All in all, I really loved Age of Myth for the most part, and as someone who’s a HUGE fan of both the YA fantasy genre, and the adult fantasy genre, I felt like this book had almost all of the elements that I enjoy the most in an epic fantasy story. Michael J. Sullivan also did an excellent job of setting up the overall premise of the series in general, introducing each of the main characters, and setting up the various storylines for the series. One of the things that I felt helped to set this book and Sullivan’s take on the fantasy genre in general apart from the other fantasy books that I’ve read over the years is definitely the tone of his writing. Despite the fact that the Legends of the First Empire series is an action-packed story with a decent amount of compelling drama and intrigue, there were also quite a few lighthearted moments throughout the course of the book as well; especially when it came to Sullivan’s writing for the character Malcom, who kind came across as being somewhat of a comic relief character at times.
Another thing that I particularly really enjoyed about Sullivan’s writing style is the fact that while both this book and the Legends of the First Empire series in general are an epic fantasy story, I ultimately felt like this book had a quaint feel to it due to how the various groups of people were portrayed, and the fact that the various groups of people and storylines that were taking place throughout the book had pretty much all come together by the end of the book. That being said, if I had to say what my biggest hope for the series as it continues is currently, it would be that I really hope that Sullivan finds ways to expand upon the world-building; possibly by having the characters split up into different groups, and start venturing off to different locations for various reasons, most likely introducing more characters, locations, and cultures along way. Ultimately, I just hope that Sullivan is able to find ways to maintain the quaint tone of his storytelling and writing style as the series progresses; while also not doing it in such a way that it could potentially hinder the world-building aspect of the series in the long run.
If I had to say what I thought this book’s biggest strongpoint was, it would definitely be the characters. Age of Myth, and the Legends of the First Empire series in general, has a lot of really great, well-written characters to the point that it’s pretty much impossible for me to pick just one of them as my favorite character in the book. That being said, Raithe, Malcolm, Persephone, and Nyphron definitely stand out as being my favorite characters. Sullivan definitely did a great job conveying Raithe’s struggle with embracing his destiny as the God Killer, as well as having to deal with everybody’s reactions to him killing a Fhrey, and a variety of other problems that he was struggling with emotionally throughout the course of the book.
In many ways, Malcolm really came across to me as being somewhat of a comedic relief character; because I frequently found the things that he said and did throughout the book genuinely funny. I also thought that it was really interesting that while Malcolm was a slave, Sullivan made it pretty clear that Malcolm had apparently been treated very well as a slave. When it comes to characters featured in fantasy stories who are slaves, they’re pretty much always treated horribly as slaves in my experience; so, it was definitely very surprising and interesting to me that Malcolm was used to being treated well as a slave. Another thing about Malcolm that I found very interesting, is the fact that it’s established towards the end of the book that he was once a slave of Nyphron’s father, Zephyron, and that Malcolm had actually been ordered by Nyphron to kill Shegon. I honestly didn’t see that reveal coming at all when I read Age of Myth the first time, and I’m really excited to see where Sullivan takes the partnership between Malcolm and Nyphron as the series continues; especially now that Persephone has given Nyphron and his Galantians refuge in Dahl Rhen.
I thought that Persephone was also a very compelling character with a very interesting storyline in Age of Myth. Sullivan did a fantastic job of portraying Persephone grieving Reglan’s death, and her struggle with how it affected her status amongst the Dahl Rhen society; while also demonstrating excellent leadership ability throughout the course of the book due to her husband’s successor as the chieftain, Konniger’s, incompetence. Persephone demonstrating excellent leadership ability throughout the course of the book definitely made her being named the new chieftain of the Dahl Rhen at the end of the book much more rewarding than it most likely would have been if she had been named the new chieftain simply because Konniger had been killed by Grin the Brown after it was revealed that he had intentionally killed Reglan, and the fact that she had been Reglan’s wife.
While I don’t really have very much at all to say about Nyphron as an individual character in this review due to the fact that I felt like he wasn’t in Age of Myth all that much; I definitely think that he’s a really great character in a variety of ways. First off, I thought that his interaction with the citizens of Dahl Rhen in his first scene in the book was rather amusing. However, Nyphron definitely also has great mysterious quality to him as well; especially after reading the scene towards the end of the book where it’s established that he has ties to Malcolm. That scene has definitely left me feeling very excited to see where Nyphron’s storyline goes next in Age of Swords.
One of the supporting characters that I should definitely mention is Gifford. Gifford’s mother died giving birth to him due to his severe deformities, and he was only expected to live for a few years; but he ultimately grew up to become a very talented potter, and a member of Dahl Rhen. Personally, I think that it’s pretty cool that Sullivan created a character who suffers from a disability, but he’s still portrayed as being a functioning member of the Dahl Rhen, who is respected for his talent as a potter; rather than being portrayed as a person that the other members of the Dahl Rhen pity, or view as being nothing but a burden to society. Even though Gifford is only a supporting character in the Legends of the First Empire series, I’m still really looking forward to seeing what Sullivan does with him as a character throughout the course of the series.
While I’ve only read the first book in the Legends of the First Empire series so far, I already feel like the series has a lot of the elements that I’m looking for in a fantasy book series, especially when it comes to epic fantasy stories: complex and compelling characters, interesting storylines, and excellent world-building. That being said, I do hope that the series will become at least a little bit more action-oriented going forward by incorporating more fight scenes, and hopefully some dragons, into future books.
All things considered, Age of Myth is definitely an excellent start to Sullivan’s Legends of the First Empire series, and I’m very excited to FINALLY continue on with the series, because it’s definitely a series that has a lot going for it; especially when it comes to the characters and the tone of Sullivan’s writing.
That being said, my score for Age of Myth is 10 out of 10.
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