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roguette's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book series is everything. I have loved it so much!
webz's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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
5.0
It is hard to summarize my thoughts on the final book of a series I have overall loved. Not every book was 5 stars but to have 2 books out of a 6 book series be 5 stars and all the others but 1 be 4 stars is pretty high praise for me. I do not rate books 5 stars lightly.
I will definitely be recommending this series, I already have to a few people now. I love the larger cast of characters and the multiple povs. I love that not every character is completely upstanding (Nyphron, Tresa, Tesh) and those that are more morally “good” are still very real people with their own struggles.
A few further thoughts; something I love about this series is the fact that every cover depicts a specific scene that happens in the story. I loved the cover for Age of Legend specifically and also with Age of Myth. Honestly the cover of Age of Myth made me want to pick the book up all the more!
Favorite quotes and scenes:
Gifford to Roan after saving her from Iver:
“I love you.” he said. “I always have and always will.” As if the words were magic, Roan calmed. She wiped tears from her eyes and under her own power rose to a sitting position. Then she smiled at him. “You’re my hero.”
The scene where Brin forgives Tesh and truly let’s go of her unforgiveness was powerful. Something I love is if what I read in a book can be impactful to me somehow in real life and this scene did it for me. The message of it was so true. Bravo to Sullivan for coming up with and portraying this scene as he did. From there I loved that she named the pillar the Pillar of Lost Regret.
I let out an audible “yes” upon Brinmeeting Raithe in Alysin!
Page 149:
One by one, they hugged her. Raithe was the last. “You’ll do fine,” he whispered in her ear. “You’re the only one who doesn’t know that.” She squeezed him back. “Persephone loves you. You know that, right?” “Yes. She talks to me all the time.”
One thing I do like about this book is the real stakes and the real consequences of events. Specifically I am referring to Tressa, Giddord, Roan, and Tesh being left behind in the Abyss. I don’t want to read a depressing story but this book isn’t that. Yes this specific scene was a sad moment but again I like there being real consequence and not just everything always working out the way I or the characters in this story want it to.
The scene where Elan and Brin talk was stunning. I loved the description of the changing mushroom colors and just in general the overall description was awesome.
Page 211
Suri on Mawyndule’s choice of fire:
Fire had been a poor choice, it she already knew Mawyndule was an idiot.
This sentence was so satisfying to hear.
Page 227 made me feel like my ship hasn’t been sunk!
“Give Persephone a kiss for me,” Raithe said. “Tell her I understand why she made the choice she did, and I’m not angry. Let her know we can still be together, and I have the perfect place picked out. Tell her, if she still wants me, I’ll be waiting for her.”
Page 234
Roan reached out and put her hand to Iver’s cheek. “You see, I finally figured it out. I want to hate you for all the things you did, but that’s just me hanging on to pain. If I wish to be truly free, I have to let it go.” She nodded. “Iver, I—“ She took a breath. “I forgive you, Iver.” She leaned in and kissed him. “I truly and honestly do.” Gifford stared in wonder as Roan put her arms around the carver and held him close as they both cried. As they rocked, Roan’s light stopped flickering, quit wavering, and began to grow.
The scene where Roan forgives Iver is astounding and is yet another powerful message in this book.
The scene where Nyphron fought dragon Raithe was amazing in its beautiful description. That was really cool.
I love that Roan ended up being healed as Tesh noted.
This scene made me tear up:
Page 296
“You can let all that go,”. Roan told him. He looked at her with blurry eyes. “How?” “Because now you know.” “Know what?” he begged. She took his face in her hands, and felt as if the sun itself were smiling at him: “That you’re not a cripple. That you never were.” Like any truth, upon hearing it, Gifford felt stupid. But feeling stupid next to Roan wasn’t like being a cripple, and he felt the weight fall as he reached out and hugged his wife, and life filled their world. “I carried a boulder.” Roan kissed him. “You had the same weight, only in countless pebbles.”
Page 334
Aria to Gifford:
“You are not a cripple. You aren’t weak, helpless, feeble, or pathetic. You are my son, and a power to be reckoned with.”
Page 344
Suri:
“You’re right to be afraid of human Artists, Jerydd. We don’t live long, but we live well. We don’t have so much knowledge and wisdom, but we have passion, and that makes us strong. We’ll always be stronger.”
Page 364
Suri to Persephone:
“I discovered that age isn’t measured in years, but rather by the roads we travel. Steep paths build muscles, know-how, and empathy, an easy one, only indifference. You as much as anyone helped teach me that. Thank you.” The river might have been dry, but the dam within Persephone broke with those words, and she began to cry. “What’s wrong?” Suri asked.
“My daughter is all grown up.”
Mawyndule’s character was well written. That has stuck out to me through the entire series. He never became more likable, I just found that I grew to tolerate more and appreciated the inside look on what was going on in the Frey side of the world throughout the series. I didn’t feel bad for him at all with the final scene we see him in which is props to the author for not trying to redeem this character. Not every character needs to be redeemed.
Brin was my favorite character in this book. I have noticed that depending on the book my favorite character can change from book to book. I didn’t really care which character was my favorite from book to book, I enjoyed reading from all the characters different points of view throughout.
Page 419
I teared up at this scene:
Persephone:
“Malcolm!” she shouted and then coughed. “Watch yourself!” Justine snapped. Persephone held out her arms. Malcolm crossed the room in three long strides and embraced her. “It’s been so long,” Persephone said. “I thought I would never see you again. Have you visited with Nyphron?” “No,” he replied softly, sitting on the bed beside her. Judging everything to be satisfactory, Justine grabbed the empty water pitcher and left the room. “Have you seen Nolyn? He’ll be thrilled. And you must meet Bran, Roan’s son. The boy is growing like a salifan plant. He’s taller than I am now.” Again, he shook his head. “What about Moya, Tekchin, and Sephryn? Oh, you probably don’t know their daughter, do you?” “I haven’t seen anyone. I came here only to see you.”
All in all, I had a great time reading this series and it was exactly what I was craving and wanting! I really want to read Nolyn next but I will probably not be able to for a bit. I am looking forward to reading that next book though and I am very much looking forward to getting back to the world of Elan! And Michael Sullivan is officially my new favorite author. Also, I would like to mention that Age of Empyre is definitely my favorite book in this series. It was just an amazing conclusion which warranted my love for it.
I will definitely be recommending this series, I already have to a few people now. I love the larger cast of characters and the multiple povs. I love that not every character is completely upstanding (Nyphron, Tresa, Tesh) and those that are more morally “good” are still very real people with their own struggles.
A few further thoughts; something I love about this series is the fact that every cover depicts a specific scene that happens in the story. I loved the cover for Age of Legend specifically and also with Age of Myth. Honestly the cover of Age of Myth made me want to pick the book up all the more!
Favorite quotes and scenes:
Gifford to Roan after saving her from Iver:
“I love you.” he said. “I always have and always will.” As if the words were magic, Roan calmed. She wiped tears from her eyes and under her own power rose to a sitting position. Then she smiled at him. “You’re my hero.”
I let out an audible “yes” upon Brin
Page 149:
One by one, they hugged her. Raithe was the last. “You’ll do fine,” he whispered in her ear. “You’re the only one who doesn’t know that.” She squeezed him back. “Persephone loves you. You know that, right?” “Yes. She talks to me all the time.”
One thing I do like about this book is the real stakes and the real consequences of events. Specifically I am referring to
The scene where Elan and Brin talk was stunning. I loved the description of the changing mushroom colors and just in general the overall description was awesome.
Page 211
Suri on Mawyndule’s choice of fire:
Fire had been a poor choice, it she already knew Mawyndule was an idiot.
This sentence was so satisfying to hear.
Page 227 made me feel like my ship hasn’t been sunk!
“Give Persephone a kiss for me,” Raithe said. “Tell her I understand why she made the choice she did, and I’m not angry. Let her know we can still be together, and I have the perfect place picked out. Tell her, if she still wants me, I’ll be waiting for her.”
Page 234
Roan reached out and put her hand to Iver’s cheek. “You see, I finally figured it out. I want to hate you for all the things you did, but that’s just me hanging on to pain. If I wish to be truly free, I have to let it go.” She nodded. “Iver, I—“ She took a breath. “I forgive you, Iver.” She leaned in and kissed him. “I truly and honestly do.” Gifford stared in wonder as Roan put her arms around the carver and held him close as they both cried. As they rocked, Roan’s light stopped flickering, quit wavering, and began to grow.
The scene where Roan forgives Iver is astounding and is yet another powerful message in this book.
The scene where Nyphron fought dragon Raithe was amazing in its beautiful description. That was really cool.
I love that Roan ended up being healed as Tesh noted.
This scene made me tear up:
Page 296
“You can let all that go,”. Roan told him. He looked at her with blurry eyes. “How?” “Because now you know.” “Know what?” he begged. She took his face in her hands, and felt as if the sun itself were smiling at him: “That you’re not a cripple. That you never were.” Like any truth, upon hearing it, Gifford felt stupid. But feeling stupid next to Roan wasn’t like being a cripple, and he felt the weight fall as he reached out and hugged his wife, and life filled their world. “I carried a boulder.” Roan kissed him. “You had the same weight, only in countless pebbles.”
Page 334
Aria to Gifford:
“You are not a cripple. You aren’t weak, helpless, feeble, or pathetic. You are my son, and a power to be reckoned with.”
Page 344
Suri:
“You’re right to be afraid of human Artists, Jerydd. We don’t live long, but we live well. We don’t have so much knowledge and wisdom, but we have passion, and that makes us strong. We’ll always be stronger.”
Page 364
Suri to Persephone:
“I discovered that age isn’t measured in years, but rather by the roads we travel. Steep paths build muscles, know-how, and empathy, an easy one, only indifference. You as much as anyone helped teach me that. Thank you.” The river might have been dry, but the dam within Persephone broke with those words, and she began to cry. “What’s wrong?” Suri asked.
“My daughter is all grown up.”
Mawyndule’s character was well written. That has stuck out to me through the entire series. He never became more likable, I just found that I grew to tolerate more and appreciated the inside look on what was going on in the Frey side of the world throughout the series. I didn’t feel bad for him at all with the final scene we see him in which is props to the author for not trying to redeem this character. Not every character needs to be redeemed.
Brin was my favorite character in this book. I have noticed that depending on the book my favorite character can change from book to book. I didn’t really care which character was my favorite from book to book, I enjoyed reading from all the characters different points of view throughout.
Page 419
I teared up at this scene:
Persephone:
“Malcolm!” she shouted and then coughed. “Watch yourself!” Justine snapped. Persephone held out her arms. Malcolm crossed the room in three long strides and embraced her. “It’s been so long,” Persephone said. “I thought I would never see you again. Have you visited with Nyphron?” “No,” he replied softly, sitting on the bed beside her. Judging everything to be satisfactory, Justine grabbed the empty water pitcher and left the room. “Have you seen Nolyn? He’ll be thrilled. And you must meet Bran, Roan’s son. The boy is growing like a salifan plant. He’s taller than I am now.” Again, he shook his head. “What about Moya, Tekchin, and Sephryn? Oh, you probably don’t know their daughter, do you?” “I haven’t seen anyone. I came here only to see you.”
All in all, I had a great time reading this series and it was exactly what I was craving and wanting! I really want to read Nolyn next but I will probably not be able to for a bit. I am looking forward to reading that next book though and I am very much looking forward to getting back to the world of Elan! And Michael Sullivan is officially my new favorite author. Also, I would like to mention that Age of Empyre is definitely my favorite book in this series. It was just an amazing conclusion which warranted my love for it.
stellathereader's review against another edition
3.0
Sadly, I didn't love the conclusion to this series.
The good:
- I loved that every character got a chance to shine. Everyone got to go on their own personal journey to sort out all of their previous traumas. I love all of the female characters: Roan, Brin, Persephone, Suri and Moya. I even grew to enjoy Tressa. Whst a fantastic cast. I loved most of these heart-warming chapters, but it did get cheesy and repetitive by the end.
- The entire series's aim to show us the true story of Nyphron was so bittersweet. It is so sad to see the stories of these heroes fade and shaped into something else in Riyria.
The less good:
- The crew were separated for most of the book which made the story feel waaaay too slow. I really wanted more team-ups and cute moments with everyone together. But everyone was off doing their own side quests to help the main quest.
- The magic in this book got really convoluted. It is a lot not abstract than all of the previous books. Michael J Sullivan really saved all of the lore-dropping to the very last book, which made this book feel completely different from the rest of the series. I kept looking up names because someone is related to someone else who actually goes by 4 other names. A very odd choice to dump all of this in the last book.
- Persephone gets sidelined HARD. She hardly does anything in this book? Really unfair for her to be shelved like that.
The good:
- I loved that every character got a chance to shine. Everyone got to go on their own personal journey to sort out all of their previous traumas. I love all of the female characters: Roan, Brin, Persephone, Suri and Moya. I even grew to enjoy Tressa. Whst a fantastic cast. I loved most of these heart-warming chapters, but it did get cheesy and repetitive by the end.
- The entire series's aim to show us the true story of Nyphron was so bittersweet. It is so sad to see the stories of these heroes fade and shaped into something else in Riyria.
The less good:
- The crew were separated for most of the book which made the story feel waaaay too slow. I really wanted more team-ups and cute moments with everyone together. But everyone was off doing their own side quests to help the main quest.
- The magic in this book got really convoluted. It is a lot not abstract than all of the previous books. Michael J Sullivan really saved all of the lore-dropping to the very last book, which made this book feel completely different from the rest of the series. I kept looking up names because someone is related to someone else who actually goes by 4 other names. A very odd choice to dump all of this in the last book.
- Persephone gets sidelined HARD. She hardly does anything in this book? Really unfair for her to be shelved like that.
bonzaklibo's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
lyzus's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Great final to a series!!
Wrapped up a lot of loose ends, but also finished with the mystic of a great story to be continued- definitely want to pick up the rest of this authors work! And I really appreciate the happy, but not fully explained, endings for our favourite characters- confirmed happy endings but leaves us readers room to hope and dream the details <3
Similar to the last book, some emotional parts felt strangely hollow or not as impactful as I thought they should be… I’m still not sure why, perhaps I’m still hung up on Age of War which emotionally DESTROYED me 😂
Wrapped up a lot of loose ends, but also finished with the mystic of a great story to be continued- definitely want to pick up the rest of this authors work! And I really appreciate the happy, but not fully explained, endings for our favourite characters- confirmed happy endings but leaves us readers room to hope and dream the details <3
Similar to the last book, some emotional parts felt strangely hollow or not as impactful as I thought they should be… I’m still not sure why, perhaps I’m still hung up on Age of War which emotionally DESTROYED me 😂
pipgrace's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
jaarondavis's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-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
joosty's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
tsolron's review against another edition
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? Yes
4.5
behindpaperbacks's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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? Yes
5.0