Age of Myth

Takes a long time to present a plot, there is waaaaaayyyyy to much character development. Something in the following lines:

‘And Raithe found out the man who killed his father. The sun was bright, and he remembered when he was a child of a sunny day like this. He went out to play with his friends, John and Anne. But not Joseph. Oh no, he did not like Joseph. They played until... [skip 3 pages for the plot to continue]'

My complaint is the same as Wheel of Time. The whole book in 3 pages would be an bellow average book in this case though. I tried to give this a chance because I like this style of story.

Other things that bothered me was the stereotyped villain and hero. The hero is faced with world annihilation, and he is the only one capable to save it. But he doesn't want to, because he doesn't believe in fate, don't like violence, and would rather go to a quiet place to start a family and teach his son better. Well, I hate to break it to him but, ‘a quit place' is still inside the world.

The villain is the typical ‘I'm more powerful then everybody else, so they should bend to my will. I will kill anyone who disagrees with me'.

Read 11:02/16:55 65%

There were a few slow bits, but overall it's exactly what I've come to expect fro, Sullivan - a wonderful, huge read that brings us more and more of the fantastic world he has created. I somewhat wish that I had waited for the release of the NEXT book before reading this one, though, because I just want more!

★★★½ out of 5 via spikegelato.com/2016/06/28/review-age-of-myth/

It was thought to be impossible for man to kill the god-like Fhrey. When one Fhrey is killed by a lesser Rhune, potential war between the two races begins to brew. Meanwhile, a Rhune township named Dahl Rhen struggles with leadership upheaval, political maneuvering, and a menacing bear that threatens to rip their limbs and lives to shreds.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

To be honest, this novel only caught my eye because of its wonderful cover image. I have not read Michael J. Sullivan's other Riyria novels, but this Riyria prequel and series starter seemed like a good place to begin. What's admirable about this novel is that it tells a tight, self-contained story while also leaving enough loose threads to carry over into the subsequent sequels. Age of Myth feels like a quest in The Witcher video game series in the style of The Hobbit. Although dealing with the politics of racial inequality and the end of the world, the tale is lighter in tone than most other comparable fantasy series that trend towards the grimdark.

Sullivan positions his characters on far reaching parts of the map before their interests, fates, and motivations become intertwined. While the characters are apart, the story feels disjointed and lacking direction, but once these characters are thrust together things begin to click into place. The characters that Sullivan has placed in this world feel a bit hollow and underdeveloped, with the exception being Suri, the mystic girl who seems able to speak to trees, spirits, and her trusty wolf Minna. Suri is a fascinating and peculiar character who lights up every page that she graces. Suri's presence and Sullivan's knack for humor are a saving grace for a novel that I was not totally taken with at the outset. Buoyed by a strong third act filled with twists and monumental confrontations, the Age of Myth tells a satisfying tale that I would be interested in revisiting in the future–either in its sequel, Age of Swords, or Sullivan's other Riyria novels.

Humans always thought that the Fhrey were immortal. They are gods after all. When one of the Fhrey is killed by a mortal man, it changes everything. A war between the gods and humans is imminent. Even though they aren't immortal, the Fhrey still possess magic. Do the humans stand a chance? This was a really good book. I had not read any books by this author before, and was pleasantly surprised. I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.

Humans have long worshipped the Fhrey, a race a people that are superior in every way. However, when one of them is killed by a human, word quickly spreads that the Fhrey may not be as invincible as they seem. In one of these communities, Persephone has just lost her son and her husband to a bear in their woods. When her path crosses with a young mystic and the god-killer, they must all work together to protect their communities from the Fhrey and from the human-killing bear.

I really, really enjoyed this book. I believe I'm reading Sullivan's books in a different order than most, but I decided to read this one first so I could understand all of the references in the later books. I went into this book knowing next to nothing about what to expect. I thought the strongest part of this book is the characters. The banter was all funny and personal, and they all created such touching relationships. The plot was also incredible. I didn't see any of the plot twists coming. Sullivan did a great job of not giving many hints and then just dropping a huge plot twist. I thought the last 25% of the book was so fast paced and wild and I couldn't stop listening.

All in all, I am very excited to continue with this series and Sullivan's other series. I would recommend this book to fantasy lovers everywhere.

TW: ableism, amputation, animal death, assault, attempted murder, blood, bones, cannibalism (mentioned), cheating, child abandonment, death, demons, famine, fire, gore, miscarriage, misogyny, slavery, starvation, violence

4.5 ⭐️

What a fun read!

This book featured some very interesting characters and an intricate and surprising plot.
I love Michael J. Sullivan's writing and sense of humor. It was so much fun to see how backwards our Riyria Revelations' characters had gotten the history (and I will advise to read this series after the Riyria Revelations).
Some of the themes were a little on the nose, which is why I took away half a star, but other than that I really enjoyed the book. Especially the 2 big twists at the end and the mystery with the door.

Can't wait to continue the series!

Executive Summary: As I've come to expect with Mr. Sullivan, this book was a lot of fun. I'm glad to know that the rest of the series is already written, because I don't want to wait for the next book.Audiobook: Anyone whose read my reviews or had a recommendation from me knows how much I like [a:Tim Gerard Reynolds 4132657 Tim Gerard Reynolds https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1370714999p2/4132657.jpg]. Mr. Sullivan knows how good he is too, and made it a point to get him on board for the audio book before even selling his book rights. He does not disappoint here, and I'll once again proclaim that audio is the best way to go for Mr. Sullivan's fantasy series.Full ReviewI'm always stingy with my five star ratings, but this was an easy choice. The start is a bit slow, but I was far from bored. There was a lot to setup with the start of a new series, even one in an already established world, but it was done quite well as usual.Mr. Sullivan's books have become my go to recommendation the last few years, because I rarely feel so good while/after reading a book. He seems to always strike the right balance between tension and fun. I know I can pick up his books without worry about constant bloodbaths, backstabbing and despicable characters. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy darker fantasy as well, but it's nice to read something on the lighter side.I've been looking forward to picking this series up since first learning about it a few years back. I love his Riyria books largely due to the characters he's created. What would a series set in the same world but 3000 years in the past hold in store?The answer should be unsurprising to fans of his work. Mr. Sullivan has once again created a cast of excellent characters who I can't help but love. Since I did the audio you'll have to forgive any misspellings on my part. Hands down my favorite of the bunch was Suri, whose bafflement of “the game” everyone plays of stating obvious things is only part of the reason she's so endearing.A close second is probably Persephone. She's smart and capable, and cares a great deal about her village and its inhabitants. It's also nice to get the perspective of at least one of the Fhrey with Arion. So unlike many fantasy books that seem to relegate women to minor or unimportant characters, all of my favorites here are women.Then there are Raithe and Malcolm, who make for a nearly as amusing pair as Royce and Hadrian. However not quite THAT good. And that doesn't get into all the excellent secondary and tertiary characters. Persephone's village is full of very interesting people who I look forward to seeing again in future novels.All and all this book does a great job of setting up the story and introducing us to an excellent characters without ever feeling boring or full of info-dumps. It's also fairly well self-contained despite being the start of what looks to be a six book series. Things come to a good stopping place, while leaving your eager for what will come next. I for one can't wait!

Okay, this is a difficult one. I would say, I enjoyed about 2/3 of the book a lot. But then, around the middle, there was this chunk that just bore me so much it's not even funny.

Fhrey are basically like elves. They live a long life, they have a very developed society, their skills are superhuman and some of them can even do magic that makes them a league of their own.
Humans obviously see them gods, unbeatable creatures they need to fear. Until one day, some accidental things lead to Raithe, a normal human tribesman killing one of them and starting people out on realising that while Fhrey are tough, they are perfectly killable.
As so much fantasy now, this one also has multiple viewpoints; Raithe, of course, but also Penelope, the widow of a human tribe leader trying to keep her people alive, Suri, a wild little girl who is a mystic and also Arion, an esteemed Fhrey magic user and teacher.

What I liked about this is how it dealt with the differences between humans and supernatural creatures. How the simple fact of a different lifespan made their understanding of the world so different. The misconceptions that came from that. It makes sense; a human can't understand a race with millenia-old members.
It was also fun to see how random occurrences that turned out fortunate can transform into legends either through deliberate exaggerations or... well, just because things like that happen. Or intentionally?

One of my big issues that ruined Riyria to me was the princess character. She was such an annoying piece of shit, I couldn't handle one more chapter of her whining for something, getting it, then whining more because it wasn't as easy and fun as she thought. Many people told me she was “just depressed”, like half of us aren't right now and like that excused annoyingly written characters.
In this one, the exact opposite happened. I found a character I disliked immensely, namely Arion, but it was because she was so... I don't know? Clinical? Detail-oriented? Basically the woman was walking exposition. Her chapters were so dang boring until she meets up with the rest. And don't get me wrong, there were interesting ideas with the Fhrey, but if I have to read one more line about bullshit about architecture and such, I will cry.
It added nothing to the story that we know how much Fhrey obsess about architecture. Adding all the details about them could have been done much more gradually, without overloading us on about 5 different mysteries and political conflicts and the magical school and the freaking class conflicts, the mysterious door hiding something, etc. Too much, too dry.
It didn't help that these chapters ran parallel to ones where Penelope and the other villagers are sitting around, basically kissing each other's ass. Yes, yes, Moya is soooo beautiful and braaaave.

There are a bunch of interesting storylines in this. Malcolm. The mole people. Suri being Suri. I just really hope we are going to work on those more, instead of the already forming awkward love story or Arion being a bore.
I don't regret reading this, it's already a huge improvement compared to Riyria to me, but also... I'm not the biggest fan of the things the author picks for his focus.

I can't say that I loved it as much as the Riyria Revelations series. The biggest difference was that it took me so much time to get connected to the characters in this one. Maybe it's the fact that the other series started with just 2 main characters and expanded from there. I felt like there was a bit too much focus on too many characters from the start and it took a while for me to care about all of them.
But the worldbuilding and plot are definitely an upgrade on Revelations IMO. I really love the way his endings come together. 
Sullivan has become such a comfort author for me. I might not give his books 5 stars, but the enjoyment and comfort factor I get from his books really works for me.

Excellent start to an epic story

Michael Sullivan is an amazing story teller. The narrative is tight and moving without sacrificing a rich description. I love the concept that history is not an accurate reflection of the events that happened. The only downside is now I have to wait for the next book to be out!

This may have been a case of mismanaged expectations. I fully expected to be in love with it and having this be a new favorite series, as I really love anything Riyria and I like Michael J. Sullivan's writing, but for some reason this just didn't do it for me. I kept waiting for the moment I'd be so engrossed in it I'd barely realize I was almost at the end, but instead this just took ages for me to finish because I was so bored.

I may have just not been in the mood for this at this particular time or something like that, and I might give the second book a shot if it improves just like Riyria did. Talking about Riyria though, I wasn't in love with that from the beginning, but I at least was in love with the characters, and the ones in this just never clicked for me.

Entertaining and competently written. Hugely formulaic, built on tons of familiar tropes, beginning to end, but well-enough put together. I might listen to more. Early on, the freed slave gives this small out-of-nowhere Ayn Rand rant about the value of struggling to survive that almost made me put down the book. But in the end I didn't get a ton of that—in fact I got some stuff that was at times quite contrary to it—so I'm happy to have finished it. I might read the next one.

Sullivan is back and its with the good stuff. Legends of the first empire initially reminds you of our two thieves but soon introduces plenty of new and interesting characters. The broad background has been set up but its the smaller story within the larger plot that captures the readers interest. Cant wait for the next one.

This was awesome! The world building was intricate, the characters are complex, and while there are a few instances where I can see GoT influences in it, it was still its own story. Raithe, Seph, Suri, and Malcom have captured my attention.

I am totally excited for the next book, but totally annoyed that it wont be out for another year. On the plus side, not only is this author already DONE with this series, props yo, but he doesn't rate his own books on GR, which is just a pet peeve of mine, AND I have seen him respond courteously and respectfully to negative reviews. Again, props, its hard to not to take criticism personally.