Nyphron Rising: A great story

Nyphron Rising by Michael J. Sullivan

Michael J. Sullivan’s Riyria Revelations is really growing on me. For someone who enjoys the complex, highly detailed fantasy of Erikson and Wurts, this is something much simpler, but equally satisfying.

Nyphron Rising follows Avempartha, but it’s not really a direct sequel — if you haven’t read book 2, you won’t have any problem jumping straight back into the adventures of Royce and Hadrian. This time they’ve been hired by Princess Arista of Melengar to meet with another group who are rebelling against a newly re-arisen Empire.

Royce and Hadrian are the central characters but Sullivan spends nearly as much time focusing on Arista and another storyline. I understand why he did that, but I would prefer to spend more time with Royce and Hadrian because they are most fun!

Nyphron Rising is a great story — a fun plot with new characters and plenty of action! Sullivan’s writing style is easy to follow and the story is complex enough to be exciting, but not so complex that you have to keep backtracking to remember who’s who and what happened when.

The Riyria Revelations is a very welcome change of pace and is worth setting on your bookshelf as something to read when the heavy-hitters (e.g., Wurts, Erikson, and Martin) have left you needing a breather!

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JOHN HULET is a member of the Utah Army National Guard. John’s experiences have often left a great void that has been filled by countless hours spent between the pages of a book lost in the words and images of the authors he admires. During a 12 month tour of Iraq, he spent well over $1000 on books and found sanity in the process. John lives in Utah and works slavishly to prepare soldiers to serve their country with the honor and distinction that Sturm Brightblade or Arithon s’Ffalenn would be proud of.

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