Theft of Swords
By Michael J. Sullivan
Read by Tim Reynolds
The Riyria Revelations Series: Book 1
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They killed the king. They pinned it on two men. They chose poorly. Royce Melborn, a skilled thief, and his mercenary partner, Hadrian Blackwater, make a profitable living carrying out dangerous assignments for conspiring nobles—until they are hired to pilfer a famed sword. What appears to be just a simple job finds them framed for the murder of the king and trapped in a conspiracy that uncovers a plot far greater than the mere overthrow of a tiny kingdom. Can a self-serving thief and an idealistic swordsman survive long enough to unravel the first part of an ancient mystery that has toppled kings and destroyed empires in order to keep a secret too terrible for the world to know? And so begins the first tale of treachery and adventure, sword fighting and magic, myth and legend.
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Summary
Summary
A 2013 Audie Award Finalist for Fantasy
They killed the king. They pinned it on two men. They chose poorly.
Royce Melborn, a skilled thief, and his mercenary partner, Hadrian Blackwater, make a profitable living carrying out dangerous assignments for conspiring nobles—until they are hired to pilfer a famed sword. What appears to be just a simple job finds them framed for the murder of the king and trapped in a conspiracy that uncovers a plot far greater than the mere overthrow of a tiny kingdom.
Can a self-serving thief and an idealistic swordsman survive long enough to unravel the first part of an ancient mystery that has toppled kings and destroyed empires in order to keep a secret too terrible for the world to know?
And so begins the first tale of treachery and adventure, sword fighting and magic, myth and legend.
Editorial Reviews
Editorial Reviews
Reviews
Reviews
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"This first book in the series is so well done it made me wish I could be Hadrian," said by my son.
- The author, Michael Sullivan, was really very cool and sent me two of the books on CD 10 years ago. Imagine that! An author who answers his mail and then sends you his material! They weren't available at my public library and I cannot read printed material. Thank the Gods for Downpour! Back to the review! Very often, in a series, I feel like I am left wanting more; or something was left either undone or left out. What I found was really well done in this first book was it truly laid the groundwork for the rest of the series but was truly entertaining in its own right. The Main Protagonists, Royce and Hadrian, are sort of a wisecracking Robin Hood Duo, dragged into a Political Conspiracy. There is of course, a Princess and Religious Creeps as well twisted up in this plot and that's as far as I am giving plot spoilers! If you, like my son and I are looking for a really well written fantasy series that doesn't have 2 chapters of a sex act thrown in constantly (I HATE when I research a book and get halfway through and find its a ROMANCE novel :/ then this is the series for you. My kid had the attention span of a gnat and he listened to these two books the author sent us over and over and over again. That is how well written this series is. I am so pleased that Michael Sullivan's books are so affordable here on downpour.com and I do not have to beg him to send me his material. So, in conclusion, a well written series, starting with this book and a really nice guy who wrote the series. You will not be sorry you rented or bought this book and you will be hooked! You WILL finish the series! And of course, with the books being 11+ hours each you are getting a great big bang for your one credit if you use it to purchase this series. :) And Michael, if you do see this review, I do thank you yet again for sending the CDs way back when and I congratulate you on all your success, thanks for making your books available through downpour!
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A thoroughly enjoyable production of a darned good story
- Sullivan’s Riyria Revelations series was originally to be published as 6 books, but before book 6 even came out Orbit bought the series and repackaged the 6 books as three sets of two, this being the first such “mini omnibus”, including “The Crown Conspiracy” and “Avempartha”. “Riyria” is a group of two mercenaries (one a 3-sworded warrior named Hadrian, one a hooded thief named Royce) who have a certain reputation for being able to take on odd jobs of all kinds, and a backstory of jobs gone good and bad and the sarcastic banter to go with it. In “The Crown Conspiracy” the two are set up as the fall guys for the murder of a monarch, however, the powers which have done so have oh-so-spectacularly picked the wrong pair of thieves. The game is afoot, and we get an introduction to the powers and nations and (some tip) of the deeper history of the world along the way. As “Avempartha” opens, one of my favorite little bits of self-referential fun for the year is that a play is being put on roughly about the (legend-in-the-telling) events of the first book, with the play called… “The Crown Conspiracy”. I love that. Light humor and a more honest and goodness of spirit, though hey, yes, they are mercenaries, inhabits these books than the more grim and gritty “everyone’s an anti-hero” fests which have become a bit more the mode of epic fantasy. Author Sullivan certainly does have a thing for towers, as “Avempartha” centers around a mysterious tower near the site of a religious-based tournament of swordsmen, with the winner getting quite the prize indeed. However, the villager-eating beastie at the heart of this tournament may be more than the church has bargained for or can deal with. Enter, of course, Royce and Hadrian. Sullivan shows even better his deftness for fitting the pieces of his plots and subplots nicely together here, as by the end some things which were quite heavily hinted at are confirmed, setting up a world quite ready for conflict and change as the series goes forward. On the world, there are some very interesting touches, particularly in the nearly enslaved elven race as opposed to the elegant noble free and fair folk of stock-standard fantasy fare, as well as multi-layered systems of politics and religions, though at this point in the series we have not “zoomed out” too terribly far. Narration: Reynolds is very, very well-cast here, with a range of voices and accents which really make the story sing. A thoroughly enjoyable production.
Author
Author Bio: Michael J. Sullivan
Michael J. Sullivan is an award-winning science fiction and fantasy author. His debut series, the Riyria Revelations, has sold more than 265,000 copies. The series has also been translated to thirteen foreign languages. His success led him into mainstream publishing where he was awarded the 2010 Iceberg Ink Review’s Best Fantasy Novel Award, among others.
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Details
Details
| Available Formats : | Digital Download, CD |
| Category: | Fiction/Fantasy |
| Runtime: | 22.64 |
| Audience: | Adult |
| Language: | English |
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