Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

This is a Buddy Read for Rise of Empire by Michael J. Sullivan in two parts.

Book 3 Nyphron Rising starts August 1, 2017
Book 4 The Emerald Storm starts August 10, 2017

Here are some links to previous BR for these books:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
and https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Love these books. Enjoy!

I just finished these. I will try and keep track of this thread and follow the discussion.

Started this a tad early just so I would be motivated to press through, and I was extremely pleasantly surprised. The first chapter was heartbreaking =[. But really, really good. Immediately drew me into the story for this one. I'm hoping it continues being this good!

Oh awesome!! I'm just finishing up a Codex Alera book today, then I'll be on track to start tomorrow.

Niki Hawkes wrote: "Oh awesome!! I'm just finishing up a Codex Alera book today, then I'll be on track to start tomorrow."

Oh perfect =]. Today I'm finishing up Fellowship of the Ring, so I'll be good for tomorrow as well.

I would love to read this as well. Loved Theft of Swords.

Olivia wrote: "I would love to read this as well. Loved Theft of Swords."

Sweet! Welcome to the buddy read. :)

Olivia wrote: "I would love to read this as well. Loved Theft of Swords."

The more the merrier Olivia!

Halfway through chapter five and was literally just laughing out loud haha. Really liking this one.

(view spoiler)[The part where Royce, Hadrian, and Arcadius fooled Arista into thinking they were going to assassinate Arcadius. Caught me off guard with the sudden dose of humor. (hide spoiler)]

Liam wrote: "Halfway through chapter five and was literally just laughing out loud haha. Really liking this one.

[spoilers removed]"

Awesome! I'm ready to start today. I'm going to sneak in some Listening time at work. :)

Glad your liking it Liam and yeah I love the banter between Hadrian and Royce it's just perfect with there personalities

Here I go!!!

Liam wrote: "Halfway through chapter five and was literally just laughing out loud haha. Really liking this one.

[spoilers removed]"

That part was pretty great.

Halfway through chapter 3 and am loving it so far!! (view spoiler)[have we met the non-responsive girl before? I'm pretty sure the "monster" they're referring to was in the last book, but I wouldn't swear to it (I read it over a year ago and kind of breezed through it out of... not boredom, but impatience). (hide spoiler)]

Yes we have met her. (view spoiler)[She's the daughter of the farmer from the last book. The one asking for help. And who ended up staying the monster. (hide spoiler)]

Loving the humour so far!

Haha Niki the non-responsive girl was one of the main characters in book two of Theft of Swords =].

Her name is Thrace in Theft of Swords.

Spoilers for book one: I'll try to get you up to speed - none of this is spoilers for this book, it's all stuff from book one. (view spoiler)[I'll try to get you up to speed - none of this is spoilers for this book, it's all stuff from book one. There was a dragon creature (the "monster") of sorts that was terrorizing the village of Dahlgren. It was called the Gilarabrywn. The church set up a competition to kill the monster in an attempt to initiate the Imperial Empire, saying that only the true Heir of Novron could kill the beast. It was all just lies and propaganda so that they could put their own puppet on the throne, and the competition was rigged so their own champion would win.

The book ends when, shockingly, Thrace kills the beast herself, using the sword that was kept in Avempartha (the elven tower that Royce and Hadrian broke into in an attempt to save the village). Rather than denouncing Thrace, the church actually decided to use her as a "puppet empress" since she killed the monster/dragon creature that was killing all of the people in her village. They named her the Heir of Novron just so they could initiate the imperial empire, while still having the church control everything. As far as we know, they killed her father, and kept her locked up in an attempt to at least train her to have the appearance of being an empress, and changed her name to sound more regal. Theft of Swords ends with only vague hints about who the real Heir of Novron is. (hide spoiler)]

You're welcome ;].

Liam wrote: "Haha Niki the non-responsive girl was one of the main characters in book two of Theft of Swords =].

Her name is Thrace in Theft of Swords.

Spoilers for book one: I'll try to get you up to speed ..."

haha thank you both! I thought the story sounded familiar, but the name wasn't ringing a bell. Now I know why...

This was a fantastic book to read as a buddy read, as you saved me from my bad memory lol.

Yeah I definitely need that sometimes too haha. I think honestly the main thing to catch onto is what was happening politically at the end of book one, and you'll get into this no problem.

Liam wrote: "Yeah I definitely need that sometimes too haha. I think honestly the main thing to catch onto is what was happening politically at the end of book one, and you'll get into this no problem."

I agree. And it was a great refresher. Where are you atm?

I'm at the beginning of chapter six. One thing that I've noticed about Sullivan is that he's really good at introducing new characters and getting you to like them quickly. Definitely a good character developer.

Liam wrote: "I'm at the beginning of chapter six. One thing that I've noticed about Sullivan is that he's really good at introducing new characters and getting you to like them quickly. Definitely a good charac..."

Yes! (view spoiler)[ I already love the little kitchen maid and how sweet she was to Thrace. (hide spoiler)] So far he makes it easy to just sit back and enjoy the story.

I literally just came back to type a comment about Amilia haha. She shows up again in chapter six.

Chapter 1: (view spoiler)[Literally reading about the way she was treated by the older woman in this chapter broke my heart haha. And then it was made all the more worse when she turned around and showed such kindness to Thrace/Modina in spite of how unexpectedly the responsibility was thrust onto her. (hide spoiler)]

Liam wrote: "I literally just came back to type a comment about Amilia haha. She shows up again in chapter six.

Chapter 1: [spoilers removed]"

Haha great minds think alike. I'm interested in the main characters, but I'm especially invested in seeing what happens with Amilia going forward... I'm quite sentimental lately haha.

Liam wrote: "Halfway through chapter five and was literally just laughing out loud haha. Really liking this one.

[spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[that was funny! I thought "wow, an unapologetic assassination at this point seems a little out of character" lol. (hide spoiler)]
I'm halfway through chapter 6 (it seems I'm precisely one day behind you haha). (view spoiler)[ I'm a sucker for anything academic, so I really liked the section with Arista and the professor - the messy office test was clever. (hide spoiler)] So far, there's nothing I don't like about the book - this bodes well. Remind me how far you've read in this series, Liam?

Oh man, if I wasn't already through Riyria Revelations I would have totally joined in. As it is, I finished them in quick succession about 2 mos ago. Now I just picked up Chronicles and will be reading those shortly.

As far as this goes, I'll sit along and "read w/ you guys" and comment on your comments if you don't mind lol. I absolutely love this series and it's quite possibly my favorite to date.

(view spoiler)[ Amilia ends up being a powerful character throughout this book and you'll quickly understand why. Sullivan does a masterful job developing her. (hide spoiler)]

Yeah that part had me laughing haha. I'm just halfway through chapter 7, not as much reading time today, so we're more or less at the same part =].

This is the furthest I've gone. Only had a previously halfhearted attempt at reading Theft of Swords in the past, then I picked it back up a month ago and finished it.

Mat wrote: "Oh man, if I wasn't already through Riyria Revelations I would have totally joined in. As it is, I finished them in quick succession about 2 mos ago. Now I just picked up Chronicles and will be rea..."

You're totally welcome to comment. :) Although I will say I thought you saw we were only through about chapter 6, so I clicked on your spoiler (and wish I hadn't). It's my fault for assuming and clicking on it, but for the record, I don't want to know anything that happens before I get there!! :)

Liam wrote: "Yeah that part had me laughing haha. I'm just halfway through chapter 7, not as much reading time today, so we're more or less at the same part =].

This is the furthest I've gone. Only had a previ..."

Oh good. I'll have a little time today, so I'll likely catch up. :)

Awesome =].

Almost hit the spoiler button above and I'm very glad that I didn't haha. Please mark spoilers based on chapter it comes from =],

Niki Hawkes wrote: "Mat wrote: "Oh man, if I wasn't already through Riyria Revelations I would have totally joined in. As it is, I finished them in quick succession about 2 mos ago. Now I just picked up Chronicles and..."

Ha, sorry! I'll keep a tighter lip on myself from here on it. (I mistakenly thought spoilers didn't always get clicked on, woops!)

Mat wrote: "Niki Hawkes wrote: "Mat wrote: "Oh man, if I wasn't already through Riyria Revelations I would have totally joined in. As it is, I finished them in quick succession about 2 mos ago. Now I just pick..."

I appreciate it and no worries - like I said, I assumed haha. If, like Liam said, you indicate what chapter you're spoiling through, then we usually go back and click on them as we get that far and comment.

Through Ch. 7

(view spoiler)[I'm really interested in the part we briefly saw with all the elf families in the cages. It's an element of this series I wasn't expecting, and am very excited to find out how Sullivan incorporates elves going forward. They don't strike me as typical or tropey atm. (hide spoiler)]

This might seem like a weird comparison, and I'm not trying to name-drop or say the two series are anything alike, but his descriptions kind of remind me of J.K. Rowling's for some reason.

Chapter 7: (view spoiler)[Completely agree! It's a really unique spin on the elves, and making Royce a half-elf adds a totally different later to his character in comparison to the normal type of hero. The plot is progressing at a good pace in this book overall,
I think. (hide spoiler)]

Ugh today was such a bad reading day. I don't have this on audio, and it was such a packed day for me that I only make it through the one chapter 7 haha.

Anything in particular that you found similar between the two description styles? I would have never thought it on my own but I think I can see what you mean! It's like a certain vibe to it.

Chapter 7 (view spoiler)[ I love how we're seeing Arista come out of her own as well here in this chapter and really become not so much a "princess" but a companion of Royce and Hadrian. She's also starting to show some spark with her magic towards the end of the chapter which should add another layer to her character. (hide spoiler)]

I'm interested as well what similarities you see between Sullivan and Rowling. I've never really thought of this comparison myself.

It nice to hear good thins from you guys when I read this I managed to finish nyphron rising in 2 days and emerald storm took me a bit longer due to a certain change you will see but I think I started to like Arista in this book even more so fingers crossed you will continue to like it

Yeah actually I really like the way that Sullivan describes the magic in this book. It feels more real and tangible than the more common fantasy magic / incantation type of descriptions.

Chapter 8 - really liked this chapter. (view spoiler)[I love the development in Hadrian's character as the guardian of the heir. Sullivan writes a lot of depth into both of them, and it really adds a lot to the story as a whole. It also is just enjoyable when you like the main characters and want to learn more about them (hide spoiler)]

Liam wrote: "Chapter 7:

I know the feeling - sometimes it's all you can do to grab a few pages here and there lol. I'm not moving forward to quickly, in any case.

Rowling: I think it has to do with his sentence structures and how his sentences flow when he describes something. It struck me a few times, but I'm enjoying the story so much now that I'm not paying attention to writing composition as much anymore haha.

Liam wrote: "Chapter 8 - really liked this chapter. [spoilers removed]"

I'm also impressed at the depth of character so far, and the fact that there is still so much to learn. That's the kind of thing that draws me back to a book.

Through Chapter 10
(view spoiler)[ I especially loved the character development of Arista up to this point - both giving her dress away and saving herself from those men! She's definitely growing out of the damsel in distress mode.
Also, the argument the two had in the well prison made me laugh: "call me stupid one more time..." haha that might be my favorite scene so far. (hide spoiler)]

I have some catching up to do haha =]. Luckily I'll have plenty of time to read tomorrow, so I'll comment on the chapters I finish as I go =].

These are great books! I read them awhile ago. Hope you enjoy them!

TAMRA wrote: "These are great books! I read them awhile ago. Hope you enjoy them!"

Thanks Tamra =].

I just finished chapter nine. Really loving the pacing in this book - plenty of fast-paced action content, but enough thoughtful and more intimate scenes to really make you appreciate the story and the characters. (view spoiler)[Sullivan is unique in that he wrote this entire series before it was published - he does that with all the series he has written. Makes for a really good layout to the story, where the twists - like Ratibor being a significant location for the heir and the guardian - aren't just "thrown in". This was obviously premeditated. Also I loved this quote:

"Regret was a curse without a cure, expect to forget" (hide spoiler)]

TAMRA wrote: "These are great books! I read them awhile ago. Hope you enjoy them!"

Thanks! :)

Niki Hawkes wrote: "Through Chapter 10 ..."

Loved that part as well! Arista is becoming an excellent character.

Chapter 10: (view spoiler)[Omg I love Amilia. She reminds me almost of the way I felt about Myron in book one - innocent and almost unnecessarily kind. (hide spoiler)]

Liam wrote: "TAMRA wrote: "These are great books! I read them awhile ago. Hope you enjoy them!"

Thanks Tamra =].

I just finished chapter nine. Really loving the pacing in this book - plenty of fast-paced acti..."

Yes, I haven't felt bored or impatient at all, and in fact have been itching to get back to it. So much better than the first two! I didn't realizes he wrote the series in advance - that's a cool fact! (view spoiler)[ I was actually wondering if he just threw in the guardian stuff - it makes it better to know it was premeditated. I have to say, despite the assurances we received before starting it, I'm still surprised how much I'm liking it. (hide spoiler)] Also - that was a great quote!

Liam wrote: "Niki Hawkes wrote: "Through Chapter 10 ..."

Loved that part as well! Arista is becoming an excellent character.

Chapter 10: [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[ She's so endearing! And you can tell her actions have been totally selfless. (hide spoiler)]