The Crown Tower by Michael J. SullivanMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
3.5/5
Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit Books for the ARC of The Crown Tower by Michael Sullivan. The last 6 months or so I am getting caught up on all the fantasy books I haven't read which is difficult with the thousands of great ones to choose from. I am relatively new to giving reviews as I usually just rate what I read. However, it has been a privilege to receive a copy to review and I rely moderately on reviews for choosing my next book. This review for The Crown Tower is the first review I am giving for a book from Netgalley. My review style may not be for everyone as many reviews I read are not for me but I usually find a review(er)that works for me. I hope that someone may get something from my reviews to help them in selecting a book to read or not.
Overall, this book was good, but not great. I finished it, which to me makes it at least a 3/5 but there was a lot to enjoy apart from just making it through which I don't for many books no matter how well written, imaginative, or renowned they may be. I am familiar with this authors work having read the first 4 books in his Riyria Revelations before holding off to read other things before finishing. The first one was a 5/5, second 4/5, third 3/5 and forth 3/5 but was closer to a 2.5/5 mostly because I don't like sea adventure type books. I am hesitant to recommend this to readers unfamiliar with the Riyria Revelation series because it seemed slow, and without my knowledge of the background I most likely would have stopped. If you don't mind a slower moving plot with less action and more dialogue this would be fine to start with. I enjoyed many of the Easter eggs here relating to what I know from the previous books. The book moves by dialogue rather than narration which makes for a quick read but somewhat unsatisfying to me. Sullivan writes well, no need to consult a thesaurus or backtrack to understand what you just read. The place and character names are not distracting which is a major plus and there is not an overabundance of either. The plot was easy to follow and the characters each had a relatively unique voice which is appealing to a reader who likes character development, especially a reader familiar with Royce and Hadrian. I am all about lore and magic in my fantasy books but these were very minimal in this book. However, there was a "loremaster" character and it looks as if these elements will start to become more prominent in the next book. Bottom line: Highly recommended! For YA readers and adults. If the reader starts this and does not like it, try The Crown Conspiracy, Book 1 of the Riyria Revelations, which was excellent and may give the reader incentive to go back to this. I will definitely read the next book!
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