Age of Swords Book Two of the Legends of the First Empire

Wow, after having finished "Age of Myth" there was no question at all in what I should read next. I just had to pick up volume two in order to see how the story continues. "Age of Swords" does not only introduce us to a fourth race in this wonderfully crafted world (the dwarves) but also lays much needed groundwork for the following books with regard to power hierarchies amongst the different races, winning smaller battles in order to get ready for the greatest one and diving deeper into the mythical elements of Sullivan's world. I particularly enjoyed the chracter growth of the story's female characters such as Brin, Moya, Suri and Persephone. At the same time my heart was inconsolably shattered by an inevitable sacrifice of which I cannot tell you more at this point so as not to spoil your reading adventure. Most surprisingly, the story more than once reminded me of the dwarves' realm in Tolkien's "The Hobbit" - which is a truly remarkable accomplishment of itself on Sullivan's part as for me almost NOTHING compares to Tolkien's superiority of storytelling.