This review is going to be a little odd for me. I am writing this rather late at night and
have been reading this book for about a month now due to life getting in the
way, not due to quality or lack thereof.
As it has taken so long to get through this book, this review will
probably be more vague on plot details than normal and not go as in depth on
the two halves of this novel. Heir of
Novron completes The Riyria Revelations by Michael J. Sullivan, once
again combining two shorter novels into one complete package, Wintertide
and Percepliquis, with Percepliquis being over twice the length
of Wintertide. Both halves are
perhaps the most different to one another that the trilogy has gotten, the
first following the heist rules with an added race against the clock for Royce
and Hadrian to rescue Degen Gaunt, the Heir of Novron, while the second is reestablsihing
the empire of Novron and finding peace at last.
The second novel included is perhaps the most impactful with its many
twists and turns keeping things interesting while the first has the largest
emotional impact at its climax, even if there may be a slightly problematic example
of fridgeing though a fridging of a character who at least has an impact. Sullivan also includes quite a few more
character deaths than I was expecting, though ones that manage to come at the
end of fulfilled character arcs instead of tragically cutting them short. There is time to breathe and deal with the
fallout of deaths from several perspectives, the point of view continuing to
shift throughout Heir of Novron between characters, often in the middle
of chapters as well which feel a bit longer this time around adding to the epic
scope of this concluding installment.
A lot of the worldbuilding on the elves who have had a
decent amount of exposure, but it’s Percepliquis which actually includes
elves as characters with an exploration of their culture. Now this sadly doesn’t come until the back quarter
of the book, though there is enough in depth from Sullivan as he explores how
the bigotry can at least be pushed off and changed through systemic change. This is still done through the lens of
monarchy as there are still kings on thrones and struggles for thrones and empire,
without the introspection on imperialism and all that can entail. Royce and Hadrian also end up in interesting
spots, with some of the twists becoming incredibly obvious in hindsight, one
being so obvious it’s actually kind of a surprise that it wasn’t some sort of
red herring Sullivan included to throw readers off the scent. It all involves the true identity of the heir,
who by this point it should be clear it isn’t Degen Gaunt as he hasn’t actually
had a whole lot of development. The final
quarter of the novel is also a bit weird as the pacing somehow seems off, it
seems to go off in a different direction for the wrap up without necessarily
finishing everything to the fullest effect.
This is where Heir of Novron falls flat in the smallest way,
keeping it from being one of the absolute best fantasy novels, however there’s
still so much good it doesn’t impact it much.
Royce and Hadrian’s dynamic is somehow better here than the previous two
novels which is already a surprise since they’re already a brilliant double
act. This is in spite of sections where they don’t really appear, though Arista
is perhaps the other character who feels just as important. Overall, Heir of Novron is just a
brilliant conclusion to the trilogy even if it goes on just a touch too
long. 9/10.
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