Customer Reviews

The Crown Conspiracy: The Riyria Revelations

5 star:		(103)
4 star:		(40)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

This book is not bad. In fact, a good point to mention is that the author, Michael Sullivan, provides the genre with a much needed light-hearted tale of adventure, conspiracy, and intrigue. By the end of the book, you can't help but like some of the main characters and you want to read the next part of the saga.

Basically, the story is about two thieves (Royce and Hadrian) who take a job only to find themselves immersed in a larger conspiracy regarding the rulership of not only their own kingdom, but the empire as well. In this first book, you start to learn a bit about what the bigger picture may entail and you learn who some of the key players may turn out to be. There are definitely a few twists that are handled nicely. Of course, Royce and Hadrian are the main focus of the story. They are a likeable pair, but my opinion is that they are somewhat shallowly developed characters. The book does end with a resolution to the main plot, so the story can be read as a stand alone story.

The flaws to this book have to do with the skills of the author. While I think Sullivan lays out an interesting plot (and I will continue to read this series), his descriptions, characterization and world building definitely leave something to be desired. For example, way too often he uses the bad guy soliloquy, where the villian needs to reveal his reasons and motives to the good guys in the midst of some battle or conflict. This comes across as cheesy, when better characterization would have done the job for the author. Speaking of characterizations, too many come from the cookie-cutter mold (for example, the young and inexperienced prince), and without adequate development, they remain shallow depictions. The descriptions are at times too simple. If a column is ornate, tell me how it is ornate. If a priests robes are rich looking, how are they rich looking. Finally, in regards to world building, the author needs to find a way to paint the picture of his world more tactfully. In this book, so much of this world building came across as forced upon the reader and revealed through questionable means.

So in the end, The Crown Conspiracy is not a bad book. Based upon some of the other reviews, it's just that I expected something better. Nevertheless, give this book and this series a chance.

The reviews were great and the author has won a number awards, according to the blurb on this page. I consider myself pretty tolerant of fantasy literature, because I love the genre and it has been the bulk of my reading material over the years. Has fantasy writing fallen to such depths that this book, and its author, should deserve these accolades?

I concede that he is a jolly storyteller, in the way that David Eddings is, and there's nothing intrinsically wrong with a story that isn't too heavyweight, but this is just dreadful! The characters are like cardboard cutout stereotypes and entirely predictable. There is absolutely no subtlety at all and, if the characters are easy to understand, it's because they have so little depth.

But worse, far worse than any of that, is the actual writing style. It is, quite simply, the worst I have any seen in any printed material in my entire life. Full of spelling and grammatical errors and childish dialogue. His portrayal of an ancient wizard, using what he thinks is archaic English, made me cringe from start to finish.

"I have expected thou ere long..."
"I believe thy father 'twas ill..."
"I teacheth her..."
"... I wilt lead them to him."
"... thy sister asked thou to come."
etc, etc, etc

Aren't editors supposed to check this kind of stuff, or are they also all imbeciles now? Is this the product of the Internet age, that writing quality plumbs such depths? People learn English from reading books much more than they do from lessons at school. If we can't control the quality of printed material then we might as well kiss goodbye to the language of poets, Shakespeare and science. English is such a beautiful, expressive and powerful language, and it is being royally raped by publications such as this.

I've never felt moved to comment on a book before, but I was so outraged that the level of literary ability that publishers seem to accept has dropped this low, I couldn't let it go. I will NOT be reading any of the rest of this series.

UPDATE 1/14/11
I need to come back to this for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the author has had the good grace to take my criticism on board and revise the Esrahaddon dialogue (quoted above) in the latest (Kindle) edition of this book. Secondly, I have to eat some humble pie and admit that my criticism of the style and characterization was exaggerated by my annoyance with the grammar and editorial errors, particularly with the pseudo-archaic speech in the edition I read. The storytelling is good and the characters are far more mature and less one-dimensional than you would find in Eddings' work. I am now reading the second novel in the series and am enjoying it a lot as the story develops and the characters gain more depth. I would still consider it "light reading" but then, as other commentators have pointed out, there is nothing wrong with that. I don't want to change my original review, as I think it was appropriate to the edition I read and furthermore it would make a nonsense of the later posts in this thread. However, I have raised my rating to three stars. I trust that people (particularly Michael) won't think me parsimonious in not giving it more than that, but I think the series gets better and I would still reserve five stars for what I consider to be a truly great work - on a par with Tolkien, for example.

Look, Mr. Sullivan has made clear what he intends to do with his fantasy series--less epic, less length, less jargon, less pretentiousness and above all, more acessible. Nearly everything the negative reviews lash out at him for doing. The first book is very good, and it was a pleasure to be able to digest the tome in a reasonable amount of time. I'm getting tired of 900 page "thrilling fantasy" adventures. I'll give this author time to grow on me and would just offer an opinion that others should see how this all turns out by the time we reach the sixth book. The characters are most enjoyable. My quibble is that the "Church" is too easy of a villain. But time will tell as each book unfolds. Five stars for a fine start.

As far as adventure novels go, this one is among the most exciting and intriguing I've read. The pages practically turn themselves as a motley cast of characters journeys and cascades through Melengar, gradually discovering more twists which impact the course of their journey, while the author slowly reveals secrets that keep the reader guessing and building tension to a satisfying climax and ending.

Plot twists have become practically a necessity in adventure novels. Without them, the prose tends to become flat and monotonous, and the reader is left wondering where the adventure is. Conversely, if overused, the story becomes comical and frivolous, and the reader loses interest in the absurdity. In this tale, Mr. Sullivan does an excellent job of finding a delicate balance, leaving just enough surprises of the appropriate magnitude and proper placements to keep the reader riveted without cheapening the plot.

One of the strongest points in the book is the world the author creates. In the tradition of fantasy writing, one can tell that this is well-integrated world with a wide range of venues and peoples, that is internally consistent with itself. Mr. Sullivan gives brief glimpses of its lore and legends that pique the reader's interest and make him thirsty for more. Personally, lore is my favorite aspect of fantasy, and I found the book more than satisfying. Having said that, I should qualify that unlike some of the so-called "heavy fantasy" series, the pedantry of the setting does not in any way hamper the plot, which moves briskly and focuses on the events and characters. Any edification of the world is well integrated into the course of the story so as not to be an imposition on the reader.

There are several intriguing and compelling characters in the book. The interplay between the two main characters, Royce Melbourn and Hadrian Blackwater, is priceless. The cold, calculating, sometimes patronizing, superior intelligence of Royce interacting with the warmhearted, well-intentioned duncery of Hadrian creates both an interesting and entertaining storyline. There is also well placed comic relief, which does not in any way cheapen the story or make it frivolous. Other characters also serve to enrich the plot, give greater insight into the world, and provide intrigue and subplots, without it appearing that any of their presences is perfunctory just to fill a need of the author. The interplay between all the characters makes for an entertaining story and helps to move the plot quickly. I love them all for different reasons and look forward to exploring their future exploits.

I'm looking forward to the next novel in this series, Avempartha, which is coming out in April of 2009.

I enjoyed The Crown Conspiracy more than any other fantasy I've read recently. I'm not going to try to convince you that it is "great" or will some day be a "classic" because even on its own terms it has enough shortcomings. But measured solely on pure enjoyment this outpaced both Malazan and Acacia for me.

What do I mean when I say "on its own terms"? This self-description captures it: "Eschewing the recent trends in fantasy toward the lengthy, gritty, and dark, the Riyria Revelations brings the genre back to its roots. Avoiding unnecessarily complicated language and world building for its own sake; this series is a distillation of the best elements of traditional fantasy--great characters, a complex plot, humor, and drama all in appropriate measures."

Don't get me wrong, I liked Abercrombie's The First Law because it was gritty and dark. But I feel like I've overdosed on these fantasy epics that overwhelm you with their casts of characters. It seems every fantasy novelist thinks they can write War & Peace & Magic. (And why is it that people complain about War & Peace but are okay signing up for 7-volume fantasy series that are way, way longer and more complicated but not nearly as well written or entertaining?) Maybe that's what the market demands, I dunno. But when I read Acacia and the first six chapters were from six different character viewpoints I groaned out loud.

There is no question that the characters are a bit flat. They are straight out of central casting ("One thief, one warrior, please!") and in this book you don't learn really anything about them. I think that works okay in this context because given the pacing of this book exposing that would have felt like gratuitous character-building. (Yes, there is such a thing.)

I'm also growing tired of fantasy authors who build this enormously detailed world that, despite totally different starting conditions (like the existence of gods, magic, other sentient races, different geography (c.f. Guns, Germ, Steel)) turns out to be almost identical to medieval Europe and remains stagnant at that level of society, culture, and technology for centuries. (In Acacia for approximately 550 years, which, to compare with the real world, would mean no changes whatsoever from 1450-2000 A.D.)

In the Crown Conspiracy the pretense of this being anything but a fun fantasy world is dropped. Yes, there are two unfortunate bits of exposition that should have been handled more gracefully but I'm willing to overlook those though I did roll my eyes when I read them.

The biggest win, for me, with the Crown Conspiracy is the focus on the single plot thread. Why have so many fantasy books decided they need millions of plot threads to thrive? Is it a reaction against television (which rarely has those kind of complicated, layer plots)? Are there really millions of people out there who LOVE reading series where they need a glossary of characters and biographies so they can refresh their memory after each 3-year wait between volumes? I dunno. Fantasy isn't great literature. I read it for fun. I want it to be fun. The Crown Conspiracy was fun.

Your mileage may vary.

This is a very fun to read fantasy/adventure tale that follows the adventures of two ordinary rogues thrown in to extraordinary circumstances. No dark lord here, fantastic armies, or farm boy destined to save the world. No fancy names I can't pronounce either. Just to rogues that get blamed for the murder of the king and are doing whatever it takes to stay alive. There is a fantastic setting in the back, but you learn about it as you go, so no need to take a course on it before reading the first chapter. While some people may not like the easy to read language (one of my favorite parts involves the use of the word "neat" by one of the characters) or the different take on elves and dwarves, I enjoyed myself a lot while reading it.

For drawbacks I would say it's short, but it was meant to be that way. It's in many ways, a tease of things to come. While it is a self contained book, you will end up by wanting to know more about the world and the characters in it. I still found myself hard to get attached to the main heroes. I feel like some of the other characters are more fleshed out than them (my favorite being a very naive monk), but I think there is a deliberate attempt to keep them somewhat mysterious as I suspect there is more to them than meets the eye.

I recommend this series to everyone who likes fantasy and adventure, but even more to everyone looking for a wonderful tale.

Wow! I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I must admit that when I obtained it I was slightly skeptical. But, I was given a great deal - and even got a signed copy! :-) So, I set about reading it. And I could NOT put it down! I read this book in a few days - and probably would have read it faster if I wasn't sick this past week. That said, I'm going to be somewhat vague in my review, as I hate spoilers and prefer to avoid writing anything that might ruin the book for others! ;-)

Anyway, this book was so much better than I'd expected. I loved Hadrian and Royce - despite the fact that they were master thieves! Most of the characters were well-developed and quite interesting. The plot moved quickly and had very interested twists and turns. The descriptions were detailed and really helped me "see" everything as I read.

One thing - the description of the sword fights lost me. I know nothing about fencing or whatever, and some of the terminology was over my head. But, the plot was awesome and I couldn't put the book down.

I do wonder if Mr. Sullivan is planning to make this into a series. There were things that happened that made me wonder if more was coming that would expand on some of the events in this book. I certainly hope so! If there is another book (or more) to follow this one, I won't waste any time obtaining it. I might even pre-order it! Either way, I will be looking for more books from Michael J. Sullivan!

I really don't understand how this book could have won any awards it is so poorly written. I really had to force myself to finish it.

The dialog is stilted, at times painfully so, particularly Esrahaddon's quasi Shakespearean speech. The characters are not really fleshed out and seem to be no more than cardboard cutouts of characters from past fantasy novels. For instance, the two thieves seem to be pale underdescribed imitations of Fafrd and the Gray Mouser. The author has no idea where to exert his efforts and often spends way to much time describing predictable scenes while glossing over potentially interesting events. For instance, why make us suffer through the tedious transcript of the princess's show trial but not describe the wimpy monk Myron's implausible killing of a guard? There was almost no suspense or dramatic tension because the outcomes were overly predictable and characters too shallow to cause the reader to care much about them.

Having watched this series from afar for a while, I finally decided to take the plunge and I am glad I did. I think how much one enjoys this novel may depend upon expectations and what type of fantasy you enjoy.

Crown Conspiracy is a very fast paced, tightly written, and short novel. Little narrative is expended on world building or character developement. The plot is the focus and it moves briskly along. If your bent is to epic fantasy with great world building and complex magic, this book may not be for you. While my preference is for epic fantasy, it was refreshing to read a short, focused novel that can be digested in one sitting.

The weaknesses of the book come from the author's decision to write the novel in such a tight fashion. I did find myself wanting more world building, but even more wanting more character development. From this first novel, I dont feel like I really learned who the two main characters are or what motivates them. Many of their actions are altruistic in nature, which is challenging to marry with their profession as thieves. I often had to take character action at face value, without a real concept of motivation. My favorite aspect of fantasy literature is character development and that is not a strength of this work.

Overall, this was a good book, especially considering it is a debut novel. I believe the author made a very concious decision to avoid complex world building and magic and to write a tightly focused, fast paced action novel. The author achieved this in my view and the read was enjoyable. I am excited to read the remaining novels especially in the hope of seeing development of the two main characters.

I found "The Crown Conspiracy" to be a very entertaining and enjoyable experience. The two main characters, Royce & Hadrian, are great - I couldn't get enough of them. I've read Book 2 in the series and I'm more than half-way through Book 3. I have to say that, as much as I enjoyed "The Crown Conspiracy", I think Book 2 and Book 3 are even better. The writing, the characters, and the plot have all improved with each book - it just gets better and better. I have Book 4 and I cannot wait until Books 5 & 6 are available. This is developing into an excellent series. I will be very sorry when it ends.