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iono's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Murder, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Genocide, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, and Deportation
Minor: Alcoholism, Incest, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Police brutality, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
ggcd1981's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
So Rise of empire, how the Riyria story continues? In the first part Royce, Hadrian and Arista set out in a journey to, among other things, investigate Hadrian’s past. They find out he was possibly the descendent of the guardian of the heir of Novron. They also help the people retake Royce’s hometown of Ratibor from the Empire. In the second part Arista is separated from the Riyria duo and decides to go on a suicide mission to Aquesta to infiltrate the empire, without backup, to find the real heir. Meanwhile Royce and Hadrian pretend to be sailors to discover Royce’s old enemy, Merrick Marius’ plan only to be tricked into doing something the man could not do himself. Let me start by saying Rise of Empire is not essentially a bad book, but it was disappointing for me as a sequel to Theft of Swords. Thus this review may be a bit ranty. Let’s begin with the characters. They were a highlight of Theft of Swords, mainly the two leads Hadrian and Royce and their strong bond. I loved the two of them. The first two books on the omnibus edition did a good job on sharing the spotlight between the two of them. Unfortunately, the second omnibus volume was not successful at that. Royce is steadily becoming the real main character and Hadrian is being relegated to his sidekick. It was sad to see especially since I loved their dynamic on Theft of swords and related to Hadrian a lot. Mr. Michael J. Sullivan also decided that Arista is now a main character and she should have more page time than Hadrian. That would be ok if she was a good female character, but as usual for female characters written by male authors, she is not. On Theft of Swords Arista was the naïve princess who was a damsel in distress in the 2 books that made up the Omnibus. I hated that but gave Sullivan a pass because the rest of the story and characters were really good. In Rise of Empire years have passed for the characters and I would expect the author would not dare to use AGAIN the most tired, old, annoying trope in history of fiction, the “Damsel in distress” trope. Sullivan, however, proved me wrong and showed that he was still not tired of Arista needing to be saved. Honestly, as a woman myself, I fucking hated what he did with the character, for example: No matter how many experiences Arista had, how much of the real world and battles she saw, she ALWAYS remained the naïve princess. If the author needed someone to make a stupid naive decision for him to move the plot along, Arista was always the one to do it, some of her choices left me questioning if she was not only dumb but mad also; Arista is a woman, so Mr. Sullivan gave her not one but 3 romantic interests…of course, what was I expecting? a female character who stood on her own, was smart, grew and developed with experience and didn’t need a romance plotline? Madness. But seriously, is Sullivan really going to try to push an Arista x Hadrian romance down my throat? For real? It is the cheesiest, most cliché, pointless plotline in the whole series. This was so disappointing, so disheartening. Hadrian as a character deserved better than being downgraded to a sidekick with the cliché romantic subplot. The female readers also deserved that Arista’s character had way better development then she did. The other characters were good enough. Thrace also known as Empress Modina had some interesting development. I am interested in the direction the character Amilia will take. She ascended from kitchen service to be the empress secretary, meaning she was the only one able to get through to Thrace, and is fiercely protective of the empress, so what path will she take? Right now these 2 are way more interesting than Arista. Wesley was a good, honest character that I was sad to see dying. Esrahaddon’s death however was the one that really surprised me. I thought he would have a bigger role in the series, I guess I was wrong. The character of Merrick Marius, enemy of Royce, has been built up to be the series villain but is still too soon to form an opinion on him. The atmosphere was good, especially because we had several different settings for the story, including a ship, which is a setting that I love. But my vibing with the atmosphere was hindered a bit because of my dislike of how the characters were being dealt with. The writing is still good and functional, but in this volume It did drag in some parts. Where the author’s writing really shines it’s in the establishing of Royce and Hadrian friendship dynamic. This installment was a bit more character focused than the first, in my opinion, but the plot is there, I mean, I do think the author knew where this was going and what he was doing. Nonetheless, I am very dissatisfied with the paths the characters’ plotlines are taking. I am still intrigued enough with the heir of Novron storyline though. Who is he really? What can he actually do? What will become of the empire after he is revealed? (no need to use “he or she” here. Sullivan has made it clear the role women play for the most part on his story, making stupid decisions to move the plot along and needing to be saved). These intriguing questions keep my interest to finish the series even if I am no longer excited about it. The logic of the story is overall explained, but there are some confusing elements to me. These are probably my fault though, I should be taking some notes on the history of the gods and the empire. As I did not, I often got a bit confused when the book referenced the history of its world. The magic system is also soft so it isn’t very clear what Mages can and cannot do, but is functional enough. The most illogical thing however was a line of dialogue from Hadrian. In a conversation he said he knew a lot of women, but he only respected two. What?! Sullivan want us to buy Hadrian as a character that is inherently a good person at heart…but he only respect two women? This is the author’s idea of a fundamentally good person?! A guy that doesn’t respect women in general?! I will do Hadrian, Mr. Sullivan and myself a favor and pretend that line does not exist, never did and never will. In the end it all comes down to enjoyment and although there was some to be had, I enjoyed this second omnibus considerably less than the first one. Right now I have very low expectations for the end of the series, so maybe this will work on its favor. I am only giving this book a 3.25 stars because I still love reading about Hadrian and Royce. I still love their friendship dynamics. Nevertheless, with Royce becoming more and more the main character and Hadrian becoming more a sidekick with a shitty romantic subplot my love and interest for them will probably fade, it’s sad but I will cross that bridge when it comes to it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Alcohol, and War
fromjuliereads's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I absolutely loved Theft of Swords. Easily a 5 star read. For me, parts of Rise of Empire just dragged a bit too much. Don't get me wrong - there is still political intrigue, adventure, amazing characters, and moments that totally have you on the edge of your seat.
Part way through, there are some chapters with Royce and Hadrian that just didn't have me as gripped and on edge as the various other parts of the book. I still enjoyed the chapters, but I wish there had been a little bit more to them?
I loved learning more about Riyria's past and getting a glimpse into their future (subtle hints). I liked getting more of Arista's story and OH MAN, the twists that her story constantly took! And I actually enjoyed the introductions of some new characters, or characters that were so minor and flat in Theft of Swords being explored a bit more in these two novels.
It was another fantastic volume from Sullivan, and I'm eager to read Heir of Novron in 2019 to see how the series finishes out!
Part way through, there are some chapters with Royce and Hadrian that just didn't have me as gripped and on edge as the various other parts of the book. I still enjoyed the chapters, but I wish there had been a little bit more to them?
I loved learning more about Riyria's past and getting a glimpse into their future (subtle hints). I liked getting more of Arista's story and OH MAN, the twists that her story constantly took! And I actually enjoyed the introductions of some new characters, or characters that were so minor and flat in Theft of Swords being explored a bit more in these two novels.
It was another fantastic volume from Sullivan, and I'm eager to read Heir of Novron in 2019 to see how the series finishes out!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Animal death and Kidnapping
The animal death and kidnapping happen off page, only mentioned