Age of Legend

All Filler, No Thriller

The whole book is pretty much setting up the next part of the series. Very little actually happens in this one, which I find very upsetting.
I have always liked not loved this series, mostly because it is light on concept and originality, but heavy on cool characters and excitement. This one had little character development and practically no excitement, so it was a huge let down.

I don't think I'm going to keep reading this series because what seemed like a fresh pre-civilization concept is falling into an old trope about elves, men, dwarves, with some people who can do magic and they have wars. Been there done that, and if you're going to just stretch the crap out of the story so you can keep putting out books every year, I'm out.

I was so shocked when this book ended because I thought we were just about to get to the interesting part, but my audiobook just stopped and ran the credits, and I was left thinking “Seriously? That's it?!” This book could have been written in three chapters, so if you're more committed to this story than I am, maybe wait for the next book and read a summary of this one.

Executive Summary: This series seems to alternate between great books and just good ones. This was a good one. I felt like too much time was spent setting things up and just as it was set, it ended. 3.5 stars.Audiobook: Tim Gerard Reynolds does his usual fantastic job. I've enjoyed every book he's narrated, and none more than those written by Mr. Sullivan. The narration helped me through some of the slower parts at the start of this book.Full ReviewSo far I've rated both [b:Age of Myth 26863057 Age of Myth (The Legends of the First Empire, #1) Michael J. Sullivan https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1507307691l/26863057.SY75.jpg 24657657] and [b:Age of War 18052169 Age of War (The Legends of the First Empire, #3) Michael J. Sullivan https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1516720471l/18052169.SX50.jpg 25336191] as 5 stars but [b:Age of Swords 32337902 Age of Swords (The Legends of the First Empire, #2) Michael J. Sullivan https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1481987017l/32337902.SY75.jpg 25336186] was a 4 and this one 3.5. I found both started slow but ended strong.It's almost as though he needs a book in between to set things up. With the way this one ended he's certainly set up for the next book to be another fantastic one. I just wish it didn't spend so much time meandering at the start.Things certainly took an unexpected turn for me, but I wanted to see what was going to happen next immediately. Because the book took so long to get there if left me a bit disappointed. That said this was still a good book, just not at the level of some of the others.Given how it ended I'm eagerly awaiting the next one, especially because I know it's already been written. I'm hoping the release will be either later this year or earlier next year when hopefully all the setup of this book is finally paid off.