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A review by easolinas
Avempartha by Michael J. Sullivan
4.0
Royce and Hadrian saved a king and princess, freed an ancient wizard and exposed a terrible conspiracy to usurp a country. Frankly, that's more than can be expected of any pair of legendary thieves.
But they end up in the thick of things again in "Avempartha," where a seemingly simple mission pits them against an unkillable monster and the increasingly dark machinations of the Novron Church. It's not quite as epic in scale as Michael J. Sullivan's first book, but it adds more depth -- and more enemies -- to his fantasy world, as well as laying the groundwork for some truly nasty complications in the future.
Royce and Hadrian are approached by Thrace, a young girl from the village of Dahlgren, which is being ravaged by an unseen monster. Even though she can't pay them very much, they're interested in the problem because she was sent by a "Mr Haddon," aka the wizard Esrahaddon, whom they haven't seen since they freed him from his nine-hundred-year imprisonment. When the thieves arrive in Dahlgren, they find a broken community haunted by the deaths of loved ones, including Thrace's grief-stricken, very stubborn father.
Esrahaddon soon reveals that the monster is a Gilarabrywn, an unkillable magic creature left over from long-ago wars with the elves. The only way to destroy it is a magic sword INSIDE the tower. Which is on a cliff. Surrounded by a very deep river. With no way in.
But more complications arise when the Novron Church sends representatives to oversee a strange contest -- the person who successfully slays the Gilarabrywn will be considered the Heir of Novron. Of course, it's all a scheme to put a puppet emperor on the throne, under the control of the church. Royce and Hadrian are more concerned about getting the only thing that can slay the monster, which turns out to be a bit more complicated than they expected....
"Avempartha" is built on the foundation of "The Crown Conspiracy" -- while the assassination plot has been foiled, there are still shadowy people who want to manipulate whole countries. The Novron Church is conspiring to create a new empire under their control, the elves are preparing to invade (and nobody knows or cares about it), and old magics are wearing away and causing massive problems. And even though they aren't trying, Royce and Hadrian end up right in the thick of things AGAIN.
It's a sign of Sullivan's skill that he manages to create a story that feels both epic and intimate -- "Avempartha" is basically a story about two guys trying to kill a not-dragon, but it has all these plot threads that stretch across whole kingdoms. And he imbues it with a sense of history, as Esrahaddon laments that a land that once thrived on culture, technology and magic has fallen into stolid ignorance and primitivism. It gives the feeling of a once-great civilization that has decayed, and its history is mostly forgotten.
The story moves somewhat slowly, unwinding slowly as the final clash between the Gilarabrywn and the Riyria guys approaches, and more and more people turn up to cause trouble. Sullivan's prose is robust and well-detailed without being overpowering, and he manages to convey the ethereal majesty of the elves without being too stereotypical about it. And despite the seriousness of the situation, he weaves in some quirky humor (a dramatic heroic confrontation between a knight and the Gilarabrywn... ends with the knight getting anticlimactically flattened).
Problems? The villagers are rather nondescript as a whole, and none of them seem to have basic common sense like "to avoid monsters, everyone gather together." And Thrace is a bit twee and annoying compared to the smart, no-nonsense Arista.
Royce and Hadrian are much the same as they were before -- Hadrian is a swordsman with Leet Skillz and a massive soft spot, and Royce is a mysterious, cynical thief -- but Sullivan hints that they are a lot more than they appear to be. And Esrahaddon gets to take center stage as the wise, inscrutable wizard who has been robbed of most of his power due to the loss of his hands, as well as his ability to feed himself. He plucks at the heartstrings when he grieves for the beautiful civilization that he'll never see again, but it's also clear that he can be incredibly manipulative.
The epic story that began in "Crown Conspiracy" moves to a new arena in "Avempartha," laying the groundwork for more trouble, more political strife, and possibly an invasion or two. On to book three!
But they end up in the thick of things again in "Avempartha," where a seemingly simple mission pits them against an unkillable monster and the increasingly dark machinations of the Novron Church. It's not quite as epic in scale as Michael J. Sullivan's first book, but it adds more depth -- and more enemies -- to his fantasy world, as well as laying the groundwork for some truly nasty complications in the future.
Royce and Hadrian are approached by Thrace, a young girl from the village of Dahlgren, which is being ravaged by an unseen monster. Even though she can't pay them very much, they're interested in the problem because she was sent by a "Mr Haddon," aka the wizard Esrahaddon, whom they haven't seen since they freed him from his nine-hundred-year imprisonment. When the thieves arrive in Dahlgren, they find a broken community haunted by the deaths of loved ones, including Thrace's grief-stricken, very stubborn father.
Esrahaddon soon reveals that the monster is a Gilarabrywn, an unkillable magic creature left over from long-ago wars with the elves. The only way to destroy it is a magic sword INSIDE the tower. Which is on a cliff. Surrounded by a very deep river. With no way in.
But more complications arise when the Novron Church sends representatives to oversee a strange contest -- the person who successfully slays the Gilarabrywn will be considered the Heir of Novron. Of course, it's all a scheme to put a puppet emperor on the throne, under the control of the church. Royce and Hadrian are more concerned about getting the only thing that can slay the monster, which turns out to be a bit more complicated than they expected....
"Avempartha" is built on the foundation of "The Crown Conspiracy" -- while the assassination plot has been foiled, there are still shadowy people who want to manipulate whole countries. The Novron Church is conspiring to create a new empire under their control, the elves are preparing to invade (and nobody knows or cares about it), and old magics are wearing away and causing massive problems. And even though they aren't trying, Royce and Hadrian end up right in the thick of things AGAIN.
It's a sign of Sullivan's skill that he manages to create a story that feels both epic and intimate -- "Avempartha" is basically a story about two guys trying to kill a not-dragon, but it has all these plot threads that stretch across whole kingdoms. And he imbues it with a sense of history, as Esrahaddon laments that a land that once thrived on culture, technology and magic has fallen into stolid ignorance and primitivism. It gives the feeling of a once-great civilization that has decayed, and its history is mostly forgotten.
The story moves somewhat slowly, unwinding slowly as the final clash between the Gilarabrywn and the Riyria guys approaches, and more and more people turn up to cause trouble. Sullivan's prose is robust and well-detailed without being overpowering, and he manages to convey the ethereal majesty of the elves without being too stereotypical about it. And despite the seriousness of the situation, he weaves in some quirky humor (a dramatic heroic confrontation between a knight and the Gilarabrywn... ends with the knight getting anticlimactically flattened).
Problems? The villagers are rather nondescript as a whole, and none of them seem to have basic common sense like "to avoid monsters, everyone gather together." And Thrace is a bit twee and annoying compared to the smart, no-nonsense Arista.
Royce and Hadrian are much the same as they were before -- Hadrian is a swordsman with Leet Skillz and a massive soft spot, and Royce is a mysterious, cynical thief -- but Sullivan hints that they are a lot more than they appear to be. And Esrahaddon gets to take center stage as the wise, inscrutable wizard who has been robbed of most of his power due to the loss of his hands, as well as his ability to feed himself. He plucks at the heartstrings when he grieves for the beautiful civilization that he'll never see again, but it's also clear that he can be incredibly manipulative.
The epic story that began in "Crown Conspiracy" moves to a new arena in "Avempartha," laying the groundwork for more trouble, more political strife, and possibly an invasion or two. On to book three!