy
Series : The Riyria Revelations, book 2

About the Book  :

A PUPPET IS CROWNED. THE TRUE HEIR REMAINS HIDDEN. A ROGUE’S SECRET COULD CHANGE EVERYTHING.

War has come to Melengar and once more Royce and Hadrian are hired to make a desperate gamble and form an alliance with the Nationalists whom are fighting the Imperialists in the south.

As the power of the Nyphron Empire grows, so does Royce’s suspicion that the wizard Esrahaddon is using the thieves as pawns in his own grab for power. To find the truth, he must unravel the secret of Hadrian’s past–what he discovers may end their friendship and break Riyria in two.

My Thoughts :

I’ll do a short review, so as not to spoil book 1, Theft of Swords.

There’s a lot happening in Rise of Empire. Like its predecessor, it was first published as two books, and there’s a very clear distinction between the two parts. The first one concludes a more political part of the story, while part two starts a new adventure on the high seas. This being said, there was never a dull moment and the pace was still quite quick in both parts.

One thing I missed in Rise of Empire was the camaraderie between Royce and Hadrian. They are still present, but as we delve deeper into this universe and meet new characters, things get more serious and there’s not as much space for their most comedic moments.

On the other hand, many characters get some fantastic character development. Especially Arista, who I love more and more as the series progresses and she loses her princessy ways. We also spend a lot of time with Amelia (a new character) and Medina, two characters I appreciate separately, but even more together. I really appreciated the relationship they slowly built. That’s one thing that stands out to me about this series : while there’s very little romance, friendship is a central theme. It’s refreshing, quite honestly!

I really like where this series is going. While I do wish the worldbuilding was a bit more elaborated and the plot a bit more original, the characters and the constant action absolutely make up for it. I’m halfway through Heir of Novron right now and I can’t wait to see how it ends.