Michael J. Sullivan’s Age of Swords (The Legends of the First Empire #2)
Description
Persephone has met the gods, now she prepares for war against them.
Having protected her people from conflicts both within and without, Persephone, new chieftain of Dahl Rhen, is learning that this is just the beginning. The death foretold by the Mystic is yet to come – until now, the anger of the gods has only been stirred.
Now she must fight to protect her people from this looming threat – an undefeatable foe, an indefensible people, and certain death. But not the death of just her people – the systematic slaughter of all humans.
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
The second in Sullivan’s The Legends of the First Empire series, Age of Swords works to further set the stage for the anticipated conflict of the series (read the review of book 1, Age of Myth here).
Characters continue to develop, the situation is detailed more, and the first steps are taken to prepare for the conflict. There are story threads you can just begin to see, and ones that are already well developed continuing to flesh out. As always, Sullivan’s writing just sweeps me in and I raced through the last 1/3 in one sitting.
I love the characters, partly because they are complex and fun to read, also because they are so varied. One thing I loved that was highlighted in this book, was that both men and women were seen as strong in both ‘feminine’ strengths as well as ‘masculine’ strengths. There was respect and admiration given to a motherly healer, just a there was to a budding military strategist, and a crippled potter.
While it was great to see characters develop more, it did feel a little heavy with this in the beginning with a lot of long talking and delving into relationships. This definitely added to the story, and I was glad to have it all to learn the context of things more, but it also slowed down the book’s pace a little in the beginning.
Overall, this is another great book of Sullivan’s that does not disappoint. I would definitely recommend it, and I’m excited to move right into book #3, Age of War.
Quote
Every life is a journey filled with crossroads. And then there are the bridges, those truly frightening choices that span what always was, from what will forever be. Finding the courage, or stupidity, to cross such bridges changes everything.
The Book of Brin (Age of Swords, Michael J. Sullivan)
Ratings
- Quality of Writing – 4
- Plot – 4
- World Building – 5
- Characters – 5
- Ease of Reading – 5
- Pictures/ Illustrations – 3 (loved the cover, map was OK)
- Overall Enjoyment – 5
- Final Rating – 4.5 (Actual: 4.4) – Really Liked It/It Was Amazing
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.