Review – The Heir of Novron (Riyria Revelations, Book 3) by Michael J. Sullivan (5/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Size: 960 pages
Publisher: Orbit
Release Date: January 31, 2012
ISBN: 978-0316187718
Stand Alone or Series: 3rd book in the Riyria Revelations Ominbus series
Source: Bought
Rating: 5/5 stars
I have had this book to read for a while. I really have enjoyed all of the previous books in this series. This book did an absolutely wonderful job tying up the series and I really enjoyed it.
I actually read book 5, Wintertide, first and then read Book 6, Percepliquis, a bit later. They are reviewed below separately.
Book 5: Wintertide
The New Empire plans to celebrate its victory over the Nationalists with a Wintertide celebration. The celebration will include Modina’s marriage and the execution of both Arista and Degan Gaunt (the suppose Heir of Novron).
A lot major events happen in this book. Basically the Empire is finally starting to stabilize but the actual Heir of Novron is still a mystery.
The biggest surprise in this book was Thrace/Modina finally starting to take some action towards the end of the book. With Modina silent most of the story the focus shifts to Lady Amilia, the poor kitchen girl who has been shoved into dangerous politics and forced to take on responsibilities she never imagined having. Amilia is a wonderful character and she carries the story well. She is tough and smart and has learned a lot, but she still makes some mistakes.
It was fun to see Hadrian forced into the role of a knight competing in a tournament. He was definitely out of his comfort zone here. We get to learn a lot more about why Hadrian is who he is and that story focuses a lot on Hadrian too.
Royce was in the story, but definitely wasn’t the focus. Basically the plot between him and Gwen is developed some and you see him shifting away from Riyria and more towards a normal life.
The plot is epic in porportions and while many questions are answered, there are still many questions to be answered in the final book Percepilquis. For example; Who is the Heir of Novron really? What is this mysterious horn that is supposed to stop a great darkness? What is this great darkness?
This was actually a surprisingly short book considering how long these books normally are.
Book 6: Percepliquis
The Elves are matching on the Kingdom of men and destroying everything in their wake. The only hope is for Arista, Hadrian, and Royce is to journey to the ancient city of Perceliquis and find the Horn there. The Horn is supposed to be the way to defeat the Elves once and for all.
This was a long, long, long book. However I enjoyed every minute of it. The book is split between Arista/Hadrian/Royce journeying to Percepliquis and Modina dealing with the Elven invasion.
I absolutely loved Arista and crew’s journey and adventure. There were so many wonderful discoveries and monster encounters. It made for a fun read. I love that Myron joined them on the journey, he adds a lot of wisdom and humor to the mix.
Royce is still reeling from the events in the Wintertide. As expected he is depressed and a bit hard to deal with.
Hadrian is trying to do his job protecting the Heir of Novron but is finding Degan Gaunt to be a hard man to deal with.
Arista grows a lot in this book and a lot of the book is about her. She really comes into her own and starts to realize her own power and test her limits. She struggles a bit with the strong willed men in her group, but ends up finding a pretty good balance.
Modina is amazing, her transformation to Empress is stunning (and sometimes a bit unbelievable). We rarely see glimpses of the young girl she was.
There are a number of twists and turns at the end. A couple of surprises (one of which I saw coming). Things are tied up in a way that is neat and makes the reader feel happy and fulfilled.
Overall this whole series has been absolutely wonderful. This series is right up there in my list of favorite fantasy series of all time. This is true fantasy and it is done well. There is adventure, intrigue, humor, and heartache. There are strong female and strong male characters. Everything is well balanced and it was just a joy to read. The books are long but they don’t feel long when you are reading them. This whole series is highly, highly recommended to fantasy lovers.
This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– 100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge
– 150+ Reading Challenge
– TBR Pile Reading Challenge
