Book Review: Wintertide

Wintertide

By:  Michael J. Sullivan

Publisher:  Ridan Publishing

Publish Date:  October 2010

Format: ARC

Series:  5th book in Riyria Revelation; The Crown Conspiracy, Avempartha, Nyphron Rising, Emerald Storm

Recommendation:  YES! This is a great fast paced fantasy read with great characters and underlining thread of conspiracy through the books.

Book Synopsis:
A FORCED WEDDING. A DOUBLE EXECUTION. TWO THIEVES HAVE OTHER PLANS.

The New Empire intends to celebrate its victory over the Nationalists with a day that will never be forgotten. On the high holiday of Wintertide the empress will be married. Degan Gaunt and the Witch of Melengar will be publicly executed. Then the empress will suffer a fatal accident leaving the empire in the hands of the new emperor. It will be a perfect day. There is only one problem-Royce and Hadrian have finally found the lost heir.
 
First Sentence:
Some people are skilled, and some are lucky, but at that moment Mince realized he was neither.

My Review and Summary:
Royce and Hadrian ride in to Aquesta ragged and cold from the journey.  Many people are coming to Aquesta for the upcoming Wintertide Celebration, one month away.  The news has spread that Modina is to be married and the Nationalist leader Degan Gaunt will be executed, all as part of the celebrations.  Melengar has fallen to the Imperial Empire.  With this many worries come to mind... How's Gwen? Arista? Alric?  So much to happen and worry about and questions to answer.

Not only do we meet new characters, but all the old ones are back in this installment.  I got a chuckle at the beginning of this book with the small group of young thieves we meet.  But, by now we are all well acquainted with the characters and ready for Michael to bring them back to life for us, seeing as its been six months since I was diverse into Emerald Storm Michael does a wonderful job of quick, detailed and eventful reintroductions to refresh our memories and draw us into their dilemmas again.  I was excited to be back into this world ~ its comfortable to me and I want to see where we are going with the situations the characters were left in, in Emerald Storm.  As it turned out I was through this book within three days.  As soon as I started, I couldn't put it down.  I just had to know what would happen to these characters left in a little bit of a tight spot.

Michael did a great job of setting up for this book with the previous ones and using what he had available in all aspects of the world.  There is nothing new pulled out of thin air or make you wonder 'where did that come from', everything we need and know have been laid out for us, but now tied together to answer questions for us.  Many of the smaller unknowns and lose ends are tied up here.  All this done within a captivating story in which Michael brings all the characters together and to a demise, good or bad.  As we get answers to some of the questions left open we are prepared with some thoughts and cues we may have forgotten or set aside in our minds, to be ready to dive into the conclusion of the series.



Would you like to visit Michael Sullivan's site?  CLICK HERE.


I received a copy from the author.
This book qualifies for the Speculative Fiction Challenge, hosted by Book Chick City.