Nyphron Rising

3.0 out of 5 stars – see this review and others at The Speculative Shelf.

In Nyphron Rising, Royce and Hadrian travel south with Princess Arista to rally Nationalist sympathizers to their cause, as the Nyphron Church attempts to use their clout and sham “Heir of Novron” to conquer Elan. After two stellar opening books, this was a bit of a letdown. As the focus shifts to military maneuvering and away from caper-like adventures, I find myself less invested in the proceedings.

Royce and Hadrian remain wonderful leads, but these stories live and die with who else is along for the ride. I loved Myron the monk in the first book and Eshrahaddon the wizard in the second, but there is no standout side character to be found in this story. Princess Arista has risen to supporting role and has a nice arc, but it seems like the best is yet to come for her. These are all minor quibbles for an overall story that still feels fresh and fun, and will hopefully have major payoffs in the back half of the series.

The plot continues to rush ahead with many sub plots being added on the fly. A new antagonist is added and there is much to like about him. The relationship between the two thieves has some new layers which create a better picture of their past. Some of their pasts are still keep murky and there is still a lot to discover in the coming books. All in all, I hope this is one of those books in a series which the author could have done without but had enough written material to publish. Lets look now to the future.