Age of War by Michael J Sullivan (Legends of the First Empire #3)

Writing a fantasy story is a difficult task: The majority of fantasy readers are aware of this, and it is one of the aspects of the genre we adore most: the tireless effort and inventiveness that goes into producing the books we read. The foundation of Fantasy Book Review is the fact that there are many writers who may create a fantasy novel that we adore. Every generation will, however, produce a small number of writers who are able to go above and beyond what is expected of them in ways that other writers aren’t. There are some authors who stand out from the crowd for a variety of reasons and in spite of various pieces of evidence.

Author Michael J. Sullivan belongs to this group. He has, in my perspective, been for a while. But I think Sullivan is firmly establishing himself as one of the best fantasy authors of his generation with his The Legends of the First Empire series. The third book in Michael J. Sullivan’s Initially Empire series, Age of War, describes the exploits of Royce and Hadrian and is set roughly 3,000 years before the events of the Ryria Revelations and Chronicles, which first made him famous. As a result, the new series has attempted to depict the origin of the world that we first encountered.

The Legends of the First Empire series has, however, been most amazing since Sullivan understands that history is written by the victor and may be altered to fit the victor’s interests, or even just misinterpreted and misplaced over time. Because of this, even while the story we read is largely consistent with the hazy historical records provided to us in the original texts, some details have been altered. In doing so, Sullivan demonstrates a mastery of his craft that very few can or have matched.

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When we focus on Age of War in particular, we discover that what was intended to be the sixth and final volume in the series is actually the third. A couple of the reasons for this are explained in Sullivan’s standard “Author’s Note,” but what matters is that it doesn’t appear as though this was hastily changed in order to benefit an author’s money account. By the time I finished reading it and kept in mind his Author’s Note, I was perplexed by the thought that Sullivan could have left the series unfinished. In fact, I would go so far as to say that I don’t know how Sullivan ever felt he could get away with this being the final volume of the series.

Age of War does, in a sense, bring us the resolution to several stories, which I won’t spoil for those who haven’t picked up the book yet. While some characters leave the stage in one way or another, others are still very busy. The last few pages of the novel contain one of the book’s most significant sequences, in which Persephone expresses what, in my opinion, is a view shared by many women. Heroism isn’t necessarily something that is performed once and never again; on occasion, it might be tedious, difficult, risky, and protracted. Hopefully, many readers will find Persephone’s conflicted sadness and wrath at the book’s conclusion to be difficult, especially male readers. Without minimising Michael J. Sullivan’s brilliance, I felt his wife Robin’s touch while reading the closing scene, giving it authenticity that might not have otherwise been present.

Another figure, whose identity I will withhold entirely, gives us another illustration of Sullivan’s mastery of his trade. Instead of reverting to a Deus ex machina and solving everything from above, we are treated to an enigmatic but powerful performance that, in many ways, leaves us with more questions than answers. While it significantly impacts the story, it does so with such a lack of guile and such strong empathy and emotion that you immediately forgive the potentially heavy-handed intrusion.

Age of War, a master of his art who has excelled at both character and story, emotion and action, fantasy and fiction, ultimately serves as an example of why Michael J. Sullivan is one of the best living fantasy authors. Age of War may represent for others the balancing act between success and failure, but for Sullivan it seems he crosses a bridge that is a mile wide.