nightsong0123's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
alanathehangry's review against another edition
4.0
For context, I first met Michael J Sullivan's brilliant mind with the Legends of the First Empire series. Which I loved loved loved. The Riyria Revelations haven't hit that mark for me yet, but...
I liked this book a lot more than the first two in the series. I thought Sullivan did a better job in making the characters more dynamic, more flawed, more quirky, and more believable.
I loved the plot in this book, what the main characters were up against. Amelia thrown into an impossible situation being the Empress' secretary, yet treating her with such kindness the Empress had never seen. Royce & Hadrian battling their own truths and saving the day as they tend to do. And Arista! I loved Arista's character development in this book. It was so incredibly rewarding. She turned from a helpless princess to a DIY badass freedom fighter.
Excited to see what the next book holds and what will truly happen with the heir...
I liked this book a lot more than the first two in the series. I thought Sullivan did a better job in making the characters more dynamic, more flawed, more quirky, and more believable.
I loved the plot in this book, what the main characters were up against. Amelia thrown into an impossible situation being the Empress' secretary, yet treating her with such kindness the Empress had never seen. Royce & Hadrian battling their own truths and saving the day as they tend to do. And Arista! I loved Arista's character development in this book. It was so incredibly rewarding. She turned from a helpless princess to a DIY badass freedom fighter.
Excited to see what the next book holds and what will truly happen with the heir...
iam_griff's review against another edition
5.0
What an amazing series! The story pace quickens & plot becomes more suspenseful & deepens.
storiesofnima's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
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
3.75
shafaqvohra's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
jarichan's review against another edition
4.0
Im Gegensatz zu manch anderen Reihen, wird diese hier immer besser. Anfangs hätte ich nie gedacht, wie komplex die Handlung werden wird. Bei Band eins dachte ich noch, dass ich es mit einer einfachen Lektüre zu tun habe, die einfach nur unterhalten will.
Natürlich will Sullivan unterhalten, aber mehr und mehr merke ich, dass sich hier viel mehr verbirgt als anfangs gedacht. Die Handlung reicht viel tiefer als blosse Abenteuer mit netten Figuren. Also eine sehr positive Entwicklung, meiner Meinung nach.
Mehr als noch zuvor bin ich nun gespannt, in welche Richtung die Reise geht und ob sich meine Vermutungen bestätigen oder nicht. So wie sich die gesamte Geschichte entwickelt, werden uns aber noch einige Wendungen erwarten.
Natürlich will Sullivan unterhalten, aber mehr und mehr merke ich, dass sich hier viel mehr verbirgt als anfangs gedacht. Die Handlung reicht viel tiefer als blosse Abenteuer mit netten Figuren. Also eine sehr positive Entwicklung, meiner Meinung nach.
Mehr als noch zuvor bin ich nun gespannt, in welche Richtung die Reise geht und ob sich meine Vermutungen bestätigen oder nicht. So wie sich die gesamte Geschichte entwickelt, werden uns aber noch einige Wendungen erwarten.
zackgraff's review against another edition
4.0
Goodness this series is a great time.
Really the only complaint I have about these books so far is the pacing is just a little fast for my taste; but that could certainly be seen as a positive in some respects. (Especially coming from other adult high fantasy and/or grimdark there are some twists and turns that feel a little abrupt, but the reverse side of that is that the plot continues to move quickly and there's no time to feel stuck in doldrums.)
But this is just more wonderful work Sullivan. Each of the characters have such vibrant life, there are no place-setting-emcees.
Really the only complaint I have about these books so far is the pacing is just a little fast for my taste; but that could certainly be seen as a positive in some respects. (Especially coming from other adult high fantasy and/or grimdark there are some twists and turns that feel a little abrupt, but the reverse side of that is that the plot continues to move quickly and there's no time to feel stuck in doldrums.)
But this is just more wonderful work Sullivan. Each of the characters have such vibrant life, there are no place-setting-emcees.
mlklein1's review against another edition
4.0
Another terrific adventure novel from Michael Sullivan! Though technically the third novel is a six nivel set, this novel, like the two that came before, absolutely stand up on its own.
A wonderful story, with intriguing new heroes and dastardly new villians, "Nyphron Rising" delivers on the promise firmly established in "The Crown Conspiracy" and "Avempartha."
More of this universe emerges - from grand battles to save kingdoms, to the hierarchy of local thief guilds - Sullivan tells his story well.
I enjoyed this thoroughly and anxiously look forward to Book 4.
A wonderful story, with intriguing new heroes and dastardly new villians, "Nyphron Rising" delivers on the promise firmly established in "The Crown Conspiracy" and "Avempartha."
More of this universe emerges - from grand battles to save kingdoms, to the hierarchy of local thief guilds - Sullivan tells his story well.
I enjoyed this thoroughly and anxiously look forward to Book 4.
izz_bizz_buzz's review against another edition
3.0
This is my first read through and I’ve been reading chronologically.
This book is just a 3 and is the weakest in the series.
While I wouldn’t say it’s a BAD book it really was a disappointing entry in an all around solid series. This one felt like the plot points were disjointed. This book needed to either be longer to feel like a complete story or needed to cut parts out.
Usually all the plots come together in the end and the book feels finished. The plot with the empress didn’t join up at all with Royce and Hadrian and the story in the book felt unfinished.
Spoilers ahead
This book needed to be either about Royce and Hadrian going around find out about the heir of Novron OR be about rebelling against the empire. The way it is now feel like a disservice to two great plots that would have been great in their own books.
In the beginning when Royce wanted him and Hadrian to have time off I was like YES DO THAT! I was thinking we were going to focus on the heir of Novron thing and how Hadrian was the guardian. We would get the back story stuff. The emotional beats of Hadrian needing direction and meaning in his life, and Royce admitting how much Hadrian actually matters to him and doesn’t want him to leave. We could also have a B plot of Marikk (?) chasing them down. Maybe Artista is doing the whole fighting the empire thing and sends a note to Riyria that gets intercepted or something idk.
When the book continued and it was about gaining Allies I was fine with it. Yeah this is important we can do this mystery stuff when things calm down a little. Maybe that will be the next book. But they kept having these little scenes that I guess were supposed to be about arista being out of her element? The scenes where she was bonding with Hadrian felt forced. She didn’t feel like the same character I grew to like in the last book. She felt weaker this time around. Also what was up with her falling for the red headed guy like right away just to kill him off?
The whole war thing felt so odd. Why tie Hadrian up so he would be a day late? It didn’t seem to matter in the end at all. Sending Royce off to get word to her brother cool fine. But nothing came of that.
And what was that ending? Oooo Arcadius (?) was pulling some strings about the heir of Novron. It’s annoying that ever thing we learn about the Heir is a misdirect. I would like to know SOMETHING.
If I hadn’t read this in chronological order this is where I would be stopping.
Again not a bad book just disappointing.
This book is just a 3 and is the weakest in the series.
While I wouldn’t say it’s a BAD book it really was a disappointing entry in an all around solid series. This one felt like the plot points were disjointed. This book needed to either be longer to feel like a complete story or needed to cut parts out.
Usually all the plots come together in the end and the book feels finished. The plot with the empress didn’t join up at all with Royce and Hadrian and the story in the book felt unfinished.
Spoilers ahead
This book needed to be either about Royce and Hadrian going around find out about the heir of Novron OR be about rebelling against the empire. The way it is now feel like a disservice to two great plots that would have been great in their own books.
In the beginning when Royce wanted him and Hadrian to have time off I was like YES DO THAT! I was thinking we were going to focus on the heir of Novron thing and how Hadrian was the guardian. We would get the back story stuff. The emotional beats of Hadrian needing direction and meaning in his life, and Royce admitting how much Hadrian actually matters to him and doesn’t want him to leave. We could also have a B plot of Marikk (?) chasing them down. Maybe Artista is doing the whole fighting the empire thing and sends a note to Riyria that gets intercepted or something idk.
When the book continued and it was about gaining Allies I was fine with it. Yeah this is important we can do this mystery stuff when things calm down a little. Maybe that will be the next book. But they kept having these little scenes that I guess were supposed to be about arista being out of her element? The scenes where she was bonding with Hadrian felt forced. She didn’t feel like the same character I grew to like in the last book. She felt weaker this time around. Also what was up with her falling for the red headed guy like right away just to kill him off?
The whole war thing felt so odd. Why tie Hadrian up so he would be a day late? It didn’t seem to matter in the end at all. Sending Royce off to get word to her brother cool fine. But nothing came of that.
And what was that ending? Oooo Arcadius (?) was pulling some strings about the heir of Novron. It’s annoying that ever thing we learn about the Heir is a misdirect. I would like to know SOMETHING.
If I hadn’t read this in chronological order this is where I would be stopping.
Again not a bad book just disappointing.