A review by leann_bolesch
Esrahaddon by Michael J. Sullivan

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? It's complicated

4.0

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.