Age of Death

The good news is that death is not the end, but that is also the bad news.
-The Book of Brin

Age of Death picks up exactly where the cliffhanger ending of the previous book leaves off. It makes for an intense start to the book that unfortunately slows back down as the story splits to follow both events in the underworld and how things are going in the regular world.

This is a solid middle book where some forward plot progression is made, albeit at a slow pace. It also wraps up in a cliffhanger-style ending, though I didn't feel urgency of the previous book as I don't feel that the characters are truly in jeopardy. Everyone keeps making the abyss a big deal, how Trilos fell down it and disappeared but we know Trilos is in the garden so show more obviously the abyss is not the end of their existence. I am genuinely curious to see how these stories will come together for the grand finale and hope the question of who Lothian sacrificed to make his dragon is answered. show less

I have been dying to read all of this series from Age of Myth to the conclusion Age of Empyre. So far I have read with anticipation and excitement. Sullivan has created this wondrous and fanciful world rich with myths and legends. Complex characters and complex plots. I have love all of these books so far. To say this book is better than that book is really hard to say. They all have Sullivan's wonderful plot and character development. Then at the end of Age of Legend, I realized now our beloved characters were going to explore the world of the dead.

I approached this book with some trepidation. I was not sure how Sullivan was going to describe the world of the dead. And I did not want to be disappointed if he goes against my religious show more beliefs. But I was willing to take a leap of faith on this book in his series.

I was not disappointed. It was not how I pictured the world of the dead, but at least he did not have any weird zombies or demon hordes chasing them in the after life. But in his typical fashion he described his version of the after life in a vivid and lifelike sort of manner. Like I said, not the way I imagined it, but his version had well thought out and imaginative view of the after life.

Despite my worries and concerns, this book is worth the read and is an important part of the Legends of the First Empire. I won't say too much of the plot, but to say the plot continues to draw me in the more it unfolds. Any one who has enjoyed the series so far will enjoy this one. show less

** Disclaimer, I have an early copy due to his recent kickstarter and spoilers incoming although I will try to keep them vague **

AHHHH these cliffhangers, I had barely recovered from the previous book and boom here comes a new one...

At the end of Age of Legend our party of unlikely heroes descended into the swaps to pass into the afterlife into Phyre and Suri was captured by the Fhrey and transported to Estramnadon and held prisoner demanding the secrets of the Gilarabrywn.

Now our band of heroes must traverse the realms of Phyre while pondering the questions of is there a fate worse than death they must face and what links will the lords of Rel and Nifrel do to stop them?

In a heart pounding race across the realm sacrifices will be made show more and the tides of the war will change as the Fane discovers the price of war. But will it end up being to high? show less

For the first 4 books in the series I listened to the audiobooks (and narrator Tim Gerard Doyle is AMAZING). Due to COVID-19 my library system has had issues, only has the paper book, and I can't even request a book to be ordered. So I read the paper version, which has the advantage of being able to go back and re-read key passages, as well as apparently Michael's wife Robin has written afterwords in all the paper books which I enjoyed a great deal. As for the story itself, it's great, though not my favorite in the series. I'm looking forward to the finale to see how all the strands play out.

Sullivan's 5th in the series is nowhere near as good as 1-4. It takes place mostly in the underworld and has many longwinded speeches by 'Gods' explaining the origins of the world from their own viewpoint. Where these tales have sometimes lacked in character development, the author usually makes up in spades for plot and storyline propulsion/pacing. Here, we neither had the plot, spacing nor characters. I will always forgive a one off book by an author whom I generally quite enjoy ... so I will be back for the end of this series.

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 show more 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, on my blog) 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 on my blog), 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. show less

First disappointment by Sullivan. It’s going to take a sound final book to make this book an integral (necessary) part of the the series. Persephone has sent Suri to the Fhrey homeland to seek peace. The Fane tricked Suri and has removed her powers. Now, The only chance for humanity to survive lays in the hands of the dead. Brin, Moya, Tekchin, Rain, Gifford, Roan, Tressa, and eventually Tesh are caught in the underworld.