Title: Nyphron Rising (2009)
Author: Michael J. Sullivan
Pages: 350
Series: The Riyria Revelations #3 (Series Tracker)
In Nyphron Rising, Royce and Hadrian travel south with Princess Arista to rally Nationalist sympathizers to their cause, as the Nyphron Church attempts to use their clout and sham “Heir of Novron” to conquer Elan. After two stellar opening books, this was a bit of a letdown. As the focus shifts to military maneuvering and away from caper-like adventures, I find myself less invested in the proceedings.
Royce and Hadrian remain wonderful leads, but these stories live and die with who else is along for the ride. I loved Myron the monk in the first book and Eshrahaddon the wizard in the second, but there is no standout side character to be found in this story. Princess Arista has risen to supporting role and has a nice arc, but it seems like the best is yet to come for her. These are all minor quibbles for an overall story that still feels fresh and fun, and will hopefully have major payoffs in the back half of the series.
★★★ out of 5
The Speculative Shelf 
Interesting that you weren’t grabbed by the side characters in this one… I loved Modina and Amilia’s story (particularly Amilia’s). The final two Riyria books are wonderful, particularly because they do such a good job of bringing the characters and their personal struggles together. The Emerald Storm was my least favorite by far, but it’s a very solid series overall! Absolutely worth finishing.
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I wasn’t very fond of this book. The political stuff isn’t the kind of story I like. It’s a bit dull and slow in a few places. Though there WERE parts of the book I really enjoyed, I prefer the first two novels by far. Adrian and Royce are definitely my favorite characters, but Hadrian moped a bit too much for me in this book. At times, it felt very out of character. Plus I don’t really like Arista that much. I mean… she’s meh. At times she’s tolerable and kind of funny, but often she’s just not likeable to me. For example, she spends almost every chapter talking about how she’s not like other girls, and how men look down on her, how she’ll prove them all wrong… over and over and over again. Her character was okay in books 1-2 (though, she started to irk me in book 2), but now she’s plain annoying. But, here’s hoping book 4 is better!
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