Yes, I would. I'll probably listen to it again after the year prequels come out. It's just great story, with great narration.

Absolutely. I listen at work, so it only took a few days anyway.

If you've read the first book, and found it lacking in certain areas, listen to this anyway. Much better and leaves toy ready for the third. Highly recommended. I put Michael J Sullivan up there with the likes of Patrick Rothfuss, and Brandon Sanderson.

The story was great. Narration was great.

It kept me guessing, had great twists and turns, and great character development.

I'm not sure if I have. But he is superb.

I definitely laughed. I'm too much of a man to cry.

This review covers both Rise of Empire and Heir of Novron, the second and third books in the Theft of Swards trilogy. Any series of books that can hold my attention for 70+ hours and leave me wanting more is a winner. On top of discovering one of my new favorite narrators, I found the books amusing, swashbuckling, and a romp of a fantasy.

The author is not afraid to left Royce, Hadrian and Arista experience both victory and pain. Recurrent characters pop up throughout the trilogy and add continuity and bind the stories together. Originally written as six stand alone books, the trilogy is wisely packaged in three volumes. The main characters and their joint and individual stories are well developed. I felt I knew them and I missed them when it was over.

I am giving the story only four out of five stars because the author leaves subtle but essential clues throughout the books that are hard to remember after such a long narration. He is a bit too clever for his own good at times. When listening, remember, nothing is irrelevant. I was confused by the ending of Heir of Novron. Luckily, I had purchased both the audio and Kindle version and I was able to do a search of the Kindle text to find the answer. It annoyed me I had to resort to looking back.

I had a couple other quibbles with the excessive details in Rise of Empire about every type of mast or sail on a ship and how to operate it in various types of weather. As a reader, I wanted to story to move on and it almost sank. The search for the lost city was puzzling when it turned out that many people knew where it was.

Those quibbles aside, I highly recommend the Theft of Swords trilogy. It is so much better than others series I have tried, such as The Elvenbane (uneven and disjointed) and The Kingkiller Chronicles (so boring I returned the first book and won't revisit).

The Riyria Revelations are fast becoming one of my favorite series. Michael J Sullivan might not be the equal of Tolkien as some have written, but one Tolkien is enough for me. I enjoy Sullivan as he is. The continuing story of Hadrian, Royce, Arista, Thrace, et al, is fast-paced, with enough humor to keep the pathos from becoming overwhelming. Elves, dwarves, and goblins interweave through like threads of gold through silk - not taking away from the main story, but adding sparkle to the tale. I am looking forward to the last of the omnibus series - The Heir of Navron.

I do not open a print copy of this book but I enjoyed it so much I'm investing in a hardback copy. That being said, I will most likely only use the hard copies for reference purposes while listening.

Watching Arista's power grow as a witch as well as her strength as a woman.

The journey Arista, Royce and Hadrian took together in Book 3.

YES

I'm totally stuck on these books!!!

This was a great novel I can't wait until The Heir of Novron comes out Audible! =) stop taking forever!

I really like the audio version... Did not read it... Who reads?

I didn't give any insight to the story.. but if you liked some of the other book's I've given high marks to... you'll like this one. I look forward to listening to the third book in this series.

I don't like recycled characters. For the most part, Sullivan introduces new characters nicely and realistically. We start this volume with the rapid rise of a new character, which is emotional and smartly written. Sullivan has a tight grasp on who his antagonists are but is able to layer their motivations with more nuance than in the prior volume. Sadly, one character comes from the prior volume and it feels a bit clunky. A twist at the end makes up for that, however.

My other complaint is the number of times our hero's are captured then manage to convenient escape. This reminds me of the TV Series "24". Jack Bauer or family gets captured because they don't call for back up and then get guarded by one inept guard.

Beyond that, the action sequences are easily visualized and the storyline is enjoyable. Tim Gerard Reynolds gives a fantastic performance. It is his best voice acting to date. Product removed to much space between segments and it is difficult to tell when a new scene has begun.

Do your self a favor and listen to it. It was so good that I went ahead and read the 3rd. You will not be disappointed. A worthy created and well enjoyed.

In this 2nd part of the trilogy (or books 3 & 4 of 6), the plot deepens as it becomes less obvious who is controlling events and what is true or false. The geography widens as we travel though oceans and jungles, meeting new races and creatures. We learn about the pasts of Royce and Hadrian and even some of their thoughts and feelings, which we really didn't get much in the first part. There are some dark moments, but don't worry, Royce and Hadrian still quarrel amusingly like an old married couple as they plan how to get out of various prisons and predicaments. The narration continues to be outstanding. It is a challenge to invent accents for people who are supposed to be foreigners but from no country we ever knew. There are many different voices and they are always easy to distinguish.

Be aware that this book ends in the middle of the story, even more so than the previous one, so you will want to go immediately to Part 3.

One pitfall of reading by audiobook is possibly misinterpreting names. I was sure the old wizard's name was Ezra Hardin, and I thought it amusing that he had such an ordinary name. Turns out, when I looked up the books on a print site, that the name is spelled in a much more elaborate way.