Fantastic Narration and great character chemistry

The Crown Tower was a fantastic book, and Tim Gerald Reynolds does a great job narrating it. As the first book of Riyria Chronicles, the prequel series to The Riyria Revelations, The Crown Tower is one of the many entry points to Michael J. Sullivan’s works. It tells the story of how Riyria’s favourite (and only) members, Hadrian Blackwater and Royce Melborn, became partners in crime.

I imagine there are different levels of knowledge about Riyria’s world and setting, depending on whether we’ve read the original series or not. Personally, I have already read Revelations and could pick up a few Easter Eggs here and there alluding to what would come to pass in the future. As this series was written after — but set before — Revelations, there is plenty of foreshadowing for events to come and little bits and pieces of information for those who’ve already read the series.

Having said that, the book is still a good read for people who are new to Sullivan’s work.

The story follows two main characters, Hadrian, an ex-soldier with strong morals trying to figure out what to do with his life outside of fighting. He has a very strong growth arc throughout this book as he starts to lose some of his innocence and understand more about the world and people. Royce really puts him through his paces and challenges him. In turn, Hadrian defies all of Royce’s expectations of how people should act, and they both go through some major growth.

Another key character is Gwen. People who’ve read Revelations will recognise her role in those books. In The Crown Tower, it shows how she went from being a prostitute who was constantly being pushed and ordered around to someone who was in control of her own life. She displays great strength in the face of adversity and strong development throughout the book.

Plot-wise, the story is very focused on how the characters are forced together and how it impacts them. There is a strong plot which doesn’t feel entirely complete in this book but is evidently leading them towards where Theft of Swords starts. It ends in a really good place to make the reader want to pick up book 2 in Riyria Chronicles.

I really enjoyed The Crown Tower, and would recommend it to people who like:

Epic Fantasy
Bromances
Cool fighting
Fun/Light-hearted fantasy

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Wow!

I've read and listened to a lot of books in my time but this series is the best ever. What an imagination the author has, and I could listen to anything read by Tim Gerard Reynolds. It's a rare occasion I listen to or read a book more than once but before I'd finished listening to these I knew I'd be listening again. I hope he writes more. Brilliant!

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love it

Found the book after looking for more from Tim Gerald Reynolds he really is a great narrator.

Michael Sullivan creates an amazing first book thst makes you laugh while at same same time keeping the reader interested with mysterys of the character and what will happen next. really a great book.

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1 person found this helpful

A perfect prequel

As always, a great story with great narration. Can't wait to get stuck in to the next in the series

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A great adventure story!

Loved the story. Loved the narration. My first full novel by this author, and I'll definitely read more. Interesting characters, with a plotline that resolves enough to be an ending, but leaves lots of questions. I like a story that only gives hints as to where it's heading - plenty of surprises.

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Compelling tale, onto the next book i go!

Good voice acting. I find myself hanging on to whats next coming next. Look forward to the next book!

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A great prequel

Story – 5/5

Considering I wasn’t exactly swept away by the original trilogy (although still enjoyed it well enough), I absolutely loved this prequel. It is a lot shorter, therefore I felt the pacing was spot on, and I thought there was a bit more brutality, which Sullivan seemed a bit reluctant of in his first set of stories.

It is set 10 years before the events of the Riyria revelations – and tells the story of when Hadrian and Royce first met. My favourite part had to be the backstory of Gwen though – but I am a sucker for backstory.

According to something I read on the internet, Sullivan plans to write 10 of these chronicle books to represent each of the 10 years prior to the Revelations trilogy. Lots to look forward to then… 


Performance –4.5/5

Tim Gerard Reynolds did a great job. I felt he trivialised danger in the original trilogy, which wasn’t the case in this story – which makes me think I was a little hard on him in my previous reviews. It must have been the prose.

His voice acting is great – very consistent with his other readings thus far – making it all the easier to get back into this world.


Overall – 5/5

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5 people found this helpful

New to the author

A well read story and one that has encouraged me to follow on with the main characters

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It pulls you in!

At first it was slow but later it palls you in! I am hooked on!

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still loving it

simply a great series of books. got my marathon listening badge with this one as I couldn't stop listening to it.

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1 person found this helpful