Book Review: Age of Legend (The Legends of the First Empire, #4) by Michael J. Sullivan
Cover art illustrated by Marc Simonetti
Age of Legend by Michael J. Sullivan
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Series: The Legends of the First Empire (Book #4 of 6)
Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic fantasy
Pages: 464 pages (Mass Market Paperback)
Published: 9th July 2019 by Grim Oak Press (Self-Published)
Age of Legend starts the second half and the end of The Legends of the First Empire, and I was so engrossed with this fourth installment.
“What a strange treasure is innocence, a virtue to the old and a curse to the young, so highly prized but eagerly parted with—the riches of beautiful skin traded for the wisdom of calluses. — THE BOOK OF BRIN”
I have mentioned in my Age of War review that I do not think any books in the rest of the series would be able to top Age of War as an installment. And although I still love Age of War more than Age of Legend, I’ll be lying if I said I felt bored reading this book. Age of Legend is the fourth installment in The Legends of the First Empire series, and it follows a different storytelling structure compared to the first three books of the series. Sullivan has warned this at the beginning of the book. The first section, which is the shortest one, dealt with the immediate aftermath of Age of War. The second section dealt with what happened a year after that. And finally, the third and last section, which is also the biggest portion of the novel, takes place five years after the end of the second section. To me, among other reasons, it felt like this storytelling structure was to showcase the deadly stalemate of the war between the human and the Fhrey as effectively as possible. And the majority of it definitely worked for me.
“People always believe their problems are the worst, and the rest of the world has it easier, but that cannot be true. Someone has to be wrong . . . right? — THE BOOK OF BRIN”
Honestly, it is shocking how captivated I was reading Age of Legend. Due to the storytelling structure, there was, understandably, no satisfying conclusion at the end of Age of Legend. If you expect a satisfying ending here, you won’t get one. The last chapter of Age of Legend is a cliffhanger. And thankfully, all the books in the series are out now. Sullivan has mentioned Age of Legend, Age of Death, and Age of Empyre will be one big overarching arc divided into three books. So, in a way, it is also expected that there won’t be a substantial plot progression in Age of Legend. I am unsure whether dividing the second half of the series into three novels is the correct decision. Seriously, Age of Legend was about 400 pages long, and it was such a quick read. It felt like the last three books in the series could’ve easily been compiled into one big novel. But hey, I guess I’ll find out eventually. Plus, I can’t complain about having more Marc Simonetti artwork gracing more cover art. More importantly, it was (in a good way) ridiculous how addictive and easy to read Age of Legend was. This is not a flaw. To easily immerse me into a book and hold my attention with the narrative is always a good thing. It goes to show, once again, how far Sullivan has improved as a storyteller and writer in his prose.
“Brin had never known anyone with a favorite star before, but she’d never known anyone like Tesh. He had his training; she had her writing, but they always found time for each other—usually at night under a sparkling sky.”
The themes of sacrifice, self-righteousness, justice, faith, revenge, and redemption are some of the main ones in Age of Legend. I will elaborate more on the theme of redemption soon, but first, let me praise Sullivan’s way of handling the theme of sacrifice in this book. The majority of Age of Legend revolves around the characters bickering and deciding the most logical and correct next step for their mission. That’s all I can say without giving away any spoilers. And Sullivan dives DEEP into the cliched plotline of sacrificing for the one you love. How far will you go to achieve your mission? How far will you go to save the one you love? Seriously, how far? These are the questions asked and answered in Age of Legend, and Sullivan succeeded brilliantly. In return, the narrative became so compelling. It helps that most of the POV characters in Age of Legend center around characters I love. Tesh, Brin, Gifford, and Suri, to mention a few. All the character and relationship development were executed magnificently. And I never felt bored. Even when the plot didn’t progress a lot, reading Age of Legend remain an entertaining and emotional experience.
“Brin still had a reputation to protect; Tressa didn’t. In many ways, she was happy to be rid of it. There was a lot less crap to deal with when no one cared.”
If you’ve read The Riyria Revelations, you will know that redemption is one of the most dominant themes in that series. Then you will also know just how good Sullivan is at writing a story circling this theme. I am delighted to see the deep exploration of redemption being embedded once more into the series, and it is through the character Tressa we see this the most in Age of Legend. It was so good, really. Tressa was one of my most unlikable characters in the series, and with this one book, Sullivan twisted that notion in reverse. I would not say Tressa has become one of my favorite characters. Not yet. But she has become an empathizing character in Age of Legend, and she showed how much of a burden reputation can be. Tressa also exhibited how terrifying someone’s determination can be when they don’t have anything to lose anymore. And this enhanced my previous paragraph regarding the theme of sacrifice. There is probably no redemption for Mawyndule, though. Mawyndule’s spoiled, self-righteous, and selfish personality is beyond saving now. At this stage, only death and torture visiting him will make me satisfied with his character’s arc. We’ll see how that turns out in the last two books in the series.
“Moya would be laughing, Persephone shaking her head sadly. But then Brin didn’t have their wisdom, their years, their cynicism. For Brin, the world was still a place with empty spaces, blank voids where anything might dwell. Nothing was really impossible. Not yet. Age and experience proved suspicions, hardened rules, deadened imagination. Brin, Tressa felt, was still just young enough to believe the unbelievable.”
Lastly, some scenes, sequences, and revelations here undoubtedly improved because I’ve read The Riyria Chronicles and The Riyria Revelations first. I know, I know. I know that it is not mandatory to read The Riyria books first before reading The Legends of the First Empire. But speaking from my experience, the Easter Eggs relating to The Riyria books wouldn’t have meant a significant power or value over the narrative if I haven’t read them first. We get to see more of the truth behind the legendary figures and myths talked about or appearing in The Riyria books having more spotlight here. Even the character Tesh, upon his first appearance in Age of Sword, instantly meant a huge deal to me. And in Age of Legend, I was proven right about who he is. Well, after all, this book is titled Age of Legend. The narrative also displayed the importance of the Book of Brin, and I can’t wait to read the next book to unveil what’s next in the character’s journey of life and death.
“Revenge. That’s what you want, Tesh. And revenge is contagious—evil given for evil received… This justice you’re after—it’s just one more terrible thing someone is doing because something awful was done to them. You aren’t fixing anything. You’re breaking more things and calling it better! And you aren’t freeing the world of a monster, you’re taking its place.”
I have only two books left in the series to read. At this stage, I’ve started to love a few characters in the series (especially Tesh, Suri, and Gifford) almost as much as I did the characters of The Riyria books. Age of Death and Age of Empyre will decide how deeply I care about them in the end. And the last two books in the series will also determine whether The Legends of the First Empire will be able to match The Riyria books for me or not. I am excited to find out the result in December. Age of Legend is a compelling foundation and start to the second half of The Legends of the First Empire. I don’t think it is beneficial for the second half of the series to be divided into three small books, but I’ll come to this point again after I finish reading the entire series.
“The truth is that everyone can achieve greatness, but many don’t try because they think of themselves as merely ordinary.”
Picture: Age of Legend by Marc Simonetti
You can order this book from: Blackwells (Free International shipping)
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One thought on “Book Review: Age of Legend (The Legends of the First Empire, #4) by Michael J. Sullivan”
Great review! You’ve thorough. Love your YT channel as well.