Review: Theft of Swords (The Riyria Revelations, #1-2)

Synopsis

"Royce Melborn, a skilled thief, and his mercenary partner, Hadrian Blackwater, make a profitable living carrying out dangerous assignments for conspiring nobles-until they are hired to pilfer a famed sword. What appears to be just a simple job finds them framed for the murder of the king and trapped in a conspiracy that uncovers a plot far greater than the mere overthrow of a tiny kingdom.

Can a self-serving thief and an idealistic swordsman survive long enough to unravel the first part of an ancient mystery that has toppled kings and destroyed empires?

And so begins the first tale of treachery and adventure, sword fighting and magic, myth and legend."

Review:

I love this book!

Both the stories in this book are excellent, they are very interesting and exciting.

The descriptions are an excellent length you are given enough to clearly see the world and to follow the story, but it never gets bogged down in detail.

One of the amazing things about this book is that is an epic story but is told in a light way that makes is easy to read, follow and enjoy.

It is also both traditional and untraditional in it’s setting and story, meaning there are some original things in it, making it more enjoyable, but some traditional things too making it easier to follow.

The pacing is great, with a perfect balance between action and slower paced scenes.

The humour in the book is also very good, it is just the occasional funny comment by one of the characters but it is normally a really funny, laugh out loud moment.

The characters are fantastic; they have strong and interesting personalities but are also realistic and believable. They were a little stereotypical, a warrior who tries to do the right thing and has a strong moral view, his friend the thief who is quiet and somewhat selfish, a monk who has led a sheltered life and a prince who starts off being self centered and believing be is better than everyone but through the adventure goes through a transformation and becomes a better person. But despite having unoriginal concepts, they have such strong personalities it really doesn’t matter. I was a little sad that the monk didn’t make it into the second story as he was one of my favourites from the first one.

The author says that Babylon 5 was one of his influences, and I can certainly see that. This book has carefully placed plot points that are part of the series story arc.

One of my few criticisms (and it is only a minor one) was the occasional long chapter lengths (over 50 pages in some cases) meaning that I would have to finish a reading part way through a chapter.

Overall this was a wonderful book, with a excellent story that manages to be both original and traditional, epic and light, the descriptions are detailed enough but doesn’t ever get bogged down, the pacing is excellent and the characters are marvelous. I will getting the rest of this wonderful series!

rating: 5 stars