Michael J. Sullivan’s Age of Death (The Legends of the First Empire #5)
Description
With fear and unwavering faith, Tressa led them into the underworld; with great hesitancy they had followed.
The band of seven had died to save Suri. They knew they would have to cross through the underworld and return to the land of the living, but none of them knew what the underworld would hold. Now, they must cross its entire length: 4 distinct spaces separated with three doors. Three doors that very well may be locked.
Fortunately, they have a key; unfortunately, they will encounter things more difficult than unlocking doors, and will learn that even their existence in the underworld is at stake.
Disclosure
I personally bought this book. There was no agreement with the author, publisher, or any third party that I would publish a review. The following review is unsolicited, unbiased, and all opinions are my own.
Review – Spoiler Free
Fifth in Michael J. Sullivan’s The Legends of the First Empire series, Age of Death is a bit of an in-between book, as much for its place in the series, as for its actual content. (Read my review of book 1, Age of Myth, here) The book has a definite beginning and end, but the story catches the characters mid-step, while reading through what they’re doing and how it works out, strengthens the series storyline, and is definitely necessary to a good telling, it’s also obvious that the story is far from done.
I loved watching key characters develop and grow. While some significant characters of the series are mostly untouched in this book (much like in the previous book, Age of Legend, read the review here), Sullivan uses a few strong scenes to ensure that their storyline is continuing to move forward and that the reader doesn’t forget them.
This book dives deep into the world of Elan, both physically and historically. Having read all of Sullivan’s other books based in this world, I was glad to have a better picture painted of the history of Elan. A lot of historical events are introduced or clarified, Sullivan does so with the finesse of a few threads that come together by the end of the book, avoiding an inglorious information dump on the reader.
This book definitely ends with a cliffhanger – unexpected but inevitable, and curious but not crushing. While I’m not aching to know what happens next, I’m definitely glad that the next book is already on my shelf and I’m not awaiting its release.
There were some points where the writing felt a little choppy, almost like some things are described a little too much, leading to an unnecessary second sentence, when just one would flow better. Despite that, the story still clips along at a fast pace, like much of Sullivan’s other work.
Overall, the story in this book isn’t my favorite of the series, but I enjoyed the read. It is definitely necessary to the series storyline, building and developing it in a way that couldn’t have been combined into one of the other books.
Quote
“Fault. It’s an interesting word, don’t you think? … A fault is only leveled when something bad happens. Success is free of such a burden. Perhaps it might be best to await judgement on events before laying blame where there my not be room for it.”
Malcolm (Age of Death, Michael J. Sullivan)
Ratings
- Quality of Writing – 3
- Plot – 4
- World Building – 5
- Characters – 4
- Ease of Reading – 5
- Pictures/ Illustrations – 3
- Overall Enjoyment – 4
- Final Rating – 4 (Actual: 4.0) – Really Liked It
Want to learn more about the numbers I use for rating, and the qualities I’m thinking about when writing a book review? Check out my post How I Rate and Review.