Nolyn by Michael J. Sullivan – Review

Published: August 3, 2021

Publisher: Grim Oak Press

Series: The Rise and the Fall #1

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 480 (Hardcover)

My Rating: 4.5/5.0

Synopsis:
After more than five hundred years of exile, the heir to the empyre is wary about his sudden reassignment to active duty on the Goblin War’s front lines. His assignment to rescue an outpost leads to a dead-end canyon deep inside enemy territory, and his suspicion turns to dread when he discovers the stronghold does not exist. But whoever went to the trouble of planning his death to look like a casualty of war did not know he would be assigned to the Seventh Sikaria Auxiliary Squadron. In the depths of an unforgiving jungle, a legend is about to be born, and the world of Elan will never be the same.

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This was a really strong entry to the Rise and Fall trilogy and I am hyped! I always get really excited for new books from Michael J. Sullivan and have backed all his kickstarters thus far just to get my hands on sweet, sweet early hardcovers and bookmarks. This book managed to return to the glorious sense of camaraderie and banter that the Riyria books had and I am so happy about that!

Nolyn is the half human/half elven son of Nyphron and Persephone. The story begins with him having been deployed to the front in the latest goblin war, where he is certain his father sent him to die along with the Seventh Sikaria Auxiliary. Fortunately for Nolyn the Sik-Aux is made up of the best soldiers in the military because they’ve been trained by the renowned human blademaster Amicus Killian. For those who’ve read The Riyria books, Amicus’ three blade fighting style will be wonderfully familiar, because Amicus is trained as a Teshlor. The remainder of the Sik-Aux go on the run after a series of violent faux-pas and Nolyn decides he definitely needs to overthrow his father to fix the blatant disparity between humans and elves.

The other primary character in this book is Sephryn, the only other half human/half elf and Nolyn’s oldest friend. The two have been close since childhood and Sephryn is also the daughter of Moya and Tekchin. Sephryn has been an advocate for human equality and rights for centuries and that position makes her a prime target for extortion – the extortion being the kidnapping of her baby. The voice inside her head told Sephryn she would get her son back when she had acquired a certain artifact. 

The story is pretty dang good. Between Sephryn’s desperation to get her baby back and Nolyn’s journey back to Percepliquis there was plenty of entertainment and action to keep most readers totally hooked. The secondary characters really helped to round out the story, particularly the members of the Sik-Aux. There were a few other POV chapters from other characters, but I think going into too much detail on those might spoil some of the fun.

I would definitely recommend this for readers who’ve enjoyed Michael J. Sullivan’s other series set in this world. While this is a standalone story, it will help to be familiar with the characters and events introduced in the Legends of the First Empire series as they are mentioned quite frequently and they tie in with the events of this book. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series, Farilane, when it is delivered a bit later this year. It sounds like it will be an excellent adventure story!