Wintertide [Paperback]

I recently finished Sullivan's book most latest book, Wintertide, and thought I would let everyone know just how fantastic it was. I have read a fair few fantasy books that were released this year, and Wintertide is amongst the best. I noticed in one of Mr. Sullivan's blog posts he asks the question, how did he get in the company of Rothfuss, Weeks, Abercrombie, etc? Well sir, you got there by writing damn good books. Every time he releases a book, he reminds me of why he is one of my favorite authors. In fact, this year, I would say Wintertide and The Emerald Storm both crack my top 5 fantasy books of the year. In both cases, I could not put the book down until it was finished.

Sullivan is exceptional at writing a book that moves quickly, but at the same time lets you get to know and relate to the characters. His writing style isn't lyrical, like Guy Gavriel Kay, but it isn't jolting either. I would recommend the Riyria Revelations to anyone looking for a quick paced, well thought out, and interesting series.

If you aren't familiar with the Riyria Revelations, you should start with the first episode: 'The Crown Consipiracy'. This is the penultimate book of the hexalogy that builds upon what came earlier.

The Riyria Revelations is lightly written fantasy, chock-full of twists and Wintertide doesn't disappoint in the slightest - you are kept guessing which way the story will move till the very end. And since Sullivan has proven that he doesn't hesitate in killing off his characters or making them suffer, one is kept on the edge of the seat guessing who will survive.

The events of this book mostly take place in Aquesta - the seat of the New Empire which is on the verge of total domination, with all our characters converging there. Arista and Gaunt are helpless in dungeons and though Royce and Hadrian come to the rescue as expected, things don't go off as planned. The deep enmity between Royce and Meborn is resolved in this story but not without loss. Adding anything more to this review would be spoiler-ish, so I'll desist. Let's just say that Sullivan loves to lead you to believing one thing will happen, only to turn it on its head in the end.

All in all, a wonderfully crafted story and I can't wait for the last episode though I am wondering how Sullivan is going to tie up all his plot lines in just one more book.

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.