Theft of Swords is two books in one volume, The Crown Conspiracy and Avempartha. Both follow the adventures of Hadrian, a mercenary, and Royce, a thief, as they are hired for various jobs.

The Crown Conspiracy

This is a pretty good book. The story is interesting. The characters are very likable, but I think they needed more depth to make them really shine. There is some magic and mythology, some elves and dwarves, although not as much as I would expect in a fantasy book. All in all, I liked it.

Avempartha

A good part of the beginning was painfully slow, but it got better and I ended up really liking the story. Hadrian and Royce really grew on me with this book. They are great characters and the secondary characters are good, too. I'm excited to continue the series. ( )

First book - It's ok, but boring. Stilted writing, repetitive at times, flat characters. The female characters aren't even two dimensional
Second book is much better. Characters are more fully fleshed out, dialogue is better. Fight scenes are still a little stilted ( )

I would highly recommend this entire series to anyone. This is an exceptional fantasy series that is not only ridiculously fun and addictive, but also stands out above the crowd for multiple reasons: first are the strong female characters who all feature prominently, are not simply damsels in distress for the heroes to rescue and actually have their own character arcs that differ greatly from each other. Written by a male author no less! Second, while the general idea of elves, dwarves and humans has been repeated in fantasy over and over, this is still a fresh take on an old trope that manages to surprise. Third, it is wonderful to find a fantasy tale that does not rely on heroic battles and wars to fill chapters. Instead there is exciting plot, rich history and great banter. I recommend reading the Riyria Revelations first and then the Chronicles (publication order) as there are a lot of Easter eggs in the newer books that you can only really appreciate if you read the Revelations. ( )

The first book was really engaging, but I found the second book to be much slower, and harder to get through. Royce and Hadrian are great characters, and I'm interested to see what happens in the next books. ( )

What an enjoyable book to listen to. I don't know if I can say anything better about Michael J. Sullivan's first volume in the Riyria Revelations series. This audiobook grabbed me within the first ten minutes of the book and wouldn't let me go! Actually, it still has not as I can't wait to get in to the next volume Rise of Empire.
The reader in an audiobook is always what gives the first impression, for weal or woe. In this case Tim Gerard Reynolds reads his ass off and, for me, just knocks it out of the park. His different voices for each character seem to fit perfectly. When he has to voice women, which can trip up the best of narrators, he doesn't miss a beat and pulls it off with flying colors.
This is kind of burying the lead in a sense. Mr. Sullivan has written nothing short of a fantastic series that introduces us to Royce Melborn and Hadrian Blackwater. The classic duo of unlikely heroes, whose adventures, banter and wit kept me coming back for more in this story of swords, religion, magic, and intrigue, woods and farms, elves and men and dwarves.
This series was recommended to me by a friend who knew I enjoyed a good story. Boy am I glad I listened to him. As this is one that I cannot recommend highly enough whether in book form or in the audiobook version. While there are flaws and it is not perfect, nothing is, I give it a 4.5 out of 5. I just love it when I am done and hunger for more. I think just about anyone who enjoys a good story will as well. ( )