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piamikaela's review
4.0
[4.5/5] after reading revelations, i was more than excited to read about hadrian and royce's origin story. i was also pleasantly surprised to find that we would also get gwen's, and thought that her perspective was a great addition. mixing in the perspectives of other characters and seeing familiar faces from an outside perspective, like what was done with rose, was also brilliant.
had someone not read revelations yet, however, "the crown tower" remains exciting and interesting. despite the somewhat slow start, sullivan creates a wonderful dynamic between hadrian and royce: polar opposites who somehow need to learn to get along, and maybe find themselves a partnership for the ages while they're at it.
had someone not read revelations yet, however, "the crown tower" remains exciting and interesting. despite the somewhat slow start, sullivan creates a wonderful dynamic between hadrian and royce: polar opposites who somehow need to learn to get along, and maybe find themselves a partnership for the ages while they're at it.
rwatkins's review
2.0
It was okay. Overall: 2/5 (9/25)
A paladin-assassin dynamic at the forefront with a heist plot in the background. This fantasy novel is mostly character-focused, with a simple plot, minimal world-building elements and minor thematic depth. If you like buddy cop movies or Scott Lynch's "The Lies of Locke Lamora" then this could be a good read for you. I will be putting this series on hold for now.
Spoilers Below.
Plot: 1/5
Hadrian and Royce are tasked with working together to steal a MacGuffin from a tower. When they fail to work together, they are pressed to return the MacGuffin to the tower together. Some brief training and action scenes thrown in. There's also Gwen, a brothel worker who starts her own brothel across the street from the man who forced her into sex work all because she is destined to meet Royce. The plot is not a strong aspect of this novel and I didn't like any of it.
Setting: 1/5
Vernes and Medford are the two main cities presented, and both are very similar, with nothing unique about them. Sheridan University and the Crown Tower don't get explored much.
It is unclear in this fantasy novel if magic exists in this world or not. A history professor (that the back jacket calls an old wizard) claims to use magic but then admits he doesn't. I guess Gwen can sort of read palms. Magic is minimal, if it exists at all.
A pet peeve I have is when places are named in a fantasy book with a map and those places are not on the map. Half the cities/kingdoms mentioned in this book are not on the map.
The world, locations, and magic system are all bland and boring. The worldbuilding was not a strong point and I didn't like it.
Characters: 2/5
This is a character-focused story, but all of the main characters are very much common fantasy tropes. Hadrian is your typical paladin/knight type, a soldier whose tired of killing but gets forced into using violence. Royce is the cynical bad-boy and lone-wolf assassin who doesn't trust anyone because of his rough upbringing. They are paired together as a buddy cop duo, except they're thieves. Hadrian doesn't get a character arc. Royce learns to tolerate Hadrian, but doesn't really grow as a person. Gwen becomes independent early in the book so I'm not sure she has much of an arc. She's a prostitute with a heart of gold. The characters were tropey and were okay.
Style: 3/5
Hadrian and Royce may be common tropes but their voices are distinct and as a Cynic-Idealist duo, there is no confusing them with each other.
Sullivan's writing style gets the job done. It was mostly easy to follow, with minor head-hopping in only a couple chapters. Language, especially in the professor's dialogues, had moments to shine.
The foreshadowing is pretty obvious, either through repetition in warnings or literal premonitions by Gwen that then come to play out exactly as predicted, taking any mystery away from the plot.
Overall, I liked Sullivan's writing style.
Themes: 2/5
Cynicism vs Idealism, Trust vs Betrayal and Fate are all introduced but not too heavy. Found Family is sort of forced onto Hadrian and Royce. The thematic messaging is there, especially in the dialogue of Arcadius. Themes weren't thought-provoking but were handled okay.
A paladin-assassin dynamic at the forefront with a heist plot in the background. This fantasy novel is mostly character-focused, with a simple plot, minimal world-building elements and minor thematic depth. If you like buddy cop movies or Scott Lynch's "The Lies of Locke Lamora" then this could be a good read for you. I will be putting this series on hold for now.
Spoilers Below.
Plot: 1/5
Hadrian and Royce are tasked with working together to steal a MacGuffin from a tower. When they fail to work together, they are pressed to return the MacGuffin to the tower together. Some brief training and action scenes thrown in. There's also Gwen, a brothel worker who starts her own brothel across the street from the man who forced her into sex work all because she is destined to meet Royce. The plot is not a strong aspect of this novel and I didn't like any of it.
Setting: 1/5
Vernes and Medford are the two main cities presented, and both are very similar, with nothing unique about them. Sheridan University and the Crown Tower don't get explored much.
It is unclear in this fantasy novel if magic exists in this world or not. A history professor (that the back jacket calls an old wizard) claims to use magic but then admits he doesn't. I guess Gwen can sort of read palms. Magic is minimal, if it exists at all.
A pet peeve I have is when places are named in a fantasy book with a map and those places are not on the map. Half the cities/kingdoms mentioned in this book are not on the map.
The world, locations, and magic system are all bland and boring. The worldbuilding was not a strong point and I didn't like it.
Characters: 2/5
This is a character-focused story, but all of the main characters are very much common fantasy tropes. Hadrian is your typical paladin/knight type, a soldier whose tired of killing but gets forced into using violence. Royce is the cynical bad-boy and lone-wolf assassin who doesn't trust anyone because of his rough upbringing. They are paired together as a buddy cop duo, except they're thieves. Hadrian doesn't get a character arc. Royce learns to tolerate Hadrian, but doesn't really grow as a person. Gwen becomes independent early in the book so I'm not sure she has much of an arc. She's a prostitute with a heart of gold. The characters were tropey and were okay.
Style: 3/5
Hadrian and Royce may be common tropes but their voices are distinct and as a Cynic-Idealist duo, there is no confusing them with each other.
Sullivan's writing style gets the job done. It was mostly easy to follow, with minor head-hopping in only a couple chapters. Language, especially in the professor's dialogues, had moments to shine.
The foreshadowing is pretty obvious, either through repetition in warnings or literal premonitions by Gwen that then come to play out exactly as predicted, taking any mystery away from the plot.
Overall, I liked Sullivan's writing style.
Themes: 2/5
Cynicism vs Idealism, Trust vs Betrayal and Fate are all introduced but not too heavy. Found Family is sort of forced onto Hadrian and Royce. The thematic messaging is there, especially in the dialogue of Arcadius. Themes weren't thought-provoking but were handled okay.
crosby88's review
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
delightfully_diehard's review
adventurous
funny
fast-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
5.0
Although the heist wasn't what I initially expected, I loved this story. So well written and the character interactions were as always, peak. This book also just continually afds to reasons to hate Arcadious. I swear that man does NOT get enough hate for the bastard that he is
pinxsol's review
4.0
I had a lot of hope for this book. The premise sounded amazing, and I was itching to read some high fantasy without any magic, full of assassins and warriors. And when a book centering the bromance of an assassin and a warrior fell into my hands? I was stoked.
Now I think I may have put my hopes on the wrong book. This one was just a constant tease. It dragged to a whopping 200 pages before the two got acquainted. And when there was finally some action happening, what do you know, it wasn't from the POV of the one fighting, but from the guy who either turned away, ran away or was too out of it to notice anything.
Infuriating. Absolutely infuriating. You give me a swordsman who uses three swords, and you never give him a chance to show off? Eichiro Oda would never.
Gwen's POV is another matter. I like her character, but her POV felt really, really redundant. Also, when she admits to being in love with one of the MCs despite never having met them? Nothing could've turned me off a character more.
I think perhaps I should've started with the first series of books instead. 3.5* for this one
Now I think I may have put my hopes on the wrong book. This one was just a constant tease. It dragged to a whopping 200 pages before the two got acquainted. And when there was finally some action happening, what do you know, it wasn't from the POV of the one fighting, but from the guy who either turned away, ran away or was too out of it to notice anything.
Infuriating. Absolutely infuriating. You give me a swordsman who uses three swords, and you never give him a chance to show off? Eichiro Oda would never.
Gwen's POV is another matter. I like her character, but her POV felt really, really redundant. Also, when she admits to being in love with one of the MCs despite never having met them? Nothing could've turned me off a character more.
I think perhaps I should've started with the first series of books instead. 3.5* for this one
brianne_k's review
5.0
yaassss!!!
I was in desperate need of a really good book. everything I've read lately has been.. meh. Then The Riyria Chronicles entered my life.
holy crap. I loved it! My thoughts are so scattered right now.. but Royce and Hadrian have both quickly become character that I love.
The story was fast-paced, there was good world building.. and the friendship between Royce and Hadrian is hilarious. I also really liked Arcadius. I can't wait to read book 2!
maybe I will write a more coherent review later..
I was in desperate need of a really good book. everything I've read lately has been.. meh. Then The Riyria Chronicles entered my life.
holy crap. I loved it! My thoughts are so scattered right now.. but Royce and Hadrian have both quickly become character that I love.
The story was fast-paced, there was good world building.. and the friendship between Royce and Hadrian is hilarious. I also really liked Arcadius. I can't wait to read book 2!
maybe I will write a more coherent review later..
vosteguin09's review
3.75
my original plan was to read in publication order… but realizing I didn’t want the present ending to happen so soon, I took a quick detour and started this one. and ZOOMED through it. Royce and Hadrien are as funny as ever and just as endearing. Coming from mid point of book six of revelations, seeing these characters in state that’s only been hinted at is amazing. Recognizing the hints, fully (or in some cases partially) understanding the what would otherwise be throwaway sentences , I couldn’t adore this book more than I do.
If someone wants a reading order, I highly suggest stopping before getting to book 5 of revelations and jumping over to this one. or you can do what I did and stop 200 pages from being done with revelations and hop over.
If someone wants a reading order, I highly suggest stopping before getting to book 5 of revelations and jumping over to this one. or you can do what I did and stop 200 pages from being done with revelations and hop over.
mir_mortal's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
songwind's review against another edition
4.0
An excellent prequel to the Riyria Revelations. This book fills in some interesting backstory for the two friends.
Two very different men become such close friends was never going to be easy. But putting Royce Melbourne, untrusting hitman, together with Hadrian Blackwater, former gladiator and aimless drifter together on a job could be murder.
Two very different men become such close friends was never going to be easy. But putting Royce Melbourne, untrusting hitman, together with Hadrian Blackwater, former gladiator and aimless drifter together on a job could be murder.