Michael J. Sullivan Books in Order (Updated August 5, 2026)

Michael J. Sullivan is an American fantasy and science fiction author best known for stories set in the fictional world of Elan. His largest body of work covers thousands of years, from the founding of the First Empire to the partnership of Royce Melborn and Hadrian Blackwater.

The apparent complexity comes from having two different ways to enter the same world. Readers can follow publication order, which protects the intended discoveries, or begin with Elan’s oldest historical period and move chronologically toward Riyria.

For a first visit, publication order is the stronger choice. Start with Theft of Swords, complete the Riyria Revelations, then decide whether to explore Royce and Hadrian’s earlier adventures or travel thousands of years into Elan’s past.

One World, Four Main Series

Most of Sullivan’s fantasy novels belong to one continuity:

1. The Riyria Revelations: The completed central adventure of Royce and Hadrian.
2. The Riyria Chronicles: Earlier, largely self-contained missions featuring the same partnership.
3. Legends of the First Empire: A six-book sequence set about three thousand years before Riyria.
4. The Rise and Fall: Three historical novels connecting the First Empire era to the later world of Riyria.

The stories share history, mythology, religions, magical traditions, and recurring identities. However, they do not need to be read in fictional chronology.

Sullivan’s Hollow World is separate science fiction and has no connection to Elan.

The Best First-Time Reading Route

New readers should use this sequence:

1. Theft of Swords
2. Rise of Empire
3. Heir of Novron
4. The Crown Tower
5. The Rose and the Thorn
6. The Death of Dulgath
7. The Disappearance of Winter’s Daughter
8. Drumindor
9. Age of Myth
10. Age of Swords
11. Age of War
12. Age of Legend
13. Age of Death
14. Age of Empyre
15. Nolyn
16. Farilane
17. Esrahaddon

This arrangement introduces Elan through its most accessible partnership, preserves the central mysteries of Riyria, then reveals how the world’s accepted history developed from much older events.

The Legends and Rise and Fall novels contain explanations that can alter how readers interpret the myths and identities mentioned in Riyria. Reading Riyria first allows those discoveries to work in both directions.

The Riyria Revelations Books in Order

The Riyria Revelations is a completed six-part story most commonly sold as three omnibus volumes. Each modern volume contains two full novels.

Royce is a guarded former assassin with little faith in people. Hadrian is an idealistic swordsman searching for purpose. Together, they operate as Riyria, a small business specializing in theft, espionage, recovery work, and assignments that respectable people cannot perform openly.

Modern Omnibus Editions

1. Theft of Swords (2011): Royce and Hadrian are framed for a king’s murder, forcing two professional thieves into a political conspiracy involving a young prince, an ancient tower, and questions about the lost imperial heir.
2. Rise of Empire (2011): Riyria becomes involved in a widening war as the newly declared empire advances, nationalist resistance grows, and Arista Essendon searches for allies capable of preventing conquest.
3. Heir of Novron (2012): The identity of the true heir, the purpose of the ancient enemy, and the hidden history behind the empire converge as the series reaches its planned conclusion.

These three books should be read consecutively. The political conflict expands with each volume, while clues that seem minor in Theft of Swords become central by Heir of Novron.

The Six Internal Novels

The omnibus editions preserve the six original novel titles as separately named sections.

1. The Crown Conspiracy (2008): Royce and Hadrian accept what appears to be a straightforward theft, only to find themselves beside a murdered king and accused of arranging his death.
2. Avempartha (2009): Riyria travels to a threatened village where an ancient elven tower, a lethal creature, and the arrival of competing nobles turn a local crisis into a larger historical mystery.
3. Nyphron Rising (2009): The creation of a new empire places Melengar under pressure while Arista attempts to build an alliance against a powerful religious and military movement.
4. The Emerald Storm (2010): Hadrian infiltrates a dangerous sea voyage, while Royce and Arista pursue separate parts of a conspiracy connected to war, imperial expansion, and the search for the heir.
5. Wintertide (2010): A public celebration and political marriage conceal executions, manipulation, and a final effort to bring the remaining kingdoms under imperial control.
6. Percepliquis (2011): The surviving characters enter an ancient lost city in search of knowledge and weapons that may determine whether humanity survives the approaching confrontation.

Most current readers should buy the three omnibus volumes rather than search for the six original editions. The story content is organized in the same order.

Why Riyria Revelations Should Usually Come First

The Riyria Revelations was written as a complete sequence with its ending established before the first volume was released. It reveals character histories, religious claims, and ancient events gradually.

Later series take place earlier but were written for readers who could recognize those connections. Beginning with the oldest era replaces mystery with background knowledge.

Publication order is therefore recommended because it preserves surprises. Chronological order remains useful for a reread, when seeing how facts become legends is more important than protecting their first revelation.

The Riyria Chronicles Books in Order

The Riyria Chronicles returns to the years before Theft of Swords. The novels show how Royce and Hadrian meet, establish Riyria, and undertake earlier assignments.

Most Chronicles books tell self-contained cases, but the partnership develops across the sequence. Publication order is the clearest route.

1. The Crown Tower (2013): Gwen DeLancy persuades Royce and Hadrian to work together, sending the suspicious assassin and principled fighter on a journey neither man believes the other can survive.
2. The Rose and the Thorn (2013): Royce responds to an attack on Gwen while Hadrian becomes involved with events surrounding the Essendon royal family, placing both men near the origins of later political conflicts.
3. The Death of Dulgath (2015): Riyria is hired to test the security surrounding Lady Dulgath, but the assignment develops into an investigation involving assassination, local legends, and a woman who seems to know more than she should.
4. The Disappearance of Winter’s Daughter (2017): Royce and Hadrian search for a nobleman’s missing wife in a divided city where class resentment, religious tension, and political interests obstruct the investigation.
5. Drumindor (2024): Riyria travels to the dwarven-built fortress city of Drumindor, where an apparently manageable assignment becomes entangled with old engineering, guarded secrets, and threats beneath the city.

Drumindor first reached Kickstarter supporters in ebook and audiobook formats in 2024. Its wider hardcover release followed in 2025, so different catalogs may assign it either year.

Where the Riyria Short Stories Fit

Three short works are closely associated with the Riyria Chronicles period. They are optional, but each provides another Royce and Hadrian assignment.

1. The Viscount and the Witch (2011): Royce and Hadrian meet the impoverished Viscount Albert Winslow during a job involving a frightened young woman and a supposedly dangerous witch.
2. The Jester (2013): Riyria joins a treasure-seeking expedition into an ancient tomb where traps, greed, and competing motives make the reward difficult to reach safely.
3. Professional Integrity (2015): A woman hires Royce and Hadrian to locate her missing husband, creating a test of professional standards when the facts of the assignment begin to change.

A comfortable placement is after The Rose and the Thorn. By then, Royce and Hadrian’s working relationship and Albert’s role require little explanation.

“The Viscount and the Witch” is also included in some editions of The Rose and the Thorn. “The Jester” and “Professional Integrity” have appeared independently and in anthologies, so availability varies.

Can the Riyria Chronicles Be Read Before Revelations?

They can, but new readers lose part of the intended effect.

The Chronicles explain Royce and Hadrian’s histories earlier and more directly. Revelations originally allows readers to understand the two men through behavior, guarded conversations, and slowly exposed secrets.

The better rule is:

First reading: Revelations before Chronicles.

Later reread: Chronicles before Revelations works well because it creates one long Royce and Hadrian timeline.

The Chronicles remain an open-ended sequence of earlier adventures. Each published novel resolves its principal assignment, so readers are not left with an unfinished central plot.

Legends of the First Empire Books in Order

Legends of the First Empire takes place roughly three thousand years before the Riyria stories. It shows a period that later cultures remember through religion, propaganda, incomplete records, and altered legends.

The series is one continuous six-book narrative and should be read in order.

1. Age of Myth (2016): Human communities believe the Fhrey are immortal gods until a confrontation proves they can be killed, setting Raithe, Suri, Persephone, and several unlikely allies against an expanding crisis.
2. Age of Swords (2017): The human clans must acquire new knowledge, weapons, and alliances before war begins, while Persephone attempts to unite societies that have little reason to trust one another.
3. Age of War (2018): Open conflict arrives as the human alliance faces the military power of the Fhrey and sacrifices become necessary to prevent the rebellion from collapsing.
4. Age of Legend (2019): The consequences of the war divide the surviving characters, while journeys into unfamiliar lands expose deeper truths about magic, leadership, and the forces shaping events.
5. Age of Death (2020): Several characters cross into the realm of the dead on a mission that changes the series from a political war into a confrontation with the foundations of Elan’s mythology.
6. Age of Empyre (2020): The human and Fhrey conflicts reach their conclusion as competing plans for the future produce the institutions, stories, and misunderstandings remembered in later ages.

The final three volumes function almost as one extended closing movement. Age of Legend, Age of Death, and Age of Empyre should be read without switching to another Elan series between them.

Legends of the First Empire Short Fiction

Two short stories provide additional perspectives from the ancient era.

1. Little Wren and the Big Forest (2016): A young girl living at the edge of a dangerous forest faces a journey that adds personal context to the world surrounding the early First Empire.
2. Pile of Bones (2019): Suri and Minna appear in an earlier adventure that explores the mystic’s upbringing, her understanding of the natural world, and the experiences that shaped her before Age of Myth.

Both stories are optional. “Pile of Bones” works particularly well after readers have met Suri in Age of Myth, even though its events occur earlier.

The Rise and Fall Books in Order

The Rise and Fall consists of three historical novels set at widely separated points between Legends of the First Empire and Riyria.

Each volume follows a different central character. Together, they show the formation, preservation, and eventual collapse of the empire that later generations misunderstand.

1. Nolyn (2021): The son of Nyphron and Persephone returns from centuries of military exile and becomes involved in a plot threatening both the imperial throne and the people closest to him.
2. Farilane (2022): A curious imperial princess investigates a mystery involving forbidden history, ancient records, and a stranger whose knowledge challenges what she believes about her family and world.
3. Esrahaddon (2023): A gifted young artist of magic rises to prominence during the final centuries of the empire, eventually confronting the political and magical forces that lead toward its destruction.

These books are numbered as a trilogy, but they do not form one uninterrupted adventure. Large stretches of time separate them.

Read them in publication order. Farilane and Esrahaddon rely on emotional and historical knowledge developed in the preceding volumes.

Some retail editions list Esrahaddon as a 2024 publication because its general-market formats followed the earlier independently released edition. It remains the third Rise and Fall novel.

The Full Elan Chronology

Readers who want to follow Elan from its earliest known period to the end of Riyria can use the following broad order.

Before the First Empire

1. Pile of Bones (2019): An early Suri and Minna story provides a small-scale view of the world before the principal Legends conflict.
2. Little Wren and the Big Forest (2016): This separate ancient-era story follows a young character confronting the dangers beyond familiar territory.

Legends of the First Empire

3. Age of Myth (2016): The belief in Fhrey immortality is broken and the human rebellion begins.
4. Age of Swords (2017): Persephone’s alliance searches for the knowledge required to resist a stronger civilization.
5. Age of War (2018): The conflict becomes a direct war with serious losses on both sides.
6. Age of Legend (2019): The survivors separate into missions that reveal new parts of the world and its magic.
7. Age of Death (2020): A journey beyond ordinary life exposes the structure of the afterlife and the plans operating behind the war.
8. Age of Empyre (2020): The struggle concludes and the First Empire takes the form later history will remember imperfectly.

The Rise and Fall

9. Nolyn (2021): The young empire faces a threat during the reign of Nyphron and Persephone’s son.
10. Farilane (2022): Centuries later, an imperial princess uncovers concealed information about history and the forces guiding it.
11. Esrahaddon (2023): The empire’s final period is seen through a major practitioner of magic whose choices lead toward the age preceding Riyria.

Riyria Chronicles

12. The Crown Tower (2013): Gwen arranges the first partnership between Royce and Hadrian.
13. The Viscount and the Witch (2011): Riyria meets Albert during one of the pair’s earlier jobs.
14. The Rose and the Thorn (2013): Royce protects Gwen while Hadrian becomes connected to the royal family of Melengar.
15. The Jester (2013): Royce and Hadrian enter a dangerous tomb during a treasure expedition.
16. Professional Integrity (2015): A missing-person assignment tests what Riyria considers acceptable professional conduct.
17. The Death of Dulgath (2015): The partners investigate a threatened noblewoman and the unusual history surrounding her lands.
18. The Disappearance of Winter’s Daughter (2017): Riyria searches for a missing duchess amid a city’s political and social divisions.
19. Drumindor (2024): Royce and Hadrian undertake an assignment in the dwarven fortress city before the events of Revelations.

Riyria Revelations

20. The Crown Conspiracy (2008): Riyria is framed for regicide and drawn into the fate of Melengar.
21. Avempartha (2009): An ancient tower and a threatened village expose another part of Elan’s hidden past.
22. Nyphron Rising (2009): The new empire expands while resistance begins to organize.
23. The Emerald Storm (2010): Separate missions at sea and on land uncover more of the imperial plan.
24. Wintertide (2010): Executions, marriage, and political ceremony bring the empire close to complete control.
25. Percepliquis (2011): The search for the lost city produces the final answers behind the heir, the enemy, and Elan’s distorted history.

This order is rewarding after completing the books once. It makes the transformation of real people into myths especially clear, but it reveals too much too early for most first-time readers.

A Second Recommended Order for Chronology-Minded Readers

Readers who strongly prefer historical progression can begin with Legends, but a modified chronological order is safer than mixing every short story and prequel immediately.

1. Age of Myth
2. Age of Swords
3. Age of War
4. Age of Legend
5. Age of Death
6. Age of Empyre
7. Nolyn
8. Farilane
9. Esrahaddon
10. The Crown Tower
11. The Rose and the Thorn
12. The Death of Dulgath
13. The Disappearance of Winter’s Daughter
14. Drumindor
15. Theft of Swords
16. Rise of Empire
17. Heir of Novron

This path tells Elan’s history in sequence. Its disadvantage is that readers know the truth behind several legends before Royce, Hadrian, Arista, and their contemporaries begin investigating them.

Choose this order when understanding cause and effect matters more than preserving mystery.

Hollow World

Hollow World (2014): Ellis Rogers secretly builds a time machine after receiving a terminal diagnosis, but his journey carries him far beyond his intended destination into a future society that has eliminated many familiar forms of conflict and individuality.

This is a standalone science fiction novel. It does not take place in Elan and shares no characters, magic, or history with Riyria.

The novel resolves its central journey without requiring a sequel. It can be read at any point in Sullivan’s bibliography.

Michael J. Sullivan’s Other Short Fiction

Sullivan has written fantasy and science fiction outside the main Elan narrative. These stories do not form a single series.

1. Greener Grass (2012): A time-travel premise places an ordinary desire for a different life against the unpredictable consequences of altering circumstances.
2. Traditions (2013): A story associated with the broader Riyria period examines how inherited customs and expected behavior can shape a dangerous encounter.
3. Burning Alexandria (2014): The destruction of knowledge and the choices made during catastrophe anchor a story connected to the idea of civilization facing its end.
4. Be Careful What You Wish For (2014): A speculative wish creates complications that expose the gap between what a person requests and what would actually improve a life.
5. The Autumn Mists (2014): A fantasy setting and an atmosphere of uncertainty frame a story about danger hidden behind familiar appearances.
6. The Storm (2025): This later short work appears in an anthology and stands outside the principal novel sequences.

Some short stories were published only in anthologies, promotional editions, or digital formats. They are optional and do not affect the recommended order of the novels.

Books Announced but Not Yet Published

After the Fall

After the Fall is a planned Elan series set after the historical events already covered by Sullivan’s published sequences.

1. Out of the Ashes (Expected October 2026): The first announced After the Fall novel is scheduled to open another period of Elan’s history, although full continuity details remain limited before publication.
2. Between Two Evils (Publication Date Unconfirmed): The planned second volume has been named, but no reliable release date has been announced.
3. Into the Darkness (Publication Date Unconfirmed): The planned third volume has a working position in the series, but its publication schedule remains open.

Only Out of the Ashes currently has a listed release window. The later titles should not be treated as available books or assigned firm years until the author confirms their schedules.

The Cycle

Sullivan has also discussed a larger project called The Cycle. The project is planned to contain several novels and is connected to unresolved elements within Elan.

The books are still in development. Because final release dates and the complete public reading sequence have not been established, they should remain outside the current published order.

Latest Michael J. Sullivan Book

Drumindor (2024): The fifth Riyria Chronicles novel is the latest published original novel, returning to Royce and Hadrian during the years before Theft of Swords.

The release year may appear as 2025 for the wider hardcover edition. The story was first released to campaign supporters in digital and audio formats in 2024.

Out of the Ashes (Expected October 2026): This is the next currently listed Michael J. Sullivan novel. As of August 5, 2026, it remains upcoming rather than part of the completed bibliography.

Are Michael J. Sullivan’s Series Complete?

The answer differs by sequence.

Riyria Revelations

Complete: The story begins with Theft of Swords and reaches its planned ending in Heir of Novron.

Riyria Chronicles

Ongoing: Five novels have been published. Each book tells a largely self-contained earlier adventure, so the series does not end on one unresolved central cliffhanger.

Legends of the First Empire

Complete: The six-book story runs from Age of Myth through Age of Empyre.

The Rise and Fall

Complete: Nolyn, Farilane, and Esrahaddon form the full three-book historical sequence.

Hollow World

Complete as a standalone: The novel tells a self-contained science fiction story.

After the Fall

Upcoming: The first novel is expected in October 2026, with later volumes planned but not yet firmly dated.

Editions That Commonly Cause Confusion

Three Books or Six Riyria Revelations Novels

Both descriptions are correct.

The original sequence contains six novels:

1. The Crown Conspiracy
2. Avempartha
3. Nyphron Rising
4. The Emerald Storm
5. Wintertide
6. Percepliquis

The current Orbit editions collect them as:

1. Theft of Swords
2. Rise of Empire
3. Heir of Novron

Buying the three omnibus editions provides the full series.

Blood of Thieves

Blood of Thieves (2014): This omnibus combines The Crown Tower and The Rose and the Thorn, collecting the first two Riyria Chronicles novels rather than adding another adventure.

Readers who own both individual novels do not need this edition.

Rise and Fall Publication Years

The Rise and Fall novels were released through independent publishing campaigns before or around some wider retail editions. As a result, retailer records may show different dates for particular formats.

The stable sequence remains:

1. Nolyn
2. Farilane
3. Esrahaddon

Format dates do not change the order.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Michael J. Sullivan book should I read first?

Begin with Theft of Swords. It introduces Royce, Hadrian, and Elan without requiring previous knowledge.

It also preserves the questions that later prequel series were written to answer.

Should I read Riyria Chronicles or Revelations first?

Read Revelations first on an initial visit. Follow it with the Chronicles when you want to see how Royce and Hadrian met and built their partnership.

Chronicles first is a reasonable choice for a reread or for readers who value timeline order more than gradual revelation.

Is Theft of Swords one novel or two?

It is one physical omnibus containing two complete novels, The Crown Conspiracy and Avempartha.

The internal division is important because each half has its own principal assignment and conclusion.

What books are included in Rise of Empire?

Rise of Empire contains Nyphron Rising and The Emerald Storm.

It is the middle omnibus of the Riyria Revelations.

What books are included in Heir of Novron?

Heir of Novron contains Wintertide and Percepliquis.

Together, those two internal novels complete the Riyria Revelations.

Are all the Elan books connected?

Yes. Riyria Revelations, Riyria Chronicles, Legends of the First Empire, and The Rise and Fall share one world and history.

They are separated by large periods of time, so characters may survive through stories, records, institutions, legends, or other continuity mechanisms rather than ordinary direct succession.

Can Legends of the First Empire be read first?

Yes. Age of Myth is written as a usable entry point and does not require prior knowledge of Riyria.

Starting there gives readers historical truth first. Starting with Riyria gives readers the mystery first.

Does Legends of the First Empire spoil Riyria?

It reveals the truth behind historical and religious claims that Riyria presents as mysteries. The plot of Riyria can still be enjoyed, but some discoveries will no longer be surprising.

That is why publication order remains the preferred first-time route.

When should I read The Rise and Fall?

Read it after Legends of the First Empire. The trilogy assumes readers understand the people and events behind the creation of the empire.

For maximum protection of Riyria’s revelations, complete Riyria before reading either Legends or The Rise and Fall.

Is Esrahaddon a prequel?

Yes. It takes place before the Riyria Chronicles and Revelations, during the period leading to the empire’s fall.

It is also the third Rise and Fall novel, so it should not be read before Nolyn and Farilane.

Is Drumindor the final Riyria Chronicles book?

No final fifth-book status has been announced. It is the fifth published Chronicle, but the format allows Sullivan to add further Royce and Hadrian adventures.

Its main story is resolved within the novel.

Where should the Riyria short stories be read?

Place “The Viscount and the Witch,” “The Jester,” and “Professional Integrity” after The Rose and the Thorn.

They can also be saved until all five Chronicles novels are complete because none is required for a later plot.

Is Hollow World connected to Riyria?

No. Hollow World is a standalone time-travel science fiction novel set outside Elan.

It can be read without any of Sullivan’s fantasy books.

What is Michael J. Sullivan’s next book?

Out of the Ashes is listed as the next novel, with an expected October 2026 release.

Later After the Fall volumes have been named, but their release dates remain unconfirmed.

The Reading Decision

Choose Theft of Swords when you want the route that best protects Sullivan’s mysteries. Finish Rise of Empire and Heir of Novron, then return to the earlier Royce and Hadrian years through the Riyria Chronicles.

After Riyria, read Age of Myth through Age of Empyre, followed by Nolyn, Farilane, and Esrahaddon. That progression changes Elan’s ancient past from legend into witnessed history without weakening the introduction to the world.

Chronological readers can reverse the large blocks, beginning with Legends and ending with Revelations. The timeline will be clearer, but several identities, religions, and historical claims will be understood before the Riyria characters begin questioning them.