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Theft of Swords  By  cover art

Theft of Swords

By: Michael J. Sullivan
Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds
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Publisher's summary

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.

©2011 Michael J. Sullivan (P)2012 Recorded Books, LLC

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What listeners say about Theft of Swords

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • 3 Stars
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Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
    6,108
  • 3 Stars
    1,446
  • 2 Stars
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  • 1 Stars
    165

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Better than many, not as good as some.

Some fun and witty banter between main characters and some (and I mean some) complexity of plot. A bit predictable at times with typical rehashed characterizations represented in Tolkien style fantasy.
Overall a worthy listen for some decently paced storytelling.
One thumb up for "Theft of Swords"

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33 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Magic Tease

This book spends quite a bit of time talking about magic, but almost none is ever shown. It's a good book overall, but not great. For me, the narration brings it down a notch. I can normally get past most narration, but the narrator has an odd way of highlighting sentences that are meaningless and giving a deadpan delivery to the exciting bits which serves to remind you that someone is "reading" this book to you. Most narrators fall into the background and become the voices of the book, that didn't happen for me.

My biggest impression is that the book is just not that smart. Not many surprises, the characters are fairly standard for a fantasy book, they have one or two dimensions at most, and at the end I was left with the feeling that the author left many things out on purpose because he knew he was writing another book. Characters are introduced, not fully fleshed out, and some even go away (when they logically would not). Overall, the characters, plot, narration, and lack of detail left everything feeling a bit contrived.

I'm not a literary snob by any means, but I do have two fully function brain hemispheres that I like to have engaged when reading. This book was good enough so that I have purchased the second book, so there is plenty to enjoy here, just not as much as I wanted. What I really wanted was less talk about magic and a little more actual magic.

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32 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Little Choice For Thou Exist For Choosing

THE FLIES ARE THICKER THEN THE STEW
Keep in mind that you are getting two books for the price of one. All the books in this three volume set were self-published. Volume 1, includes The Crown Conspiracy and Avemparthu. Many reviewers seemed to like book 2 the best, I liked book 1, The Crown Conspiracy best. Book 1 by itself would have received 5 stars and book two would have received 4 stars. This is a fun adventure. There is some comedy, but it is not a book of one liners as so many books of today are. There are some really good adventures and it is very entertaining. The plot has several twists and turns and will keep you guessing.

I HATE DWARFS
I enjoyed the second book, but not as much as the first. It seems MJS spends more time in book two setting up the universe he has built. There are more history lessons and some of it was fairly dry. For the most part it was entertaining and will keep your attention. Volume 1, ends with you not sure who are the bad guys and who the good guys.

HELLO, MAGNUS, KILL ANYBODY LATELY.
The Narrator is excellent

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30 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

An Adventure With Depth ... Sometimes Too Much

What did you love best about Theft of Swords?

I liked how the characters stayed within their characters from start to finish and did not wander from their mannerisms in order to get around potential road blocks. I also liked the depth of the main characters.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Hadrian because he has that cocky swagger of knowing he is better than everyone else with a sword and only shows it if necessary. Royce is his straight man through the entire novel.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Heck no. Way too long.

Any additional comments?

Story drifts at times and doesn't leave a lot of intrigue as the author pops in and out of the minds of secondary characters to let the reader know all the nuances of the politics going on in the world. Often I wished that much of this was left out but what can you do?

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30 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Don’t get the hype

I found this story very dull and the narration was terrible. The plot and characters were thin, so I didn’t care even a smidge what happened. The narration didn’t help at all - characters blended together.

Maybe it’s because I just ended the Gentleman Bastard series, which is superb, but I just don’t see where the positive comments are coming from.

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29 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Reader, good story

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

Its in my all time favorite list which includes: Wheel of Time Series, Shadow Prowler Series and Warded Man Series.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Theft of Swords?

The part when we see exactly how good Hadrian is with his swords.

What about Tim Gerard Reynolds’s performance did you like?

the way he reads the story makes it feel like it was a part of history and not fantasy. Very well done.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I don't listen to books in one sitting. However I could not wait to get on the train to listen to this book. I even volunteer to do the dishes more so i can listen to the book. :)

Any additional comments?

This book develops the characters in a way I'm not used to. This approach to character development felt wierd even flawed in the beginning however you get to know the characters well as the story progresses.

Its refreshing and fun. I love the characters and can't wait for the next book to become available on audio.

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29 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Bored and annoyed

Somehow I got through the whole story, mainly on the strength of Tim Gerard Reynolds' skilled narration, but the rambling storylines, the substitution of physical description for actual character development, the bloated, pedestrian writing--so many wasted words and almost as many incorrectly used words. Also, Sullivan has no idea how to name characters. There's more, but don't bother. Try Guy Gavriel Kay instead.

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27 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Oh my god it's bad.

What would have made Theft of Swords better?

If the characters had been something other than completely predictable. If the dialog hadn't been so turgid. If there'd been any novelty or imagination present.

Would you ever listen to anything by Michael J. Sullivan again?

Nope, I doubt it very much. I've had an Audible Gold account for a couple of years and this is the first time I've bought a book that I can't bear to listen to. It doesn't take much to please me, but this is like hearing nails on the blackboard of my soul.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Tim Gerard Reynolds?

Anyone. My cat. Tim Gerard Reynolds just doesn't know how to read a story. Dramatic voicing in the most mundane descriptive passages. "I have TO use MY dramatic VOICE now!" "in FACT its THE only VOICE i HAVE"

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I keep coming back to it like a child who's found his hamster dead in the morning, poking its little cold corpse to see if it's just asleep. But no. There's no life left in this book.

Any additional comments?

Whoever reviewed this and said it was a "fast moving" and "original" epic fantasy needs to widen their reading more than a little. Listen to The Lies of Locke Lamorra for a great story, well written with brilliant narration. That, and they should send me a cheque for $15....

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27 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Just the Good Parts

Riyira Revelations was undoubtedly my favorite Fantasy series from 2012. Sullivan clearly has a firm grasp on the series and where everyone's headed from the first pages of the novel. The result is a deeply engrossing tale with fleshed-out characters, a rich, imaginative setting, and plenty of swashbuckling roguery. It's a satisfying story from beginning to end.

I'm reminded of a notion from The Princess Bride by William Goldman. The frame of the Princess Bride is that it's actually an abridgment of a much longer, much more boring story. Goldman later discovered that his grandpa cut out a lot of this boring stuff when reading it to him as a kid. The version he heard was just the action, adventure, and fun stuff. You know, "the good parts". Well, Theft of Swords is very much a "just the good parts" novel.

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25 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Solid foundation for an epic tale.

Riyria Revelations has all of the elements for a classic epic fantasy. A thief and a warrior with far more talents and abilities than any others in their profession, both with a legacy that is yet to be fully revealed are deeply entwined with the politics of Empire Building, dogmatic clerics, an the rebirth of magic. Men Elves and Dwarves and reside in this world with other races. The church of mankind seeks to reestablish the human empire under their control. Many human kings are in opposition of this and the other races of this world might make their feelings known. This is a fast-paced story with good characters and I look forward to reading the other volumes.

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24 people found this helpful