It is the story that makes these books worth reading. Sullivan avoids social commentary or preaching in this tale (Paolini anyone)? If you’re looking for complex prose, deeper meanings that make you sit and think for days, or layered history and geography, look somewhere else. But if you’re looking for something that is FUN, you found it. This is a straightforward fantasy romp that is storytelling at its finest.
The story is filled with intrigues, assassinations, mysteries, court machinations, sieges, explosions, thefts, duels, tragedies, loves, sacrifices, villainies, unexpected twists, and the list goes on and on. Each of the three volumes is over 600 pages, but when I was done, I wanted more!
However (there’s always a however, isn't there?) the story is straightforward, especially at the beginning. The characters are pretty stereotypical to start with, becoming more complex as the story continues. Sometimes the dialogue is a little stilted. There are several side plots that only get a little attention, but slow the story down from time to time. Keep in mind that these books are not the literary equivalent of a fine dining experience. No fancy dishes or expensive wine list here. This is more like sitting down at your favorite restaurant and sinking your teeth into comfort food. You can feel the flavor wash over you!
The Riyria Revelations are fantasy writing at its simplest and finest. This is the ideal series to spend at home on a cold winter day; or summer day for that matter. I would recommend not starting to read it on a Monday, because the temptation to use a sick day to finish the series may become overwhelming! But hey, if it’s an emergency…
Just read it!
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About Fiction Vortex
Fiction Vortex, let’s see …
A fiction vortex is a tornado of stories that pick you up and hurl you through a barn to find enlightenment on the other side. It’s a whirlpool of fascinating tales so compelling that they suck you in, drag you down to the bottom of your mind, and drown you with incessant waves of glorious imagery and believable characters.
Nope.
A fiction vortex is an online speculative fiction magazine focused on publishing great science fiction and fantasy, and is run by incredibly attractive and intelligent people with great taste in literature and formidable writing prowess.
Not that either. But we’re getting closer.
Founded in the 277th year of the Takolatchni Dynasty, Fiction Vortex set out to encourage people to write and publish great speculative fiction. It sprang fully formed from the elbow of TWOS, retaining none of TWOS’s form but most of its spirit. And the patron god of writers, the insecure, the depressed, and the mentally ill regarded Fiction Vortex in his magic mirror of self-loathing and declared it good, insofar as something that gives writer’s undue hope can be declared good. Thereafter, he charged the Rear Admiral of the Galactic 5th Fleet to defend Fiction Vortex down to the last robot warrior.
Now we’re talking.
Take your pick. We don’t care how you characterize us or the site.
Fiction Vortex focuses on publishing speculative fiction. That means science fiction and fantasy (with a light smattering of horror and a few other subgenres), be it light, heavy, deep, flighty, spaceflighty, cerebral, visceral, epic, or mundane. But mundane in a my-local-gas-station-has-elf-mechanics-but-it’s-not-really-a-big-deal-around-here kind of way. Got it?
Basically, we want imaginative stories that are well written, but not full of supercilious floridity.
There’s a long-standing belief that science fiction and fantasy stories aren’t as good as purely literary fare. We want you to prove that mindset wrong (not just wrong, but a steaming pile of griffin dung wrong) with every story we publish. It’s almost like we’re saying, "I do not bite my thumb at you, literary snobs, but I do bite my thumb," but in a completely polite and non-confrontational way.
We've got more great stories online, with a new story twice a week. Visit our website FictionVortex.com, follow us on Twitter: @FictionVortex, and like us on Facebook: FictionVortex.
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Fiction Vortex - May 2014 Page 6