Self-Published Fantasy Redux: Riyria. Revelation.

My favorite fantasy books of 2015 have been self-published. For a guy that wrote “Self-Published Fantasy and Me” for this very website, that is quite an admission. And while I don’t for one moment regret that previous article, I do admit to one colossal miscalculation.

I should have read Michael J. Sullivan’s Riyria Revelations years ago.

After writing the aforementioned article, I decided that I needed to give a self-published work a fair shake. So I went with what, in my completely unscientific survey of the Internet, seemed to be the most popular. It isn’t like I hadn’t heard of Sullivan or his books prior. I had. I just…had no desire to give them a go. There were other, traditionally published books to read. I’ve felt the same way about Hugh Howey’s Wool for years. In fact, Wool was a close second to the Riyria Revelations. But Wool didn’t have dwarves or elves. Riyria did. Choice made.

I was floored.

According to my Goodreads history, I blew through Theft of Swords in 15 days, Rise of Empire in eight, and Heir of Novron in seven. That’s technically six books in 30 days, considering each paperback contains two full novels. I’m a fast reader, but for a father of three small children and full-time lawyer, that is a torrid pace. I couldn’t stop reading. I was captivated. I had to know what happened next.

Reading a great novel is rewarding in and of itself, but the fact that these books had been self-published blew my mind. So I took to the Internet and began to look for interviews, podcasts and any other info on Sullivan I could find. Imagine my utter shock when I learned that Michael J. Sullivan grew up in the same place I did. The same place I still live today. The same landscape of steel mills, auto plants, concrete and occasional excursions to the verdant north. He was from Detroit and he wrote these books. And it all started to make sense.

I’m going to respectfully decline to provide an in-depth analysis of the socioeconomic and intellectual chameleon that Detroit has always been. I’ve lived here my entire life and every day I hate it and love it in equal amounts. It is a strange place, one completely unlike any of the versions of Detroit that are lauded or lamented in the national and international media. Murder capital, hipster mecca, American wasteland, cradle of industry—Detroit is all of those things and none of them. Trying to explain Detroit to someone that doesn’t live here is difficult at best. But one thing Detroit is, and has always been, is a crucible of creativity. Whether talking about art, engineering, architecture, music or industry Detroit has a prominent place in the conversation.

Like many people from Detroit, Sullivan got discouraged. For a time, he quit. He did other things, but he did them on his own terms. And eventually he returned to writing, finding success on his own terms. It isn’t an uncommon story around here, and although Michael J. Sullivan no longer lives in Detroit, I’d hazard to say he’d agree that you can never truly leave the lessons learned here behind. His success and perseverance are proof positive of that. As an aspiring writer myself, the story behind the books gives me hope.

The Riyria Revelations do not read like the other self-published novels. There is nothing amateurish about them in either presentation or execution. They are as meticulously written, edited and presented as any novel published through one of the major houses. The characters and plot jump off the page. Over the course of six books, Sullivan weaves a tale that is equal parts subtlety and bombast. The books are funny. They are action-packed. They occasionally tug at the heartstrings. And above all they are entertaining. The progression from The Crown Conspiracy to Percepliquis is exponential. Each book builds and expands upon what came before, adding layers of backstory and complexity without ever meandering.

Sullivan trades in an economy of word that many “traditionally published” authors would envy. His prose is clean and simple yet still evocative. The language of his characters is unadorned, but not lacking in weight. Sullivan’s writing is confident and utterly without pretense and exhibits none of the awkwardness the self-published fantasy I’ve read previously struggles with.

In my prior article, I wrote:

Poor musicianship can be shrouded by volume, emotion or a lyrical deftness. A great writer can redeem poor comic art. A visually repulsive film can be rewarding if the story is captivating. But a novel? A fantasy novel? The deck is stacked against it.

I stand by that statement. A poorly written novel sticks out like a sore thumb. But a well-written tale can be entertaining, gripping, harrowing and yes, even inspiring—regardless of how it was published. Michael J. Sullivan taught me that.

Author’s Note: Michael J. Sullivan has recently announced that he will be embarking upon a Kickstarter campaign to facilitate self-publishing the third volume of his Riyria Chronicles series, a prequel series to the The Riyria Revelations. Due to traditional publishing commitments, The Death of Dulgath needs to be published by the end of calendar year 2015. Information regarding the Kickstarter, as well as Sullivan’s many other works, can be found at www.riyria.com. I say this not to encourage donations (although I definitely do) but to illustrate Sullivan’s commitment to getting his stories into the hands of fans.

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