REVIEW | Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan

Royce Melborn, a skilled thief, and his mercenary partner, Hadrian Blackwater, make a profitable living carrying out dangerous assignments for conspiring nobles--until they are hired to pilfer a famed sword. What appears to be just a simple job finds them framed for the murder of the king and trapped in a conspiracy that uncovers a plot far greater than the mere overthrow of a tiny kingdom.

Can a self-serving thief and an idealistic swordsman survive long enough to unravel the first part of an ancient mystery that has toppled kings and destroyed empires in order to keep a secret too terrible for the world to know?

Michael J. Sullivan's The Riyria Revelations has quite a storied past. It all began with The Crown Conspiracy, which was published through a very small house and then books 2 through 5 were self published by the author and his wife after the original publisher had financial problems. The series quickly found an audience online and became kindle best-sellers, which lead the 6 book series to be sold to Orbit to be released as 3 omnibus editions.

I have been hearing about this series for about nearly two years and they garnered quite nice reviews from many of my blogger compatriots, but I still went into the first Orbit omnibus Theft of Swords a bit trepidatiously. But venture forth I did as I'm a sucker for omnibuses, after all. Filled with mystery, a possibly mad ancient wizard, and empires teetering on destruction Theft of Swords will captivate you with an effortless style.

Theft of Swords contains book 1 The Crown Conspiracy and book 2 Avempartha. I think it is the second title that at first threw me off when I heard about the series as I couldn't wrap my head around it, but have since learned that it refers to one of the places visited in the novel as is the case with another book in the series.

The Crown Conspiracy starts things on a strong note and is a classic example of Sword & Sorcery. The focus is clearly on the thieves as well as action and mystery instead of magic, but there is plenty more entered into the formula such as politics and the deep history of the land that is covered well enough to ground you in this world. Royce and Hadrian aren't two knuckle head sword jockeys though. They are an elite duo who try to use their brains before their brawn, but aren't always too particular who they kill as they are hired by both sides to pull thefts and assassinations or whatever job their employers are willing to shell the gold out for. The Crown Conspiracy's greatest attribute is that it doesn't take itself too seriously. The prose is so easy you'll forget you're reading for long periods and come away having felt you just watched an fun packed movie in your mind. What stays with you is the story, the characters, and the sense of having just made new friends.

The point of view switches at times from the thieves Royce and Hadrian to Arista, a princess of the main kingdom the story is set in. She provides a nice balance to the aloofness of Royce and Hadrian while contributing much to the conspiracy of the story. Royce and Hadrian are two of the most likeable characters going in Fantasy. Their subtle and not so subtle interactions work so well and let you in on all of their little jokes. The story moves across the kingdom after the pair is falsely accused of a high crime and escape only to land into even more trouble. Long lost secrets are uncovered and plots are averted only for greater danger to occur. All in all, The Crown Conspiracy is a very smooth ride and one that I'll think fondly of for quite some time.

Avempartha the second book on the other hand while still quite entertaining is a bit shakier especially in terms of pacing. As with the first book the perspectives includes Arista, but this time she is more of a passenger than protagonist and I found her sections just completely jarring and slow compared to the intrigue of Royce and Hadrian. Stakes are definitely getting great as larger powers are making moves in the land. At first the trope of finding a sword as with the first volume felt a bit done, but Sullivan miraculously makes this aspect all the more endearing the second go around. Royce in attempting to break into an ancient Elf stronghold, which brings a whole aspect little explored in TCC.. Avempartha is building to something much bigger as this series progresses. The briefly seen wizard from the TCC is a very beguiling character. In some small ways he reminded me of a more laid-back Bayaz. Is he the destroyer of kingdoms or the savior? That's still not clear, but Sullivan has left me enough crumbs from the loaf to want more.

Theft of Swords is definitely lighter fair. There isn't any sex to speak of and for a story with plenty of death it doesn't come off as overly bloody or graphic Sullivan sure knows how to spin a yarn that connects you to the characters even as he teases out . Theft of Swords is just good old fashion fun with endearing characters. Even when you can tell where the story is headed it is still just as fun finding out how they got there. I give Theft of Swords 8 out of 10 hats. Sullivan has made a Riyria fan out of me and I'll definitely be reading the next two omnibuses Rise of Empire(December release) and Heir of Novron(January release) that are coming out in quick succession. The books would certainly be appropriate for a YA crowd and serve as quite a good introduction to what good traditional Fantasy can be.

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GUEST POST | Michael J. Sullivan on Writing a Series of Intertwining Books Rather than Sequels

Michael J. Sullivan on
Writing a Series of Intertwining Books Rather than Sequels

I want to thank Michael for allowing me the opportunity to guest post. I’ve been a fan of his site for a long time so it’s really quite a thrill to be here. For those that don’t know me, I wrote The Riyria Revelations, a six-book traditional epic fantasy series that is just now being released by Orbit as a trilogy (2 books per volume). For a writer to maximize output, conventional wisdom would suggest that you should write a book, and if it takes off, then write a sequel…then rinse and repeat for as long as people are willing to buy them. This makes a fair amount of sense, especially since it’s difficult to determine what books will sell and which won’t. Well for good or ill I’ve never been one to follow “conventional wisdom.”

It may seem strange, as the two have little resemblance to one another, but one of the biggest inspirations for The Riyria Revelations was Babylon 5, a science fiction television series that ran in the mid 1990’s. The creator, J. Michael Straczynski, planned out a five-year story arc. My favorite episodes were the ones that peeled back the veil just a bit…when I got a glimpse of something larger lurking just out of sight. While I loved the characters, and enjoyed each episode on its own merits, it was the promise of a defined plan that really kept me riveted.

My story was constructed in much the same way—as a series from day one. I had designed it to be six-books, each with their own conflict and resolution, but existing within the context of a much broader story arc. The idea of interweaving on-going threads throughout the entire series was really the thing that interested me the most. I love being able to drop hints or clues to mysteries that build over time and knowing with certainty that everything will come together when all is said and done.

Not to offend those that loved the series Lost but for me it lived up to its namesake as I felt lost the longer it went on. Originally it had looked like it was following the blue print to some grand plan, and again I enjoyed trying to put the pieces together. From my perspective it went off the rails along the way. Key elements seemed to be completely forgotten and the series pursued various tangents that seemed lacking in continuity to what had come previously. I never followed the behind the scenes story about the series, so I have no idea what went on. It could be that the original writers quit (or where fired), or that they only had material for a certain number of episodes and then started “winging it,” but whatever the reason the seeming lack of direction made me lose interest and I quit watching.

The contrast between Babylon 5 and Lost pretty much crystallizes for me the difference between sequels and a series, and I’m a huge fan of the later. Of course writing a series is A LOT of work and comes with a pretty high risk factor. Straczynski built in alternate story lines that would trigger if an actor left the series abruptly. For me, it could mean spending years on something that might never see the light of day. Or worse yet, if by some miracle I could find a publisher, I would have to live in fear that the series would underperform and be prematurely cancelled—the complete vision never fully realized. But I had an ace up my sleeve…I had no intention of publishing The Riyria Revelations.

You see, after more than a decade of trying, I had given up on my dream of becoming an author. I had written thirteen novels, and when I got nowhere with them I decided to stop my exercise in futility and quit. When I started writing again (a decade later), I had decided to do so just for myself, my daughter, and my wife. I planned to show Riyria to just a few close friends. I knew the whole story would be told because I was in complete control, and as for the books being “out there,” well I already knew that wasn’t a possibility. Approaching the series from this perspective was actually quite liberating.

All told I spent four years writing (and another three editing) the 685,000 words that became The Riyria Revelations. Eventually my wife decided to try to climb the publishing mountain on the series’ behalf. I held little hope that she would succeed, but if it made her happy to try, who was I to stand in the way. By the time she started I was well into the fourth novel, and when it became apparent she wasn’t going to give up, I had to step up my game to ensure that I finished the last book before the first one hit the market. I succeeded, although just barely. I finished Percepliquis (Book #6) in August 2008 just two months before the October publication of The Crown Conspiracy by a small press, Aspirations Media Incorporated.

My anxiety about finishing stemmed from the fact that sometimes I went back and added or removed something from early books when I was writing later ones. While many of the individual episodes tell fairly simple tales, the overarching plotline is actually quite complex. Even though I was working from a grand plan, the writing process sometimes opens up new opportunities that are even better than the original concept. I was able to take full advantage these serendipitous discoveries because I could make tweaks here or there.

Having written Riyria the way I did, I find that I’m spoiled. I have a few other projects I’m working on and each one tends to be in the same multi-story vein. I can’t imagine putting them out one at a time as they are written, but now that I do have stuff “out there” can I really disappear for the long stretches required to write the whole thing up front? I don’t know. I’m still trying to determine that. But if I can, then the books can come out in quick succession once they do start showing up. In addition, people can start the series with the knowledge that there is a definite endpoint. And if the series is dropped…well I already know how to successfully self-publish.

So there you have it, my take on series verses sequels. For some it might not matter which way the books are created, but for me it just brings a whole additional dimension to the story telling that I would hate to give up. To me, books written as a series are more participatory. I really like the reader being able to speculate where the story is going and being just one step ahead of them along the way.

I hope you’ll give The Riyria Revelations a try. Having a well planned story arc allowed me to take the books in some pretty unexpected places, and things are not always what they appear to be. In many ways the jury is still out on whether I accomplished what I set out for…it won’t be until January when Heir of Novron and Percepliquis are released that people will be able to judge the work in its entirety. By that time it will have been twenty-one years since I first started thinking about the story and eight years since I started writing. That’s a long time to wait and I’m dying for feedback. So please drop me a line and let me know what you think. My email is in michael dot sullivan dot dc at gmail.com. I’d love to hear what you think. And I’d like to once again thank the other Michael for the opportunity to give a little behind the scenes look into why I wrote as I did. I had a blast both in writing the series and this post.

*******

Michael J. Sullivan has written for twenty years and had completed thirteen full-length novels before starting on his critically acclaimed Riyria Revelations. Conceived as a single tale split among six self-contained books, the entire series was written before the first one was released. The series was designed like a television series where a single story arc would span a season while each week an individual episode would be revealed. Michael has since sold this series to Orbit books who will be re-releasing the six-volumes as 3 2-book Omnibus editions starting with Theft of Swords in November.

Michael recently released a free short story, prequel to the Riyria Revelations, and is at work on a modern day fantasy, as well as a literary fiction piece.

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The Riyria Revelations series was originally self-published and received many accolades online after a grassroots effort on the part of Michael J. Sullivan and his wife. After the books took off Sullivan decided to try the traditional route again and got major interest from Orbit Books who are releasing the six book series as 3 omnibuses including the never before published sixth volume. The first omnibus Theft of Swords will be out in November with the other two volumes following a month separately.

Royce Melborn, a skilled thief, and his mercenary partner, Hadrian Blackwater, make a profitable living carrying out dangerous assignments for conspiring nobles – until they are hired to steal a famed sword from the palace of the king and find themselves caught up in a conspiracy to overthrow the empire. Sentenced to death, they have only one way out, to get involved in the plots of the nobles and save the kingdom from itself.


Can one thief and his master swordsman of a friend keep their heads above water long enough to survive? Much less solve the mystery that threatens to topple the crown itself?


…and so begins this epic tale of treachery and adventure, sword fighting and magic, myth and legend.

For the series Orbit has created a very commercial yet appeal design. The clocks don't bother me at all on these and I especially like the icons above the author's name, which is a nice nod to the GRRM style while not being too overbearing. It is also interesting to see these after the working versions that Yeti showed off during his recent interview with Sullivan, which gave a more action oriented feel while these give more of a Epic feel. At least to me.  I already picked up the first volume at BEA so expect to hear more about these in the coming months and feast your eyes on the rest of the series Rise of Empire and Heir of Novron.

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