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I’m glad to be starting a new series in Sullivan’s world as I always tend to enjoy the work he produces. Although you don’t have to have read the other books by Sullivan to enjoy this, I think you will like it more if you’ve at least tried out the Legends of the First Empire series as this has direct ties to many of the key characters here, and gives some backstory and context for the events which take place in this book.

We’re following Nolyn, the main character who is the son of the current ruler. He is around 800 years old when we pick up the story and although he’s the heir he’s had a fairly harsh life and, being a half Fae and half human he feels alienated from both his peoples at times.
His story is battle heavy and revolves around the succession and the world as it needs to be pushed to change and he may be the one to do so.

Sephryn is the second character we’re following, a daughter of another Fae and human together, and she and Nolyn grew up together knowing they were two of the only people of their kind. They have a kinship and they both want to do better, but Sephryn is actually the one who has been trying to enact changes and stand up for people (especially with humans who get the raw end of the deal) in the current empire.
Her story follows some tragic events which lead to the disappearance of her child and she’s forced to do some things which she never intended but which might shake the empire up enough for a shift in power and focus.

I loved the cameos we get here. As always with Sullivan’s stories I knew some of the outcomes as these books are technically prequels to the Riyria ones I’ve read before, but I was enjoying the reveals of how things came to their current natural orders. I also think the references to other characters from the other series is great and I had a few moments I really loved.

A strong 3.5*s for this book and I hope the sequel will build on this and get stronger (Sullivan’s books often get better as I go through a series).