I loved reading this book. The Crown Tower is part of The Riyria Chronicles (a prequel series to The Riyria Revelations, which I read early last year). It shows Royce and Hadrian when they first met and how they became partners. I completely adore the characters in these books, and this story held my interest the whole way through.

I love the world that the author created and I like that he's published so many books in it. There are two other prequel series set in this world (which I haven't tried yet). "The Rise and Fall", which is set a thousand years before this one, and "The Legends of the First Empire", which is set a thousand years before that.

The narrator for the audiobooks, Tim Gerald Reynolds, is amazing.

This (along with the Riyria Revelations) is definitely one of my favorite series of all time. ( )

This was a fun book. It's been a long time since I read something like this so I was a little surprised at how light this felt, very episodic. Almost like a comic book.

I picked this up expecting it was a fantasy novel, but there were very few fantasy elements in it, even less than in e.g. G.R.R. Martin's books. I hope this will change in the sequels.

Even though I appreciate the lightness of the approach (esp. after reading [b:Gardens of the Moon|55399|Gardens of the Moon (Malazan Book of the Fallen, #1)|Steven Erikson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1548497031l/55399._SY75_.jpg|2646042] recently), I feel like this series needs more of everything (magic, action, characters etc.). Looking forward to reading the next book in the series. ( )

After I had listened to the whole of the Riyria Revelations, I absolutely had to find out how it all began. And boy, this is another great tale about Hadrian and Royce. Tim Gerard Reynolds again does a fantastic job at narrating this wonderful tale.

If you are new to this, I'd recommend you read/listen to the books in the order they were written (i.e. Revelations first, then Chronicles), there are various things that'll make you go 'aha, so that's what happened'. You'll get a deeper understanding of the Riyria Revelations, and it really adds to the pleasure. ( )

So glad to get more from Michael Sullivan. Having finished his six-book series, the Riyria Revelations, he has gone back to earlier times and showed us how Royce Melborn and Hadrian Blackwater were originally forced to work together. Both were loners, with no obvious future. We also learn how Gwen got started running her own business, after suffering at another's hands. ( )

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It was a fun light read, familiar but not entirely predictable. I didn't realize that it was a prequel, but I am excited to read the original series and find out what these characters are like "in the future." I've already borrowed the next one in the prequel trilogy.

I loved the strong Gwen character. I hope there is more of her in the future. Royce and Hadrian are also intriguing characters and written with some depth. The plot was driving and moved the book forward quickly. The last bit was quite a page-turner. I actually enjoyed that the story asked more questions than it answered, but yet was still satisfying to read. ( )