After more than five hundred years of exile, the heir to the empyre is wary about his sudden reassignment to active duty on the Goblin War’s front lines. His mission to rescue an outpost leads to a dead-end canyon deep inside enemy territory, and his suspicion turns to dread when he discovers the stronghold doesn't exist. But whoever went to the trouble of planning his death to look like a casualty of war didn't know he would be assigned to the Seventh Sikaria Auxiliary Squadron. In the depths of an unforgiving jungle, a legend is about to be born, and the world of Elan will never be the same.

From Michael J. Sullivan, the New York Times, USA Today, and Washington Post best-selling author, a new adventure begins with the first book in The Rise and Fall trilogy. Although this series is set in the same world as the Riyria novels and the Legends of the First Empire books, it is a stand-alone tale. As such, no prior knowledge of the other works is required to enjoy this tale to its fullest.

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Product details

Listening Length	13 hours and 51 minutes
Author	Michael J. Sullivan
Narrator	Michael J. Sullivan, Tim Gerard Reynolds, Robin Sullivan
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	August 03, 2021
Publisher	Audible Studios
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B089XQW6W3
Best Sellers Rank	#91 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #2 in Historical Fantasy (Books) #2 in Historical Fantasy (Audible Books & Originals) #5 in Epic Fantasy (Audible Books & Originals)

Customer reviews

5 star		61%
4 star		30%
3 star		7%
2 star		2%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Petrov

Mixed thoughts - some spoilers

Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2021

Verified Purchase

As a fan of all things Riyria, I was eagerly awaiting this book. I really enjoyed the overall storyline, characters and all the callbacks to the Legends of the First Empire. At the same time, it seemed as if something was slightly off. As I got deeper into the book, I realized that while I was enjoying Sephryn’s character and storyline and Mawyndule’s arc, Nolyn’s character and storyline was coming off like a discordant note in an otherwise harmonious symphony.

It started off great with good opening scenes for both Nolyn and Sephryn, but as the book progressed Nolyn’s scenes seemed unrealistic and rushed, and his character came off as both naive and immature for a being of 800 plus years. Perhaps that was intentional as later there is a reference to Nolyn feeling like he was finally becoming an adult. And therein was the problem for me, Sephryn who is roughly his same age comes off as worldly, experienced, intelligent and grown up. Nolyn comes off as an inexperienced teenager. Yet supposedly he’s been an administrator, a warrior and a leader of men for 100s of years.

A couple of spoilers here, so beware. The discordant notes started for me in the way he went about confronting his superior officer who he believed facilitated the assassination attempt. But at the time while it seemed a little off, it was not that bad in itself, especially as I thought the scene worked if you initially saw Nolyn as a prince and experienced leader of men accustomed to dealing with subordinates. But then in the blink of an eye, he goes from dutiful soldier who accepted an assignment to the worst front in a nasty war apparently without complaint, to a committed revolutionary intent on killing his own father and taking the throne. It seemed like sudden change in his base character. While it’s believable that in this world the populace was ready for revolt, Nolyn suddenly making the decision to join it, lead it and possible kill his father within literally the space of a couple pages, and less than about a week of activity rings wrong. There simply was not enough character development for that to come off as believable, unless you think of him as a mercurial, unexperienced, romantic fool in which case he would not be a leader inspiring enough to get men to follow him into assaulting the capitol.

Also a couple of times, the hand of fate or deus ex machine technique seems to be used to get around plot issues. But that may be intentional as interfering gods is part of the story.

Finally, I have to disagree with a point Mr. Sullivan has made as I do not think this is an understandable story for first time readers. You really need to have read the Legends of the First Empire series first. The callbacks are not simply Easter eggs that fans will enjoy, they are integral to the story and character background. Otherwise it’s like reading The Two Towers before the Fellowship of the Ring.

So to sum up, Sephryn’s character development and storyline are good. The continued character arc for Mawyndule is also good. But the character development for Nolyn and the occasional use of the hand of fate to facilitate story advancement are not so good. Perhaps I’m spoiled by Mr. Sullivan’s past books and being hypercritical. For fans of Mr. Sullivan, it is a very enjoyable read.

3 people found this helpful

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insearchOfGreatMovies

The book Nolyn leaves me wanting more.

Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2021

Verified Purchase

I'd never intended to purchase all of Michael's books, but after finishing one of his audio books, I was so impressed by the story that I hunger for more, after I finished listening to my first Michael J Sullivan audio book; this is when my love for fantasy audio books began; ever since then, I've been hooked and addicted to Michael's writing style and to many of the characters in his books. Currently, I own almost all of Michael's books, except for a few.

Nolyn is my newest audio book purchase, and (just like his previous audio book series) I'm left wanting to listen to his next two audio books in the Rise and Fall series. It's going to be agony waiting a whole year, before I can listen to the next audio book in this Rise and Fall series. Not only do I get to enjoy great stories from Michael's books, he goes that extra mile in choosing narrators that are amazingly talented in transporting me (mentally) right into his stories/books. I always feel like I'm right there visually witnessing/observing everything that's going on in all of Michael's stories/books.

It's hard to capture my interest and attention for very long, but Michael's books never fail to intrigue me from beginning to end. I have a few audio books (by other authors) that I've not been able to even listen to for 20 minutes, before I have to close the audio book, because the stories and the narrators are so boring. I know that everyone won't have my taste in fantasy audio books, but anyone who does have similar tastes will NEVER assign a rating below 4 stars to any of Michael's books, especially books as part of one of his series.

2 people found this helpful

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PJ Patterson

Like Returning Home!

Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2021

Verified Purchase

I chose this rating and title because I have read many books, a hundred or more, and after reading the first paragraph of this book I felt like I had returned home! I love the way Michael J Sullivan writes. He incorporates wit, wisdom and humor into his books. I have read all his other books twice and now after reading Nolyn plan on reading them all again.

2 people found this helpful

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Average Guy

Another great start to a trilogy

Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2021

Verified Purchase

I couldn't wait to get my copy of Nolyn. I had just finished the Age of series and to pick up with the next generation is great. I do recommend reading that 6 book series before Nolyn, otherwise their might be too much to catch up on. The continuity, story-telling, characters, and the richness of writing all combine again in this novel to create an involving storyline. I admit, like so many novels, the opening was a little slow for me, but that is true often when i encounter a completely new set of characters that i have to get to know. So if it seems a little slow in the jungle at the start, give it a few pages an it'll click with that same humor-infested, captivating style that Sullivan is known for.

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Jbug

Wow

Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2021

Verified Purchase

Absolutely worth a read. Michael J Sullivsn is a consumate story teller. The world building is so good, using things familiar and spinning them in unexpected ways. The characters are rich, some likable and worthy of disdain,. The plot is full of twists and turns, and just when you think you know what going to happen- plot twist. Masterful high epic full of adventure and intrigue.

One person found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

Another fantastic read

Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2021

Verified Purchase

I started reading Micheal J Sullivan to appease one of my best friends, and like good friends are oft to do, his advice was excellent. Here is another fantastic story from an author who is one of my staples. The world building and care taken to make sure all the connections are consistent with what came before is amazing. A must read in my opinion.

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Dianne W Australia

Sulerb

Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2021

Verified Purchase

Did t want this story to end I wan t ed more months of reading and .more of the team that wen t to th underworld
I am bereft as I have read them all and have to wait till 2022 loved the stories best I have ever read magic moments throughout Miss our heroes Hadrian and Royce and the best ever narrator Tim
Love and more

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G A

Another wonderful story

Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2021

Verified Purchase

Another wonderful story with characters you can care about. Some of them being from the previous stories & some likeable new ones too.

One person found this helpful

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