A review by topdragon
The Rose and the Thorn by Michael J. Sullivan

4.0

This book is, of course, the second of the prequel novels and does a great job of filling in some gaps of several key characters that will have roles in the Ryria Revelations series. Lots of swashbuckling action surrounded by some nice character-driven plotting. I think one of this author’s great strengths is his sense of pacing. He always manages to get past necessary info dumps quickly (often disguising them in interesting ways so the reader doesn’t even notice) and let the rise and fall of the pace match whatever the reader seems to be craving at the moment. Emotional scenes mixed with highly-charged action sequences as well as poignant, thought-provoking passages results in keeping the pages turning and that feeling of “just one more chapter before I stop even though it’s way past my bedtime”.

Yet another very well done fantasy novel by Mr. Sullivan. I’ve now read all of the Riyria novels published so far and will add my voice to the chorus of those who hope for more to be written.