Pretty Little Liars

Most people think of the book series when they hear the phrase Pretty Little Liars, and would not be wrong. The books introduced this intriguing story to the public, but it was not thought of it that way.

Originally, entertainment, alloy wheels, though they themselves are a book packaging company, had to sell the rights to what was originally intended as a television program the author Sara Shepard in 2006, and only after the series had been printing, they found the popularity he needed to make your way on television. It was written and published by HarperTeen between 2006 and 2010, and books in order, Pretty Little Liars, flawless, perfect, incredible and Wicked.

In response to its success, the story in its original form (TV script) was picked up by ABC Family a 10-episode first season, which was again due to the success of the series, quickly extended for another 12 episodes complete the first season of 22 episodes.

The story itself is simple (for those familiar with the teen drama genre, at least), and revolves around a gang of girls that friendship collapsed when its leader, if you will, mysteriously disappeared. Her name was Alison, and when they begin receiving messages from someone calling herself "A", and when the startup messages threatening to expose their innermost secrets (those who thought that only Alison knew), things begin to warm up.

While critical comments were mixed (the program is not intended to please them, after all, but rather girls 12-16 years) show cleaned up at this year's Teen Choice Awards.

Pretty Little Liars: a great success on American television

June 8, 2010 marked the debut of Pretty Little Liars on American television, a show is based on the series of novels written by Sara Shepard with the same title. The series is set in the town of Rosewood and revolve around the lives of four girls: Hanna Marin (played by Ashley Benson), Emily Fields (played by Shay Mitchell), Spencer Hastings (Trojan Bellisario) and Aria Montgomery (Lucy Hale). The four girls used to be good friends, however, when the queen bee DiLaurentis Alison (played by Sasha Pieterse) disappears, his clique falls apart. One year after the disappearance of Alison, a mysterious figure called "A" starts sending messages from the girls threatens to reveal their secrets, only Alison could know.

Each of the girls has their own personality and struggles with his personal conflict. Hanna, who was chubby before, became the new "it" girl of the school after Alison disappeared. But as the series develops, is reconciled with his old friends and become less interested in being popular. Committed and loyal are words that best describe Emily. When a new family moves into the former home of Alison, Emily became friends with the daughter of the new residents and realizes that she is attracted to this new girl. Spencer comes from a wealthy family and is represented as an additional merit. She is constantly compared and live under the shadow of his older sister, Melissa. After spending a year in Iceland, Aria and her family back to Rosewood. His father had an affair with his pupil that is known about Aria and to support his mother. Aria was found in a similar situation with her father when she became romantically involved with Ezra Fitz (played by Ian Harding), their new English teacher.

The premiere of Pretty Little Liars holds the record for ABC debut as the highest-rated series through the demographics of your target. Some 2.47 million viewers watched the premiere of the series making it number two in total viewers schedule. And in the Teen Choice Award for 2010, the series received the award for Choice TV summer.

"Theft of Swords" by Michael Sullivan (Reviewed by Liviu Suciu)

Official Michael Sullivan Website
Order Theft of Swords HERE
Read FBC Review of The Crown Conspiracy
Read FBC Review of Avempartha
Read FBC Review of Nyphron Rising
Read FBC Review of The Emerald Storm
Read FBC Review of Wintertide
Read FBC Review of The Viscount and the Witch

INTRODUCTION: In the space of two years, Michael Sullivan has moved from a small press debut author who was featured in one of my first "Indie Spotlight Reviews" to a "name" in the fantasy field whose wonderful Ryria Revelations is being published by Orbit Books in three consecutive omnibuses starting with Theft of Swords which is already out in stores as I saw last Sunday in my local B&N.

While I have reviewed the two books that form this omnibus close to their original small press publication, I am re-posting the reviews below with some additional thoughts about how the Orbit edition differs and how the series has gained by the tighter editing.

The most important difference is that the series debut, The Crown Conspiracy, has gotten a new first half-chapter that introduces the main two protagonists Hadrian and Royce outright.

But do not worry, even if you read the original edition and do not want to buy the omnibus, you can read this chapter for free as it is bundled with The Viscount and the Witch short story that functions as a series prequel set some 10 years earlier. Click on the link above and get the story and the first revised chapter of The Crown Conspiracy from the author's site!

However there are more little touches that the new Orbit edition adds by a really close editing. When I got an advanced copy of Theft of Swords some months ago, I opened it just to take a look and read the revised first chapter as I have heard about that earlier. But once I started reading I could not put the book down despite that I have read both included novels a few times before and I ended up with a full read of the omnibus while in the process I started noticing that there were places where it flowed much better than the originals.

Went and checked with my 2008/09 copies and sure enough there were little differences here and there - most notably when the main heroes meet a character who for the obvious reason of being locked up in time stasis for close to a millennium, talks archaic - in the original the author mostly kept the archaic language consistent, but there were a few slips to modern and while they were minor, they still broke a little the narrative flow; in the omnibus everything is consistent.

Overall though the differences are minor in the 700 pages scheme of things, so go and enjoy the "mainstream" debut of this superb series!

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Original 2008 Review of The Crown Conspiracy:

INTRODUCTION: Michael Sullivan’s debut novel, “The Crown Conspiracy”—the first in a planned six-volume epic fantasy series called The Riyria Revelations—has attracted a growing following since its recent publication by indie publisher, Aspirations Media Inc. After reading an excerpt on Mr. Sullivan's website, I decided to give the book a try and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by how much fun and page turning “The Crown Conspiracy” turned out to be…

SETTING: On the alternate Earth-like planet of Elan, the Novronian Empire of legend has sundered centuries ago into many different states. This was supposedly due to the machinations of the dastardly wizard and traitor Esrahaddon. The imperial Nyphron Church and its various loyalist nobles and knight orders have been looking for the mythical “Heir” to the Empire for almost a thousand years now. In the meantime, the kingdoms that coalesced on the Empire's territory developed Nationalist movements of their own opposed to the Imperialist goals and the monks dedicated to the god Maribor that predated Empire and Church.

One such kingdom is Melegar, and when its ruling king is murdered, the young Crown Prince Alric and his older sister Arista—who would be Queen if her brother should die—are thrust into the limelight and a brutal struggle for power that may have much greater implications for the “big picture” than whoever governs a minor kingdom.

Archibald Ballentyne is a very ambitious second-tier noble from the neighboring kingdom of Ghent—not that he harbors any particular loyalty to “his” king—and is willing to do whatever shady deals he can to advance.

Royce and Hadrian are a freelance “object/documents” acquisition and recovery team. In other words, Royce is a skilled thief with a mysterious past while Hadrian is a very good fighter who excels with the sword and bow. Using an impoverished noble as a front man, they peddle their trade to the high & mighty and anyone that can pay, outside of the Protection/Underground Guilds extant in most towns.

Lastly, Myron is a noble born “nerdish” monk of Maribor whose abbey has the misfortune of incurring the wrath of powerful enemies…

FORMAT/INFO: “The Crown Conspiracy” stands at 296 pages divided over ten named parts, each subdivided into several numbered chapters. Included at the beginning of the book is a map which is also available on the author's website, as well as a table of contents. The action takes place mostly in the novel’s present-tense and is narrated in the third-person via several POVs, most notably Royce and Hadrian, with Archibald, Myron, Alric and Arista having good chunks of face time too. The ending is very good, wrapping up the main threads of the novel, but as with any opening volume in a series, the big-picture events are just now starting to impact our heroes.

October 1, 2008 marks the Paperback Publication of “The Crown Conspiracy” via Aspirations Media Inc. Cover art is provided by the author himself, Michael Sullivan.

PLOT HINTS AND ANALYSIS: “The Crown Conspiracy” starts with a caper in Archibald Ballentyne's castle and stays on a roll from there to the end. We first meet Royce and Hadrian when they frustrate one of Archibald's machinations—which they originally helped get started by stealing some letters—but what's better than getting paid again even more handsomely to restore those very same letters to their rightful owner?

Of course this kind of double-cross dealing with the high & mighty comes with a risk as Royce and Hadrian find themselves framed and imprisoned to be tortured and executed for the death of the King of Melegar, which they believed was a lucrative “mercy” job for an endangered noble. Luckily, Princess Arista—for reasons of her own which may or may not be the selfless ones she claims—helps them escape with the new King Alric in tow as a hostage/protégée.

Embarking on a journey to find the mythical wizard Esrahaddon—who supposedly still lives after almost a thousand years imprisoned in a hidden prison built by dwarves and is the only one who can help Alric—Royce, Hadrian and the new king hooks up with Myron whose knowledge of arcane rituals and ancient text is important to their quest, while Arista remains behind as Queen Regent of Melegar. Or perhaps, she plans on killing them all in secret and becoming the rightful Queen of Melegar…

While Royce and Hadrian start off as stereotypical fantasy characters—a thief and a fighter—that we see in so many genre novels, as we slowly get to know them, they start to develop a distinctive identity of their own. And that is also true of the other main characters Alric, Arista and Myron who all grow with the unfolding events, while the rogue Archimbald is great fun in all of his appearances. There are several other notable characters as well, but I don’t want to give out any more spoilers…

In conclusion, “The Crown Conspiracy” is great fun and a romp end to end. It's a very fast read and I finished it in one sitting. Its characters grow on you and the series has great potential to develop since Book One only explores a relatively small part of the wonderful imagined world of Michael Sullivan, and I am really looking forward to reading Book Two, “Avempartha”, out in April 2009.

Highly recommended and another positive surprise for 2008, I hope Mr. Sullivan enjoys the success he deserves and that we get to see all of the planned volumes in The Riyria Revelations…

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Original 2009 Review of Avempartha

INTRODUCTION: Michael Sullivan’s debut novel, “The Crown Conspiracy”—the first in a planned six-volume epic fantasy series called The Riyria Revelations—has attracted a growing following. I read and reviewed the book last November:

“In conclusion, “The Crown Conspiracy” is great fun and a romp end to end. It's a very fast read and I finished it in one sitting. Its characters grow on you and the series has great potential to develop since Book One only explores a relatively small part of the wonderful imagined world of Michael Sullivan”.

Needless to say, when I received an ARC of “Avempartha”, I was quite eager to see if the book would live up to the expectations raised by Mr. Sullivan’s marvelous debut. I am happy to report that not only did “Avempartha” meet expectations, but it took the series to another level, ensuring that the future installments will be must-reads...

“The Crown Conspiracy” was essentially a standalone with hints of the larger picture, while “Avempartha” goes straight into the deeper issues of Mr. Sullivan's richly imagined universe and reads more like a series opener than a second volume. The following review is mostly independent of “The Crown Conspiracy” one and contains very few series spoilers.

SETTING: On the alternate Earth-like planet of Elan, the Novronian Empire of legend has sundered centuries ago into many different states, supposedly due to the machinations of the dastardly wizard and traitor Esrahaddon. For almost a thousand years now, the imperial Nyphron Church and its various loyalist nobles and knight orders have been looking for the mythical “Heir” to the Empire, a person of Novron's bloodline and supposedly the only one capable of passing secret tests jealously guarded by the Church.

In the meantime, the kingdoms that coalesced on the Empire's territory developed Nationalist movements of their own opposed to the Imperialist goals and the monks dedicated to the god Maribor that predated Empire and Church. One such kingdom is Melegar and young King Alric has a problem: his older sister Arista is restless, does not want to marry and settle down, and has developed a reputation as a ‘witch’ for being a student of Esra. Since Arista helped save Melegar from the clutches of usurpers, Alric owes her his life, and sends her on an important mission. But he also sends the high ranking Bishop Saldur as an “advisor” who has designs of his own.

Royce and Hadrian are a freelance “object/documents” acquisition and recovery team. In other words, Royce is a skilled thief with a mysterious past while Hadrian is a very good fighter who excels with a sword and bow. Using an impoverished noble as a front man, they peddle their trade to the high & mighty and anyone that can pay. But because they have now attracted the attention of the powerful, they are thrown into the middle of the “great game”.

On the edge of empire, the long-lived but slow-reproducing elves are watching. While the elvish mixed-blood population living in human territory are stereotyped, oppressed and mistreated, the pure-blooded elves retreated millenia ago beyond the border river Nidwalden, and only the abandoned castle of Avempartha remains as a reminder that they are still there, waiting for any sign of human weakness.

The village of Dhalgren technically breaks the human-elvish treaty by being too close to Nidwalden, but it has not been bothered for many years. However, a monstrous being has recently started terrorizing the village and killing its inhabitants indiscriminately.

When a strange armless man called Esra shows up at the village followed by tragedy, Theron's surviving daughter Thrace is sent to the main city of Colnora to enlist the help of Royce and Hadrian...

FORMAT/INFO: “Avempartha” stands at 332 pages divided over fifteen titled chapters. The narration is in the third person and takes place into the present of the novel. The main POVs are Royce, Hadrian, Arista and Thrace with Esra stealing the show whenever he makes an appearance. There are other secondary returning characters from the first novel, most notably the dwarf Magnus and the brothers Pickering, Mauvin and Fanen, but the foppish villain I loved to hate, Count Archimbald, is missing. Instead, we get the chilling “Sentinel” Guy. The ending is excellent and solves the main issue of the plot, but this time there is a huge ‘To Be Continued’ sign, so I eagerly await the next installment. April 1, 2009 marks the Paperback Publication of "Avempartha" via Aspirations Media Inc. Cover art is provided by the author himself, Michael Sullivan.

PLOT HINTS AND ANALYSIS: One thing I really loved about “Avempartha” were the superb naming conventions. Quite a few times in sff novels, the names are grating or at best annoying or silly-sounding, and usually I’m happy if they are not too noticeable. In “Avempartha” though, I truly loved how the names sounded with Thrace and Arista pairing very nicely with Royce and Hadrien, while Guy, Saldur, Thomas, Theron and Gilarabrywn are names that evoke both wonder and terror. The names of places like Colnora, Dhalgren, and Nidwalden also roll nicely off the tongue and add to the novel’s depth...

After a superb re-acquittance with Royce and Hadrian in the first several pages, “Avempartha” actually continues more as a series opener with a ton of build-up in the first half of the novel, while the second half is just superb non-stop action, especially when the two threads following Royce, Hadrian and Princess Arista respectively converge at the elven castle...

Meanwhile, the slow unfolding of secrets and tapestries weaved over the centuries since the fall of the Empire—and possibly even before—is very well timed, and there are some unexpected twists and turns, though we also start seeing a little bit of the big-picture outline. In particular, the Imperial succession which clearly dates back to the murder of the last emperor and the possible elvish threat that goes back to the times of legend well before the Empire even existed.

Of the main POVs, Arista, Hadrien and Royce stay in character from “The Crown Conspiracy”, but are written with much more detail and depth, while Thrace is a great addition, bringing an “innocent, regular girl” perspective that contrasts nicely with the other characters. I particularly liked the reintroduction of Magnus and his cynical dialogue and wordplay with Royce who still wants his head for obvious reasons.

Overall, I really loved “Avempartha”. In fact, I immediately re-read “The Crown Conspiracy” the next day to try and catch any little details I might have missed the first time, and I definitely recommend reading the first book again for added depth. In short, “Avempartha” is highly, highly recommended and a novel that raises Michael Sullivan’s The Riyria Revelations to “major league” status...

2011 Goodreads Choice Awards: Semifinals November 13-November 20 (by Liviu Suciu)

Goodreads is running their third annual Goodreads Choice Awards in three rounds. I talked about eligibility and process in the post about the first round HERE.

Now that the write-ins have been tallied and the top five added to have the full 20 book semifinal list I will present the main four fiction categories I voted in and my votes and extra choices for the final round if my favorite does not make the top 10.

Remember that there are 22 categories so lots of things to vote for - in addition to the 4 main categories for me below, I also voted in Historical Fiction (Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran), History & Biography (In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson) and Middle Grade & Children's (based on my son's reading and what I glimpsed from the books myself, Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick).

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1: Favorite Book of 2011 (click for titles)


Voted: A Dance with Dragons by George RR Martin

Second Choice: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

I've read two more books from the list, the overall disappointing The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss and the dismal Twilight for the middle ages, A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness.

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2: Best Fiction of 2011 (click for titles)


Voted: 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

Three more choices here:

The 2011 Booker winner The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
The utterly charming The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan
Even the partly disappointing The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht

I have not read any of the other books on the list, though I opened a few that generated waves or I've seen reviews that interested me in them. Most are away from my interests and I already have a huge reading pile, so it's quite unlikely I will read any...

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3: Best Fantasy of 2011 (click for list of titles)


Voted: A Dance with Dragons by George RR Martin

Three more choices here:

Naamah's Blessing by Jacqueline Carey
The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

In addition to Rothfuss, I only read the very meh Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence and I plan to read Kingdom of Gods by NK Jemisin hopefully sometime this year, while I have no real interest in the other titles with most of them by authors I stay well away from.

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4: Best SF of 2011 (click for list of titles)


Voted: The Clockwork Rocket by Greg Egan (a write in vote from me that made the extra five)

Two more choices here:

Leviathan Wakes by James Corey
Embassytown by China Mieville

I started and plan to eventually finish Phoenix Rising by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris and Flashback by Dan Simmons, while most of the other choices are from authors I stay away from.