The Disappearance of Winter’s Daughter (The Riyria Chronicles #4)

What did I like best? Hadrian & Royce, of course! This newest adventure is another chapter from my favorite fantasy duo’s past and I loved every minute of it. It is a stand-alone novel and you don’t need to have read the earlier Riyria novels, but if you haven’t, you should! Longtime fans of the Riyria Chronicles will learn more about the genesis of Riyria, as well as the Duchess’s back story (Jenny & Leo) and will get to know her better. This was one of my favorite aspects of this novel. The other was the banter between Hadrian and Royce. Always enjoyable, half their exchanges had me laughing out loud. They were particularly witty in this book. And in our current times, I feel the need for humor and excellent escapism more than ever. Buy it today to read or listen to (I got the Audible version, too, as the narrator is extraordinary) and you’ll be transported to world you’d like to visit and spend time with two men you’d love to know.

Another adventure for Hadrian and Royce! Although I was hoping for a kindle version, I couldn’t resist to try out the audible app for this. I understand why this is isn’t on kindle yet, but I hope it gets there soon. Anyway, once again the partners in crime get hired for a job they really need to get paid more for as it turns from a simple investigation to saving the whole city. And they do it while bickering the whole time, making me need to pause for a laugh break frequently. Especially the scene where Royce quizzes a vendor on a certain statue. I had to listen to that about 3 times. World building is vivid, characters are rounded, action scenes are nicely done, and story kept me entertained. I hope to read more on these guys soon.

Now here are the spoilers, so fair warning. Unlike the previous book, this one did not seem like a stand alone story. So it brought some interesting questions. In the last book, the Lady Dulgath told Royce about the curse of killing another of elven blood. So is he cursed now after killing the guy, even if all he did was set the church on fire? Later on toward the end of the series, it almost seemed like a surprise to both Royce & Gwen that they loved each other. But here Hadrian so casually told them about it. Did they forget or think he was being crazy or something?

I love the way Michael J. Sullivan writes. The evocative style of the narrative, the deep and tactile sense of time and place, the beating heart and soul of the relationship between the noble warrior Hadrian and the less than noble assassin/thief Royce are only a few of the things that sets his work and in particular, this series, above the rest. Having come to the end of Hadrian and Royce’s partnership in the first trilogy, The Riyria Revelations, the Chronicles goes back and picks the boys up in the early days of their partnership, when they’re still trying to figure each other out and who (if anyone) needs the other more. In this story, as Royce is fretting about Gwen (he’s always fretting about Gwen) and trying to decide if Hadrian is holding him back or not, Riyria is hired to find out what happened to the daughter of Lord Winter (nothing supernatural or meterological about it, his last name is just Winter) who went off to be married to Duke Leo of Rochelle. If she’s kidnapped, they need to rescue her. If she’s dead, they need to avenge her…loudly and with very little discretion. Their search takes them straight into a conflict over racism and oppression and putting the rights of one species over another, not to mention magic, golems and the most fascinating literary relationship of the year, between Royce and the boys’ new 80-something year old landlord. It’s not romantic; Royce hates the old hag, but from that hate comes a surprisingly touching moment of trust and understanding. The books in the Chronicles are meant to be read in whatever order you find them, but it’s always good to start at the beginning if you can. Either way, The Disappearance of Winter’s Daughter is a great new addition to one of fantasy’s best series, by one of it’s best authors.

Good God I envy Mr. Sullivan for having Royce and Hadrian in his head! In this book, the duo have to navigate an unfriendly foreign city to either save or seek vengeance for a missing common-born dutchess. Another fantastic caper from my favorite fantasy author! Like many of his books, it features fully realized female characters- SO RARE IN FANTASY!! My favorite woman in this book is a lady of size who is portrayed with power and complex emotions, NOT used as a punchline. Winter’s Daughter delves into issues of race (elvish/mir, Calian) xenophobia, religion and socioeconomic disparities explored in a fantasy realm but with parallels to our world, and the best buddy banter in modern literature! The writing is beautifully natural, the putting is super tight, and his characterization is fantastic. I also love how the Riyeria Revelations, Riyeria short stories & Riyeria Chronicles stand alone but build off of each other (and the Age of… series, which is also amazing and features fantastic women.) Mr. Sullivan, I can’t ever see you burning out fans with Royce and Hadrian, and I was so excited about this new title which I read in a day and a half…neglecting all my chores and duties to revisit my favorite thieves! As a side note, I love how open Sullivan is about his writing process, and as an extra side note, Mr. Sullivan is a lovely man, a true paragon of authorship and meeting him at Comic-Con many years ago still gives me a thrill.

With everyone of MJS novels I laugh, cry, sigh, get over excited running through a plethora of emotions from sadness to joy.
I cant read fast enough as he grips me from the 1st paragraph, leading me through a rip roaring ride through his world, then u reach the end and have to read it all over again as they are all so darn good.
Of your a fan of his work youll understand.
I your new here, you can read this book without any prior knowledge, but my suggestion is go straight to the beginning and enjoy the ride all the way through.
The stories are fun, exciting, sad and just AwEsOmE !
Nice one MJS, nice one.

Galaxyaudiobook Member Benefit

- Able to comment

- List watched audiobooks

- List favorite audiobooks

- Bookmark will only available for Galaxyaudiobook member