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Theft of Swords (The Riyria Revelations, #1-2)

Michael J. Sullivan

Start date: January 5, 2024

Finish date: January 19, 2024

Discussion: Archive [Retired Buddy Reads]

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What Members Thought

Mar 25, 2017 Mary ~Ravager of Tomes~ rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2-star, year-2017

Actual Rating: 2.5 Stars

So Theft of Swords is actually a bind up of two novels, The Crown Conspiracy and Avempartha. It follows the adventures of swords for hire, Royce Melborn and Hadrian Blackwater.

My main struggle with this book is that neither of the stories really delved deep enough for me to invest. Every so often a scene would catch and hold my attention, but it was a bit of a roller coaster on my end.

I feel like I don't know Royce or Hadrian hardly at all. Aside from some good comedic mo ...more

85 likes · Like · see review

Jul 31, 2014 Chris Haught rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2014-read-owned, 2014-sffbc-challenge, audiobook

Re-reading this so I can continue and finish up the Riyria Revelations series. Listening to the audio this time around.

Excellent reading to an already excellent book. Tim Gerard Reynolds really makes the characters come alive, and his narration is spot on. Even though I've read this book a couple of times already, I found myself eagerly looking forward to picking up the earbuds and listening in on Hadrian and Royce.

Here are my original reviews, from 2009:

The Crown Conspiracy: https://www.goodre ...more

20 likes · Like · see review

Jul 16, 2017 Olivia rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

I love these books mostly because of the bromance. Michael J. Sullivan portrays an amazing friendship between Royce and Hadrian. The banter is funny, the tone is light and as a reader I immediately wanted to spend more time with these people.

The writing is nothing special, but if you're in the mood for something light, easy and far less complex than the usual epic fantasy, this is for you. The perfect book after a long day and a great fantasy romp. ...more

17 likes · Like · see review

May 31, 2020 Jason Koivu rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, adventure, fantasy

Well, that was fun! Sullivan uses some tried-and-true epic fantasy tropes, but manages to knock them askew in ways that keep the reader riveted. I liked the adventure of the story as well as the background details of his world's history. His characters had distinction without distraction. Quality stuff all around. I can see myself diving into the next book soon! ...more

11 likes · Like · see review

Mar 07, 2019 R. S. rated it really liked it

Shelves: series

Theft of Swords is an omnibus that contains the first two books of The Riyria Revelations: The Crown Conspiracy and Avempartha. The Crown Conspiracy was enjoyable, but Avempartha was better. The author says that he intended for the series to start small and end big, so I'm hoping that the next books will be even better.

The Crown Conspiracy basically serves as an introduction to the characters and the world they live in. It reminded me of a 1980's action flick; fast paced and fun, full of cool l Theft of Swords is an omnibus that contains the first two books of The Riyria Revelations: The Crown Conspiracy and Avempartha. The Crown Conspiracy was enjoyable, but Avempartha was better. The author says that he intended for the series to start small and end big, so I'm hoping that the next books will be even better.

The Crown Conspiracy basically serves as an introduction to the characters and the world they live in. It reminded me of a 1980's action flick; fast paced and fun, full of cool locations and populated by remarkable men and beautiful women, though perhaps a bit simple and shallow.
Avempartha, on the other hand, has more depth. There's more suspense and character development, better pacing, etcetera; basically more of everything good.
There is plenty of action in both books, but there's no gratuitous violence or sex. Both books were a bit heavy on exposition, though. If I could rate them separately, I would give The Crown Conspiracy 3.5 stars, and Avempartha 4.5.

The characters are likeable, albeit a little underdeveloped. Royce and Hadrian are like sidekicks in their own story (reminiscent of Mad Max in Thunderdome or Fury Road). The plot seemingly has little to do with them (at least at first).
Myron and Esrahaddon are easily the most interesting supporting characters; the rest were bland, especially the females. The only female character with real personality was Princess Arista; most of the other female characters had no distinguishing features aside from being pretty or old. As for Thrace, I appreciated her role in the story, but personally I found her a bit dull and cliche.
The world building, on the other hand, was detailed and comprehensive. You can tell that Sullivan put a lot of thought into it.

There were a few common fantasy tropes in this book (elves & dwarves, dragon-like creatures, damsels in towers, etc), but tropes don't bother me if they're handled well. I'd be lying if I said that I don't like the occasional elf or dragon in my books.

I enjoyed this book a lot, so any criticism I have is loving criticism. The shortcomings were not great enough to detract from the overall reading experience. I've already bought the next book in the series and I'm looking forward to reading it.

P.S. the audiobook narrator was excellent 👌 ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Dec 30, 2019 Flying Monkey rated it liked it

Shelves: 2019, audible

3 Stars!

4 likes · Like · see review

Jan 19, 2018 Phillip rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, read-in-2018

I wanted and expected to like this more than did, but I'm still going to give it a "good" rating of 3/5, though I did consider a 2.

Theft of Swords is a very "clean", simple, trope-and-cliche-embracing fantasy novel(s) that I probably would've appreciated more 15-20 years ago. As it is, I can appreciate the author's intention of presenting likable, characters that are immediately familiar - I saw a post by him where he said one of his goals was to present characters that came across like "old fri ...more

1 like · Like · see review