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Review
"Mr. Sullivan continues to impress. In Royce and Hadrian he has created some of the best characters the genre has seen in some time, and in Avempartha he shows that he knows what to do with them. These books should be in every bookstore and I really hope that they are someday." (Speculative Fiction Junkie)"The arrival of a master storyteller... A winning debut for fantasy lovers."—
Library Journal on Theft of Swords"Hair-raising escapes, flashy sword fights, and faithful friendship complete the formula for good old-fashioned escapist fun."—
Publishers Weekly on Theft of Swords"A whirlwind of twists, earth-shattering surprises and deadly betrayal."—
Literary Magic on Theft of Swords From the Author
Welcome to the second book in The Riyria Chronicles. I've received many emails and seen forum posts from people asking, "When is the third book in The Riyria Chronicles being released?" I guess trilogies are so common in fantasy that many assume this was one of them, but this series was written as a duology (with the potential to be expanded) and both books were released in 2013.
The Rose and the Thorn's genesis started with a short story I wrote back in October 2011 called
The Viscount and the Witch where Royce and Hadrian first meet Viscount Albert Winslow. At the time my released books were in a bit of a limbo state as my self-published versions of Revelations had been removed from the market to make way for the Orbit books that were available for pre-order but not yet released. When I decided to write a prequel, the obvious choice was to start with that short story, and in fact
The Viscount and the Witch appears as the second chapter of that book. As I neared its completion, I realized I hadn't gone back far enough in time (I had to write how Royce and Hadrian first met) and so
The Crown Tower came into existence.
The two prequels work nicely together, filling in the details of incidents only lightly hinted at, and fleshing in the background of some of my favorite characters from Revelations that didn't get as much screen time that I would have liked. I could easily wrap things here, but I do have more stories about the pair running around my head that I would love to get "out there." The issue is I don't want to be "that guy" who doesn't know when to quit, and I would rather Royce and Hadrian leave early than stay too long. As such, I'm in a holding pattern with regards to committing to future Riyria books.
What to write next is a bit of a moot point at the moment. Currently I'm in the middle of my next trilogy (tentatively titled The First Empire) which should keep me occupied until April 2014. At that time I'll be ready to start my next book, and I'll be reviewing feedback from readers to determine if there should be more Royce and Hadrian or whether I should concentrate on something else entirely. If you would like to "weigh in" drop me an email at michael.sullivan.dc@gmail.com or you can answer a short survey found at michaeljsullivan.polldaddy.com/s/future-writing-feeedback-html.
For those who are concerned I don't want to write more abut the pair, I can lay your fears to rest. I wouldn't offer future Riyria books as an option if I didn't have compelling stories to tell and a desire to bring them to life. The only thing I know for certain, is that I'm going to continue writing. It's my favorite pastime and I have more stories in my head than I have years left on this earth to write. So I'll keep writing, and hopefully there will be some people that will keep reading.
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