I have to admit, I picked up Theft of Swords only because Mr. Sullivan was gracious enough to agree to submit a story to an anthology I worked on. Of course, before that, I had heard about his books throughout the interwebs touted as 'traditional sword and sorcery'. I am into traditional fantasy, but after reading the first few books of the Wheel of Time series, I had my fill of traditional fantasy. While it is true that Theft of Swords is a traditional fantasy, I found the story of two endearing thieves refreshing and surprisingly realistic and haunting. 
 The thieves, Royce and Hadrian, call themselves Riyira. In this first book (consisting of two shorter works that had originally been self-published), we don't find out why they call themselves that, but when we first meet them, their name and reputation precedes them: they are a duo capable of outstanding feats of thievery. But we soon find out that Hadrian has a sweet, kind heart and Royce is just...misunderstood. 
 The book starts with the two completing a job successfully. They meet-up with their compatriots at a brothel in the city of Medford, the capital of the Kingdom of Melengar. There they are met by a noble spinning a tale of woe and hefting a large bag of gold. The nobleman speaks with Hadrian and convinces him to take a job. All they have to do is steel a sword - from Essendon Castle, the royal seat of Melengar. Though risky, it seems an easy enough job as the noble will ensure the sword is in an empty chapel. He'll even leave a remote window open for the two. 
 And so Hadrian agrees and mayhem ensues. Once in the chapel, the two discover a body, the dead body of the king. A dwarf sees them and calls the alarm. The two are apprehended for a crime they didn't commit. The dynamic duo were quite easily framed. 
 At this point, I could have easily stopped reading this book. As every review I read said, this is standard fantasy fare. I knew there would be a princess (that they save). I knew there would be a conspiracy to take over the kingdom (that they thwart). And I knew a wizard would get pulled out of a hat (okay, out of the ground in this case). Yes, very predictable. And I knew all that at this point of the story. I knew I could have put the book down at that point and still write this review. 
 But I didn't. Why? 
 I'm still not sure. I think this is a testament to Mr. Sullivan's writing: he makes it funny. Not 'laugh out loud' funny, and the book is not a parody of the genre - at all. In fact, I would say is is more like a homage to the genre. The fact is, you'll snort here and there at the dialogue used, in addition to becoming enamored of our plucky heroes and the characters they encounter. 
 And while yes, they save a princess, it is a spectacular, stone-crashing scene and she's a witch, too. 
 And while there is a conspiracy to overthrow the kingdom, its scope is far greater than we can imagine and harbingers epic events in subsequent books. 
 And the wizard has no hands. 
 I am glad I continued reading the adventures these two get themselves in. After kidnapping the heir to the throne, they take a trip down a river, save the last monk at a burned-down monastery, break-out the no-hands wizard from a magical dungeon, take the heir back to sympathetic relatives, save the witch/princess, and manage to help place the world back in order. A very satisfying read and an excellent introduction to Royce and Hadrian's world. After completing it, I knew I'd want to complete this series. 
 The second half of this book consists of another story, involving much of the same characters and requiring the duo to steal yet another sword. As in the first story, nothing is as it seems and the two face challenges that will have us all wondering about the origins of each character. The manipulations of the Novoron church is made more apparent and the reader gets a sense that the implications of their empire building will have consequences that will touch each race in this world and maybe even the gods. 
 Highly recommended. 
 Originally posted here:http://atheistquill.wordpress.com/201...