Age of swords

If you love the feel of classic fantasy but want it with a modern focus on characters, then Michael J. Sullivan’s Legends of the First Empire series is exactly what you’re looking for. Age of Swords, the second in the series, continues the story begun in Age of Myth, expanding it in various ways. Some characters have more screen time—so to speak—and others less, but the end result is a compelling read that sets up the next book extremely well.

One of the ways Sullivan expands the world in this second novel is by giving us a much more in depth look at the magic of the world and how it works. This takes place primarily through Suri’s viewpoints and it’s great fun to see her come into her own in this novel. Because the Fhrey make so much use of magic, I really enjoyed understanding a bit more about how it works. Make no mistake, the magic is still plenty mysterious, and the book doesn’t have the focus on magic that a novel with a hard magic system might, but it’s a fun way Sullivan expands the world. The real thing that stands out in this novel is the characters. I enjoyed almost every viewpoint character, and there are a couple that I absolutely loved. Each character has their own difficulties that they struggle with. These range from emotional pain to physical disability to the stress of leadership, but Sullivan writes each with sensitivity and verve. I’ve already mentioned Suri’s viewpoints, and we get to learn a lot more about what makes her tick in this book as compared to the first in the series. We also see her grow a great deal. Yet this growth comes at a price, and each time she takes a step forward it tends to come through difficult choices or loss. This makes her, if anything, more relatable. Persephone continues to struggle with the burdens of leadership, while simultaneously being the most obviously capable leader in the room. Far from feeling false, this feels natural and true to the feelings of many gifted leaders in our own world as they come into their own. Even Arion, who gets comparably fewer words devoted to her, has an interesting arc that stretches her as an individual. The same is true of Raithe, though as one of my favorite characters in the first novel I would have liked to have seen more of him. Where Sullivan may excel the most, however, is writing characters that elicit reactions from readers. Gifford is an example here, a character with a disability that strongly affects how people react to and treat him in the story, almost every one of his chapters elicited a response from me—often accompanied by emotions I had to work through. Similarly, I hated Mawyndulë’s viewpoints. I didn’t hate them because they were poorly written, but because we’re essentially trapped in the mind of a spoiled adolescent in those chapters and Sullivan does an incredible job of nailing that perspective. This is classic, epic fantasy with a focus on real, believable characters that connect with the reader in profound ways.

For me, the biggest weaknesses in Age of Swords, were a tendency for me to lose the plot for the characters. This wasn’t a huge deal, but there were definitely moments when I just didn’t feel gripped by the plot. This didn’t slow down my reading, because I was gripped by the characters. I also felt like there are several times when the events of a chapter were given away too much by the epigraphs from the Book of Brin that begin each chapter.

Age of Swords is a wonderful sequel and sets up the next book in the series well. This is character-focused fantasy, and I’m completely here for it. Sullivan is a master of fantasy with that classic feel combined with modern flair. Don’t miss it.

8.5/10

4.25/5 stars.

5 – I loved this, couldn’t put it down, move it to the top of your TBR pile
4 – I really enjoyed this, add it to the TBR pile
3 – It was ok, depending on your preferences it may be worth your time
2 – I didn’t like this book, it has significant flaws and I can’t recommend it
1 – I loathe this book with a most loathsome loathing