A press release from Michael J. Sullivan:

Thanks to overwhelming demand by fans of The Riyria Revelations, Orbit (imprint of Hachette Book Group) and Michael J. Sullivan are pleased to announce that two of fantasy’s most unlikely heroes, Royce Melborn and Hadrian Blackwater will return in The Riyria Chronicles as part of a two-book deal.

Unlike Revelations, which is a carefully choreographed interconnected series of books, Chronicles are designed to be stand-alone stories that can be read independent of each other or the prior novels. The Crown Tower takes place twelve years before the first book in the Revelations series and explores the events that united Royce and Hadrian. The second book, The Rose and Thorn, occurs a year later and shows how their relationship solidified into the founding of Riyria, a group who can procure just about any item, for a price. An overview of The Crown Tower is provided here:

Two men who hate each other. One impossible mission. A legend in the making.

A warrior with nothing to fight for is paired with a thieving assassin with nothing to lose. Together they must steal a treasure that no one can reach. The Crown Tower is the impregnable remains of the grandest fortress ever built and home to the realm’s most valuable possessions. But it isn’t gold or jewels the old wizard is after, and this prize can only be obtained by the combined talents of two remarkable men. Now if Arcadias can just keep Hadrian and Royce from killing each other, they just might succeed.

Author Michael J. Sullivan had this to say. “While I secretly hoped there would be demand to warrant more stories with Royce and Hadrian, I didn’t want to risk ruining what I considered the perfect conclusion by artificially tacking onto Revelation’s end. Chronicles gives me an opportunity to tag along on early adventures of two guys I love writing about.”

The Riyria Revelations is available worldwide now (in English and twelve foreign language translations) and consists of Theft of Swords, Rise of Empire, and Heir of Novron. The Crown Tower is scheduled for release in August 2013 in trade paperback, electronic book, and audio formats with The Rose and Thorn release date to follow.