The Riyria Revelation series is actually re-packaged into three books, with each book consisting of two books in the series. The Crown of Conspiracy is actually now called Theft of Swords, which includes that book along with the next one in the series, Avempartha.

The Crown Conspiracy by Michael Sullivan is the first of six in the Riyria Revelation series. It talks about two thieves framed for the murder of the King. Wait, you need more to go on? Well, I’m saying right now for whoever is reading this: The Crown Conspiracy is one heck of an awesome book! You’re just going to have to take my word for it. It’s so good, it’s actually addicting and I knew even before hitting the halfway mark that I would be continuing on with the series. This fantasy book has everything ranging from action, political scheming, kings, princes, princesses, thieves, wizards, dwarves, monks and of course, a healthy dose of humor. I honestly don’t think there was one boring or dull moment in this book. Everything that happens has a purpose and you’ll never finding yourself skipping pages in hopes of the story advancing.

As far as character goes, you have your two main protagonist of Hadrian and Royce. Not much is really known about their background besides them being reputable thieves but I’m sure as the series rolls along, the author will slowly pan things out. Working as a pair, Hadrian being the bigger guy, gets to play the role of the brawn character. Royce, being the smaller and more crafty one, gets to be the brains of the operation. Again, nothing devilishly new here but its a tried and true formula. Add Prince Alric to the mix and you’ve got a grand adventure on your hands. Another character I took an interest on is Myron. He’s a special case so I won’t spoil that here. But his addition to the crew definitely adds a different flavor. All in all, what I like most about these characters is that they do no hesitate to do things. Sure, they get scared from time to time but these characters get things done instead of mopping around.

During certain times, reading The Crown Conspiracy actually felt like reading a fairy tale. Of course, this fairy tale has a lot more violence and whatnot but I just couldn’t shake that feeling off. Your mileage may vary. During the very beginning of this book, I thought this series was going to play out sort of like Ocean’s Eleven where you have a bunch of guys and gals planning secretly on how to steal the next item for their client. You know, that sort of thing. Well, the book is not like that at all as it turns out. Once the ball gets rolling though in The Crown Conspiracy, it just never lets up until the very end. The book sets a pretty good stage in my opinion by laying the groundwork for the next five books and it’s just so exciting to find out what kind of “trouble” the thieves will get themselves into next time. Like I said earlier, not much history is known about both Hadrian and Royce. The author does give out a little bit of pieces here and there but I’m sure he has a lot more in store for us. Luckily, I still enjoyed the book and story a whole lot even without getting to know the backgrounds of our two main “heroes”.

By now, you should already get the feeling that I had a blast with this book. I wholeheartedly recommend it to fantasy readers (or pretty much to whoever loves to read books in general). The book has a lot going for it but you’ll never feel overwhelmed with information at any one point. The Crown Conspiracy also does not require nor tests your patience. It’s good from the start, middle and till the end. Of course, I can’t say the same for the other books in the series but as long as the author sticks to his formula, I don’t see how he can go wrong. The story with The Crown Conspiracy definitely isn’t something you haven’t heard or read of before but if you can put that aside, I promise you’ll be in for a treat.