Rise of Empire

Executive Summary: I think both stories in this omnibus are an improvement over the first two. Both the writing and the character development is better. Can't wait to finish the series.

Audio book: Mr. Reynolds again does an excellent job as a narrator. It wasn't quite as good as the last omnibus, maybe for lack of his dwarven voice. Still, audiobook is the way to go with the series.

Full Review
Since this is an omnibus, I'm going to opt to review each story individually.

Nyphron Rising

So once again Arista plays the damsel in distress. I was really getting fed up with her character. For someone so smart, she tends to always find herself in trouble. I guess that's supposed to be due to being noble-born and therefore naive about the ways of the world.

I really thought I wasn't going to like this story, but things turned out differently.

Finally in this book, Arista becomes much more likable. Away from the comforts she was used to, instead of whining and complaining, she adapts.

This has easily been my favorite of the series thus far. Not only has Arista developed but we're introduced to another great character in Emelia. Once a simple kitchen worker, she finds herself suddenly in the middle of plotting and politics.

And of course Royce and Hadrian are back. We get some great insights into the backstory of both.

Mr. Sullivan seems to have a knack for writing good episodic stories that build on the overarching story. Things are wrapped up nicely while still leaving you wanting to continue on in the series.

4.5 Stars.

The Emerald Storm

This one started kind of slow, especially after how much I enjoyed the last one, but the second half was much better.

I could have done without the pity party and the “I'm retired” bit, because we all know Royce and Hadrian are going to instrumental to the rest of the series at this point.

So it turns out the Emerald Storm is a ship, but the story ended up taking a much different turn than I expected. I figured there was going be a lot more pirates and high sea action, but the real story was more about the crew of the ship itself.

I really enjoyed the supporting cast in this book more than probably the previous three. There are a lot of shady characters, and some down right despicable ones that add a lot to story.

There is a lot more setup in this story than the rest, and the path to the finale seems clear now.

4 Stars.