Age of Myth (Legends of the First Empire Series #1)

by Michael J. Sullivan

Overview

One of fantasy’s finest next-generation storytellers continues to break new ground.

Michael J. Sullivan’s trailblazing career began with the breakout success of his Riyria series: full-bodied, spellbinding fantasy adventures whose imaginative scope and sympathetic characters won a devoted readership and comparisons to fantasy masters Brandon Sanderson, Scott Lynch, and J.R.R. Tolkien himself. Now Age of Myth inaugurates an original five-book series.

Since time immemorial, humans have worshipped the gods they call Fhrey, truly a race apart: invincible in battle, masters of magic, and seemingly immortal. But when a god falls to a human blade, the balance of power between humans and those they thought were gods changes forever.

Now only a few stand between humankind and annihilation: Raithe, reluctant to embrace his destiny as the God Killer; Suri, a young seer burdened by signs of impending doom; and Persephone, who must overcome personal tragedy to lead her people. The Age of Myth is over. The time of rebellion has begun.

Magic, fantasy, and mythology collide in Michael J. Sullivan’s Legends of the First Empire series:
AGE OF MYTH • AGE OF SWORDS • AGE OF WAR

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101965351
Publisher:	Random House Worlds
Publication date:	01/31/2017
Series:	Legends of the First Empire Series , #1
Pages:	464
Sales rank:	61,326
Product dimensions:	4.20(w) x 7.50(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Michael J. Sullivan opened the first door to his imagination with typewriter keys found in a friend’s basement when he was just ten years old. Today he uses computer keys, writing classic fantasy with unlikely heroes, including the bestselling Riyria novels and his latest epic Legends of the First Empire.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter One
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Age of Myth"
by .
Copyright © 2017 Michael J. Sullivan.
Excerpted by permission of Random House Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Editorial Reviews

Praise for Michael J. Sullivan
 
“Hair-raising escapes, flashy sword fights, and faithful friendship complete the formula for good old-fashioned escapist fun.”—Publishers Weekly, on Theft of Swords
 
“Filled with adventure and clever dialog and featuring a pair of not-quite-heroes whose loyalties to each other provide them with their greatest strength, this epic fantasy showcases the arrival of a master storyteller.”—Library Journal, on Theft of Swords
 
“With less gore and a smaller cast of characters than George R. R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire but equally satisfying, Sullivan’s epic fantasy will be gaining fans at exponential rates.”—Library Journal, on The Rose and the Thorn

From the Publisher

04/04/2016
The first volume in Sullivan’s prequel series, set 3,000 years before his Riyria epic fantasy books, is an uneven effort that peters off after an intriguing opening. In “the days of darkness before the war,” men live in fear of the Fhrey, gods who reside across the Bern River. Raithe of the Dureyan clan and his father, Herkimer, have ventured onto the gods’ lands, crossing the forbidden river in search of a place to live, farm, and hunt. Their trespass is quickly detected, and they’re confronted by an immortal. After Herkimer refuses to surrender a cherished family sword, the confrontation turns violent, the god kills Herkimer, and Raithe avenges his father’s death by slitting the god’s throat. He’s shocked that the immortal does not recover from the wound, and the ramifications of a man actually having killed a god drive the rest of the plot as the Fhrey begin a campaign of revenge. The bloodshed and political machinations are mild by grimdark fantasy standards, and the occasional modern phrasing is jarring. Agent: Laurie McLean, Fuse Literary. (June)

Publishers Weekly

2016-04-13
In Elan's ancient past, men were called Rhunes and were treated as less than animals by the long-lived, magic-wielding Fhrey, whom the Rhunes believe to be immortal gods. With a suspenseful plot and some engaging characters, the first book of a new epic-fantasy series returns Sullivan's (The Death of Dulgath, 2015, etc.) readers to the land of Elan 3,000 years before the events of his previous Riyria Chronicles. One of the five major races of Elan, the Rhunes eke out poverty-stricken lives in clusters of small settlements, or dahls, while the extremely long-lived and well-heeled Fhrey rule as if they were gods. But when Raithe and his father cross the forbidden Bern River, their trespass blossoms into a war between the Fhrey and the Rhunes, in which Raithe earns the name of God-Killer and the Fhrey learn to respect Rhunes as men. Along the way readers will encounter a ferocious, possibly demonic, man-killing bear, Grin the Brown; a mystic child, Suri, who is far more than she seems, and her white wolf companion, Minna; a brave widow, Persephone, who will become the first female chieftain of her dahl; and a host of others, including such genre standards as giants, talking trees, goblins, and woodland spirits, all painted into a vast but familiar fantasy canvas. Sullivan's world is richly detailed but emotionally threadbare since all the action, bloodshed, magic, and menace lead to a clichéd conclusion: the good ones win, and the evil ones lose.

Kirkus Reviews