BOOK REVIEW: The Crown Tower by Michael J. Sullivan

So it seems I have a bit of an addiction. After reading Pere Goriot, I went to choose my next book. We were heading out on vacation, so I had some plane and car time to fill. I packed my next Back to the Classics challenge book, but for the plane ride, I took along The Crown Tower by Michael J. Sullivan.

I recently finished the Riyria Revelations trilogy and found that I wasn’t ready to emerge from that fantasy world just yet, even though the story was over. Sullivan must have gotten a lot of positive feedback from fans, because he continued with the story, but backtracked. He wrote a prequel—The Riyria Chronicles. There are two volumes to this part of the story. Book 1 is The Crown Tower and Book 2 is The Rose and the Thorn.

The Crown Tower tells the story of how the two protagonists, Hadrian and Royce, are first thrown together. Arcadius, a professor of lore (magic) at the university, has enough sway over them both to compel them to complete a task for him—an impossible task. They have to steal a book for him that is kept locked in an impregnable fortress, the Crown Tower. Hadrian and Royce are strangers, but it doesn’t take long for them to realize how much they dislike and distrust one another. But they can’t succeed unless they work together. It’s a blast watching how they do.

Having read the first trilogy, I know how the story will end. The characters are familiar ones. I know the outcome of their mission because the outline of the plot was given as backstory in the Revelations trilogy. But that doesn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book. It was fun to spend more time with these guys and have the details of their past fleshed out.

I have The Rose and the Thorn left, but I’m holding off and reading something else first. It’s the last of the books and I don’t want them to end!