The Crown Conspiracy: The Riyria Revelations

THEY KILLED THE KING. THEY PINNED IT ON TWO MEN. THEY CHOSE POORLY
There is no ancient evil to defeat, no orphan destined for greatness, just two guys in the wrong place at the wrong time. Royce Melborn, a skilled thief, and his mercenary partner, Hadrian Blackwater make a profitable living carrying out dangerous assignments for conspiring nobles until they become the unwitting scapegoats in a plot to murder the king. Sentenced to death, they have only one way out...and so begins this tale of treachery and adventure, sword fighting and magic, myth and legend.

ABOUT THE SERIES
The Crown Conspiracy is the first book in the captivating Riyria Revelations. Instead of a string of sequels this six-book fantasy series was conceived as a single epic tale divided into individual episodes. All were written before the first was released so that plot elements are intertwined, yet each book has its only story and conclusion.

Originally indie published, the series was purchased by Orbit (fantasy imprint of Hachette Book Group) and will be released as a trilogy in three consecutive months starting in November 2011. The original books are now out of print, but you can get The Crown Conspiracy by purchasing Theft of Swords.

OMNIBUS EDITIONS (Orbit Publishing)
Theft of Swords (November 2011) contains The Crown Conspiracy & Avempartha
Rise of Empire (December 2011) contains Nyphron Rising & The Emerald Storm
Heir of Novron (January 2012) contains Wintertide & Percepliquis

BOOKS OF THE RIYRIA REVELATIONS (First Edition Versions - Out of Print)
The Crown Conspiracy (October 2008)
Avempartha (April 2009)
Nyphron Rising (October 2009)
The Emerald Storm (April 2010)
Wintertide (October 2010)
Percepliquis* (January 2012)

*Will be released as a standalone limited edition coinciding with Heir of Novron release to allow for completion of series in its original format.

After finding a manual typewriter in the basement of a friend's house, Michael J. Sullivan inserted a blank piece of paper and typed: It was a dark and stormy night, and a shot rang out. He was just eight. Still, the desire to fill the blank page and see where the keys would take him next wouldn't let go. For ten years Michael developed his writing craft by studying authors such as Stephen King, Ayn Rand, and John Steinbeck, to name a few. He wrote thirteen novels, and after finding no traction in publishing he quit, vowing to never write creatively again.

His hiatus from writing lasted nearly ten years. The itch returned when he decided to write books for his then thirteen-year-old daughter, who was struggling because of dyslexia. Intrigued by the idea of a series with an overarching story line told through individual, self-contained episodes, he created the Riyria Revelations. He wrote the series with no intention of publishing it, but upon presenting his book in manuscript form to his daughter, she declared that it had to be a "real" book, bound and formatted, in order for her to be able to read it.

So began his second adventure on the road to publication that included drafting his wife to be his business manager, signing with a small independent press, and creating his own publishing company. He sold more than sixty thousand books as a self-published author and leveraged this success to achieve mainstream publication though Orbit (the fantasy imprint of Hachette Book Group) as well as foreign translation rights for France, Germany, Spain, Russia, Poland and the Czech Republic.

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Michael presently lives in Fairfax, Virginia, with his wife and three children and continues to fill the blank pages with three projects under development: a modern fantasy novel, a literary fiction piece, and a prequel to his best-selling Riyria Revelations. Twitter: @author_sullivan