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Theft of Swords: Riyria Revelations, Volume 1 (Unabridged)

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Theft of Swords: Riyria Revelations, Volume 1 (Unabridged) [Audio Download]

by Michael J. Sullivan (Author), Tim Gerard Reynolds (Narrator)

4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (87 customer reviews)

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Product details

Audio Download
Listening Length: 22 hours and 37 minutes
Program Type: Audiobook
Version: Unabridged
Publisher: Recorded Books
Audible.co.uk Release Date: 16 Mar 2012
Language: English
ASIN: B00B28NW7M

Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (87 customer reviews)

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Product Description

Audie Award Nominee, Fantasy, 2013

Acclaimed author Michael J. Sullivan created instant best sellers with his spellbinding Riyria Revelations series. This first volume introduces Royce Melborn and Hadrian Blackwater, two enterprising thieves who end up running for their lives when they're framed for the death of the king. Trapped in a conspiracy bigger than they can imagine, their only hope is unraveling an ancient mystery - before it's too late.

Theft of Swords contains The Crown Conspiracy and Avempartha, books 1 and 2 of Riyria Revelations.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 47 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly addictive and fun fantasy adventure 13 Nov 2011

By Stefan VINE VOICE

Format:Paperback

Theft of Swords is the first of three omnibus editions of Sullivan's Riyria Revelations. After considerable indie success, Orbit books bought the rights to give the series the full big-publisher treatment. I'd heard of the Riyria Revelations before, as they kept appearing in my Amazon recommendations. I bought the first book for my Kindle, but promptly forgot about it, much to my shame. Now that I've read this first pair of novels, I can tell you that Sullivan has a new fan for life.

The Crown Conspiracy, the first novel in the omnibus, is great fun from the get-go, as we are thrown right into some action, getting to know Hadrian and Royce extremely quickly. How can you not like a pair of rogues who advise the band of highwaymen trying to rob them on how better to have done it? The opening scenes are indicative of what is to come: the banter between our two main characters is superb and very natural. Hadrian and Royce feel like they have a proper, real friendship immediately. This makes reading of their adventures and exploits an absolute pleasure.

In The Crown Conspiracy, Hadrian and Royce get sucked into a greater plot concerning the succession to the throne of one of the Elan kingdoms - they are hired to steal a favourite sword of a master duellist, but in the process are framed for the murder of a king. There is plenty of misdirection, as we are kept guessing about who is at the heart of the conspiracy - other members of the royal family? The Nephron Church? The mysterious outlaw Esrahaddon? As our heroes delve further into the mystery, they discover the various forces arrayed against them will spare no expense to keep the truth hidden.

The second half of this omnibus, the novel Avempartha, has a slightly more serious tone, with fewer moments that made me laugh, but it is no less interesting, engaging and entertaining. It's a great quest adventure, as Hadrian and Royce are hired by a provincial girl to help protect their village from a mysterious beast that has been terrorising and eating the villagers. In the pursuit of this job, our two heroes are sent to steal yet another sword, under advisement from a surprise returning character from the first book. Clearly, no good can come from jobs involving a theft of swords...

Sullivan has a gift for characterisation, and he does a superb job of giving each of his characters distinct sensibilities, personalities and voices - even though the novel is not presented in a first-person narrative, when we follow a character, we get a good sense of their personalities in the way observations and description are written. For example, when a high-born lady meets with Hadrian and Royce, the ruder aspects of life in this world do not escape comment. Sometimes this effect is delivered with a single of observation; at other times, Sullivan even manages it with a single expertly-placed word.

He also has a good eye for portraying people, crowds, and the `mob' (to borrow Terry Pratchett's word) - it reminded me of Pratchett or Monty Python at their least nutty and most subtle. The novel has a delightful, sympathetic absurdity (see Myron, the monk librarian with an eidetic memory, who is perhaps one of the best comic characters I've ever read - so very endearing and amusing). As I mention above, this is more apparent in the first novel than the second.

There were so many passages of dialogue and observation that I wanted to quote here, to give you a taste of what to expect in these two novels, but I think that would have ultimately ruined a new reader's experience of discovering this story and the characters that populate it for themselves. Myron is the source of many of them. We liked Myron a lot, it should be stated.

"The smallest of the children fascinated Myron, and he watched them in amazement. They were like short drunk people, loud and unusually dirty..."

There are a few moments of fortuitous coincidence that help the plot move along (I couldn't help but mutter "Huh, that was handy" a couple of times), but we do move on so well and briskly that we don't really give a monkey's, as we're just having so much fun, and we really need to know what happens next. In Avempartha, the scenes where Arista, the Princess of Melengar and ambassador to the kingdom Hadrian and Royce find themselves in, tend to feel slower, dropping the momentum of the novel a little. This was a little disappointing, as the whole of The Crown Conspiracy was superbly streamlined.

Over the course of these two novels, Sullivan lays down a lot of groundwork for the larger story. We get more and more details about our heroes and the politics of this world - from the characters of the individual kingdoms, to the corrupt Imperialist politics of the Church. Some of this won't really come as too much of a surprise, as the reader will see hints of certain events and revelations that could be easily predicted. We meet a lot of characters who will clearly feature prominently throughout the six novels that make up the series. At the same time, Sullivan isn't afraid of killing off characters if the story requires it (Chapter 12 of Avempartha was quite distressing).

Anyone interested in lighter-hearted, but not frivolous fantasy should definitely read Sullivan's novels. The prose is superbly fluid, the dialogue is realistic, the plotting and narrative tight and expertly crafted. It will grab hold and pull you along, utterly willing.

With a classic and fun feel, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and highly recommend it to all fans of fantasy. True, the second half isn't quite as good as the truly excellent first novel, but it's still very strong and promises more goodness to come.

I can't wait to get my hands on the second omnibus, Rise of Empire.

For fans of: Fritz Leiber, Ari Marmell, Scott Lynch, Will King, Nathan Long, Terry Pratchett Read more ›

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45 of 49 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Cracking start to a real humdinger series 1 Nov 2011

By Gareth Wilson - Falcata Times Blog TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE VOICE

Format:Paperback

I love a good fantasy that gives me something that not only invokes memories but also brings a new fantasy world and sneakiness to the fore. What this book by Michael J Sullivan does is bring together elements of Lieber's Fafhrd and Gray Mouser with the detailed and political machinations of Martin alongside the authors own style that really works well with the plotline.

The principle cast members are fun to be around, have great depth and flavour and when added to a plot that has the pace of a galloping horse, leaves the reader hanging on to find out what's going to happen next which when you add to this an epic subplot that will take some time to work through it will leave our heroes will have one hell of an arc to sort through as for them an armies worth of the brown stuff has just hit the fan. Cracking.

Finally just to help others avoid any confusion, this series released by Orbit is an amalgam of the previous released books and will work out like this:

* Theft of Swords: The Crown Conspiracy & Avempartha
* Rise of Empire: Nyphron Rising & The Emerald Storm
* Heir of Novron: Wintertide and Percepliquis

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Easygoing fantasy 1 Jan 2014

By Nick Brett TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Omnibus edition of "The Crown Conspiracy" and "Avempartha" the first two stories in the author's Riyria Revelations series. Lots of mixed reviews for this and I can see why. It has an old fashioned style to it and tries for the fun aspect rather than the brutal aspect. You have to accept t for a light and fun read but if you try to over analyse it in any way you will become frustrated.

The books feature a couple of thieves, and the banter and dialogue between them is quite fun, but their characters are not really fleshed out until the second of the two books here. The first book is about a frame for the murder of a King, the kidnapping of his heir and a religious conspiracy. In the second they take a job not realising it is part of a much bigger and darker picture and lots of re-appearances from characters in the first book.

So, for lightweight fantasy fun, it's not bad. It's certainly no Rothfuss or Abercrombie but it is a step up from Terry Brooks. I am kind of tempted to get the next one.....

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars fantastic new fantasy series 21 Feb 2012

By D. J. Ketchin

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book was originally self-published in two parts, entitled 'The Crown Conspiracy' and 'Avempartha'.
Its now also available in print in single and omnibus editions.

This series is one of the best things Ive read for a while. The entire series of 6 books (3 in omnibus format) are now available in print and ebook formats. Ive read them all over a week and a half and each one is better than the last. This story is a very humorous road trip reminiscent of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser. The series does its best to subvert most standard fantasy themes - no noble elves and dwarves here, nor pitiful goblins. The standard building blocks are all present, slightly altered giving the series a definite feel of standing out from the crowd. The world building is masterfully done - each brick has been carefully hand crafted - not drawn wholesale from the stock of traditional fantasy building blocks. The resulting edifice is unique while still encompassing all the expectations of traditional heroic fantasy.

Though its fair to say that Hadrian and Royce are the main characters - they are not the only heroes. The author has not missed the fact that you dont have to be big, or clever to be a hero. The recurring supporting cast - many of whom appear across the entire series and whom see their own backgrounds develop - some happily, some with tragedy - are particularly well written. Every book reveals more and more about each of the characters. Often what seems a throwaway comment was found to be significant in later volumes. TWhat sometimes irks a little is the dearth of background on Hadrian and Royce. Having read the entire series - it is worth waiting for. Later books expand significantly on their prior history. Read more ›

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