The Riyria Revelations Review

After a bit of a hiatus, here is a review of The Riyria Revelations by Michael J. Sullivan. The Riyria Revelations were originally published as a six book fantasy series by Ridan Publishing (owned by Sullivan and his wife). The books were later picked up by Orbit publishing and released as Theft of Swords (November 2011), Rise of Empire (December 2011) and Heir of Novron (January 2012). Each volume contains two of the original novels.

The Riyria Revelations cover the story of Royce Melborne and Hadrian Blackwater, two thieves collectively known as the Riyria. We are first introduced to them as they ride toward their latest job, they are thieves for hire taking on different assignments, mostly for the nobility. Like most fantasy series, this one starts off small and later expands to epic world-shaking proportions as the story evolves, with the main characters involved – whether they like it or not.

Royce is a typical dexterous thief capable of stealing just about anything. Hadrian is the strong arm of the two and carries three swords, which he is very skilled at using when the need arises. I enjoyed the banter between the two characters, which had the feel of two people who spent a lot of time together in sticky situations. There is obviously a lot of history between the two that happened before the start of the first book and the reader learns more about some of that history along the way.

The world of the book has many of the staples of fantasy, elves – though they are treated as near slaves and outcasts, dwarves – also in servitude to humans and not allowed their own lands, humans and the Ba Ran Ghazel (goblins).  Elan is mainly a collection of human kingdoms inhabiting a land that previously was united as an Empire under Novron, the son of one of the gods. Factions are at work in the background trying to reform the Empire and this political maneuvering is part of the backdrop for the series (as the titles of the later books would indicate).

One of the drawbacks in the book would be that the banter feels a little too modern for the fantasy setting and may take you out of the story a little. There are also times where the development of some of the characters seems rushed. A magic user in the story thinks about how something might be done and then a few scenes later is doing it without many of the struggles you might expect. However, there are enough twists and turn and fun along the way to make these easy enough to overlook.

I purchased the series through iTunes, got to love iTunes gift cards, and at $9.99 each, I thought the price was well worth it for essentially two novels in each book.  It is also a major bonus that the story is already finished – no waiting for the next book here. I give The Riyria Revelations 3 Mick Happies. If you want to try it out, download a prequel short story, The Viscount and the Witch, for free from the author’s website and enjoy. Samples of the books are also available on Mr. Sullivan’s website here.