Nolyn (The Rise and Fall #1) by Michael J. Sullivan

 

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Strong language

 

After more than five hundred years of exile, the heir to the empyre is wary about his sudden reinstatement to active duty on the Goblin War’s front lines. His assignment 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.

 

This is a hard review to write. I love Michael J. Sullivan as an author, and I love this world that he has created, and I liked parts of this book, but I never felt very attached the characters the way I usually do when I read a MJS book. I thought everything felt a bit rushed and we didn't have the opportunity to dig deeper into the characters and who they were. The characters that I did feel a connection with were the side characters Amicus and Arvis. I really would have liked more about Amicus and the other Teshlors. I also would have liked more about Arvis as well. Her story really is heartbreaking. In the afterward at the end of the book, Robin tells us to go back and read the first two paragraphs of chapter 10. I did that and it was heart wrenching to read after knowing what I knew at the end of the book.

Overall I was a bit disappointed in this book. What I liked the best about it was the way things ended and the lessons that were learned, albeit some of them a bit too late. The main characters Nolyn and Sephryn were not all that likable to me. It's funny how the children of really great people can sometimes not be all that great, or not live up to what their parents were. I think this book illustrated that really well. I wondered why it took them 800 plus years grow up. To me they felt way too juvenile and naive for their ages. I think some of these realizations that made the ending so good could have happened much sooner in their lives. Both Nolyn and Sephryn have good intentions and I admire that they are fighting for humans to be treated right, but they are still weak characters compared the other leading characters I've read in Sullivan's books.

On another note, I'm not crazy about some of the real world words and phrases that have been incorporated into the story, like protests, and "social justice" and "equal doesn't mean the same" etc.. For me it makes the story feel like it's a thinly veiled commentary on what's happening in the real world, and I would rather forget the real world when I'm reading a book. I did however really like this quote from the book:

"Words came and went, and with time many changed their definitions.  The intent behind the words was what mattered.  Sephryn knew that if everyone took offense at everything society was doomed."

 

Even though this book disappointed me a little, I still enjoyed reading it and I still want to read the next two books. I've been looking forward to reading Esrahaddon's story since The Riyria Revelations series.