Heir of Novron by Michael J. Sullivan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sometimes it feels like a very daunting task to judge the last two books in a six book series. The temptation is to say, "But look at the weight of the rest of the series!" And have myself say, "It must be judged in context to the REST of the story."

That's not really necessary in this case.

I'll admit something. Books one and two felt kinda boilerplate and nothing that special after having read a lot of similar buddy novels with rogues as main characters. The additions of the elves were only improved for me because I had read the prequel before starting this series. Books three and four were slightly better because of the slow burn of the two main characters, but sitting for a while before picking up the last two books seemed make the whole story fade from my mind in a whimpery way, alas, and it took some prodding from others to get me to pick up the remaining story.

The fact that the story actually ENDS and doesn't continue on as another neverending epic fantasy is a point in its favor, too, and so I picked these last two up and gave it a chance.

What can I say? Book five was a lot more fun than I expected. I really enjoyed the court intrigue, the funny setup that made nobility feel like imprisonment, and especially the end of the fifth book when old plot threads finally wrap back around and bring in the feels and the tragedy that I had been expecting from day one.

Five was a solid book. I really enjoyed it. It also helps to see the oncoming hoard and danger of everything unravelling.

Book six is more of an epic quest with magical items and dangerous locations all to boil down to a chivalric one-on-one battle. Honestly, it dragged a bit, returning to the old tropes with a vengeance, and while parts of it were rather great, such as the straight character-development bits, it didn't really grab me until rather late when all things were coming to a head.

That, and the dwarf, of course.

For a group of novels who's strengths were all in their characters, it sure took a long time for me to really get into the characters, but I'm very happy to say that I was by the end. :) It could have been better with the plot stuff, more interesting, less trope-y, but the final verdict makes me say that I'm glad I stuck it out and got through the end. It was satisfying.





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