Age of Myth
Book One of The Legends of the First Empire
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4.5 • 493 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
One of fantasy’s finest next-generation storytellers continues to break new ground.
Michael J. Sullivan’s trailblazing career began with the breakout success of his Riyria series: full-bodied, spellbinding fantasy adventures whose imaginative scope and sympathetic characters won a devoted readership and comparisons to fantasy masters Brandon Sanderson, Scott Lynch, and J.R.R. Tolkien himself. Now Age of Myth inaugurates an original five-book series.
Since time immemorial, humans have worshipped the gods they call Fhrey, truly a race apart: invincible in battle, masters of magic, and seemingly immortal. But when a god falls to a human blade, the balance of power between humans and those they thought were gods changes forever.
Now only a few stand between humankind and annihilation: Raithe, reluctant to embrace his destiny as the God Killer; Suri, a young seer burdened by signs of impending doom; and Persephone, who must overcome personal tragedy to lead her people. The Age of Myth is over. The time of rebellion has begun.
Magic, fantasy, and mythology collide in Michael J. Sullivan’s Legends of the First Empire series:
AGE OF MYTH • AGE OF SWORDS • AGE OF WAR
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The first volume in Sullivan's prequel series, set 3,000 years before his Riyria epic fantasy books, is an uneven effort that peters off after an intriguing opening. In "the days of darkness before the war," men live in fear of the Fhrey, gods who reside across the Bern River. Raithe of the Dureyan clan and his father, Herkimer, have ventured onto the gods' lands, crossing the forbidden river in search of a place to live, farm, and hunt. Their trespass is quickly detected, and they're confronted by an immortal. After Herkimer refuses to surrender a cherished family sword, the confrontation turns violent, the god kills Herkimer, and Raithe avenges his father's death by slitting the god's throat. He's shocked that the immortal does not recover from the wound, and the ramifications of a man actually having killed a god drive the rest of the plot as the Fhrey begin a campaign of revenge. The bloodshed and political machinations are mild by grimdark fantasy standards, and the occasional modern phrasing is jarring.
Customer Reviews
Easy read
*spoiler free*
I was given this book by a friend’s dad and I read it in about three-ish weeks while also starting another book. I honestly found the book to be something almost comfortable to read and since I had just finished a much larger book, it was a good read to serve as a kind of break from larger books.
My only sort of complaint for the book was that one of the main characters, Raithe, seemed like he would be much more important than he actually ended up being. He really only seemed to be important in the first few chapters and seemed to be kinda just a dude with a sword later on. Honestly I would sometimes forget he was even there in the story until he was mentioned again. Some other chapters seemed longer than they should have, but I understand they were there to introduce more of the world. I believe that Raithe will become more of an interesting and/or important character later in the series, as I’m sure will be the case for more of the characters as well.
The other main characters, for the most part, I found much more engaging. My favorite was Suri, and I thought her and Minna’s duo was a great part of the book. She also brought a lot of great moments and interactions with other characters to the story. But really, I’d read a whole book about Suri and the mystics.
Overall, this book was easy and pretty enjoyable. While plot points could be predictable at times, and some chapters felt longer than necessary, it was a comfortable read and I recommend to people, such as I was, looking for something for that simple prose and story, yet engaging characters and a comfortable atmosphere.
The Jacket Misidentifies the Main Character
Enjoyed very much. The type of read where you pick up the book each time with a great anticipation of what might come next. My only ‘complaint’ would be that the main character, The God Killer, is overshadowed by several other characters . . . and I continued to ask myself when he would become a major character in the plot. But the storyline kept me interested and I suspect The God Killer will soon shine in the coming books.
Loved the series!!!
The series is awesome!!! Looking for something after HP and this was great. Reads like a movie and characters are awesome!
Hope there’s more! I read in order of publication but am going straight back to the first couple of books.