The Crown Tower

#1 in The Riyria Chronicles series

by Michael J. Sullivan

Age: Adult
Genre: Fantasy

Format: Ebook, 416 pages
Published On: August 6, 2013
Publisher: Orbit
Source: NetGalley

♥ Read an Excerpt ♥

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First Sentence: Hadrian Blackwater hadn't gone more than five steps off the ship before he was robbed.

Summary

TWO MEN WHO HATE EACH OTHER. ONE IMPOSSIBLE MISSION. A LEGEND IN THE MAKING.

A warrior with nothing to fight for is paired with a thieving assassin with nothing to lose. Together they must steal a treasure that no one can reach. The Crown Tower is the impregnable remains of the grandest fortress ever built and home to the realm’s most valuable possessions. But it isn't gold or jewels the old wizard is after, and this prize can only be obtained by the combined talents of two remarkable men. Now if Arcadias can just keep Hadrian and Royce from killing each other, they just might succeed.

~ taken from Goodreads

My Thoughts

The Crown Tower is first book in The Riyria Chronicles that is a prequel to The Riyria Revelations series by Michael J. Sullivan. If you haven't heard about this series or author before, then you obviously are not an epic fantasy fan. I've been planning to start reading The Riyria Revelations for sometime now, but as always with overflowing to-read list somehow I never really got to it. So when a free ebook of The Crown Tower was up for review and note said that it can be read either way, I jumped to the chance to review it.

Royce and Hadrian, fanart by Sarctic [image source]

If you have chosen to start hanging out with Royce and Hadrian by reading The Crown Tower, like me, then you decided to follow chronological order of books. Although my OCD usually makes me pick this type of reading series, in case of Riyria my advice would be to go with publication order. A lot of times I had a feeling that I should feel much deeper connection to the characters or that there are mysterious links invisible to me that are familiar to those who read The Riyria Revelations. To them The Riyria Chronicles will be reunion with a well know friends and I think they enjoyed reading this book much more than I did.

That being said, I can not say I didn't like The Crown Tower. Michael J. Sullivan has a nice writing style, he does not overwhelm you with infodumps, there is always something happening and new facets of characters personalities are constantly revealed. It's always interesting reading about characters that are opposite but have to cooperate together, and reading about Royce and Hadrian was no different.

But my favorite part of the book were chapters dedicated to Gwen, a poor prostitute and her fight for survival. These chapters do not have almost any connection to current Royce and Hadrian's story but there are hints that Gwen will play big part in the future. I'm glad because I always like reading about strong and resourceful female characters.

In The End...

For Riyria fans, The Crown Tower brings a little bit more of your favorite characters. I know you'll be happy to read about them. As for those unfamiliar to them, I recommend starting with The Riyria Revelations and then using this series to satisfy you yearning for more Royce and Hadrian. ;)