BOOK REVIEW: Age of Myth by Michael J. Sullivan

Age of Myth is the first book in a new epic fantasy series written by Michael J. Sullivan, the author of the Riyria Revelations and the Riyria Chronicles. When the series was announced back in 2016 it was said to be five books but that has now been extended to six. I gave all three books (Theft of Swords, Rise of Empire, and Heir of Novron) in the Riyria Revelations 5 stars so I looked forward to reading The Legends of the First Empire series as well, which is set in a time period a couple thousand years before Riyria. Age of Myth is very different from Ryria, and, in my opinion, it is not as successful. Primarily this is because it is not as complex or compelling as the Riyria books. This could be because it is only half the size of any of those books and thus there is not enough space to produce an equivalent level of complexity as appears in the Riyria books. Despite this, I am not saying Age of Myth, is bad, just that it is not as flawless and enjoyable as those books. The three main characters are Arion, a Fhrey (elf) who is a master of the Art (magic); Raithe, a Rhune (human) who is known as the God Killer for showing that it is actually physically possible for Fhreys to be slain; Malcolm (a Fhrey-enslaved Rhune who is forced to go on the run with Raithe), Suri (a teenaged mystic and orphaned child who grew up in the forest) and Persephone (the widow of the chieftain of a Rhune encampment called Dahl Ren). Overall, my favorite characters were Suri and Arion. I definitely like that Sullivan does an excellent job with his female characters. One of the best features of Riyria was the camaraderie and humor of Hadrian and Royce and Sullivan tries to replicate this with Raithe and Malcolm but since they do not have as prominent a role in the book it doesn't work as well. Overall, I'm glad I read Book 1 of the new series and will definitely read the rest of the new saga. But I am looking forward more to reading Sullivan's other trilogy featuring Hadrian and Royce (the Riyria Chronicles) than the rest of the Legend of the First Empire.

Title: Age of Myth.
Author: Michael J. Sullivan.
Paperback: 432 pages.
Publisher: Del Rey.
Date Published: June 28, 2016.
Date Read: September 13, 2016.

GOODREADS RATING: ★★★★☆  (4.0/5.0).

OVERALL GRADE: A- (3.67/4.0).

PLOT: A-.
IMAGERY: A-.
IMPACT: B+.
WRITING: A.