{"id":10421,"date":"2012-09-27T16:01:11","date_gmt":"2012-09-28T00:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aidanmoher.com\/blog\/?p=10421"},"modified":"2012-09-27T16:01:11","modified_gmt":"2012-09-28T00:01:11","slug":"orbit-books-reveals-the-crown-tower-by-michael-j-sullivan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aidanmoher.com\/blog\/2012\/09\/art\/cover-art\/orbit-books-reveals-the-crown-tower-by-michael-j-sullivan\/","title":{"rendered":"Orbit Books Reveals The Crown Tower<\/em> by Michael J. Sullivan"},"content":{"rendered":"\"The<\/a>\n

From Orbit Books<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\nHadrian, a warrior with nothing to fight for is paired with a thieving assassin, Royce, with nothing to lose. Together they must steal a treasure that no one can reach. The Crown Tower is the impregnable remains of the grandest fortress ever built and home to the realm\u2019s most prized possessions. But it isn\u2019t gold or jewels that the old wizard is after, and if he can just keep them from killing each other, they just might do it.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Crown Tower<\/em> is the first volume in a two book series (for ‘duology’ doesn’t seem the right term, given their nature, as explained by Sullivan below) called The Riyira Chronicles<\/em>, and will be followed shortly afterwards by The Rose and Thorn<\/em>, the concluding volume.<\/p>\n

Sullivan himself has more details<\/a> about the series and its conception:<\/p>\n

\nYou\u2019re probably wondering what The Riyria Chronicles are. Right now it\u2019s not much more than an idea I have. The Riyria Chronicles, as I envision them, are stories that fill in the history of the twelve years of Royce and Hadrian\u2019s life as Riyria. They will be generally standalone novels that I imagine will center on significant events in their career together, told mostly in order, and I was thinking one book for everyone of one their twelve years. That\u2019s not to say I will write twelve books. This isn\u2019t that kind of series. It\u2019s not an ongoing tale or interconnected in the sense that Revelations was, or Song of Ice and Fire is. It really can\u2019t be since if you\u2019ve read The Riyria Revelations, you already know how everything turns out. So this won\u2019t be a single story told in parts, but rather much more episodic like The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes or maybe the Dresden Files\u2014only with medieval thieves instead of nineteenth century detectives or modern day wizards. <\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

You may be wondering why I didn\u2019t just do a sequel. <\/p>\n

If you read Revelations, you know how the story ends. Some have actually called it perfect, and I worked hard ensuring those dominos fell exactly right. I like the place that everyone was left in, and am perfectly content to have them get a rest after all the trials and tribulations I\u2019ve put them through. That\u2019s not to say I won\u2019t consider something in the same world, generations in the future, but Royce and Hadrian wouldn\u2019t star in such a story. Chronicles is a way I can provide more of what most of my readers have told me they want\u2014more time with two guys who should never have been friends, risking their lives for each other.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s great to see that Sullivan is continuing to tackle the series in a manner similar to classic Sword & Sorcery, exploring the various adventures of Royce and Hadrian, telling a full story in each volume and leaving readers satisfied. Though this is only a two book contract, I’d be surprised if we don’t see further Riyira tales for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n

Oh, the cover. It’s blah, but whatever. It matches the previous books, with the image and lettering reversedm also setting it apart, so I’m happy enough. Nice branding from Orbit for Sullivan.<\/p>\n

Sullivan has written at length about a handful of his other writing projects, notably Antithesis<\/em> and A Burden to the Earth<\/em>, both of which are substantial departures from the typical Fantasy found in The Riyira Revelations<\/em> and, if there’s anything this book blogger has learned, publishers are often hesitant when new authors (and old) start muttering quietly about writing outside of their established genres. It’s not a surprise that Orbit gently nudged Sullivan back in the direction of Sword & Sorcery, and particularly the origins of the Riyira duo, who fans have been long interested in. Including this guy.<\/p>\n

I won’t be surprised to see his other novels released, especially considering they are both fully written, and A Burden to the Earth<\/em> also edited to the same extent that the original Ridan Publishing<\/a> editions of the Riyira<\/em> books. That said, I think they’re more likely to be published by Ridan than Orbit, for the earlier mentioned reasons. You can learn more about these two books<\/a> on Sullivan’s website.<\/p>\n

The Crown Tower<\/em> will be released in August, 2013 by Orbit Books.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Orbit Books: Hadrian, a warrior with nothing to fight for is paired with a thieving assassin, Royce, with nothing to lose. Together they must steal a treasure that no one can reach. The Crown Tower is the impregnable remains of the grandest fortress ever built and home to the realm\u2019s most prized possessions. But… The Crown Tower<\/em> by Michael J. Sullivan”>Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[38,113,107,386,387,385,114],"class_list":["post-10421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cover-art","tag-fantasy","tag-michael-j-sullivan","tag-orbit-books","tag-sword-sorcer","tag-the-crown-tower","tag-the-riyira-chronicles","tag-the-riyira-revelations"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n