Rise and Fall is a book series by Michael J. Sullivan. It is a Trilogy following up his preceding series Legends of the First Empire. The Trilogy chronicles the aftermath of the Great War, dramatizing the early years, peak, and eventual decline and collapse of the First Empire a millennia before the events of The Riyria Revelations.
Books in the series:
- Nolyn (Summer 2021)
- Farilane (Summer 2022)
- Esrahaddon (Summer 2023)
This series provides examples of:
- Ancient Conspiracy: Legends ended with Mawyndule in exile and vowing revenge. By the time of Revelations 3,000 years later, Mawyndule's revenge is entering its endgame. The Trilogy fills in the gap, showing how Mawyndule kicked off his campaign and how the conspiracy gradually evolves into what we'll see come Royce and Hadrian's era.
- Big Bad: Mawyndule as always, as he comes out of exile and begins his revenge against Nyphron and the First Empire.
- Dashed Plot Line: The Trilogy roughly spans a 2,000 year period. Nolyn begins about 500 years after Legends and the end of the Great War. It then jumps ahead another millennia for Farilane and then does one last jump of several more centuries for Esrahaddon (while ultimately ending roughly 900 years before Ririya Revelations).
- A Day in the Spotlight: Each book in the Trilogy focuses upon a previously-established Ririya historical character and the impact their lives and actions had on the world of Elan during their respective points of the First Empire's history.
- Foregone Conclusion: The First Empire will eventually decline and collapse about 900 years before Royce and Hadrian's era. The dramatic tension lies in how that came about (as Revelations had previously only established the broad strokes).
- Gone Horribly Right: Mawyndule framing Esrahaddon as a traitor in the final novel to box him in and acquire the Horn of Gylindora. Instead, it backfires; Esrahaddon leans into his new "reputation" to destroy the capital to stop Mawyndule from getting the Horn.
- Interquel: The Trilogy acts as a bridge between Legends of the First Empire and The Ririya Revelations.
- Long Game: While Mawyndule's Ancient Conspiracy was always this, he is still learning the ropes at the beginning of Nolyn. He gradually gets better and more skilled at it as the Trilogy progresses.
- Prequel in the Lost Age: As with Legends, this further explores the backstory of Elan and shows the peak and decline of the First Empire.
