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writings_of_a_reader's review against another edition
5.0
Michael Sullivan has become one of my favorite fantasy authors. He has the ability to write in depth characters and stories that are also easy to read. I never feel like I have to unwind my brain or come up for air after reading his books. I know I'm probably weird, but that's just what a lot of epic fantasy does to me. I feel like I have to have a good bit of time to devote to those. But with Michael Sullivan's books I can just relax and enjoy without feeling like I've got to tackle some giant tome.
I first became acquainted with Michael Sullivan's work when I won a copy of Theft of Swords through a Goodreads giveaway. I've loved fantasy for a long time now and I wanted to explore some books by authors I hadn't read yet. I'm not a huge fan of grimdark fantasy so I can be very cautious about what fantasy books I add to my list, and I was skimming through a lot of that trying to find something I thought I would like. I had finished The Wheel of Time series, I had finished all of the available books in the Green Rider series, and I had read some Sanderson and Rothfuss. While looking over many different books I came across Theft of Swords and added it to my to-read list. I ended up loving that series and looking forward to reading whatever else Michael Sullivan would write. Age of Myth was the one that I was most eagerly awaiting, mainly because I wanted to see what type of fantasy the author would come up with next and I must say that I was not disappointed.
What does it mean if the gods can be killed?
That little tag line is what hooked me. It's what sparked my interest in this book from the beginning. Age of Myth is set in the same world as the Riyria books, but 3000 years in the past. We get to learn about the truth behind the myths. Who the real heroes were and how it all came about.
I can't think of anything negative to say about this book-well ok maybe one small, tiny thing. The feelings one character develops for another came about a little too soon, but it didn't bother me much. I think because it still felt very mature and not like the insta-love where they are suddenly madly in love and can't live without each other.
Really though, everything about this book is good. The cover is gorgeous. I love that the oak in the story was chosen to be the focus of the cover, and I just plain love when a cover artist actually chooses a scene from a book and makes it the cover, and actually does a wonderful job of depicting it.
Probably the very best thing about this book is the characters. If you are looking for nonstop action you will not find it in this book. There are some tense scenes, a couple of fights and even a short battle, but the characters very much make this book what it is. They were all so relatable and well developed. Each of the characters ended up stealing my heart, with of course, the exception of the few who weren't meant to. There is a great balance of strong men and women in this book and I liked that their strengths were varied. Some were good fighters; others were very clever and smart. They each had something different and meaningful to contribute to the story. I loved Suri and Minna the most. But Persephone, Raithe, and Malcolm were great too. I even really liked Nyphron .
This book ended nicely. There is the knowledge that more is to come, but the book itself is a complete story without any cliffhangers, which makes it a little easier to have to wait a whole year for the next book. I am really looking forward to it.
Review also posted at Writings of a Reader
I first became acquainted with Michael Sullivan's work when I won a copy of Theft of Swords through a Goodreads giveaway. I've loved fantasy for a long time now and I wanted to explore some books by authors I hadn't read yet. I'm not a huge fan of grimdark fantasy so I can be very cautious about what fantasy books I add to my list, and I was skimming through a lot of that trying to find something I thought I would like. I had finished The Wheel of Time series, I had finished all of the available books in the Green Rider series, and I had read some Sanderson and Rothfuss. While looking over many different books I came across Theft of Swords and added it to my to-read list. I ended up loving that series and looking forward to reading whatever else Michael Sullivan would write. Age of Myth was the one that I was most eagerly awaiting, mainly because I wanted to see what type of fantasy the author would come up with next and I must say that I was not disappointed.
What does it mean if the gods can be killed?
That little tag line is what hooked me. It's what sparked my interest in this book from the beginning. Age of Myth is set in the same world as the Riyria books, but 3000 years in the past. We get to learn about the truth behind the myths. Who the real heroes were and how it all came about.
I can't think of anything negative to say about this book-well ok maybe one small, tiny thing. The feelings one character develops for another came about a little too soon, but it didn't bother me much. I think because it still felt very mature and not like the insta-love where they are suddenly madly in love and can't live without each other.
Really though, everything about this book is good. The cover is gorgeous. I love that the oak in the story was chosen to be the focus of the cover, and I just plain love when a cover artist actually chooses a scene from a book and makes it the cover, and actually does a wonderful job of depicting it.
Probably the very best thing about this book is the characters. If you are looking for nonstop action you will not find it in this book. There are some tense scenes, a couple of fights and even a short battle, but the characters very much make this book what it is. They were all so relatable and well developed. Each of the characters ended up stealing my heart, with of course, the exception of the few who weren't meant to. There is a great balance of strong men and women in this book and I liked that their strengths were varied. Some were good fighters; others were very clever and smart. They each had something different and meaningful to contribute to the story. I loved Suri and Minna the most. But Persephone, Raithe, and Malcolm were great too. I even really liked Nyphron
Spoiler
and that part at the end with Nyphron and Malcolm was very interesting. That was a nice little twistThis book ended nicely. There is the knowledge that more is to come, but the book itself is a complete story without any cliffhangers, which makes it a little easier to have to wait a whole year for the next book. I am really looking forward to it.
Review also posted at Writings of a Reader
elenath's review against another edition
5.0
What an amazing book. throughout the final parts, I was stressed so badly that I couldn't keep on listening to the audiobook for fear of losing my favorite characters.
I was listening to the amazing full-cast audiobook from Graphic Audio. what an amazing book and what an amazing production. Both get a 10 from me.
I can't and won't shut up about how much I missed going back the these fantasy lands where I feel more like home than anywhere else...
Moving to the next book! wish me luck, people!!!
I was listening to the amazing full-cast audiobook from Graphic Audio. what an amazing book and what an amazing production. Both get a 10 from me.
I can't and won't shut up about how much I missed going back the these fantasy lands where I feel more like home than anywhere else...
Moving to the next book! wish me luck, people!!!
cornpoppy's review against another edition
4.0
داستان این مجموعه قبل از مجموعهی رایریاست، و خوندن از افرادی که در کتاب راییریا قرتهاست مردن خیلی جالب و هیجان انگیزه، اما نمیدونم چرا، رایریا جذابتر به نظرم؟ بخاطر حضور هیدرین و رویسه؟ یا اینکه داستان خیلی تمیزتری داشت؟؟؟
stacey_the_chapter_conundrum's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This was definitely a case of I was only really invested in one of the POVs. Thankfully book 2 was a large step up and gave me much needed context to appreciate the overall story and additional POVs much more! :)
sherwoodreads's review against another edition
This is the start to a new epic fantasy series, set in the far past of the world first introduced with the author's Riyria series. Sullivan is writing in the mode of Tolkien's descendants, which partly means magic, elves, humans, goblins, dragons, but there is also an underpinning of morality plus hints that there is life beyond the physical world that hearkens back to Tolkien's mythic paradigm. No grimdark, though violence and moments of horror there are aplenty, balanced with humor.
Sullivan is playing around with the writing of history, and how legends are made. The reader of his previous work will enjoy seeing the truth behind the marvelous historical events as retold in those books, but Sullivan is also playing around with what happens to the truth of events in the now, and why stories take on new life in the telling, the first example of which early on had me laughing out loud as the story of the God Killer is born.
This is a much rougher world than we met in the previous books. The Rhunes, or humans, are living a scratch existence roughly analogous to the northernmost tribes of the UK's ancestors. They regard the neighboring Frey as gods, believing that these long-lived, gorgeous people can't be killed. The Rhunes have been traditionally used by the Frey to fight their battles against other races or other inconvenient Rhunes, and in turn are allowed to continue to grub for meager existence.
The story proves very quickly that the Frey, their long lives notwithstanding, are human, and here is probably the one weakness that sometimes poked me out of the story: the Frey have all the immediate passions that we do, creating a paradigm that better befits lives that may make a hundred years max rather than two thousand or more. But this is an issue shared with a great many books that feature beings who supposedly live for millennia: I should think life at that length would look very different, very *not* human.
But that is a small quibble. There is so much to enjoy here--the fast pace, the great characters both male and female, and above all their complexity. Sullivan brings off some nifty twists because of that complexity, keeping the energy high and the pace fast.
I fell in love with fourteen year old Suri the mystic, her wolf Minna, and old Arion the Frey mage, and with Persephone, Malcolm, Gifford, Raithe, Sarah and Moya. Even Nephyron. And now I have to wait a whole year to find out what happens next, even though the entire series is already written? Argh, I say! Argh!
But I will add that Sullivan brings this volume to enough of a resolution to sustain the reader, while laying the groundwork for the arc to come.
Copy received from NetGalley
emleemay's review against another edition
2.0
This is why I no longer read much epic fantasy.
The genre is so... familiar. Perhaps its unfair to blame [b:Age of Myth|26863057|Age of Myth (The Legends of the First Empire, #1)|Michael J. Sullivan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1507307691s/26863057.jpg|24657657] for that. Perhaps the real culprit is the limitations of this genre (or the perceived limitations at least) because all epic fantasy series contain the same or similar elements, they blend into one, they all start to look the same after a while, and they all start to look like A Song of Ice and Fire.
Sullivan is a competent writer with a flowing style that doesn't suffer from the same density employed by many other fantasy writers. There is intricate world-building, developed characters and bloody battles - and yet, I don't know about you, but I've seen this all before. This world feels like a mash-up of several others, the characters remind me of other fantasy characters, and the action cannot make up for the lack of emotional stimulation.
It is too neat, too safe, too recycled. "What will happen?" is a thought that never crossed my mind. It seemed I already knew.
[b:Age of Myth|26863057|Age of Myth (The Legends of the First Empire, #1)|Michael J. Sullivan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1507307691s/26863057.jpg|24657657] opens with Raithe killing one of the Fhrey - a strong race of creatures deemed "godlike" and believed, until now, to be immortal. He earns himself the title of "God Killer", yet another addition to the Kingslayer, Kingkiller (etc.) trope. But, of course, this changes everything. Not only is Raithe wanted by the Fhrey, but he has also uncovered a dark truth - the Gods can be killed.
Gods, warriors, giants, seers, goblins, clans reminiscent of Westeros' houses, wolf companions reminiscent of the Stark direwolves - I can't pinpoint anything original or standout here. Granted, originality is hard to come by in the narrow confines of genre, but that is why authors need to step it up with a sparkling writing style, memorable characters, or just some charm and narrative charisma.
Unfortunately, [b:Age of Myth|26863057|Age of Myth (The Legends of the First Empire, #1)|Michael J. Sullivan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1507307691s/26863057.jpg|24657657] is simply forgettable in the vast sea of the fantasy genre.
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The genre is so... familiar. Perhaps its unfair to blame [b:Age of Myth|26863057|Age of Myth (The Legends of the First Empire, #1)|Michael J. Sullivan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1507307691s/26863057.jpg|24657657] for that. Perhaps the real culprit is the limitations of this genre (or the perceived limitations at least) because all epic fantasy series contain the same or similar elements, they blend into one, they all start to look the same after a while, and they all start to look like A Song of Ice and Fire.
Sullivan is a competent writer with a flowing style that doesn't suffer from the same density employed by many other fantasy writers. There is intricate world-building, developed characters and bloody battles - and yet, I don't know about you, but I've seen this all before. This world feels like a mash-up of several others, the characters remind me of other fantasy characters, and the action cannot make up for the lack of emotional stimulation.
It is too neat, too safe, too recycled. "What will happen?" is a thought that never crossed my mind. It seemed I already knew.
[b:Age of Myth|26863057|Age of Myth (The Legends of the First Empire, #1)|Michael J. Sullivan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1507307691s/26863057.jpg|24657657] opens with Raithe killing one of the Fhrey - a strong race of creatures deemed "godlike" and believed, until now, to be immortal. He earns himself the title of "God Killer", yet another addition to the Kingslayer, Kingkiller (etc.) trope. But, of course, this changes everything. Not only is Raithe wanted by the Fhrey, but he has also uncovered a dark truth - the Gods can be killed.
Gods, warriors, giants, seers, goblins, clans reminiscent of Westeros' houses, wolf companions reminiscent of the Stark direwolves - I can't pinpoint anything original or standout here. Granted, originality is hard to come by in the narrow confines of genre, but that is why authors need to step it up with a sparkling writing style, memorable characters, or just some charm and narrative charisma.
Unfortunately, [b:Age of Myth|26863057|Age of Myth (The Legends of the First Empire, #1)|Michael J. Sullivan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1507307691s/26863057.jpg|24657657] is simply forgettable in the vast sea of the fantasy genre.
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Youtube | Store
pastor_bgl's review against another edition
3.0
This book started off great! Dragged a bit in the middle and had a fairly predictable ending. And yet, I truly cared about these characters and can't wait to read the next in the series.
jjacobia's review against another edition
3.0
I am not a huge fantasy fan. I have enjoyed the authors other series immensely. He seemed to write those with less wierd names and I could follow the characters well. This book was okay. I might read the next one or I might not. The book felt more like true fantasy then his other books. Very clean read though and that is nice to see an author write a book without using foul language. I think that shows talent and true authorship.