Best book in the series so far! It had it all. Easy 5 stars! I finished it a while ago but RL(being very hectic) prevented me from posting accurate up Best book in the series so far! It had it all. Easy 5 stars! I finished it a while ago but RL(being very hectic) prevented me from posting accurate updates since I'm mostly listening to the audiobook and using the omnibus edition. I'll try to write a proper review at some point. ...more
A fantastic ending to an increasingly good series. In the last 20% of book #6 after every new plot twisBuddy read with Desinka,Gavin,Conor
A fantastic ending to an increasingly good series. In the last 20% of book #6 after every new plot twist and mystery revealed I was thinking "There is more? Is this really necessary?!" I wondered how Sullivan will manage to get all the threads tied up. Well, he did it greatly and we have a satisfying end. Full review to come after Christmas day. :)
Just like the first book, Theft of Swords, Rise of Empire is two novels in one: Nyphron Rising and The Emerald Storm. Where the first two novels of the first Omnibus could survive as stand alone stories, tied together with similar backdroppings and continuing elements, Rise of Empire has moved deep into the connecting plot.
In Nyphron Rising, the newly formed Empire, which the Nyphron Church is running in all but name, would like to annex Melengar. Thrace, the young woman from the previous book, has been named the Heir of Novron and is rechristened as the Empress Modina. But Modina is a puppet, existing in a state of almost zombie-like shock. Sullivan reveals more about Royce and Hadrian and their backstories in this third novel and brings the princess Arista more into the spotlight. Arista in particular is becoming quite resourceful. I loved her new confident and becoming-pro "Art" personality. The assistant of the new Empress Modina, Amilia, was a great addition to the story as well. In short, Sullivan is beginning to expand his series from individual character sword & sorcery to larger scale stories, and I found this mix of traditional ingredients of epic fantasy with compelling storytelling to be very appealing. Rating: 4.5 stars
The fourth book, The Emerald Storm, takes its title from the ship on which Royce and Hadrian find themselves for much of the novel. Sullivan splits the time between the adventure at sea with the continuing development of the bond between Modina and her assistant Amilia, Modina’s emergence from her shell, and Amilia’s growing respectability in the court. Arista arrives with news that the true heir, (view spoiler)[Degan Gaunt (hide spoiler)], survives somewhere. This is a much darker book with bits of heavy foreshadowing. The final pages come much sooner than you expect, leaving you on a rather significant cliffhanger. It's good I can start the next book immediately. Rating: 4 stars
On a more personal note, it took me a lot of time to read this book. But not because it was not enjoyable! The reason was that I almost interrupted my reading because of another book I started unexpectedly and needed to finish faster. Despite this interruption or rather because of it I could appreciate the quality of Rise of Empire even more. I would define it as a comfort read. It's enjoyable and satisfying no matter when/how/how much you read it. Recommended! ...more
Fun and entertaining this read blends well-known fantasy tropes and new ideas and the result is Buddy read with Desinka and Gavin
4.5 STARS
Fun and entertaining this read blends well-known fantasy tropes and new ideas and the result is something quite unique, yet very comforting and readable! The second part Avempartha is definitely stronger than the first The Crown Conspiracy. For now I'm rounding the rating down to 4 stars but I might round it up to 5 after my full review is ready. I need more time to think all through. I'm still gushing about the ending now! So great!...more
Damn you, Pierce Brown! Damn your heartbreaking, harsh monster of a last chapter in this book!!! How could you?!!! How could you left me hanging like Damn you, Pierce Brown! Damn your heartbreaking, harsh monster of a last chapter in this book!!! How could you?!!! How could you left me hanging like this:
[image]
If only I could be this cute kitty right now! I AM NOT!!! I'm a mess! Finished the book almost two days ago and my heart is still bleeding!
I so understood the full meaning of this on the re-read. Referring to the merry band o Update, January 9th, 2015
"Perspective is a wicked creature."
I so understood the full meaning of this on the re-read. Referring to the merry band of first-timers in our buddy-read! It was a lot of fun doing it!
Otherwise, the stars are again 5! Even more wickedly stronger now!
Update, December 17th, 2014
Grand buddy re-read/read with Sanctum of Fantasy group starting on Friday, January 2nd, 2015 followed by read of Golden Son starting on Friday, January 9th, 2015. If you haven't read this book and want to stay/become friends with me, now is the time! :)
It’s been almost a week since I finished the book. I waited. I wanted to calm down. To not burn, burst, bleed, breathe, fight with emotion. It didn’t work. I would fail in the first test, the Passage("the measurement of necessity versus emotion"), tremendously. The minute I shift back my attention to Darrow and Red Rising my heart begins to thump, thump, thump and I want to say so much but I’m awed and speechless and I can’t form a single word. It’s like being in love and meeting the object of your affection for the first time. The entire bloodydamn book makes you just FEEL(and think)! It’s brutal! It’s not for everybody!!! It’s like no other. Don’t listen to all the comparisons and assume nothing! It’s crazy! It’s brilliant! It’s everything and it’s nothing! It affects your brain, your heart, your entire body on a cellular level! The moment you finish you want to throw on a wolf cloak(you and your shadow(view spoiler)[Sevro, I love you (hide spoiler)]), howl, siege and storm and roar at your enemy “PAX au Telemanus"(just read the book[NOW!] and you will understand)!
It's time for some plot details and an actual review I guess. So the story begins ... oh screw that! I just can’t! A lot of people have already done that in a perfect way so if you want more about the plot in a witty, hilarious, but truthful manner just read Ash's review. If you are more of the type who loves to visualize everything than you should read Kathy's review. If you happen to be on the fence whether to read or not to read, you may want to check out Kira's review. You can follow the quite amusing genealogical history of the book in Kitty's review. Another review I very much liked is Alexa's review.
Should I even begin to talk about Darrow?! I guess not. If I do I won't stop ever!
"I was forged in the bowels of this hard world. Sharpened by hate. Strengthened by love."
"Once, I thought myself a handsome man of the clans. Strong. Muscular. Up here, I am pale and wiry, young and scarred."
"Supposedly I am very rash and have upper-outlier characteristics in intuition and loyalty and, most noticeably, rage."
That's why Darrow can solve riddles of the sort:
If a fish has 3,453 scales on its left side and 3,453 on its right side, which side of the fish has the most scales? The outside. They call it extrapolational thinking.
Another POV from an insider about Darrow:
“I think you’re like that beast out there. Part of a pack but deeply sad, deeply alone. And I can’t puzzle out why, my dear boy. This is all so much fun! Enjoy it! Life doesn’t get better.”
"What drives me. The right-off answer is rage. From point to point, it is rage. If something happens, and if I was not anticipating it, I react like an animal—with violence. But the deepspine answer is love. Love drives me."
Yes, despite the rage, it was love at the beginning. And love does drive Darrow. His transformation is ceaseless. I stole this last line from Erica's review ^_^.
What does Pierce Brown think about his own book: “The entire story is about rejecting the limits that others put on you, and it’s about evil. And evil is simply greed,” he says as we inch higher up the canyon. “So it’s about combating greed and combating selfishness and evil. And also trying to rise above what society has told you that you have to be.”
I very much agree^^. I'm forever grateful to Jen and especiallyCory who first lit the spark of Red Rising in me!
Big thanks to my partners in crime Dessi, Andrew and Gavin with whom I buddy read this brilliant book! There is no other fun like this!...more
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