Author Spotlight: Michael J. Sullivan (Riyria Revelations)

 Since starting to blog last year in late September Chris and I have come across many and varied people in all aspects of the industry. I don’t know if it was something we were expecting, but it was certainly welcome. We sometimes hear from publishers, authors, and of course other bloggers. As far as the publishers/authors, I doubt anyone in the past year has made a larger impact on me personally than Michael J. Sullivan (author of the Riyria Revelations) and his wife Robin Sullivan who served as his publisher (VIA their imprint RIDAN) and also as his publicist (a job she excels at).

When I first read THE CROWN CONSPIRACY, a book I knew next to nothing about it (a few scattered bits of praise), so it’s probably fair to say I was very surprised and impressed. That’s probably too light a phrase, since I gushed about how much I enjoyed the book in my subsequent review. I mention this because I felt so strongly about my enjoyment of the book that I wrote an email to Michael basically thanking him for such a wonderful story that swept me away as if I was a kid all over again. Well, he was kind enough to write me back, graciously thanked me for my email and for my review. I honestly felt like a teeny, tiny fish emailing a giant and he was not only kind, but also made me feel like I had contributed, and that makes me endlessly happy. Well of course I immediately ordered the other four books that were out (the 6^th book, PERCEPLIQUIS, was not yet out) and devoured them pretty much one after the other. I’m not afraid to say that I covet my copies of the RIDAN-published RIYRIA REVELATIONS and they sit on my shelf next to other books that are magical to me. In fact THE CROWN CONSPIRACY won my “2010 Best Read Award” if that tells you anything.

After championing Sullivan on the forums I frequent, reading and reviewing the other four books, (Reviews: AVEMPARTHA, NYPHRON RISING, THE EMERALD STORM, and WINTERTIDE), and settling in to await the 6^th book, a funny thing happened. Sullivan’s series got picked up by a major publisher. Orbit decided to republish the existing books (and the 6th as-yet-unpublished book) in 3 two-volume omnibuses with new cover art. This was huge news to me. An author I really enjoyed and thought deserved high recognition was actually getting recognized in a big way!

So this post is to let everyone know that the new omnibuses are on their way from Orbit and you can actually pre-order them now. The dates are as follows:

THEFT OF SWORDS (THE CROWN CONSPIRACY, AVEMPARTHA) – November 23^rd 2011 in the USA and Canada, November 3^rd 2011 in the UK (Available for pre-order in Canada, USA, UK)

RISE OF EMPIRE (NYPHRON RISING, THE EMERALD STORM) – December 14^th 2011 in the USA and Canada, December 1^st 2011 in the UK (Available for pre-order in  Canada, USA, UK)

HEIR OF NOVRON (WINTERTIDE, PERCEPLIQUIS) – January 31^st 2012 in the USA and Canada, January 26^th 2011 in the UK (Available for pre-order in Canada, USA, UK)

All of our readers who haven’t heard of the author, and even those who have would be doing themselves a huge favour if they got out there and picked up these books. It’s an absolutely fantastic series and each consecutive volume has made me an even bigger fan. Sullivan, at heart, is a master storyteller. That is the best praise I can give. His series makes me want to sit by a crackling fire in the wee hours, warm cup of hot chocolate in hand, carefully and completely devouring his tales. If someone who grew up with HARRY POTTER wanted something to read that is as magical, I’d point them right at RIYRIA in a heartbeat.

 When I first bought the books I ordered the first two from Amazon (and then the third, fourth and fifth from the RIDAN site) since when I searched for them at the Canadian Chapters/Indigo site they weren’t physically available in Canada. Therefore, it’s really quite nice to go to Chapters/Indigo now and see the Orbit versions pop up for pre-order in my search.

Lastly, I ought to point out that Michael has also written a short story in the Riyria world called THE VISCOUNT & THE WITCH (taking place 11 years before the first book) which is available as an eBook from Amazon (USA & Canada, and UK), it is available now and is getting some pretty solid reviews.

If you want to keep up to date on the series and future projects you can check out Michael’s Official Riyria site, Robin’s blog and you can LIKE their Facebook page here as well.