Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

Hey all, thought I would start of thread for the Theft of Reads discussion.

This is next up on my Kindle list so I should be starting it in the next couple of days. I can't wait!

Thanks Jenny - I'm looking forward to the discussions.

Has anyone started the book yet? Comments? Feedback?

I finally started it, and although I'm only one chapter in, I already like it. The interaction between Riyria and the five thieves was so funny. The surprise involving the Earl and the letters was great too. I'm looking forward to reading more situations like those.

Michael, how is Riyria meant to be pronounced?

Rye - ear - Ah

As in "the bread"....the thing you listen with.... and "ah that feels good"

Thanks for asking and I'm glad you like the first chapter ;-)

I'm about 25% done. I'm enjoying how fun the book is. I've laughed out loud a couple times.

I am a little frustrated with how linear it is so far. Maybe I'm spoiled by Game of Thrones and having like 20 story lines going on at once, but when the main characters have put out one fire and nothing else is burning yet, I get a little bored. I hope we get multiple story lines going soon.

@Jenny - The first chapter and the beginning of the second was probably my favorite part so far. I love the evil... Earl? Can't remember. But anyway, I love how unabashedly evil he is.

The series has many "multiple threads" a big part of the last book was tieing them all up. It's designed to start out very "simply" and then grown in complexity and scope ast the whole series unfolds. That's one of the advantantages of writing the whole series before publishing the first.

I'm almost halfway through and I'm really enjoying the book so far. I'm finding it to be a very entertaining read.

@Tuolivia - glad you are enjoying it.

@Ritesh - by "second" do you mean "Avempartha" or "Rise of Empire"?

I'm in page 54 and I'm loving the interactions between Hadrian and Royce. It's easy to tell that they've been working together for a good while, and it's just fun hearing them talk to each other.

Finished and can't wait to start the next book. There are many things about this story that made it such a wonderful read, but I have to say (fresh off The Game of Thrones train) is that this is a story I would give to my son to read as soon as he is able to devour longer books. I think I would try to hid the existence of books such as The Game of Thrones as long as possible but Theft of Swords is an amazing and engaging story that I would be comfortable with him reading.

Ritesh wrote: "Rise of Empire. I had reviewed Theft of Swords, if you remember (you had come to the blog for an entire week)."

Yes I knew you had done a week of blogging- just couldn't remember if part of all that was a review of Theft or whether you were still reading it at the time.

Sorry, lots of pepople and difficult to keep track of them all.

@Seb - thanks, I'm glad you like Royce and Hadrian they were a lot of fun to write.

@Tuolivia - glad to hear that you liked the book enough to go on to the next one. I did make a conscious decision to avoid foul language, sex, and graphic violence. It's not that I'm opposed to any of those things in a story, I just didn't think they would have added anythign to the tale I wanted to tell. Besides, if that means that it can get people of all ages to read it - great.

I get a lot of mail from parents who are reading the books along with their kids which is pretty exciting.

I just finished book 1 and I'm excited to see what happens in book 2. I'm hoping that more about the New Empire and the ancient wizard (I am not going to attempt to spell his name) are explored. I also hope we get to learn more about Hadrian and Royce, especially Royce. I think it's interesting that he is the tough one yet he has the woman waiting for him back home. They seem like they'll be really cool story lines. BTW, I also love Myron. He's such a sweet character. Onto book 2!

I'm about 100 pages in to this and loving it so far. I was able to borrow the first book from my university library and no doubt I'll borrow the next two as soon as I'm done. (I think I may buy these in the future)

@Jenny - all your wishes will be granted ;-)

Seriously though I wrote all the books together and so I "strung" out some of the background across the series as opposed to putting it all in the first book.

Myron does come back - but don't look for him in book 2 - I saved him for the lasst volume so he's in Heir of Novron (books 5 and 6).

I'm glad you liked the book.

@jonathan - glad you are enjoying. Borrowing or buying - either is good with me - I'd rather have more readers (and those telling others) than more money. But I'm not going to complain if you buy as well either ;-)

Well my way of looking at things is that I borrow a work to try it out. Then if it is a work that I could read over and over I buy it. Or if there is a prequel/sequel to the series I loved I'll buy it. I'll post a full review when done. By the way there was a great little interview at the end of the novel which I read first (it seems we think alike about stories and you helped me view reading and stories in a new way so I appreciated that interview there).

Glad you liked the interview. It is interesting to see that others like the kinds of books I do. I'll look for the review.

Sorry for coming to the party late, but my previous read was lengthy so I just started reading Theft a few days ago. I am very much enjoying it so far and staying up later than I should each night as a result. Since others mentioned Game of Thrones in this thread, I'd like to say I find Theft of Swords a nice change of pace from Game of Thrones which became a struggle for me to get through book three. In fact, I'm enjoying Theft more since it is a much easier read, and I don't feel compelled to skim at all. Admittedly, I'm only about 15% through Theft, but so far the pacing is good. The story is compelling and the characters interesting. I can foresee the plot becoming more complex, but I hope it doesn't get so convoluted with subplots and opposing POVs that can slow a story down.

I do have one callout that was a minor distraction for me, and it's possible I just missed something since I was reading late, but when Royce and Hadrian sneaked into the Castle, shouldn't they have been dripping wet from swimming the moat? I recall that the water temperature was mentioned as well as the dubious nature of the water. Did they strip down and carry their clothing and equipment in a watertight bag or something to that affect? I didn't dwell on that enough to scan back, but wanted to call it out nonetheless. cheers

Thanks for stopping by...no they didn't strip down...the climb and their time on top of the tower waiting for their "move" was long enough to dry their clothing. Bu I'm glad to see you are looking for possible plotholes. My wife is really good about those kinds of things and it was vetted through her first - I'll be interested in seeing if you find any.

I wouldn't say I'm actually looking for plotholes. My mind just works that way. I'll try not to nitpick, but I'll let you know if anything more significant catches my attention. But really, I just look forward to reading the rest of the story as I'm really enjoying it. I hope to finish book one this week.

I finished Book 1 and I really loved it. The twists and turns were very interesting. I definitely believe that the future of fantasy should not be investing in turning to dark and gritty necessarily but to creating better told stories of old archetypes. We'll see how the next half turns out.

@Aiden - you should consider being a developmental editor then - I take no offense - feel free to nitpick or comment on anything that you think of.

@Jonathan - glad you liked the first book. The second starts getting into the "over arching" story line.

Michael wrote: "@Jonathan - glad you liked the first book. The second starts getting into the "over arching" story line."

I have noticed that so far. I really quite like the way you've made it as you said like a series. I was not quite sure at the start of the book how it would continue but I'm starting to see the politics and so forth. I'm now quite curious about Royce and Hadrian's pasts.

Well a lot will be exposed about their pasts as the series unfolds.

I'm a ways into Book 2 and the viewpoints are still easy to follow. The viewpoints, so far, seem to mostly stick between what's going on with Hadrian & Royce;s story line and whats' going on with Arista's story line. So even if there are various viewpoints they mostly stick to those two areas, as opposed to GoT where they'll have viewpoints from story lines all over the place, if that makes sense. I sometimes find it hard to follow when a lot of history is discussed at once, but I usually pick up the most important bits or they're referenced again later.

I'm hoping to finish this weekend and I'll definitely be continuing the series at some point.

Oh my! Wow wow wow! I just finished Theft of Swords and I have to say it's been a long time since I've been so excited to see what happens next in a series! I don't think I've been so eager since I read GoT last summer. My my my. Can you tell how excited I am and how much I loved this book? I'll post a review later but I wanted to post some thoughts while they're still fresh in my mind.

(view spoiler)[
-Elves! Elves elves! I can't wait to hear more about the Elves. I guessed that Royce was part elf and I'm excited to see what happens with revelation.
-I think it's so cool that Thrace is empress because it's going to make for such great plot developments. Knowing Thrace she is not just going to roll over and do what the church wants.
-I wonder who the heir is? I think that Hadrien is an amulet because he's a decedent of the guardian, not the heir. I started thinking that after learning about his father. Although I'm eager to find out who the heir is I'm glad that it hasn't been revealed yet. It's better when they wait!
-I love picturing Myron and the dwarf together.
(hide spoiler)]

Seriously Michael, I know I'm geeking out but I loved Theft of Swords. You're a great writer and you along with this book deserve a lot of success. I'll definitely spread the word about it. I had promised myself that I wouldn't buy any more books until I finish more of my own, but I may have to break that for the next in the series.

I'm making steady progress (never as fast as I'd like) and am still enjoying the the book considerably. The misdirection is good regarding the motives of Arista and Braga and I appreciated that I didn't have to wait too long for the payoff. And there is still enough going on that has yet to unfold. I could definitely sit down with this book and just keep reading if I had the extra time.

As for constructive criticism, there are two points that caught my attention since my last post. First is just my opinion and is a fairly minor point, but you might find some merit in it. As the companions were trying to figure out how to get into the secret prison, it seemed a touch contrived when the conversation was turned to the history of the gods. In the end, I did appreciate how this history was delivered in dialog rather than rhetoric; and I did find it interesting though as yet not critical to the story. Overall, it wasn't enough of a distraction to warrant a revision, but I was a bit concerned at the onset of the conversation.

My second point does call for a revision (IMHO) as it is a rather obvious incongruity. When Myron got all excited about seeing a brown horse and then followed that with questions about what other colors horses came in, I was totally knocked out of the moment. So much so, that I had to go back and recheck earlier pages to confirm the contradiction alarms that were sounding in my mind. Sure enough, Myron says he has seen horses before when visitors came, but he had never touched one. Additionally, it was mentioned that the 20 knights that made him watch as they burned the abbey with his brothers inside departed with their horses the next morning. 20 horses plus all those of the visitors that he had seen, and not one was brown? Further still, he has read every book in the abbey and specifically says he read about horses in those books. I have to assume there was enough about horses that he'd know they did not come in blue or green... I believe the writer intended to create a moment of excitement or tension to keep the reader on edge. Myron's excitment at seeing more horses can accomplish that without going into the whole thing about the various colors. It was cute but out of character (Myron is actually a wealth of knowledge from extensive reading, even if he has no practical application of that knowledge); and it really made me wonder if more such character breaks were forthcoming. An occasional slip such as this is bearable, but too many would be off-putting to many readers, including myself. I'm a third through the first book with only this one major character break, so I'm confident this won't be a problem. Fortunately, it's a very simple fix, and one that can be applied in short order to the electronic versions.

More to come.

I thought the same about the horse moment, but there weren't really many other moments like that in the series. There were a couple of character decisions that I thought unlikely given their described personalities, but not enough for me to really object to. My biggest objection was Gwen, but I can't discuss it without spoiling the third book for you .

Last night, I again stayed up 'til midnight (an hour longer than I had intended) because I couldn't put it down even though, as my wife informed me, my eyes were almost closed... Anyway, I'm now 44% done, and the section in which Alric returns to Medford is quite riveting. There is a lot of good stuff going on, and what I can only refer to as a midpoint conclusion was very satisfying. Sullivan is quite adept at closing doors even as new doors are opened, giving new life to the story without the feel of being strung along. Masterful story telling!

@Jenny - Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it so much. I won't get into your spoiler questions other than to say -- all will be answered by the last book and there are a few interesting things in store for you.

@Aiden - I'm glad to see that you are "that" into the books to put so much thought into Myron and the horses. It's actually one of those lines that some love and others not so much.

Glad to see the book is getting you to stay up later you want to - always a good sign.

I can't help it. I'm not a fast reader because I process everything, especially when I enjoy what I'm reading. The good and the bad is that I retain a lot of information of varying significance which can really be a distraction when I'm reading something with continuity issues. Of course, if it has too many issues, my enjoyment goes down and I either begin skimming or end up putting the book aside. Of course, that won't be an issue with Theft, though lack of sleep may be. :)

I'm done and I fully enjoyed and will recommend the first book. It is simply put excellent storytelling with some pretty decent writing I think.

My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

@Aiden...sorry about the lack of sleep - but glad that you are enjoying the book. I'm also a slow reader - so you're not alone.

Michael, sorry that I haven't made as much progress as I had hoped. The last week of school (for my son in Kindergarten and my wife who teaches middle school) has resulted in a crazy schedule which has left me exhausted. I'm now at 60% (a few chapters into book 2 of Theft), and overall still pleased with what I've read, particularly the Royce/Hadrian track. The political intrigue has picked up in the Arista chapters, but there was a lot of information coming out in one particular section that slowed that track down for me a bit. From my perspective, it's not bad to slow things down after the climactic conclusion of book 1, but if you're concerned about consistent pacing, you might consider spreading out some of the information over a couple chapters. On the other hand, now that I've taken it all in, I'm intrigued by where you're going (or where I think you're going) and can sense the pace picking up again.

No apologies required Aiden...life is busy for everyone.

Yeah, a few people have mentioned that, but then others have said that they really like that aspect - so it's always a matter of trying to strik a balance.

My litmus test is always going to be what people think once they finish the whole series, as I sometimes am doing things that may not make sense at the time, but as pieces fit into place new revelations spring to view.

Hey, a bit off topic, but since this group does science fiction and fantasy I thought I would mention that I just released a time-travel science fiction short: Greener Grass. I posted more information in the "advertisement section."

I'm pleased to announce that the last book in the Riyria Revelations has been nominated for a goodreads Choice Award.

You can vote for it here.

Adding a few comments to some old threads where i have recently read the books. I have just read the first novel in the volume.

Overall I felt it was a fun read that looks back with a small amount of nostalgia about Tolkein and Lieber et al. We have a world with dwarves, elves, magic etc., we have quest fantasy but it is presented in a contemporary way (women are allowed to have personalities and not just plot points, etc.

There has been some criticism of Sullivan, for instance in a very critical review in Strange Horizons suggesting he is a self publishing star whose books are an amateur mess. This is not at all how I felt of the book. It did feel a little like a first novel (the short story I read of his published this year felt much better written), the plot was not massively original but then it did not aspire to be and knew that that is not always what the readers want. Indeed, this work just like Ready Player One plays to and satisfies readers in a nostalgia for classic tolkeinesque quest fantasy. In the context of the first volume alone I did feel that the dwarf/ elf elements were unnecessary in the sense that they could have been dealt with in different ways (different human races, different cultural classes/ castes) that might have been more interesting but for tapping into the nostalgia vein.

Overall I felt it was a satisfying, light read. I was glad I read it and I may well go on to reading the second book in this volume but have to concede that there are other books on my too read list that are exciting me more at the moment.

Ben wrote: "Overall I felt it was a fun read that looks back with a small amount of nostalgia about Tolkein and Lieber et al...."

Author Michael J. Sullivan has frequently remarked that he has not read Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd & Gray Mouser stories. I'm sure he's frequently asked about the comparison: a thief and a warrior in a sword and sorcery tale, though they don't have much else in common. (I think at first this was just a lacuna in his reading, but I suspect now he avoids picking up a Leiber book because he enjoys telling people he hasn't read them :)

Ben wrote: "I did feel that the dwarf/ elf elements were unnecessary in the sense that they could have been dealt with in different ways (different human races, different cultural classes/ castes) ...."

The later volumes will expand a bit on Avryn & Erivan's's elves, at least. Though you are likely correct that in any fantasy sword and sorcery, elves could easily be replaced by another distinct human culture (though some details such as the "classic" racial traits of better eyesight/hearing and longer lifespan do appear in the later Riyria books.)

The think with Lieber is whether or not you have read him he is so influential that you will have read something by someone else who is influenced by him in the fantasy vein.

There are similar challenges that could be levied against Douglas Adams seeming to lift substantial amounts of stuff from some Robert Sheckley stories. He loved Sheckley but if memory serves he claimed he had not read one of the stories from which there was the strongest connection. How much is coincidence, how much subconscious and how much is through other authors who have also used the same base source (Sword of Shannara rather than LoTR etc).

In any case it was a fun read.

G33z3r wrote: "Author Michael J. Sullivan has frequently remarked that he has not read Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd & Gray Mouser stories. I'm sure he's frequently asked about the comparison"

You are correct, and I have! It's actually how I learned about Lieber's books...when reading a review on one mine that indicated there were similarities. I do want to read them someday, but I won't until after I'm 100% sure I'll not be writing any more Royce an Hadrian. So if you see a Lieber work show up on my "Read" shelf - that's an indication that there won't be any more Riyria.