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4.52 AVERAGE
4.52 AVERAGE
Not only Michael J. Sullivan’s best work but one of the best, most satisfying reading experiences of my life. When I finished The Riyria Revelations and Chronicles, I was *very* hesitant to start Legends of the First Empire. I loved Royce and Hadrian and I thought surely the magic of this world couldn’t be replicated in a series set thousands of years before they were even born. But MJS is one helluva writer and I was hooked from chapter one of Age of Myth and so emotionally invested in the story of Persephone, Brin, Roan, Gifford, et al. that the final three books in that series moved me to tears multiple times.
Esrahaddon is the culmination of something like 17 books and I’m so glad I read them (mostly) in publication order. There are so many moments, and backstory and lore drops in Legends and The Rise and Fall that would not have hit nearly as hard, nor emotionally resonated with me had I not read Revelations first. That being said, now that I’m far more knowledgeable on the true history of the world of Elan, I’m very excited to reread Theft of Swords, and I’m eagerly awaiting The Cycle and After the Fall.
Esrahaddon is the culmination of something like 17 books and I’m so glad I read them (mostly) in publication order. There are so many moments, and backstory and lore drops in Legends and The Rise and Fall that would not have hit nearly as hard, nor emotionally resonated with me had I not read Revelations first. That being said, now that I’m far more knowledgeable on the true history of the world of Elan, I’m very excited to reread Theft of Swords, and I’m eagerly awaiting The Cycle and After the Fall.
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I think that this book was dragged down by the setup of this entire trilogy--that being that each installment followed a primary character at a different key point in the empire's history. The amount of ground to cover in Esrahaddon's story specifically based on what he indicated in the original series that his adventures entailed made this story far more heavily packed with content than some of the other installments, which was only further cluttered by the goblin subplot and by the entire detour with Ruby that seemed primarily intended to give more lore for a later series and explain the change from Trilos's earlier actions to his lack of involvement in Revelations.
While the book didn't necessarily feel rushed, it did feel like the actual sabotaging of the empire by Mawyndulë was left primarily to implication. There were just too many moments where something was set up and then the characters reacted to the pay off, rather than the reader getting to watch it all unfold. The subplot with Seret specifically also felt shockingly underdeveloped for something that seemed to be setup for an institution still surviving during Revelations. Ultimately, I wish this already thick book had been split into two installments to give all the ground Sullivan needed to cover a little more space.
That aside, it was still fun. It didn't feel rushed, even if it felt at times like things were glossed over, and while I was lukewarm on basically every character in their initial introduction, they developed to be quite charming over time. My only gripe with the overall events is one detail from the climax:I would have liked to see the cenzars and teshlors really fight, rather than have the cenzars quickly killed off-page while the teshlors be the main threat to the emperor--although there is something satisfying about the cenzars being the ones repeatedly treated as suspicious for being loyal to the land while the knights were loyal to the emperor, only for the teshlors to be the ones who execute the revolt.
While the book didn't necessarily feel rushed, it did feel like the actual sabotaging of the empire by Mawyndulë was left primarily to implication. There were just too many moments where something was set up and then the characters reacted to the pay off, rather than the reader getting to watch it all unfold. The subplot with Seret specifically also felt shockingly underdeveloped for something that seemed to be setup for an institution still surviving during Revelations. Ultimately, I wish this already thick book had been split into two installments to give all the ground Sullivan needed to cover a little more space.
That aside, it was still fun. It didn't feel rushed, even if it felt at times like things were glossed over, and while I was lukewarm on basically every character in their initial introduction, they developed to be quite charming over time. My only gripe with the overall events is one detail from the climax:
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sullivan again manages to create great characters you can really care about. The story is a bit hit and miss with especially the ending not making any sense at all.
Still I thoroughly enjoyed the Rise and Fall trilogy and can recommend it.
Still I thoroughly enjoyed the Rise and Fall trilogy and can recommend it.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Really enjoyed my (long) time with this book. It brings an end to a long and epic tale and I'm happy to have tagged along. So happy, in fact, that I'm starting a re-read of the Riyra Revelations that started it all those years ago.
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated