Age of War
core novel 2018 Riyria / Legends of the First Empire
Record
| First published | 2018 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.43 (22,004 ratings, collected 2026-09-13) |
| Page count | 462 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9781101965412 |
| Internal chronology | 3 |
Synopsis
Age of War is the third book of Michael J. Sullivan's Legends of the First Empire series, following the uneasy alliance between humans and renegade Fhrey as it escalates into open war against the ruling Fhrey lords. Persephone, chosen to lead the combined clans, must hold together a coalition strained by old rivalries while conspiracies within both camps threaten to unravel it. Raithe and the mystic Suri are drawn deeper into the fighting alongside new figures who emerge as unlikely leaders, even as the cost of each engagement mounts. On the Fhrey side, the god-king Fane Lothian tightens his grip on power while contending with dissent, including the prince Mawyndulë's uncertain loyalties. As battles spread and old grudges resurface, both sides must confront how far they will go to secure victory, with the war's balance still undecided.
Where it sits
- Universe: Riyria / Legends of the First Empire
- Series: Legends of the First Empire core; position 3 of 6 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Michael J. Sullivan
Awards (verified)
- Readers' Choice Awards (Fantasy), 2018: nominated; Reader-nomination round; did not win. Winner: Circe.
Notes
- From the series record (Legends of the First Empire): 6-novel series (2016-2020) set ~3,000 years before the Riyria universe; per the author's own framing, requires no prior Riyria knowledge. Publication switched mid-series from traditional publishing (Del Rey/Penguin Random House, books 1-3) to self-publishing (Sullivan's own Riyria Enterprises LLC + Grim Oak Press, books 4-6, all Kickstarter-funded); the author has stated this let him release the final three books within a 10-month span rather than Del Rey's annual cadence.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.
- Publication order, within the series Legends of the First Empire: position 3 of 6: previous Age of Swords (2017) · next Age of Legend (2019)
- Internal chronology, within Riyria / Legends of the First Empire: position 6 of 20: previous The Death of Dulgath (2015) · next The Disappearance of Winter's Daughter (2017)
Sources
- Michael J. Sullivan's official site
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Myth
- https://riyria.blogspot.com/p/books.html
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