Heir of Novron

Riyria Revelations, Volume 3

By: Michael J. Sullivan

Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds

Length: 31 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

A rising star in the fantasy genre, Michael J. Sullivan has built an ardent following for his Riyria Revelations saga, which draws to its epic conclusion in Heir of Novron.

On the holiday of Wintertide, the New Empire plans to burn the Witch of Melengar and force the Empress into a marriage of their own design. But they didn’t account for Royce and Hadrian finally locating the Heir of Novron—or the pair’s desire to wreak havoc on the New Empire’s carefully crafted scheme.

Heir of Novron contains Wintertide and Percepliquis, books 5 and 6 of Riyria Revelations.

©2012 Michael J. Sullivan (P)2012 Recorded Books

Spoiler Alert! Narrator!

Great, fun and easy books. But the narrator, although practiced at storytelling and clarity, gives away all the characters by telling you how good or evil they will be with the amount of gravel in his voice.

Conclusion to the Best Adventure Series in Awhile

Any additional comments?

A wonderful end to a wonderful trilogy/6 book series. I was leery at first when I read that this series was purposely written so that the first book would be the weakest and least interesting. I honestly should have never doubted.

I will get the bad over with. This book was a little slow at first. Slow and tiresome. But it turned out to not last long. Because once the Wintertide games started, it went back to being entertaining, funny, and suspenseful. Though I am glad the first book in this volume was short. Especially because the second book was all the longer for it.

As in the previous two reviews, the first book is a medieval games setting and the second is a dungeon crawl with all the heroes and favorite characters of the books. Things I didn't expect to happen, happened. Things I hadn't even thought about happened. Then there its he fact that we get character growth all around. Oh and the best part? This book answered all questions asked during the series, no loose threads, plot holes, or deus ex machina. And my favorite part of all? A long denouement. Seriously I love books that don't just abruptly end after the climax. I always feel cheated.

So long story short, if you read the first two, this one is even better. If not, I wholly recommend the Riyiria Reveleations. The books are not repetitive, they are entertaining but have depth, and are just all around fun.

Marvelous Pacing, Character Development, Finish

Who was your favorite character and why?

I liked every one of the main characters, except Gwen, who fills the spot of a sort-of main character with extreme importance, although without a lot of development and with the ever-so-annoying ability to see the future in appropriately cryptic fashion (something that is way overdone in fantasy). This book could have benefited from more character development for Gwen, and without the ability to see the future. The number of times I roll my eyes in novels is correlated to the amount of prophecy in them. Still, a minor complaint to an otherwise masterful work.

Have you listened to any of Tim Gerard Reynolds’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Every single TGR performance I have heard (probably 7 or 8 by now) have been just great, including this one.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Plenty of laughs. No outright crying, but the end of the book was really emotionally satisfying.

Any additional comments?

This book and the corresponding series was good enough for me to give it as a gift to someone. I've only done that one other time, with the Cycle of Arawn series by Robertson, but this series is definitely worth the listen. It is a good value for a credit, and the plot lines are masterfully paced and tied up. The book is also cohesive in its storytelling; there aren't any out-of-the-blue scenes of unnecessarily described grit. Everything is appropriate to the story, and the suspension of belief is easy to maintain (aside maybe from Gwen's piece, but I've already mentioned the reasons behind that above).

One of the best series I've ever listened to

Such a wonderful world has been created in this series. I fear I will never hear another series as good as this. It was a joy to listen to.

Must Read/listen too

Any additional comments?

Every single one of these books are written so well. I don't think I'll every read another series like this again.

Best series i have read in a while.

Great story, different characters and situations than typical fantasy. Some outcomes were predictable but many things i did not anticipate. it was all tied up well. overall really good entertainment without the unnecessary vulgarity and sex, that so many poor quality stories fill themselves with.

Loved it!

I'm truly sad this series is over. I loved it! And it was a great ending

Great ending to the series

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I've already recommended the books to friends. It's a very good story and very well told. Lots of adventure, sword fighting, magic, tragedy, romance, a page turner.

What other book might you compare Heir of Novron to and why?

I've never read/listened to anything like this series.

Which scene was your favorite?

The entire "Heir of Novron" was amazing in my opinion and there were many, many scenes which delighted me, made me cry, had me on the edge of my seat, couldn't wait to find out what happened next.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I had tears in my eyes many times as well as laughing out loud.

Any additional comments?

I think Michael J. Sullivan finished the series beautifully. He wrapped up everything and I was not disappointed in the ending. I will be reading/listening to more of his books and Tim Gerard Reynolds, the narrator as well.

The Crucifiction

Where does Heir of Novron rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Close to the top.

Any additional comments?

The Crucifixion is a bit over the top...makes me hesitate to go on to the other books in the series....but as this is the only part I had a hard time with I will give this series a 5 star rating.

Love love love

Words cannot explain how much I loved this book. The adventure, the action, the mystery. This series is pure adventure and fun... I can already feel myself going into a funk due to no more Royce and Hadrian to fill my day.