With a title like Age of Myth Book One of The Legends of the First Empire you expect a lot of set up as the author builds a fantasy world with plenty of action, good guys vs. bad and maybe some decadence lurking in the bushes. What makes Age of Myth so good is that it stands on its own, no cliff hangers, and the story is set in a small geographical area and over a month or two. Sullivan built his world and his characters to tell a story – and they do.
Michael J. Sullivan delivers the action and good/bad guys, lots of intriguing back story and he does it all intertwined with the set up for a series such that you don’t feel the entire novel was a pilot for a new series. The book reads fast; we get to know six or seven characters; there are hints of a great back story and best of all, there are several plots all moving together.
So often the first-book-in-a-series is half set up and the story and characters are sketches. Age of Myth is well done and I’m looking forward to the continuing saga.
Plots
The blurb talks about Raithe who killed a “god”, in actuality a Fhrey, a race of long-lived, highly cultured people. The killing does kick off some of the action as it sets up confrontation between Fhrey and the contemptible Rhune (humans), but it is only part of the story. The Fhrey are divided internally with the magic-wielding Miralyith feeling superior to – in fact as gods – the ordinary Fhrey who cannot work magic. The other Fhrey left the Instarya clan out in the wilderness to guard against the humans and buffer the pampered city dwellers. Naturally the Instarya feel oppressed and are not happy with this division and their low status.
On the human side Raithe doesn’t actually do much. He arrives at Dahl Rhen, a more civilized human town than he is used to, where he meets Persephone who carries the other main plot thread. Persephone is the widow of the former chieftain and although she herself is unaware of it, the new chieftain and his wife are afraid of her influence and try to kill her.
Along the way we have other bands of Fhrey who appear and are willing to align with the humans, we have the naive Miralyith Fhrey Arion, a young lady seer Suri, a demon-possessed wolf and more. The plots are complex but easy enough to follow, especially as Sullivan doesn’t tip his hand. We suspect there’s more going on with the new chieftain but we don’t actually see it until Persephone does.
All these plots are foundations for future stories with enough content and strands for several novels.
People and World Building
Sullivan’s characters are people in their own right. His female leads are especially well drawn; they aren’t your stereotype fighters nor shifty prostitutes or thieves. Instead they are realistic people doing things that make sense for their culture.
We ride along with Arion as she first sees first hand how the Instarya fear and resent the Miralyith. She doesn’t like it and much of her story deals with her growing awareness of the inter-Fhrey tensions and her dismay at recognizing she herself may need to get involved. I wasn’t fond of Arion although I can see she will be pivotal in the future.
Persephone slowly learns just how much the new chieftain and his coterie hate her and how much in danger she is. She is loyal first to her people, the townsfolk of Dahl Rhen, then to her friends and those she sees as helping her people. She is careful to not draw the town’s attention to herself at first but the chieftain doesn’t know what to do and won’t take her softly voiced suggestions. Persephone learns how strong she is only as the story progresses. She was my favorite character.
Suri is the young seer who plays a magic-helper role plus is an interesting character in her own right. Suri intuitively knows what dangers threaten and counsels Persephone to escape murderous clansmen and an enormous possessed bear.
Raithe, who initiates the Rhune/Fhrey war, plays a minor role. He gets in the middle of things almost by accident. Nyphron, the Instaryon Fhrey, is Raithe’s counterpart.
Sullivan built a world that feels real. We can almost smell the woods and our stomachs are growling as Raithe and Malcolm run for their lives. We can see the dirt and grungy towns that the Rhunes live in compare to the splendor of even the remote Instaryon fortress. Sullivan doesn’t harp on the decadence the Miralyith develop nor the growing despair the non-magic Fhrey feel, but it’s there like a bit of a bad smell. I expect he’ll build on that split in future novels as it offers so many story line opportunities.
Summary
I enjoyed Theft of Swords, Sullivan’s first book of the Riyria Revelations but wasn’t as fond of the rest of the Revelation series or the prequel novels, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Age of Myth is excellent, well constructed, written carefully to give enough back story and world building to entice us but not tell all.
If you like solid fantasy novels written for adults with little or no romance, no sparkling vampires, plenty of action and a world so well built you can feel the dirt on the floor, this is for you.
I received this from Net Galley for free in expectation of an honest review.
4+ Stars
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