Reviews

Age of Empyre, by Michael J. Sullivan

fantasyaddict's review

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

marie_thereadingotter's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense fast-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

4.0

 

   This book was tense as hell. I had an idea who was going to win the war based on synopsis' of the other books in this world, and the existence of the Nolyn book. But the fate of many characters was up in the air for me. Brin is the underdog of this series. Where she started compared to where she ended up was very unexpected. I really hope that her role isn't over yet, I just feel like it would be really underwhelming if things with her ended there.

  The main plot lines with the Fhrey and Suri were far less interesting than I preferred them being. The betrayal was expected, though I don't think that was supposed to be a surprise. I think I would have liked more nuance with some of the Fhrey characters. 

 

    I would have liked more of Suri in this book, she felt like she was supposed to be a main character as well. Also, thinking back on it the way she exits this series was underwhelming, she just leaves, and it felt like there were some questions unanswered.

  A lot of this book felt rushed, and lot feels unanswered. But maybe those questions are answered in the other series', and I'd feel different about this book if I read them in publication order. 

Either way, I 100% recommend this series to fantasy lovers. 

augureader's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad 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? No

4.0

A good conclusion to the series, even if it didn’t have the same impact that Age of War did for the first trilogy. There were many things that Sullivan revealed that made a bit of sense, and the way we came back from the last book (spoiler free zone here, folks) was good enough for me. My only issue is that it seemed to have a tiny bit of a pacing slowdown in the centre, which I didn’t find in any of the other books. Being one of the few fans who HAVEN’T read the Riyria books, I really look forward to them next. I already own the trilogy physically, so I’m excited to see where this series intersects with that one. And, honestly, I’ll keep reading whatever this author publishes… I’m officially a fan. 

I highly recommend this entire series. 

heatherrae's review against another edition

adventurous funny sad 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

4.0

reader89's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.0

jesshadlow's review

adventurous mysterious 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

4.5

spiritedstardust's review against another edition

4.0

So…this is how it ends? What happened to brin and tesh and tressa?
Persephone just ended up being nyphrons broodmare? Brin is now the prophesied golden child? And what of suri and minna? So many unanswered questions

ferrisscottr's review against another edition

3.0

Book 6 in the final book of the Legends of the First Empire.

I should start off by saying that Riyria was a great joy for me and consider them to be the finest fantasy novels of the past 25 years so...my hopes were sky high when I started this series.

Over the course of the series there were books that I rated four stars all the way down to a two star rating for Book 5. My problem with this series has to do with why I loved Riyria which was the characters. I fell in love with Royce and Hadrian and literally could not put those books down. Riyria wasn't great because Sullivan had the greatest prose or the greatest world building, he just happened to craft the best characters. But with Legends of the First Empire I kind of sort of like the characters but nothing that I would consider great.

This book had the standard Sullivan plotting and everything wrapped up perfectly but I just didn't care too much about the characters getting the perfect end because I just didn't care that much. There were even times in this book where I considered not finishing and just donating the whole series to the library.

Hoping he gets his mojo back with the next series.
This book and this series were so-so.

monk's review

adventurous medium-paced

3.75

katlac's review

adventurous emotional hopeful 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