I am glad I dug into Michael J Sullivan's previous novels prior to starting this one. It is constantly said by Sullivan that you need to have no prior knowledge of the world he has created or the the events of the previous books, but I found that this was not entirely true for this series. Going from Riyria Revelations to the Legends of the First Empire series or vice versa can very easily be done, as there are the most minor Easter eggs between the two. But I feel like readers will be missing a lot of important information and worldbuilding if they have not read the Legends of the First Empire series prior to starting the Rise and Fall series.

I'm hoping this series takes a more standalone format that is connected more by themes, than by being outright sequels as I have a hard time being invested in what happens to our two main characters following the conclusion of this story. The character building was strong enough in this book, though nowhere near as masterful as what Sullivan displayed in his LotFE series. This one also felt more rushed, and like the events of the novel didn't really have room to breathe and develop in comparison to both the Revelations and LotFE series. While this was nowhere near Sullivan's best work, it was still a fun tale that shows a little bit more of the history of this world.

I am guilty of owning several books by Michael J. Sullivan that are sitting, unread, in my house. Sorry - for me, that is. "Nolyn" is a great story that I thoroughly enjoyed. The characters are crafted very well, and there are more than a few surprises tucked away. The writing is engrossing, and it feels like no word is wasted. The world has been constructed with a lot of care, making it believable and one you'll want to return to.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

I really enjoyed this story. I have read some of the Riyria Revelations, so this is not my first experience in this world, but I am by no means well versed in the lore.

I thought that the story had a slow start- I don’t particularly care about military tactics, but I soon came to like all the characters that we are introduced to.

I feel like I needed more time with Nolan’s character. I don’t really feel like I know him and I don’t connect with him much.

Sephryn’s plot line was my favourite - I am a sucker for a good heist and it defiantly pulls on your heartstrings.

I found both plot lines to be very engaging and I was hooked once the story got going. Loved the little twists that popped up.

I would say that the ending dragged a bit after the battle - the wrap up was maybe a little long. I wish we had a little more build up of the relationship between Nolyn and Sephryn. We know that they were together up to a year ago and they love each other but not a lot is explored there and me being a romance lover, I just wish there was a little more substance there.

I feel like if this was the first time I’ve read a story in this world I could have used a bit more world building. There are references to people/events that I’m not really sure of and I would have loved to see a bit more of the magic.

I LOVED the ending(last page), so heartwarming!

Overall I really enjoyed continuing in this world with a new band of characters, and am interested to see where we are going next.

This was my first Michael J. Sullivan book, although I'm familiar with the names of other series the author has published. I mainly read epic fantasy like GRR, Joe Abercrombie, Steven Erikson, Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson etc. so I have to compare this also to where this new series stands within the genre.

The cover art is amazing and I really appreciated the ebook link to a bigger map - well done publisher!
I also adored the foreword by the author himself, this gave it a very nice personal touch we readers like.

First up there's no question. Michael J. Sullivan can write.
I preferred Sephryn's POV simply because I was far more emotionally invested and the plot itself was interesting enough.
However the side characters were not fleshed out enough for my taste. They were just names and occupations next to our two main characters. I hardly got background stories or motives. I did like the tension between all the races, but the whole "my god is better than your god" is not one of my favorite tropes and put me off a bit. The pantheon also needed something more (maybe there's more info in the other books?).

Altogether still an entertaining read, but it's a case of "it's me" not the book itself.

Thank you Grim Oak Press and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 out of 5 stars

You don’t need to have read any of his other books to enjoy this one though I have enjoyed everything I’ve read by him. (I should go back and mark the older books I’ve read by him in Goodreads…)
This book focuses on two half human half Fhrey (elves, they are absolutely elves) characters. One is the emperor’s son who hasn’t seen his Fhrey father in centuries and has been fighting for hundreds of years in never ending conflicts with a goblin/orc like species. The other is a woman who also has a Fhrey father and has been an imperial counselor with no real power for unending years. Obviously things aren’t going terribly well in the empire. Humans and Fhrey may be living together but there are too many conflicts between them. This volume wraps up well with an obvious path to book two.
I will say that if you haven’t read the Riyria Revelations they were a very fun read. I remember thinking while reading book 1 that if there has been a chandelier someone would have swung from it!

It's a new age in this world and we get form fresh new heroes. I love Sullivan's work and this one is no exception. We get to see Moya's daughter and Persephone's son try to bring the empire to rights. It is nonstop adventure the whole way through!

Nolyn is the first book in the Rise and Fall series. Although it is set in the same world as the Riyria series and the Legend of the First Empire series, this trilogy is standalone tale and so you don't have to read the previous work to enjoy it. The story takes place over eight hundred years after the events of the Legend of the First Empire series and the two main characters, Nolyn and Serphyrn, are children of the legendary characters from that series.
Once again, Sullivan has created a compelling and enjoyable tale set in this vivid world. It was so good to be back in this world and exploring it with new characters was so enjoyable. The writing continues to be great and I found it so easy to settle into the flow of the story. The side characters really brought out the best of the main characters and their story arcs. I liked the protagonist but their interactions with the side characters just made it even better. The world is a vivid one, the characters are well written and the plot is compelling.
Nolyn was a fantastic introduction to this new trilogy and I highly recommend checking it out if you haven't already. Whether you've read the previous books in the other series or are completely new to this world, I think you'll really enjoy this one.

I received this book as an eARC from Netgalley. All opinions are my own!

Nolyn might be the heir to the empyre, but someone is most definitely trying to kill him. Can he figure things out in time to save the people he cares about...not to mention himself?

I absolutely adored this book! The first thing that drew me in was the writing style and how well it flowed. It felt like such a quick and easy read, even though it was so complex and detailed. It was so easy for me to sit back and relax while reading this and not have to worry about my brain trying to catch up with learning about a whole new fantasy world.

The amount of time that I became attached to these characters was probably a personal record. I think that for most of the characters, the first scene with them had me absolutely hooked on them. I loved the way their stories were portrayed and how their personalities came out despite how old they were and not knowing all of their pasts. I was so invested in the characters that I did not want to put the book down, and even had it on my phone so that I could read at any spare moment!

I do wish that there had been more explaining of the world itself because I was unfamiliar with a lot of the terms and felt confused about a few of the world-building things even at the end of the book. But I will say that everything was slowly woven into the book and was expertly done so that the reader wouldn't suffer through any sort of info dump!

I have not read any of the other books written in this fantasy world, but I can definitely say that I will be headed to the bookstore to pick them up ASAP! I adored just about everything about this book, and I can't wait to read more!

If you like high fantasy, this series is going to be for you! Look no further to find lovable characters, intricate plot, and beautiful writing!

Thank you to NetGalley and Grim Oak Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

So, I’ll start with saying I always enjoy Sullivan’s work. There are some that I enjoy more, and honestly, I don’t think he’ll ever be able to top Hadrian and Royce as my favorite duo. With that said, I really like the character he’s created in Nolyn as we travel back to this world he’s built through so many books. I would even go so far as to say that Nolyn, with his sense of humor and wit, is my favorite after Hadrian and Royce. Many of the characters are new, and yet the story is deeply connected those written before it with us getting to know the children and ancestors of those we’ve gotten to know in other series as we start to see how the Empire came to be what it was in Hadrian and Royce’s day. You don’t necessarily have to have read the other series set in this world to enjoy Nolyn, but to fully enjoy the layers and complexity of the world Sullivan is building I highly suggest at least reading the Legends of the First Empire series before diving in.

Now for the actual book. There is thrilling danger. There is a malicious archvillain. There’s an ancient being who at least seems benevolent though he may just be meddlesome. And, as always with Sullivan’s books, there’s a main character who will bring humor to the pages even in dark times who you’ll root for and groan when they make terrible choices because the best heroes aren’t perfect.

Firstly I would like to thank the publisher Grim Oak press and Netgalley for providing me with an Advanced Reading copy of the book. This does not affect my opinions and overall ratings of the book.

Nolyn is the first book in a planned standalone trilogy titled 'Rise and Fall' that tells the story of..... well the rise and fall of the first empire told in three separate instances of the empire's lifespan. We return to the world of Elan about eight hundred years after the events of the previous series (The Legends of the First Empire). The story is told mainly in the perspective of Nolyn Nyphronian and Sephryn, the children of the heroes from the previous series, Nolyn being the son of Emperor Nyphron and Persephone.

The Fhrey have been overcome, the alliance between humans and Nyphron's group of "rebel fhrey" have succeeded in defeating them. A new empire dawns, one that allows both human and Fhrey to coexist equally. Well that was the ideal. In reality, Persephone is dead, the heroes of humanity have faded into myths and legends but Nyphron and his Fhrey remain and they run the empire. Humanity have traded one master for another slightly less ruthless one.

In comes Nolyn the young prince (if you call 800ish years old young) Supposedly hated by his father, Nolyn is constantly sent to defend the outermost fringes of the empire from external threats. On his most recent ordeal, he learns of a plot on his life that might have come all the way up from the emperor himself, his story follows him along with a squad of soldiers who are loyal to him in his quest for the truth. This was easily the strongest part of the book, the author excells at his storytelling when we follow a ragtag cast of characters. They bounce off each other perfectly in their interactions, the quick wit and lighthearted tone made these sections fly away quickly.
The second major POV Sephryn on the other hand was less intriguing and this honestly is where the book looses steam after the explosive start with Nolyn's battle. Sephryn's POV starts just as strong as Nolyn's but then quickly drops off. Her story is one of desperation and follows the ordeals she undertakes to save her loved ones. As said above, the author excells when there is a cast that bounces off each other, but in Sephryn's case it feels like the author tried to convey a more serious tone and was ultimately unsuccessful in pulling it off. The slower pacing of the book at this section is what did it most harm.
The pacing dropping off is probably the biggest factor against this book. Its starts really well (for both POV's) and then slows to a crawl and then finally picking back up for an explosive finale in the last 100 or so pages. This is especially more annoying considering that this is a rather small book (Not a 1000 page doorstopper or potential murder weapon), so technically the section of slower pace accounts to roughly 100 pages and still the drag in pacing made it feel longer than what it actually was (personal opinion) is worrying. That said, the finale was spectacular enough to forgive some of the pacing issues. It conveyed love, loss, pain and a conclusion that left a bittersweet feeling. Here's to hoping the author improves on the pacing issues in his upcoming sequels.

Lastly, although the author has mentioned that this book could be read without reading the prequel or sequel series, I wouldn't recommend it IF you are currently reading through 'Legends of the first Empire' (this was my situation as I was halfway through' Age of War' book three of that series) and this book contains some spoilers for the ending as well as some of the later events of that series.

Nolyn was my first foray into the world of Michael J. Sullivan's Elan which I had been greatly anticipating. I originally planned to read some of the other books first, but seeing that this book is noted to be a place you can start with, I jumped on it.

This book was definitely a slow start for me, but once it picked up I found myself very much enjoying the experience. The dialogue (especially between Nolyn and the Seventh Sik Aux) was humorous and just felt very natural. Sullivan does a great job of explaining the setting and history to a first time reader without resorting to info-dumps which is great for a first time reader, but also I'm sure much appreciated by his long time readers.

While I enjoyed the humorous, light nature of the book, there are definitely some deeper moments in the story as well. Noyln's reflections on his own life and the lives of the Fhrey are both deep and very interesting to read. The nature of practically immortal beings is explored here in a very unique way that is very thought-provoking.

The other main character, Sephryn, took me a bit longer to be invested in, but had a very satisfying story as well. Sullivan weaves the two very different but connected storylines together exceptionally well, and I think his storytelling ability coupled with the light-hearted nature of the book make this a delight to read. There are definitely some things here and there it's best not to over think (out of place phrases for example) but if you go looking for a fun ride and a great story, you will not be disappointed.

As I said this was my first read of Sullivan's work, but it definitely will not be my last! I'm excited to continue in this world and read more of his work!

Nolyn by Michael J. Sullivan. a good fantasy novel about two half-bloods, a prince and his lady , caught between two worlds,

Nolyn is the first in a new series by Riyria author Michael J Sullivan. His Riyria Revelations series is in my top 10 list, but for some reason I just couldn’t get into the Riyria Chronicles, which is a prequel series detailing the origin story of the Riyria duo, Royce and Hadrian. Nevertheless, Nolyn interested me and I wanted to have another try of Sullivan’s work.

The Rise and Fall series, of which Nolyn is the opener, is set one or two thousand years prior to events in the Riyria books, and it’s planned to be three books detailing the rise and fall (I assume) of three key figures in this world’s history. This sounds like the books might be a trio of standalones rather than a traditional trilogy where events follow on from one book to the next.

In Nolyn, we follow the emperor’s son, Nolyn Nyphronian, who starts out in the middle of the jungle on a certain death mission. Along with a small band of survivors, Nolyn sets off on a course of action to find out who wants him dead, and ends up caught up in much more than a single assassination plot.

We also follow Sephryn, who is Nolyn’s lover, or former lover, I’m not entirely sure where they stand at the start of the book. Sephryn is like Nolyn – half-human, half-Fhrey (basically an elf) – and is being forced by a sinister stranger to acquire a mythical item, for reasons unknown to her.

Worldbuilding:

This is a book that should benefit from the work that has been done before. There is history that was crafted for previously released novels, even those set after Nolyn in the timeline. Similarly with the world itself, a lot of the work has already been done before we get to Nolyn.

The notes for Nolyn state that this is a standalone work that requires no prior knowledge of the books set in this world. While this is true, I feel that readers with that prior knowledge will have a richer experience with Nolyn than those who go into it as their first taste of Sullivan’s writing.

There are some nods to the earlier books, in the Legends of the First Empire series, and those who have read the Riyria books may also pick up some references, Easter eggs if you will.

With that said, the world we see in Nolyn is adequate – there’s a bit of travel, and a bit of talk of the lay of the land, but a good portion of the book is spent in Percepliquis, so this is where we get most of our actual building.

We also learn various point of history, but it does at times seem a little unnatural. There are events that seem to be brought up a little too often to point to a fully fleshed out history – although these are important events, it would be nice if there were other examples that are pointed to. As it stands, it almost seems like there are one or two historical events and everything else that has gone before is completely inconsequential.

Characters:

The characters in Nolyn were a bit hit and miss for me. Some felt like they weren’t well enough fleshed out, with little to learn about them beyond what is important to Nolyn or Sephryn’s storylines.

I felt I wasn’t really invested in any of the characters and that some of the decisions made did a disservice to the character work that was attempted. For the majority of the book, we alternate between Nolyn chapters and Sephryn chapters, then, randomly, we’ll switch to a quick POV of another character.

This seemed a little odd when it came up – it was only once or twice, and it was a character we already knew, so it seemed like we should have had the occasional POV chapter from them at an earlier point, rather than just a single chapter mid-book when it was convenient.

Some of the actual character choices also seemed a bit odd considering the scale of their impact. Without going into specifics, to avoid spoilers, we have an almost complete change of direction at one point with very minimal build up or coercion.

When this happened, it almost seemed like the author had a new idea and just went with it from that point on, rather than going back and building it into the earlier parts of the books so it wasn’t such a tangent when it did occur.

The supporting characters didn’t get a vast amount of page time, but we follow a handful of warriors by extension of Nolyn’s storyline, and a smaller handful of citizens alongside Sephryn. Some of these are interesting characters, although some do seem a bit underused.

A key example of this is where the entirety of a character’s importance to the story can be summarised in one single event. Their inclusion in the remainder of the story is inconsequential, they are simply referenced so we are aware of them when they appear for that one single task at a key point in the story.

While this might not necessarily be uncommon in fiction, we do normally tend to find these characters have some time spent on them, some development and history to add a bit of depth. Otherwise, it seems like they have no life, no existence outside of the one part of the story they are actually involved in.

Enjoyment:

Nolyn starts with a battle, or at least, it’s not long until we’re in the midst of one. This would normally lead to a quick pace and suck me in from the outset, but here I just couldn’t seem to get going until I was a good way through the book.

I think part of this was because of the story itself, but a larger part was because I had some specific gripes with the writing. From an early stage when being introduced to Nolyn, he references Sephryn, and although we’ve been given that disclaimer that no prior knowledge of the world / other books is necessary before reading Nolyn, these passages seem like they are a continuation of an existing story that we should be aware of.

It seemed almost like we were missing an introduction to some of the characters and settings before we actually came upon them. With these references to Sephryn, it’s a simple explanation, or a different introduction to her, that would have made things a bit clearer. What we get instead is Nolyn talking about her as if we already knew her, and we’re left playing catchup.

The best example of this though, and one that really stood out to me, is a simple missing introduction of an “extra” in the city of Percepliquis. There are a couple of mentions of a baker, and in one scene we see an interaction with this baker, then at one point he says something followed by the dialog tag “Rodney declared.”

This would be absolutely fine, however this is the first point that we have been given the name Rodney – the baker isn’t introduced by name, so I spent a couple of minutes flicking back a page or two, then using the Kindle’s search function, to see if I had missed something.

I was left needing to make an assumption that Rodney was indeed the baker, as there seemed no other alternative (the other results in the Kindle search did confirm this assumption). In other areas of the book, it was the over use of names that caused the issue.

Most characters followed the standard sort of convention where they are referred to by a common name, and only where the situation dictates (such as introductions), are they given both a first and a last name. For some reason, the soldiers with Nolyn were often given both names where there seemed no need to do this.

Although a bit out of place, there’s nothing inherently wrong with this, but when one such name is Ramahanaparus Mirk, it interrupts the flow a bit to be tripping over the pronunciation.

Similarly, we have the Belgriclungreians. This is the name, in this world, for Dwarfs, and while we meet a Dwarf who happily uses the term “Dwarf” to refer to himself / his people, we more commonly see the five-syllable alternative, which seems unnecessarily complicated.

I get that the author is using his own creativity to avoid simply using Dwarfs and Elves (instead having Belgriclungreians and Fhrey) but we do at various points of the book use “Dwarfs” and “Elves” anyway, and if renaming them, it would be nice to have a word that doesn’t interrupt the flow of the story each time it surfaces.

There were a few other bits that took me out of the story a bit when I came across them, little names (Bristol, Brighton) or turns of phrase (“a horrible cocktail…all mixer, no alcohol”) that seemed to me a bit out of place in a fantasy setting.

Although mentioning things like these might seem incredibly nitpicky, the number of these little quirks all put together really had a negative impact on my overall enjoyment of Nolyn, detracting from the actual events and characters of the story itself.

The overall story though was OK. There are a few events at the end that seemed a bit too coincidental, as if particular effort was made to ensure all loose ends were tied up. Some felt a bit unnecessary however, giving happy endings for the sake of happy endings but having no actual impact on the story itself.

I came away from Nolyn feeling that I hadn’t really gained anything by reading it. It was an “OK” book, not a poor one, but certainly not a really good one either. I do genuinely feel that I might have fared slightly better reading a more polished version of the book itself though, as opposed to specifically the story and the gripes I mention earlier.

The ARC I read had the text aligned to the left rather than justified, which I found made it oddly difficult to settle down and read for a long period. With this, there were unusual little quirks, like ellipses frequently breaking onto the next line (potentially this was due to using “. . .” instead of an actual ellipsis of “…” – thus allowing them to break over lines).

With the story just being OK, I found that there weren’t really aspects of it that really stood out for me, and coming back a few days later to write my review, the main things that do stick out in my memory are the gripes I had with the book. I may therefore be doing a disservice to the book in my review, but I suppose the way around this would be to have had a story that outweighed those issues for me.

This first novel in a new trilogy by Michael J. Sullivan reportedly works as a stand-alone novel, a complete tale all on its own. I can’t speak to how true that is since I’ve read all the others. I strongly encourage readers to read, at a minimum, the First Empire Series of six novels as there are numerous references to events told in those volumes. Chronologically, it makes sense as well. Plus, it’s just fun to see how many easter eggs you can find as you turn the pages.

This story begins over 800 years after that first series, but still some 2,000 plus years before the stories told in the Riyria books. Those 800 years are enough to see how the first empire has developed and there is some world building that is relayed to us so we know where things stand now. No info dumps, thankfully, but we get to see how things have changed through the eyes of the characters as they lead their lives and begin to encounter serious obstacles to their future. The two main characters in this novel, Nolyn and Sephryn, both act as “bridge” characters because they are both the children of prominent founders of the First Empire and are also both half Elvish so they live for hundreds of years. They truly are a “bridge” between the two eras.

For the first third or so of the novel, I was feeling like this was a pretty standard epic fantasy, with many of the tropes of the genre. Nolyn’s and Sephryn’s stories are not really connected at that point and the focus is on their individual lives as well as with a number of side characters. The story was humming along at that point when it started to get good. I mean, really good. I can’t provide too many details without spoilers but suffice it say that the story took off in unexpected ways and I was hooked. The climax was truly epic and reminded me once again why I continue to read these books.

One of my favorite hobbies is watching someone who is reeeeeaaaallly good at something do that thing they're good at.

Based on the YouTube videos along the lines of "Good-like Workers Who Work Really Fast", I'm not alone in this.

In college I would often go to this little bar to watch a guitar player. He was old and had been playing his guitar since guitars were invented, and he could play better than anyone I've ever seen in real life.
Reading this book reminds me of that guitar player; Sullivan world builds so expertly, it looks casual to an observer.

A complex society with overlapping religions and racial tensions get built around a couple characters we like and one asshole. The POV jumps between a group of characters so we know somethings no one else does, including the crazy lady so will cut you to protect a loaf of bread.

A good read, looking forward to the next book.

Nolyn and Separane come together as the new characters in the continued story by Michael Sullivan. The story was engaging with love, romance, fighting, intrigue, suspense, plenty of fantasy all while making the reader feel a part of the story. The twist and turns at the end of the story brought surprise and made for a awesome climax. I highly recommend this book.

This book was super creative but suffered from the characters explaining what was going on as opposed to just letting the reader learn. This would be a good recommendation for someone who was new to reading epic fantasy.

I have read Riyria Revelations and Chronicles but that was years ago and don't remember them to much but I liked them. I have not read The Legends of the First Empire yet and didn't need to read them before reading Nolyn really. The thing is I expect to like that series as well but not love. I liked Nolyn but I didn't love it. So many people do love his books I do believe though. Books that I love I never want to end or I can't wait to reread them again one day. The writing is quite good along with the stories and the characters he creates. There is just something lacking for me though that brings that extra bit to take it from like to love. This is another good start to a series and will no doubt please a great many people. Three and half stars for me but edging close to four or five for most people probably. I will continue to read his books as they never really disappoint.

So many nods to many of the series both ones that take place in the past obviously since there are still several people living that are from the Legend of the First Empire series and well as decedents, along with numerous mentions of prior characters, items and events. Even more subtle nods to future books like Royce's favorite wine.

Nolyn is an excellent book. Sullivan's Riyria stories are my absolute favorite books of all time. When the author returned to the world of Elan in The Legends of the First Empire series, I was initially a bit disappointed, but grew to love the new characters very much. This series occurs between Legends of the First Empire and Riyria.

It took some time for the characters of Legends of the First Empire to grow on me, but I felt a connection to Nolyn, The Sik-Aux, Sephryn and the rest almost immediately.

Sullivan's strength is in writing complex characters. They are real people, who make the sort of decisions real people make when they are faced with desperate situations. Consequences are real and must be lived with.

I do recommend reading the Legends of the First Empire series before tackling Nolyn. There are references to events and characters from that series in this book, and while one could appreciate the book without prior knowledge, some rather impactful moments would be missed.

Nolyn was a beautiful story that broke my heart and made me grin in equal measures. I will think about these characters long after having put the novel down, and I look forward to seeing what's next in the series.