"What is Riyria? What does it mean?" "It's elvish. . . for two."The boys are back in town and I still love them. They are back after a year and set out to help Gwen. I really wish evil people would leave them alone! Someone hurt Gwen and other deaths and beatings. It was probably not a good idea to pick on Gwen her girls!

Like with the main series this prequel was far more complex, and in many ways darker, than that which preceded it. It was also even more compelling. Several of my friends have recommended reading the main series first but I would actually recommend this one first. Overall I think it's better written and more engaging and while the first book was really just about developing Royce and Hadrian this one nicely sets up the main plot. Having read the main series already I knew how a lot of stuff woul...

Third time reading The Rose and The Thorn, and it still felt just as wonderful to be back. In my view, The Crown Tower together with the The Rose and The Thorn form the origins duology of the Riyria duo. It also seeded the conspiracy that was over ten years in the making, leading into the captivating story that started in The Riyria Revelations. As far as prequels go, The Riyria Chronicles were superbly well-written, and continues to solidify the reasons why Michael J. Sullivan ranks as one of

Another fantastic prequel.I think I'm running out of ways to praise this series, so suffice it to say that I will re-read these many times over the years to come.If you have not yet read Michael J Sullivan, you are missing out!

Full review now up!The Rose and the Thorn is the second book in the prequel series of The Riyria Chronicles. The story is set in the city of Medford a year after the events of The Crown Tower. MJS did a great job showing the growth in Royce in Hadrian's relationship. While it's still not to the level we see in the Revelations series, there is considerable improvement from the first book. For instance, they don't exactly loath each other anymore. Royce seems to have accepted Hadrian and his do go...

It's been far too long since I've been in Elan. Lately, I haven't had much time for reading, but Riyria is one of those series that you unconsciously make time for. I read on the subway, as usual; I read when I arrived anywhere a few minutes early. I read when I was cooking (not the best idea) and I lost a bit of sleep because I was just so immersed in The Rose and the Thorn.This book seemed to be focused a bit less on the actual events, but more on character development. Of course, Hadrian and

This book was everything that you want a prequel to be and more. Following a relatively "Okay" but still good first book in the Chronicles, I wasn't expecting much from this, but was extremely pleasantly surprised. Plot was well developed and interesting, as it tied in with many elements we got to know from Revelations. Character development was just fantastic, with a particular emphasis on Ruben Hilfred (our favorite body guard), giving us his backstory along with details about an event that wi...

It's Michael J. Sullivan.It's Royce and Hadrian.Of course it is phenomenal. “Wait! What is it? What is Riyria? What does it mean?”“It's elvish...for two.” The Rose and the Thorn had been sitting on my bookshelf for months. Reading it was a physical need, but I kept postponing it because I knew that when I gave in, I would move one step closer to the end, and a point in my life when there wouldn't be any new adventures of my favorite thieves, and that was depressing. Two days ago, I fin...

Originally reviewed at Bookwraiths ReviewsThe Rose and the Thorn is the second book in the Riyria Chronicles by Michael J. Sullivan. It - like the previous book, The Crown Tower - is a prequel to the Riyria Revelations. But unlike most prequels, Mr. Sullivan has done something absolutely superb here: created a tale that both satisfies as a back story and excels as a stand alone, page turner. As the novel begins, a year has passed since the events in The Crown Tower. Royce and Hadrian have been w...

4.5/5 starsThe cover art to The Rose and the Thorn is atrocious, but let’s not judge a book by its cover. “The right word, said at the right moment, can work magic, he was fond of saying. You merely need to understand power, where it comes from, and the direction it flows.” Two persons genuinely surprised me. First, the cover artist has outdone himself; I thought the cover art he did for The Riyria Revelations and The Crown Tower was bad already. But no, he has created a masterfully i...

It is always a joy to be back in the world of Elan and to read more about Royce and Hadrian. I’ve really enjoyed ‘’The Crown Tower’’ and thought it to be a prequel done right and expected no less from this installment and it was even better!In the ‘’Crown Tower’’ we found out how Royce and Hadrian met and how they started to work together and here we get to see how their partnership is evolving into friendship and how they became the famous Riyria. This is an amazing adventure with interesting s...

Another fantastic prequel of one of my favorite bromantic couples with Buddies Books and Baubles Prequels, I’m usually not really interested in them. I mean once you know where the story goes do you really care about the origins of it? For most of the books I’ve read I’d say that it a big fat NO. But for Riyria and Michael J Sullivan the is a huge and resounding YES!!!!Not only do we get to see how Royce and Hadrian finally solidified into a team and found their front man, we also get to see th...

A BR with my best BR partner, Craig, with me as a tail, traipsing in the back :DHere I am, in Riyria again :)One more great adventure with Riyria. It was so great to meet R&H and other characters I got to love, amazing backstories, cool action, nice fighting, some jokes. A bit predictable, but a great read nonetheless! :) The story of Reuben and the beginning of love between two main characters really touched my heart <3 Sorry for a short review, RL Ugh :O

As the author of this book, I won't add a rating but I will take the opportunity to talk a bit about this book.In combination with its predecessor, The Crown Tower, this book pretty much wraps up the forming of Riyria. I was really happy to provide some of Hilfred's backstory as he is a character that really didn't get much spotlight in the Revelations series.It also was good to see Gwen and her girls again. I especially like Rose the titular character who was introduced in the early book, but w...

This was a super enjoyable installment in the Riyria series. It covers a whole bunch of stuff including why Hadrian and Royce chose the name Riyria to represent them. It mainly focuses around the plot to kill the Royal family of Medford and Royce making sure that the ladies of Medford House are safe from harm. We also get to met Albert Winslow for the first time. His first appearance is definitely a memorable one! This was filled with all the action and humor we have come to expect from the seri...

This Review ✍️ Blog 📖 Twitter 🐦 Instagram 📷 Support me ☕ “The world’s a miserable place, kid. Give it any chance and it will kill you and not always with a blade or a cough. You know, there’s a reason men prefer to die in battle—living can sometimes be worse.” The Crown Tower ★★★★The Rose & the Thorn ★★★★I don’t know where to start this review from so I will do it with the cover which is one of the worst for this series! I stayed away from the series for a long time because of the cove...

Well it's officially 1:08am here and I just finished reading this. I am super tired, but I couldn't put this down and I utterly adore the characters from this series so I had to know what would happen.This is book #2 in the Riyria Chronicles which I would advise you read after the whole Riyria Revelations series, even though the Chronicles are a prequel series. Basically in this series we get to see the backstory and various crazy adventures of the two main characters from Riyria Revelations, Ro...

“[Hadrian] was back in a serious drinking state of mind. He often got that way when he thought too much, when he took inventory and found his shelves bare.” This just makes me want to hug Hadrian, not just because I have a crush on him and I hurt when he hurts, but because I really felt that. But let’s start from the top.This book is a lot grimmer than book 1 – be prepared for more cruelty and more tragedy. If you’ve read Revelations first – which you definitely should – you already know who

Another great story and insight on how Royce and Hadrian grew into becoming Riyria. Shed a tear, felt anger and had a laugh. Wonderful book! But definitely read Riyria revelations first!

4.5⭐️ (Very close to 5)Even better than the first book. There’s something so addictive about the Riyria books. Hadrian and Royce never disappoint. The dialogues, the hilarious back and forth, the story overall - I live for them! The cutest, most adorable bromance next to Locke and Jean. If TCT was more about the introduction of Hadrian and Royce, this one was more about their friendship and them becoming the bona fide team that is Riyria. There was a lot more action and drama here, and answers t...