Nolyn

Unfortunately this did not work for me. The Rise and Fall has been marketed as a standalone series from Michael Sullivan but I get the impression that this really should have been read after reading his other works - I get the impression the characters and events are eluded to throughout his other series. My main issue was I just did not gel with the main characters here. They felt either a bit too aloof or a bit too helpless and irrational.

I will try re-entering this world through one of the other series as I do here good things about it, I am just hopeful that this was the wrong place to start

I really enjoyed the original Ryria books so I was pretty excited for the First Empire series when it came out. I enjoyed the first few books in that series, but I felt like it lost steam by the end. So when this series was announced, I wasn't as excited.

I did want to read this eventually, but wasn't in a rush. I finally got around to it, and I found it another strong start to a new series. I thought the new characters were interesting, especially the titular character, Nolyn. Some of the supporting characters were reminiscent of characters in Ryria or First Empire, but the main characters felt more flushed out.

Overall I found this a fun listen and will be continuing right on into the second book. As usual, Tim Gerard Reynolds does a fantastic job with the narration. However there was one chapter where there was a lot of repeated text and it made for an agitating listen. If I had been reading the text instead I would have skimmed over that section.

I tried really hard to like this but couldn't. In fact, I'm giving up at 62%... I liked “Legends of the First Empire” and that series' protagonists. I love Michael's Hadrian and Royce.“Nolyn”, though, is a different matter: We're 800 years after the events of “Legends” and some of the old heroes are still around which is one of the issues: All the human protagonists are, of course, long gone; but the elves are still around. Unreasonable lifespans of several thousand (!) years are poor, unconvincing and annoying storytelling devices.Yes, that was made clear in “Legends” and I was worried that might create a problem but it never mattered in that series. Now, Nyphron is still around but - before I DNF'ed - he doesn't appear. He's talked about but we don't get to “see” him.Also, an old nemesis from “Legends” is still around, still conspiring and plotting which is very annoying: Don't reuse old enemies; they had their time and place and 800 years later, they should simply be gone.The adult half-elf children of the heroes of old are, of course, still around but what they think, talk about and do ridicules, deconstructs and belittles their parents. It doesn't help that these children are neither very interesting (Nolyn) nor relatable (Sephryn). Up to 62% very little of consequence has actually happened: We get lots of info-dumps, much bemoaning, and that's pretty much it.I was bored, annoyed, disappointed, and actually avoided reading like the plague in order to not have to deal with this book and not have to write this review.I'm still going to read Michael's other books and - just like with all three books in “The Rise and Fall” - have backed them all on Kickstarter and will continue to do so but I'm going to be more lenient with myself about DNF'ing his books... One sad star out of five.Blog Facebook Twitter Mastodon Instagram Pinterest Medium Matrix TumblrCeterum censeo Putin esse delendam