Michael J. Sullivan (1) (1961–)

Royce and Hadrian continue to aid the kingdom of Melingar as war looms in Nyphron Rising, the third book in Michael J. Sullivan's Riyria Revelations series. An Empress has been crowned and the Imperialists are out for conquest.

It's clear at this point that what might have started off as a buddy adventure series is expanding to be epic in scope. This is not in itself a bad thing though it does lead to slower plot movement and less time with Royce and Hadrian while more space is given to show more bigger world events. The change in narrative splits the story into three main threads.

The Empire thread follows the freshly crowned Empress Modina and her newly appointed secretary Amilia. While the Church's schemes are still well underway, and Saldur is still the evil mastermind, this new focus has greatly reduced the villains tendency to monologue. I found Amilia and Modina's situation enthralling. Amilia's determination to not just survive but help her and her mistress thrive was easily my favorite part of the book. I kept looking forward to their chapters. I think Amilia may be my new favorite character.

The time spent with our favorite thieves is enjoyable if a tad melancholy. Royce digs into Hadrian's past as he tries to solve the mystery of the heir while Hadrian suffers from a midlife crisis. This in turn leads to revealing more about Royce's childhood, which was not the happiest. It lends a more serious tone to their story thread and I found myself missing the easy banter from the first book.

Most problematic is Arista's story thread, who we spend the most time with. After realizing she's an utter failure as an ambassador, Arista is determined to help her kingdom even if it means doing something foolhardy and deliberately undermining her brother's authority though she doesn't give that any thought. I both love and am irritated by her progress as an Artist. She's ok with using her powers to save herself but balks at using them in battle to save a whole city? Also highly problematic is when she gets drunk while undercover and immediately blabs to all and sundry who she is and what their mission is. Don't get me started about the bad case of insta-love Arista suffers. She's lucky this is a Michael J Sullivan novel!

While technically the main plot is resolved, the story ends abruptly on a bombshell that left this reader with many questions. show less

What can I say? I liked this reimagining of Well's Time Machine better than the original.

It's full of fully modern sensibilities and SF concepts and even brings about a cool 50's villainiazation among a populace that has miraculously found a post-scarcity paradise, true gender equality because sexual dimorphism has been eradicated (but not orgasms:), and an old school SF idea of making God through better tech.

In fact, there was a lot of good mirroring and exploration of ourselves, what we show more think about God, sexual identity, and especially love.

And for those of us that have to have a bit of murder and intrigue and nuclear blasts and teleportation into space and other galaxies, we have that, too, and it's cool.

It's not exactly popcorn fiction. It owes beyond that and it is serious, but for all that, it was also great fun.

What is it about predominantly fantasy authors producing even better SF, anyway? It seems to be happening more and more often, or maybe it's all my sampling error. ;) show less

Hollow World was easily one of my top reads of 2013. I was fortunate to receive the ebook version early because I was a backer in the Kickstarter campaign, a project I pledged my support to as soon as I found out about it because I am a fan of the author. At the time I had just finished reading his Riyria Revelations series and was still coming off from the high, so I was pretty keen on the idea of seeing Hollow World take off.

First, though, a bit of history: in his afterword, Michael J. show more Sullivan writes that he first took this project to Kickstarter because while everyone he spoke to about it loved the concept behind the book, the general consensus was that this kind of story just wasn't marketable. The science fiction landscape these days is dominated by space operas, military sci-fi, or books from established franchises. It seemed there was very little room left for Hollow World and its good old cross-genre time traveling tale about a 58-year-old man dying from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, who decides to journey into the future in the hopes of finding a cure.

To be honest, reading about the reasons why Sullivan ultimatedly decided to crowdfund Hollow World came as a surprise to me, especially after just having finished the book. Yes, the story is undoubtedly very different than what is typical in the mainstream right now, and Ellis Rogers would not be what you would call a traditional protagonist. Yet the character's adventure through time is no less extraordinary. Hollow World tells the tale of a man who has played it safe his whole life until he has nothing left to lose, and what he finds in the far, far future is way more than just the freedom from his illness.

It's a great time for speculative fiction right now, with what I've noticed is an increased interest in cross-genre novels and so many great and original ideas having found their way into being published in recent years. I thought surely -- SURELY -- this book could have found a place. In any case, thank goodness for small press and self-pubs as well as sites like Kickstarter, because Hollow World is probably my new favorite book by Michael J. Sullivan, right up there with Heir of Novron. I think his style suits a book like this very well, with its modern character and simply astonishing setting.

The story was compelling from page one, with its masterful introduction to Ellis in the moments after he first receives the life-altering news about his disease. Both character development and world building are Sullivan's greatest strengths, and it was easy to establish a connection with Ellis right away. But that feeling of "Oh wow, this book is something REALLY special" did not hit me until later, when we actually find ourselves in Hollow World and the breathtaking version of the future that the author has created.

It's obvious that Michael J. Sullivan drew inspiration from The Time Machine, and he even makes mention to H.G. Wells' classic in his Author's Note. How Ellis Rogers managed to travel forward in time in a disembodied old van seat surrounded by a stack of plastic milk crates isn't the point of Hollow World -- it's the storytelling, its fascinating concepts and the heartfelt emotions it invoked, that will make this book stay with me for a long time. Authors of time-travel fiction have long speculated on the future of our planet and humankind, and Sullivan has accomplished something truly amazing with Hollow World, mixing together elements from many different genres including science fiction, fantasy, mystery, thriller and suspense, action-adventure and even a bit of romance.

This confluence of ideas from so many different genres is likely what made the book such a tough sell to publishers to begin with, but its multiple facets is actually what I enjoyed the most. In fact, Hollow World is like a study in pluralities. There are some heavy subject matters within, from interpretations of God and religion, to sociological discussions of hive mind versus individuality, harmony versus chaos. It asks questions like, when does a utopia become a dystopia, and does it matter from whose perspective we look at? Is it worth it to trade comfort and security for freedom? Or how about sacrificing peace and happiness for a sense of accomplishment? Is there a middle ground? Why can't we have it all?

Even though I thought I knew the answers, reading this book was an eye-opener. Ellis Rogers' journey to Hollow World changed his understanding of life and love, making him rethink all the things he always thought he knew, and I found myself naturally immersed in his experiences. At certain points, the story made me so angry I wanted to smack the main character upside the head; at others, I was so moved that I was almost in tears. Whether or not you'll find yourself shocked, disturbed, ecstatic, annoyed, or deeply touched (I was all of these and more), Hollow World is character driven story packed with humanity and emotion.

I rate this book highly based on pure enjoyment factor; Hollow World is so many things, but without a doubt, the best part about it is also its most obvious duality: that is it at once a light and entertaining read, but also heavy on important issues and philosophy. Most important of all, this story will make you feel and think. I absolutely loved it. show less

This is a trilogy of swashbuckling epic awesomeness. I'm a critical reader and hard to win over; so many fantasy books end up being forgettable and mediocre to me. When I started this one, I was instantly turned off by the banter, and I wasn't thrilled to be introduced to main characters who had a ton of history together. Great, I thought. It's going to be bogged down with backstory and cheesy banter.

I almost stopped reading, but these books have tons of glowing reviews, so I kept going, show more ready to stop if it didn't improve soon. And bit by bit, I got drawn in. This series is all banter and cheesiness on the surface, but it has epic scope and depths. It's not just about two thieves. There's adventure, there's romance, there's magic, and it's all excellent. Some of the main characters look cliche at first, but then you get to know them, and it turns out they're not the usual spoiled prince or big dumb thug. They have hidden depths, and they're memorable.

I grew to love the characters of Hadrian and Arista. I never warmed to Royce, but I'm not sure the reader is supposed to warm to him--and the rest of the cast more than makes up for him. I finished THEFT OF SWORDS wanting the next book. The rest of this trilogy blew me away, so I recommend it with a full five stars. It's well worth reading. show less