A review by nclcaitlin
Farilane   by Michael J. Sullivan

3.75

Farilane, is a noted scholar who is searching for the secrets to the founding of the First Empire. 

She is also the unwanted twin in the imperial line of succession and is obsessed with finding the Book of Brin (!!!). 

Farilane is smart, stubborn, and logical who figures things out too fast and is driven by her innate sense of justice. Additionally, she is extremely bookish, doesn’t care what others think of her, and has no end to her sass and wit.

Yes, she can also be insufferable and arrogant, but also she is technically a Princess and told that she is above humans and emotional attachments. 

This is something she learns to deal with throughout the story. 

But that’s the result of time, not understanding.” “And yet time allows for understanding, doesn’t it? A boy sees his father as a god, then grows up and realizes he’s flawed, mortal, and foolish. Then he has his own children and discovers his father isn’t foolish at all, but still isn’t a god. Understanding changes the reality of a thing—at least insofar as we perceive it—even if that thing itself doesn’t change.

Like Nolyn, it is so interesting to see how hundreds of years have turned the events in Legends of the First Empire to legends, myths, and fairy stories told as bedtime stories. 

It’s almost as if Sullivan is winking at us throwing Easter eggs and teasers. 

The characters are definitely more realised in comparison to Nolyn, with more spunk and brains. Although not by much as some things were so glaringly obvious I had to wonder if Sullivan’s foreshadowing and hint dropping might have been too heavy handed for readers to be frustrated at the characters not realising themselves.