Age of Legend

Book Four of The Legends of the First Empire

By: Michael J. Sullivan

Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds

Each culture has its own myths and legends, but only one is shared, and it is feared by all.

With Age of Myth, Age of Swords, and the New York Times best-selling Age of War, fantasy master Michael J. Sullivan riveted fans with a tale of unlikely heroes locked in a desperate battle to save humankind. After years of warfare, humanity has gained the upper hand and has pushed the Fhrey to the edge of their homeland, but no farther. Now comes the pivotal moment.

Persephone’s plan to use the stalemate to seek peace is destroyed by an unexpected betrayal that threatens to hand victory to her enemy and leaves a loved one in peril. Humanity’s only hope lies in the legend of a witch, a forgotten song, and a simple garden door.

©2019 Michael J. Sullivan (P)2019 Recorded Books

Five stars for book four!

These last years reading Michael J. Sullivan’s novels have been some of my happiest as a reader of epic fantasy. I love his first Riyria novels with Hadrian & Royce so much that I feared I could never like his chronological prequels near as much. But after the first chapter of “Age of Myth” I knew he’d done it again, and had created a world and characters that I’d never want to leave. Sullivan’s world building and character development are things of beauty.

I won’t go into the details, because I believe anyone who has made it to “Age of Legend” already has read books 1-3, or at the very least is wondering, “Do I want to start another fantasy series that isn’t finished?” Well, my recommendation is a heart-felt “yes!”

Book Four picks up pretty much where Three left off, and then takes us on a journey of half a dozen years. Yes, the ending is a cliffhanger, be forewarned. But, come on! We know the author did not kill off all his protagonists, and also, Sullivan has promised that Book Five will be published quickly, in about 6 months. If you love an author, trust him! I feel Sullivan ended the story where he needed to, and I’m fine with that. Book Four was wonderful, and I particularly love Suri’s continued development, even as my heart breaks for her.

I pre-ordered both the audiobook from Audible and the hardback directly from the author, because I was that sure I’d love the book and I’d even want to listen to it later, because Tim Gerald Reynolds is phenomenal. I’ve both read and listened to all of Sullivan’s novels of Elan, and he is the only author for whom that’s the case. And I rarely buy physical books anymore, let alone hardbacks! But his novels are ones that I treasure.

So if you are wondering, do I want to continue? Yes!
If you’re wondering, do I want to start this series? Yes!

In publishing terms and waits, Sullivan is no George R.R. Martin, but both authors share something in common. I’ll happily wait for their novels, no matter how fast (Sullivan) they appear or how slowly (Martin) because I know that whenever I read each book, it’s going to be incredible and worth the wait. And I feel that way about very few living authors.

Cliffhanger

Great writing, characters, and story as always. Unfortunately it has a cliffhanger ending, so if you want to sleep well over the next few months, maybe wait till he releases the next one!

great improvement over the last two volumnes

Finally Sullivan has moved on from having his female character inventing all the new gizmos in the world, like chariots, and returns to form, telling a real story. there are still a few silly bits, like counting above ten, but there is a dark side to this volume and characters reveal themselves in unexpected ways. the books starts a bit slow but builds to an unanticipated climax. unfortunately, we will have to wait for the next volume for a resolution.

fantastic creativity

The storyline is so intricate and the characters, so consistent and so well developed. The storyline is very consistent over the thousands of years spanned in all the series. there was evidence throughout of great research providing a thorough comprehension of how things worked or would've worked in the respective time frames that the stories are set in. I have never been a fan of fantasy novels with mystical elements until the lord of the rings series, and to me this is every bit as good.

But the narrator Tim Reynolds is the one who really makes it all work; how he can produce the intonations and accents that draw such a vivid and realistic imagery of the characters, both male and female, without trying to talk. Hi like a girl the female intonations are very believable and you hear the female voice in your head. But what is incredibly impressive is his consistency in producing the voices of each character, and jumping back and forth without ever confusing, the accent and intonation of it respective character even spanning many books.

When I would read to my son, try as I might the same characters voice sounded Russian one night, Indian the next, and Spanish the third so I know that's not easy!

dead ender

Wow the comments were right that this book just ends... I am suspicious of a publisher squeaking out more money