Audiobook from Penguin Audio Narrated by Andrew Wincott Length: 63.25 hours
Tad Williams, it seems, is very good at writing very long books to end trilogAudiobook from Penguin Audio Narrated by Andrew Wincott Length: 63.25 hours
Tad Williams, it seems, is very good at writing very long books to end trilogies. This was a long book. Wikipedia says that it's one of the longest books ever written (though looking at the list of "longest books", there are many more that were even longer). I don't say this disparagingly, I say it so that readers of this review will be able to grok the scope covered by this book, which is almost as long as The Dragonbone Chair and Stone of Farewell put together. This lead to many hours of aural enjoyment, listening to Andrew Wincott narrate the story, but also lead to a lot to process. (Note: in my original review I noted that it was no surprise that this book was broken into two; it turns out that the hardcover release was always one book, but the paperback edition was broken into two).
There isn't much to say about the third book in the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy that I didn't say in my review of book 1 or book 2. This is an epic fantasy trilogy that follows in the vein of Tolkien but takes cues from Nordic myth as well as, I think, European folklore. Years before George R.R. Martin published A Game of Thrones, a couple of years before Robert Jordan published The Eye of the World, and contemporary to Guy Gavriel Kay, Williams started a series of books that would have many of the hallmarks of the books by these other authors...all in one series. Given that the first book was published in 1988, it seems likely that many people my age (and probably some who are older) go their first taste of "modern" epic fantasy with this series.
Because I don't want to spoil anything in this review, I'll simply note that this is a deep series. The characters are multi-dimensional; they feel like real people instead of simply caricatures. Their motivations sometimes start simply, even innocently, but take on bigger life as the story unfolds. Some of the images in the trilogy are obvious, some are less so. Over the course of the three books, the reader loves, loses, and probably even cries...and certainly there are some good times, too. Veteran fantasy readers will recognize elements in common with a lot of other books out there, but will still enjoy it. For me, it was a comforting read that offered new experiences along with the familiar ones.
Once I got the character names down (see my comments in the review of The Dragonbone Chair), this clearly became a "must listen" series, even though it could be consumed more quickly (for me, anyway) in print. I really enjoyed Wincott's narration style and accent; they felt like they "belonged" with this story. If you have the opportunity, I strongly recommend listening to it. I look forward to what's next in Osten Ard and I hope that Wincott narrates it....more
Audiobook from Penguin Audio Narrated by Andrew Wincott Length: 32 and 1/2 hours
What to say about a book that's the middle book in a trilogy (soon to beAudiobook from Penguin Audio Narrated by Andrew Wincott Length: 32 and 1/2 hours
What to say about a book that's the middle book in a trilogy (soon to be tetralogy) that wasn't said about the first book? The second book in Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn book picks up right where the first book (The Dragonbone Chair) left off. It's definitely a classic "middle book", where the chess pieces are moved on the board but the endgame isn't quite clear, but still it managed to pack some surprises.
More than in The Dragonbone Chair, the world feels completely divided, and deception (via magic?) plays a role in the division. One side, the side of Elias, King of Osten Ard, is a side fueled by mystic power and it seems that most on this side are those who are too poor/invalid to escape or those who are yes-men to the King and his advisor, the Red Priest Pryrates. The other main camp is that of Josua, Elias' brother, forces beaten down but still spirited, gathering camp followers of many races and regions within Osten Ard. Also at play are the Storm King, threatening to bring darkness to the land, and the Sithi and the trolls, who, more than the humans, seem to understand the threat of a greater power than "just a King." There are murders in the night, hidden princesses, and a race literally under the mountains, long ago lost from memory.
The story continues the growth to manhood of Simon, now called Simon Snowlock. But other characters' points of view are also seen, as for much of the book, the various camps are fairly well divided. Other story lines include Josua, Elias, Miriamelle, Magewin, and a mostly new character, Tiamak. While many middle books can seem plodding, this one didn't. There was always something new to learn, something new to see, even if where the story was going wasn't fully resolved. The book did end at what seems a natural stopping point, though there seems to be a lot left to the story.
I listened to this book, and found it easier to listen to than The Dragonbone Chair. I'm not sure if that's because I got used to the unfamiliar names and places, or if I was more accustomed to the narrator, or if I was just in a different mindset this time than when reading the last book. Where last time, I found it difficult to follow certain passages, this time, it was a breeze to listen to, and I found myself listening whenever I could, even at the gym (which I rarely do, as there are a lot of distractions there). I can't wait to start the 3rd book in the series....more
Audiobook from Audible Studios Narrated by Dina Pearlman Length: 11.5 hours
I spent a lot of my time while listening to this book confused, which made itAudiobook from Audible Studios Narrated by Dina Pearlman Length: 11.5 hours
I spent a lot of my time while listening to this book confused, which made it all the more surprising when I realized at the end that I'd liked the book, and am fairly intrigued about what will come next. A book spanning multiple topics/thoughts, it was interesting to see how the various topics mostly worked together.
I think this book served in some ways as world-building/scene-setting for future books, which may explain why I was confused at times. This may be seen as a negative, but since I liked the world, it was okay, once I realized that I hadn't missed anything with the plot (though at times, I was convinced that I had). I also liked the main character, a researcher on the planet of Ubastis but also one of the one people on the planet with a literal license to kill...anything. So while it seemed that the plot may have moved slowly, or that I was sure I was missing things, in the end it worked out okay for me. But others, especially those who listen, might have similar confusion.
It's hard to describe what the book is "about" since Archangel covers so many topics. The book is set sometime in the future after the Earth has been effectively destroyed/overused by humans. Humans seem to have escaped to space, though it's not clear that they had to go far to find other places to live. The book mentions a station at L5, which I presume is the L5 Lagrange point that people who've studied physics/astrophysics and sci-fi lovers alike will probably recognize. L5 has long been thought of as a place where space colonization might be feasible, so it seems as if it fits and that it's not some L5 in relation to the world in the book, separate from our own system. Many humans seem to live in space, while a small handful live on Ubastis. Ubastis is a planet that has seen small waves of colonists; the first two waves of colonists were trained primarily as a military would be trained, though the job was to scout areas of the planet and start setup for more colonists in the future, to establish it as its own world. The other aspect of the colonists' life is to study the planet and understand the resources it has and the balance between the natural ecosystem and those resources--the colonists do not wish to make Ubastis into another Earth, and so immigration to the planet is heavily controlled, only up for discussion once every 10 years. Archangel takes place just prior to one of these votes, and there is a heavy contingent of "off-worlders" lobbying for the strict limits to be lifted, to open immigration to the planet. In the book, human engineering is also not only possibly but heavily used, and most people have some level of genetic modification; most to dull aggression and many for vanity reasons.
The main character, Dr/Commander Lauren Vashti, is a "natural," a non-genetically modified human. She was one of the people in the second group of colonists to come to the planet. Her husband was one of the leaders of that second group, and the pair are seen in many ways as a literal mother and father (and in the case of her husband, even a saint) of the planet and its resources. Vashti's husband was killed by a highly-engineered "assault human," a BEAST, one who was specifically genetically modified to be a soldier of sorts. This brings me to the first of the interleaved topics that the book touches on--motherhood and, to some extent, single motherhood. Vashti spends much of the book seemingly at odds with her dual role on the world. She has a literal daughter, a toddler, but often sees that being a literal mother is incompatible with being a leader, a voice for the planet as a whole. Because of her natural gifts as well as the reverence given to her, Vashti is also a literal mother to many Ubastians (and off-worlders?), as her eggs were frozen and used to create other offspring. There were striking scenes in the book where Vashti's grief/memories of her husband are interrupted by her daughter, perfectly capturing the issues with motherhood. Later in the book, as she realizes that she is in some way a mother to the planet, similar memories are jarringly interrupted by the politics of the planet, things she must stand up for.
Obviously, another topic in the book is that of genetic engineering and the...sense...in doing so. I won't go into details, but Vashti being a "natural" woman actually has a fairly important aspect in the plot. In particular, it seems that BEASTs can only really be "controlled" by natural humans, those without genetic modifications. This speaks volumes to the topic of genetic modification in general, but the topic is also touched upon by human nature. Because Vashti is a "natural," she has a "normal" level of aggression/willingness to kill. It seems that many people have that particular knob turned down. Vashti is looked down upon by outsiders because she is in fact willing to kill to study the fauna native to Ubastis and willing to kill in self defense. It seems that most others find killing repugnant in general, something to be psychologically educated-away/re-educated away. The people of Ubastis (and also the off-worlders, I believe) are vegetarian. In fact, many are Muslim, though it was never really clear to me why it was important that so many were Muslim (the rest seemed to be Christian of some sort).
Another topic commonly dealt with in science fiction is that of resource use/protection of a planet/avoiding a runaway situation like we have on Earth/that eventually dooms Earth in many books...this book is no different. In her role as scientist and "mother" on Ubastis, Vashti preaches for conservation and minimization of the human footprint on the planet. The Earth is looked to as a sign of the worst that can happen.
In all, Archangel is a book about revolution. There are many types of revolution in the story, both personal revolution for Vashti, but other aspects of revolution, too. Once I came to terms with being "confused" every now and then, it was actually a fun read. The narrator, Dina Pearlman, is one whose name is familiar but I can't find any other books that I've listened to that she's narrated. Her narration had an odd cadence that was particularly difficult to follow at first. I found speeding up the audio playback helped that significantly, though her pacing may also have contributed to my confusion at times. Once I got "used" to it (at the faster playback speed), I got more into the book, but it did take awhile.
This book might not be for everybody--and certainly might not be for everybody in audio form--but as for me, I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next on Ubastis....more
Audiobook from Penguin Audio Narrated by George Newbern Length: 37.75 hours
The finale to the Otherland series, Sea of Silver Light wraps up the multitudAudiobook from Penguin Audio Narrated by George Newbern Length: 37.75 hours
The finale to the Otherland series, Sea of Silver Light wraps up the multitude of story lines that began in City of Golden Shadow. While the book dragged in places, and some may find that the book (and the series, especially in the middle books) wanders a bit too much, it is hard not to appreciate Tad Williams' amazingly prescient series, especially if you're a fan of a) the internet and b) classic literature. It's probably safe to say that the wandering will not be for everybody, but for those that enjoy the mystery and the references to other works, the series could be a lot of fun.
A series written in the mid-late 90's, the books cover amazing breadth of topics with a wide cast of characters in this world and in a parallel online world. What started as a cyberpunk story quickly unfolded into a much larger world with many players with significantly different motivations--on all sides of the story. With unlikely/atypical heroes (a South African woman, an African "bushman", a blind woman, two teenagers, a mom, and a guy who doesn't know his own past, not to mention a 5 or 6-year old girl, an ancient man...the cast is huge!) and a sprawling world, it's easy to see why some people are overwhelmed. The more intriguing part, though, is trying to piece together the entire story, trying to figure out who's involved in the world and for what purpose...and what the online world really is. I will admit that when the world was pieced together, it seemed pretty out there...but I was so engrossed that I didn't really mind. The only part I really did mind was the end; the book felt maybe a little too neat, and a little too drawn out at the end. That said, it does leave an opening for Williams to return to the world (and looking on Goodreads, it seems as if he may have done just that with a short story in Legends II.
It's hard to describe the book and what happened in the series without venturing into spoiler territory. Basically, Renie, a young South African woman who is a sort of professor or teacher of computer engineering-type classes at a local university, finds one day that her brother is in a coma of sorts, a result of playing an online game. Games in the future world that Williams created are played online in a virtual reality simulation type schema, where users have different levels of gear that immerse them (fully or to varying degrees) into a virtual world. Some users go so far as to get neural cannulas, so that they can "jack in" and have the VR system provide a direct link to their brain, become fully immersed. Renie, wanting to try to find out more about how her brother came to be in the coma, went online to try to learn what she could of what he got into. Unsurprisingly, she found herself sucked into and literally stuck in a virtual world, unable to disconnect (sort of like Sword Art Online). While there, she meets others who have family members with the same affliction as her brother, and still others who have been recruited by an unknown agent to help Renie and those who are trying to help their children/family members. In parallel, there is the story of the Grail Brotherhood, a private group of the world's most powerful and wealthiest elite, who wish to achieve immortality, and invest heavily in a system to do so. In a third story line, there is additional intrigue about a psychopath who calls himself "Dread" and seems to seek out ways to torture and kill others, online and in reality. His story ends up weaving and in some ways connecting the Grail Brotherhood and those of the people trying to help the children. Throughout, there are a multitude of worlds created by various users of the online system, many with literary references (such as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and The War of the Worlds) or other evolving schema (such as a virtual rainforest that actually begins to evolve in the simulation world, similar to how it might have on earth). Williams uses cyberpunk, the idea of virtual/simulation worlds, and some more fantastical elements (some characters have special abilities, particularly abnormal/special mental powers) to weave a tale that leaves the reader picking up puzzle pieces and slowly piecing things together, just as the heroes do in the story.
I'm most amazed at how prescient Williams was. The book was written in the mid-90's, yet there are references to things in the world today, innovations that were barest ideas of science fiction in the 90's. The first and most obvious observation is that the VR world, while more immersive than anything we really have today, is very much akin to the internet of today, with people spending entire lives and making entire livelihoods on the internet. People use tablet-like devices to connect to the networks, to make calls, to shop, to go into their simulation worlds--much like an iPad or other tablet of today. People watch movies on the internet, so-called "Net Flicks" (I really wonder if that's how Netflix's name came to be), and an automated robotic floor-sweeping robot (Roomba, anyone) makes an appearance or two. Kids have "storybook sunglasses" which sound a bit like more immersive (and frankly more fun) versions of Google Glass. Just today, I read an article on Slashdot about body hacking through the vagal nerve, a topic that's actually brought up in the book (as a therapy that is abused, oddly enough). There are other examples, which reading in 2015, are fun nuggets to pick up along the way. It's crazy how forward-thinking this book was, how much it got "right" even for 2015 (I think the book is supposed to take place closer to 2050).
I liked this book and really enjoyed the series. I think that listening was a fantastic way to experience the book, to be able to lay back and shut my eyes and become immersed in the book as the characters are immersed in their world. The narration was (as I've said in my other reviews) great, if a little slow. But that meant that I could speed the book up slightly in the playback, cutting down some of the listening time.
The book (and series) may not be for everyone. I think it's fair to criticize this book for going on a little "too long" or for being a little "too neat," and it's equally fair to think that Book 1 started slow or that books 2 and 3 wandered a bit (they absolutely were "middle books" in a series, which not everybody enjoys). But I still really liked the series. I look forward to reading it again in the future, maybe in a few years, to see how much I can pick up in advance, knowing as I do now, how the book ends....more
As a "middle book" in a series, it's hard not to say things about Mountain of Black Glass that I didn't say in my reviews for City of Golden Shadow or River of Blue Fire. The story started with key characters still separated (as they were at the end of River of Blue Fire), though much of the book was spent either a) moving them back together, b) exploring their pasts, learning more about their history, or c) giving the reader more insight into the Otherland network itself and the motivations of the people running the network. Unlike River of Blue Fire, in this book, many details seemed to "finally" be pieced together, so more complete histories of characters were formed. It was also a transformative time for some of the Otherland network owners/operators, as they put the final pieces together to try to gain immortality. Other characters, such as the psychopathic servant of the Otherland founder also get a lot of time in this book, as do the police officers looking into his murderous ways. Sellers, the old man who remains quite a mystery but seems to be some of the force that brings the heroes together, also has a key storyline, though it took quite a different turn from what I expected going into the story.
An adventure from proverbial cover to cover (since I listened to the audiobook), a lot of time in this book was spent with the characters all trying to reach the Otherland's version of Troy. One of the characters is actually Odysseus, while others play key characters in the Trojan War, including Achilles, his companion Patroclus, and even Diomedes. The character who became Odysseus was forced through the Otherland simulation to re-enact Odysseus' story somewhat in reverse, having seemingly gone through the events of The Odyssey prior to living through the Trojan War, as told in The Iliad. Our other heroes also eventually ended up in Troy, but not without enduring some trying circumstances in a few different worlds. As one might expect, though, these experiences allowed them to learn more about the network itself, and will undoubtedly help them in their quest to overthrow the Otherland founders (The Grail Brotherhood) and save the children who seem to be trapped by the network.
It's not all sunshine and roses, though. After finally learning more about each character, becoming significantly more invested in each of them, it seems that one or more of them may have actually died through the course of the narrative. It's hard to tell for sure, and I suspect I'll find out what exactly happened when I finish the series with Sea of Silver Light, but the emotional gut punch was harder than I expected it would be. It's a credit to Williams' writing that I could simultaneously know how literally frail each of these characters are, playing a life and death game where they don't know the rules and the rules seem to change, yet still be surprised and saddened when harm (or death) comes to a character. Or how much I really hate Dredd, the servant turned monster, preying on Otherland users/members for his own fun and games.
Tad Williams again seemed to have fun with the simulation worlds, making alternate worlds of popular stories such as the previously-mentioned The Iliad and The Odyssey. There were at least two other worlds explored in this book. One seemed to be an "empty" world, what someone might consider the null space of code to be...since the Otherland network is only code, after all, it does make some sense that the users (our heroes and our villains) would sometimes find literally empty space. There was another world, a world of a house, the reference I didn't connect (if there was a literary reference, which I suspect that there was). Still, the worlds all felt real, were able to bring me in. This is especially true for the Trojan War. I have long been a fan of Greek mythology, and it was a fun but unexpected surprise to spend so much of this book in that world...at least, that simulated world.
The audiobook was great to listen to, if the narration was slightly slow. I listened to it slightly sped up (using the 1.5x feature for spoken word playback on my iPhone) and it seemed perfect. George Newbern does a great job making the characters come to life. Where some narrators can seem flat or one-note, he always makes it clear which character is talking, and further engages the listener by taking on the exclamation, the feeling of the words. If someone is surprised, for example, his voice lets you know it, you don't have to rely solely on supporting descriptors. He brings the book to life.
I'm looking forward to starting into Sea of Silver Light, which is queued up and ready to go. It's a good bit longer than any of the other books in the series (~10 hours longer than this one), but that just means I'll have to find more excuses to listen....more
Audiobook from Penguin Audio Narrated by George Newbern Length: 24.5 hours
The sequel to City of Golden Shadow and the 2nd book (of 4) in the Otherland sAudiobook from Penguin Audio Narrated by George Newbern Length: 24.5 hours
Picking up where City of Golden Shadow left off, this book moved the pieces of all the players in the story without seeming to progress the plot too much. This is a common feature of "middle books" so was expected, though made the reading (listening) slow sometimes. At the point that City of Golden Shadow left off, the "hero" group was somewhat divided, with Renie and Xabbu in one simulation, Orlando and Fredericks in another, and the rest of the "hero" group in yet another sim. Paul Jonas' sim, too, went through a few worlds, separated from the rest of the crew. Much of this book was spent with them still spilt, each learning more about the rules of the simulation world through their experiences in the world. Martine's character, and her disability, were explored in detail in this book, bringing her to the forefront of the third hero group as a main character (to go along with Renie and Orlando). The bad guys also moved, and some of their motives were identified...and the mysterious Sellers, while staying in one (hidden) location, seemed to be doing more to try to help bring down the Otherland.
All in all, there isn't much to say about this book that I didn't say about City of Golden Shadow. I enjoyed this book, though didn't think it was as strong as the first book in the series. In this book, author Tad Williams had some fun with the simulation worlds, making alternate worlds of popular stories such as The War of the Worlds and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. It was fun to go through the book and try to see what book was referenced (if any) for each sim world. The book was fun and the cyberpunk ideas were interesting, but there was nothing new introduced in this book. The rules were better defined through the course of the plot, but there wasn't a lot of actual progression towards the heroes saving the day (or not).
The audiobook was great to listen to, if the narration was slightly slow. I listened to it slightly sped up (using the 1.5x feature for spoken word playback on my iPhone) and it seemed perfect. The only downside to listening to these books in audio is that now I want the 3rd book in the series, Mountain of Black Glass to come out in audio...I'm not sure when or if it will be done, but I hope that it does come soon so that I can continue listening instead of having to switch to some printed media. Audiobooks are a great way to experience this series (so far)....more
Audiobook from Audible Studios Narrated by Brandon Massey Length: just over 11 hours
Heraclix and Pomp: A Novel of the Fabricated and the Fey is a story Audiobook from Audible Studios Narrated by Brandon Massey Length: just over 11 hours
Heraclix and Pomp: A Novel of the Fabricated and the Fey is a story about mortality, at the end of the day. It has horror and fantasy trappings, but at its core, it deals with finding oneself and dealing with mortal matters. The story is told through the guise of Heraclix, a golem, pieced together from many beings, and Pomp, a fairy faced with mortality. I think this book is probably a 2.5-star book...on the one hand, I liked the characters and the world and the idea. But on the other, I was bored a lot of the time when listening, and the book felt repetitive.
The book seems to do a lot of moral speaking, all from the frame of Heraclix or Pomp. Brought together when a sorcerer's attempt at a spell goes haywire, Heraclix suffers a re-birth of sorts, while Pomp is nearly killed in the doing of the magic. Bound by their shared experience, they set off to first escape the sorcerer and then to learn more about Heraclix's past. As he travels Europe and The Middle East, Heraclix learns whose parts literally make up his whole--he is a golem of patched together parts from people, most of whom he learns about in his travels. Pomp, meanwhile, is from the land of the Fey, used to being a prankster and not having to worry about a thing. However, the sorcerer almost killed her, brining her face to face with her on mortality, so she learns more of what it is to be human (or at least, human-like) while helping Heraclix learn about himself.
I enjoyed the world that Aguirre developed, and I enjoyed the characters. The book takes place in the time shortly after The Crusades, in parts of the world I don't often see come up in books. Heraclix and Pomp run into vagabonds, sorcerers, gypsies, kings, nomads, and a host of other characters as they search between Vienna and Instanbul--and a variety of places in between, including a trip to Hell. The telling of the various stories of the lives that Heraclix was a part of was charming and not like most things I've read.
But...somehow, it wasn't enough. I repeatedly found my mind wandering during the narration, found myself having to go back to the beginnings of chapters to see what I'd missed. The book seemed to work very well one chapter at a time...at first, but even then, I was finding other things to read. Some of the language used seemed purposefully obscure, and a lot of the scenes felt like repeats--Heraclix and Pomp enter a setting, they find some part of Heraclix's past, they are chased out into another setting, rinse, repeat. I think if the book had been shorter, it might have helped. It's not that it was bad (it certainly wasn't), but I think more might have been left on the editor's desk.
The narration, performed by Brandon Massey, was decent. HIs voice is strong, good for an audiobook, if a little droning at times. The biggest "problem" with the narration might be more due to the story itself. It was sometimes hard to keep track of characters, of who was who. This was especially problematic when characters from the early parts of the book would be re-introduced at the end of the book. Audiobooks are much harder to flip back through to refresh your memory, after all. Massey's voice sounded familiar to me, though looking through my library, he hasn't narrated anything else that I've read. His voice would be good in a mystery or other novel when there are only a few characters.
All in all, I liked this book, but wished that it had been a little less obscure and a little less repetitive. That doesn't mean, though, that you shouldn't give it a try if it sounds interesting. But maybe try it out in a print format....more
Audiobook from Random House Audio Narrated by Cassandra Campbell Length: 8.75 hours
I received this audiobook for free from the publisher in exchange forAudiobook from Random House Audio Narrated by Cassandra Campbell Length: 8.75 hours
I received this audiobook for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
It's hard to tell for sure, but I think A Midwinter's Tail might be the final book in the Magical Cats series. The author has started a new series, the Second Chance Cat mystery series (though under a different name, Sofie Ryan. If this does turn out to be the final installment in the series, it ended on an okay note. Some secondary story lines that have crossed multiple books got wrapped up, though the mystery itself was somewhat...silly.
Two and a half months after the events in Final Catcall, Mayville Heights finds itself in kind of a bad way...again. This time, Dayna Chapman, ex-wife of long-term townie Burtis Chapman, dies at a charity event for Kathleen's "Book Buddies" library program. Kind of a downer of a way to have a charity event, eh? While Burtis and Kathleen may not be as close as others in this series, Kathleen still finds herself trying to help Burtis. As usual, after a close call at the end, the killer is apprehended, thanks to quick thinking by Kathleen--and of course, some help from her magical cats, Owen and Hercules.
As in Final Catcall, this book felt a bit meandering. There were a lot of background elements brought up in the beginning (before the murder) and story lines wrapped up at the end (after the murderer was found). The references to some Edgar Allen Poe works were...sort of weak, they felt forced. The story itself did have an element of surprise, but the wrappings of it were pretty out there. Even if this isn't the final book in the series, it's the one most recently published (in October, 2014), so it seems that there will be some time until the next book's released...which I'm considering a good thing. Reading three books back to back emphasized some of the issues with the books, and this one's issues were more pronounced than previous books.
Cassandra Campbell did a great job with this book, too. If you want to read these books, audio is a perfect format since she's such a great narrator. The "light" quality of the books means you can get other things done while listening and Campbell's narration pulls you right into the story....more
Audiobook from Random House Audio Narrated by Cassandra Campbell Length: 8.75 hours
I received this audiobook for free from the publisher in exchange forAudiobook from Random House Audio Narrated by Cassandra Campbell Length: 8.75 hours
I received this audiobook for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Another in the Magical Cats mystery series, Final Catcall is the first book that actually directly comes after its predecessor in the series. Picking up right where Cat Trick left off, Kathleen and the town of Mayville Heights is still trying to put on the town's fall celebrations, in spite of all the craziness going on around them. Having successfully identified Michael Glazer's killer, the town seems ready to move on, though Marcus is rather frustrated with Kathleen for her "interference" in his cases.
While this book was ostensibly about the murder of Hugh Davis, a well-known director in town to direct a production for a theater festival, a lot of it was also spent with Kathleen trying to figure out her relationship with detective Marcus Gordon--and whether or not she would stay in Mayville Heights. The acting connection provides a vehicle for the readers to get to know Thea, Kathleen's mom, as she is invited to the town to direct the play after Hugh's murder. By the end of the book, the reader has met not only Thea, but Andrew, Kathleen's boyfriend from Boston (the one who went off and got married after they had a fight, prompting Kathleen to take the temporary librarian position in Mayville Heights). And, of course, the mystery is solved. Thankfully for the sake of readers sick of the Marcus/Kathleen hot/cold thing, their relationship is also better defined by the end of the book, so hopefully the next book won't focus on so much of the "romance" side story.
In what might seem to be a step back, this book felt a bit more predictable and a bit more...meandering. While I realize that Kelly needed to resolve the Marcus/Kathleen thing as well as determine if she was going to stay in Mayville Heights (and her decision for doing so or not doing so), those sub-plot elements seemed more important than the actual mystery. Unfortunately, those aren't the parts I particularly care about. If time is going to be spent on sub-plots, I'd so much rather learn more about the cats and Wisteria Hill. Maybe now that Roma is going to live there, we'll get a better picture in future books.
As I always say, Cassandra Campbell is a perfect narrator for this audiobook. She makes listening to the book so easy, so enjoyable, it really is as if I'm a part of the town, inside Kathleen's head. I think her narration makes the audiobook the perfect vehicle for the story, so much so that I look for excuses to listen to more of the book....more
Audiobook from Random House Audio Narrated by Cassandra Campbell Length: just over 9 hours
I received this audiobook for free from the publisher in exchaAudiobook from Random House Audio Narrated by Cassandra Campbell Length: just over 9 hours
I received this audiobook for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
The magical cats are back, bringing Kathleen back with them. In a wonderful return to Mayville Heights, narrator Cassandra Campbell brings us another mystery from small-town Minnesota. On the one hand, it's fun being back with familiar characters--it's like being a resident of the small town, of knowing everybody by name (and possibly knowing too much about them, as seems to happen in small towns). On the other, if this town really existed, I'd be worried to visit, as they seem to have a lot of high-profile murders to visitors.
This book chronologically follows the events of Copycat Killing. This time around, it's Kathleen's cat Hercules who finds the victim, Michael Glazer. Glazer was originally from Mayville Heights but moved away shortly after a family tragedy many years ago. He returned to the small town to try to encourage a tour company to set up tours there; the entire town is on display! Unfortunately, in his return, he rubbed many of the townsfolk the wrong way and there end up being a lot of suspects.
In every book in this series, Ms. Kelly has improved her mystery writing style. Where the first book (Curiosity Thrilled the Cat) was overly predictable, this one definitely kept the whodunnit going to the very end. I thought I had the murderer pegged pretty early on, and I was intrigued to find out that I was wrong. The story also continues the narrative of the townspeople, and it's quite relaxing getting to know them better. Of course, this "same" formula can make the format a bit predictable, and some might mark that against the book. The only thing I'm really still "wanting" from the series that I'm not getting is more information about what makes the cats magical. I like the format of the stories and each time I read a new book, it's like returning to an old friend. But I really do want to know more about those cats and Wysteria Hill/Manor in general!!!
As usual, Cassandra Campbell's narration is perfect. I easily believe that she's Kathleen and that the listener is just another person in town, listening to things going on. I can't wait to read the next one, Final Catcall....more
Clean Sweep is an urban fantasy-type book with some interesting twists. Unfortunately, the narrator of tNarrated by Renee Raudman Length: About 8 hours
Clean Sweep is an urban fantasy-type book with some interesting twists. Unfortunately, the narrator of the audiobook had a voice that didn't fit the character and was so out of place that it made the book very difficult to listen to.
Dina is an innkeeper, a woman who runs a B&B in Texas. Her inn has magical properties and she has magical capabilities, her role being that of a neutral protector in a version of Earth/USA that includes normal humans but also has vampires, werewolves, and other magical beasts. The main thrust of the story is that Dina's inn becomes the site for a showdown between two sides in a big family disagreement, though the book was more than halfway through before any of this became evident. The first half (or slightly more) of the book was world building and character introduction more than it was purely essential to the plot.
In Clean Sweep, Ilona Andrews has some interesting ideas about magic. I think I might be persuaded to read another book set in this world/series, assuming it was quicker to get to the point/didn't do as much world-building, and assuming that I read it, not listened to it (or that the narrator was someone else). In Ms. Andrews' world, the magical entities are by and large aliens from other worlds who find themselves on earth for a variety of reasons. What appears to be magic to "normal" people is actually uber nanotechnology or other futuristic technologies at work from alien worlds. There are many aggressive entities, such as the werewolves and vampires, but there are also places like the Inns, the Switzerland's of the magical world. Innkeepers are to take no sides and to protect whoever signs the contract and pays to be a guest at the inn.
All of this goes awry when some creatures known as stalkers start killing dogs in the town where Dina's inn is. At first, she believes that a local werewolf named Sean is to blame, but after killing two (with the help of Sean) and studying them, she comes to find out that these creatures may have been hired by vampires as part of a massive (and deadly) family feud. The world-building is mainly done by Dina explaining how the "magic" came to be to Sean, who knows nothing of the history of his species' home planet or how his species came to earth. Through these explanations and through Dina's preparations to help protect the vampires who are staying at the inn, the reader learns about other worlds, wormholes, and the true source of "magic."
The book also has a side plot that was touched briefly upon, a story of Dina's parents' inn vanishing one day. Dina does a bit through the course of the narrative to try to find them, but it seems fairly obvious that it's a side thread to be explored in later books/as a series arc. While most of the book is purely urban fantasy, there are also some hot and steamy scenes that are typically found in romance novels. Many urban fantasy books these days seem to have these scenes, whether they add to the story or not (in this case, not). There is also a possible threat, the local police officer thinking Dina is up to no good, but that thread is unceremoniously dropped just before the main thread of the story picks up, about halfway through. It's not clear if this topic will be revisited in later books or if it was just an editing miss.
Clean Sweep is a fairly typical, action-packed urban fantasy story. There aren't any deeper themes or morals to be had from it, though the idea of magic as uber technology is kind of fun. The book, once the actual plot started, was pretty quick to go through and fairly simple/straight-forward. This isn't a book that's going to make you think, or require lots of focused reading time to enjoy.
The only major negative is with the audiobook specifically. Dina is supposed to be a 23 year old woman living in Texas. Unfortunately, she sounds like an old grandmother from the deep south. The voice and the description of the character just don't align. The narrator's voices for the men were surprisingly good, but her overall voice just sounded old and tired. In parts where there was a lot of action, she actually sounded even worse, over dramatizing her voice acting. I actually thought she was going to die a few times. It was downright uncomfortable and annoying to listen to, and I cannot recommend the audiobook. If another book in this series is released, I may give it a go in print/Kindle, but won't be listening again unless the narrator changes....more
Audiobook from Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd Narrated by Sean Mangan Length: About 4.5 hours
I've never heard of Matthew Reilly, but apparently he's a fairlAudiobook from Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd Narrated by Sean Mangan Length: About 4.5 hours
I've never heard of Matthew Reilly, but apparently he's a fairly big author from Australia. The buzz on the internet (based on other reviews at Goodreads and Wikipedia) is that he's mostly know for action thriller-type books, and apparently his books are well-researched and quite deep. That isn't the case with this book, Troll Mountain: The Complete Novel. That said, I get the impression that his other books are not young adult books, so maybe that's why.
Originally written as a serialized novel (split into three parts), Troll Mountain is the story of Raf, a youth from a small village, and his quest to get an elixir for his sick sister. To get this elixir, he must defy his village elders and make his way to Troll Mountain, a mountain fortress guarded by...yes, trolls. The sickness (which turns out to be something like scurvy) has impacted not just Raf's sister but others in his village, caused in part because the trolls have dammed the river that feeds the village. They also claim to have come up with a cure for the sickness, but exact a costly price--one life in exchange for a vial. During his quest, Raf makes friends with a hermit, Ko, who is a wise elder figure. He also makes unlikely friends with a troll who was exiled from Troll Mountain, Doom. Together, the three take on the trolls and hope to save the day. Along the way, Raf also learns about stereotypes and about knowledge-seeking, and not taking everything you've heard second-hand at face-value.
This book is a short stand-alone novel. It's a fairly generic, semi-predictable tale of an orphan boy on a quest to save his village. It does appear that the author has left some hooks in the book to write pre-quels and/or sequels, though. The world is setup as a fairly primitive land with a history where people seemed to be the humans of today. It also ends in a predictable manner but in a way that could explore "what happens next" if Reilly desired to re-visit this world. Throughout the quest, Ko tries to give Raf lessons about life, though it seems that sometimes even Ko doesn't follow his own lessons. For example, there was "common knowledge" that the mountains in the North went on forever, but when Raf realized they didn't, Ko didn't believe him and seemed shocked. This was a bit of a flaw in Ko's character and made him seem inconsistent. There was another lesson that Ko tried to impart, about the difference between cleverness and wisdom, that didn't really come to much fruition. The other "morals" that were fairly generically written all came back around by the end of the story.
All in all, this was an ok book. It was too obvious what was going to happen, and the world nor characters weren't particularly well-developed. They ended up feeling a little flat, a little too predictable. More frustrating, the sense of struggle or real danger was never there while I listened. It seemed like Raf was going to get through every obstacle a little too easily, and his survival/success were never in question. I realize that it was written for a young adult audience. I think that if I'd read it when I was 9 or 10, it might have felt less flat, as I was a far less mature reader in general and longer books with numerous details would have probably lost me or at least, not been fully appreciated/understood. So, this is probably an OK book for a younger reader who's never read the genre and isn't looking for complexity. I'm not sure that I can really recommend it for experienced readers of the genre.
I should make a comment on the narration. The narrator was a bit slow for me. He would pause after each sentence for longer than I expected. Also, some of his pronunciation was a bit odd, but that might be because he was Australian. Anyway, I ended up using the faster audio speed setting within the iPhone playback and it worked reasonably well. The narration was fine if nothing particularly special....more
Audiobook from Random House Audio Narrated by Cassandra Campbell Length: 9.75 hours
I don't have a lot to say about Copycat Killing that I didn't say aboAudiobook from Random House Audio Narrated by Cassandra Campbell Length: 9.75 hours
I don't have a lot to say about Copycat Killing that I didn't say about Curiosity Thrilled the Cat or Sleight of Paw. This was another "Magical Cats" mystery, complete with librarian Kathleen Paulson, her cats with seemingly magical abilities, Owen and Hercules, and her friends living in small-town Minnesota. This time around, there were two murders in the town: a local artist was murdered, and it turns out that the remains of a long-missing town member was also found. As the series has evolved, author Sofie Kelly has gotten better at writing her mysteries. In the first novel, it was pretty obvious what was going on from a very early part in the book. Now in the third book in the series, there seems to be more development of the mystery, and things aren't quite as obvious early-on. As a side note, if I were a person living in this town, I'd move out--it's had a lot of murders in just over a year!!!! :D
As with the previous books, I enjoyed this light-hearted mystery. I like the characters, it feels like they could be people I'd call friends in real life. Even better, the mysteries are fun and not too creepy/gruesome. I wish that, three books in, there were more development on the cats' magical abilities. It's been long-hinted that their abilities might stem from the house where they were found, but Kelly hasn't expanded upon that. In this third book, she created an opening for this to be developed in the next book, but it feels like ti should have been addressed by now.
Narrator Cassandra Campbell did another great job reading this book. It's always easy to tell who's talking and the feeling of the various conversations. She puts emphasis when characters use exclamations or ask questions, and she's really easy to listen to.
At the end of the day, if you're looking for some light summer fun in the form of a mystery, you might enjoy the Magical Cats audiobooks...maybe even more so if, like me, you're a bit of a crazy cat lady. ;)...more
Audiobook from Random House Audio Narrated by Cassandra Campbell Length: 10.25 hours
Just like the first book in the Magical Cats Mystery series, CuriosiAudiobook from Random House Audio Narrated by Cassandra Campbell Length: 10.25 hours
Just like the first book in the Magical Cats Mystery series, Curiosity Thrilled the Cat, I enjoyed this book. This time, the murder victim was an elderly resident of Mayville Heights, MN, a beloved former teacher. Unlike in Curiosity Thrilled the Cat, Kathleen wasn't a suspect, but one of her friends, Ruby, was. In the last book, the actual murderer was pretty easy to spot early on, even if the motive wasn't. This time, I didn't figure it out until just before Kathleen did, though in retrospect, I should have.
Sleight of Paw followed the same formula followed by Curiosity Thrilled the Cat. It was the same main cast of characters, same setting, a lot of the same small-town "drama," and the same path of events. This isn't to say that it was bad, but that unfortunately, this book didn't give any more insight into one of the most interesting aspects of the series--how the cats got their powers and if any other cats from the same area have similar powers.
Once again, Cassandra Campbell's narration was spot-on. I enjoyed listening to the book and basically spent my Saturday finding excuses to listen. Time to clean up the dishes? Great! Need to clean the sweet potatoes? Awesome! Watching the World Cup? Who likes the commentators anyway?! The next book in the series is the last one available in audio and I'm really looking forward to listening. I don't know what else I'll have to say that I haven't said already, but I will definitely enjoy the day or two it takes to listen!...more
Audiobook from Random House Audio Narrated by Cassandra Campbell Length: 10.5 hours
I enjoyed this book. It was a book almost written for me and my sillyAudiobook from Random House Audio Narrated by Cassandra Campbell Length: 10.5 hours
I enjoyed this book. It was a book almost written for me and my silly cat, Oz. It was exactly the type of book I needed after reading a lot of dark and sort of heavy fantasy and science fiction lately, to say nothing of real life. Curiosity Thrilled the Cat was a light murder mystery type book, the type of book I devour like popcorn. The book was fairly mainstream, though did have a fantastical element... The cats in the story have magical powers. The magical powers seem to be related to where the cats are from and possibly the family who used to live there...but a lot of that is only alluded to in this book.
The story is a fairly straight-forward murder mystery. Kathleen, a relative newcomer to a small town in Minnesota, is a librarian at a local library. The library is going through some major renovations, which serves as a secondary and tertiary plot device, though the main thrust is of course the murder. The murder victim is a visiting Composer and Conductor, a man named Easton who was in town to run the annual music festival in the town. Finding herself one of the prime suspects, Kathleen ends up doing some sleuthing on her own, though she is aided by her cats.
Kathleen's cats are Owen and Hercules. Owen seems to have some powers of invisibility, while Hercules can literally walk through walls. Both also seem to understand humans and have a nose (an ear?) for what's going on and finding clues related to the mystery. The cats were necessary helpers for Kathleen solving the mystery, though the sub-plot of where they came from was also developed pretty carefully in this first-in-a-series of books set in the same town with the same people and cats. Kelly leaves some openings for the reader to make assumptions not only about Owen and Hercules but also about the other cats from the same place. Her text also suggests that the storied history of the home (now abandoned) that they were from may hold some magic, too.
All in all, the mystery in the book was fairly predictable. I think I figured out "whodunnit" when Kelly dropped the first major clue--a clue found by Hercules. But even with that, the story was light and fun to read, the story-telling and world-building felt natural, and I looked forward to hearing how Kathleen finally put all the pieces together. Slightly less elegant was one of the secondary story lines, a sub-plot where the contractor working on the renovations at the library wanted to chase Kathleen away so that his girlfriend(?), the former head librarian, could resume the post that she'd quit. The secondary story didn't make much sense in the context of this book, but may play a role in the larger plot of the series.
Cassandra Campbell's narration was fantastic. She's done the narration for many books with female leads, and it's no wonder why. Being a woman, her voice is a natural fit for the narration, unlike when some men do narration for mainly female roles and it feels forced or that they're trying to use a different tone for a "woman's voice." She didn't try to use a different tone for the male voices, which was a good thing. It felt like she was reading the story to me and made it easy to listen to. I'm looking forward to listening to the next book in the series, which Campbell also narrates. What can I say? I'm kind of a crazy cat lady myself (with only one feral cat, thank you very much), and I'm a sucker for a fun murder mystery......more
Audiobook from Brilliance Audio Narrated by Simon Vance Length: ~3.25 hours
This is another book in the Foreworld Sidequest world, another story based onAudiobook from Brilliance Audio Narrated by Simon Vance Length: ~3.25 hours
This is another book in the Foreworld Sidequest world, another story based on the a real-life character in a real-life time. This time, the character is William the Marshal, a knight who served Henry the Young King. The story grounds itself it William's time with Henry the Young King, about a relic that Henry earned and William's promise to Henry on Henry's deathbed. William promised he would lead a crusade, though while trying to gather the funds to do so, the Oliphant (a supposed relic from the time of Charlemagne) that was buried with Henry is stolen by assassins. The Knights Brethren charge William with its recovery, declaring that failure to do so would give rise to a new crusade.
The self-contained story finds William set out on this task, coming across new crosses and double-crosses and creating alliances with some of the most unlikely characters. The tale was entertaining with many fight scenes--indeed, it seemed that William travelled primarily from scuffle to scuffle and had some semi-mystic power to not only survive but survive victoriously in each skirmish. To be fair, in such a short story, it can be difficult to keep track of motives and characters, and sometimes this was the case here, but in general, it was a short and fun story.
Simon Vance narrated this story, another diversion from series regular Luke Daniels. As usual, Vance's work was not only fantastic, but with his English accent, it felt like he "belonged" in the world. Unlike other stories, this one didn't reference characters or places mentioned in other books/stories, minimizing the chance for confusion with pronunciation differences. This makes the story more "stand-alone" but may also be frustrating for those hoping for more stories from well-known characters. Regardless, it was an entertaining way to spend a lazy weekend afternoon....more
Audiobook from Brilliance Audio Narrated by Angela Dawe Length: 14.25 hours
And so it ends. When I started The Mongoliad series last year, I thought it wAudiobook from Brilliance Audio Narrated by Angela Dawe Length: 14.25 hours
And so it ends. When I started The Mongoliad series last year, I thought it was just a trilogy. I had no idea what to expect with the series as a whole and with the idea of "group fiction." I had no idea I'd be getting into a historical fantasy-type book (series) with a little mysticism thrown in for fun, had no real idea the breadth that the series would take. Now that I'm done with the main series of Foreworld books, I'm a little sad to see them go. Certainly I've liked some better than others, but this book, Siege Perilous, was a fitting and mostly satisfying end.
If you've read my reviews of the previous books (Book One, Book Two, Book Three, and Book Four), you'll recall that my biggest frustration with these books is the expanse of story that is covered. There are multiple plot lines with widely varying characters across a wide geographical area. This makes it hard to keep track of who is who and what's going on in any given story line, and made the books less "fun" to read. This book didn't have the same problem. There were still a few story lines (3-4), but they quickly came to all be in the same setting; we were able to see the same event from a few different points of view. Without the confusion of the world and the various goals each person was trying to meet, since those had all come together, it was much easier to follow, and as such made the overall story more enjoyable to read (listen to).
This may have also been helped by the fact that this seems to have been written by only one person. Previous books in the Foreworld Saga were written by at least 3 authors. I'm not sure if these were group writing events, where everybody weighed into each plot line, or if everybody wrote a separate story, but the end result was a difficult-to-follow main story. At first, I wasn't sure if E.D. deBirmingham was a real person or if it was a pseudonym for a group of the writers, but this 2012 Sword & Laser Google Hangout with the authors from the series demonstrates that she's really just one person. She also seems to be one of the only women in the project, if not the only woman. I think the woman's touch on the writing--the battle scenes in particular--was observable in the book as the battle scenes were not as...well, drawn out in this one, as they were in past books.
Plot-wise, this book wraps up the story of the quest for the Holy Grail. Early on in the series, it became obvious that Percival had visions and was on a quest of some sort for the Holy Grail. All of the movements of the Knights Brethren was driven by that. They met and worked with the Binders and the Shield Maidens, they fought the Mongols and the Levonian Brotherhood, all along their quest. When we left the Knights Brethren in Katabasis, the Mongols had been left to decide their new Kahn of Kahns, Ferronantus had died trying to preserve the Spirit Banner, and Raphael found himself talking to Leanne and Gonsuk to get the small sprig of wood that was important to the Spirit Banner and the Mongols. Back in Rome, Cardinal Vieshi had been elected Pope after mad Father Rodrigo was killed by Ferrens after trying to kill Ohseriweh (a Binder orphan). Ohseriwheh was sent away from the Holy Roman Emperor (King Frederic) to protect the Holy Grail that Father Rodrigo had held/used, and Ferrens became a member of Frederic's court. This book more or less starts with that setup, and takes us along with Raphael, Percival, Ferrens, Ohseriweh, Cardinal Vieshi, and Levonian Herrmeister Deitrich. Through various means, they find themselves in Carcassonne, in a part of the Crusade involving the Cathars and an isolated mountaintop fort. I don't want to spoil the plot, so that's where I'll leave it, but suffice it to say that the book mostly takes place here, through the eyes of these characters, as they struggle to find the rightful vehicle for the Holy Grail.
As much as I enjoyed this book, I did not particularly enjoy the audiobook version. The narrator for this book was Angela Dawe, a break from the previous books' narration by Luke Daniels. Dawe's voice had some quirks that didn't work for me with an audiobook. Quite often, it seemed like she had an higher voice at the end of the sentence than the beginning. This made it sound like some of the sentences were questions, rather than statements. Her pacing was odd, too. There were longer-than-normal breaks between each sentence, the silence lasted just a beat longer than expected. Oddly, the narration didn't seem to take a breath or pause when I would have expected there to be commas. Further, and this may be due to editing, there wasn't much of a gap between section breaks within a chapter. This made it hard, sometimes, to know immediately that a new point of view was coming and would make me confused until my brain registered that there was a section break. I'm not sure what lead to this narrator's selection, but I wasn't as happy with it as I was Luke Daniels' narration.
All in all, I'm glad I read the series. I actually will not be leaving the world quite yet, as I have a few of the SideQuest Adventure books and another side story in the world. I'll be reading those soon, to keep up my familiarity with the world. I definitely think that listening to this book shortly after finishing Katabasis helped keep the overall plot in my head. To those who might be interested in reading the Foreworld Saga books, I do strongly recommend reading at least the 5 main-line books in order and in close time proximity to one another. Siege Perilous, while in many respects an outsider in the saga, may have in fact been my favorite, and provided a mostly satisfying end to the Saga....more
Audiobook from Brilliance Audio Narrated by Luke Daniels Length: 13.25 hours
When I reviewed The Mongoliad: Book Three in the Foreworld Saga, I didn't reAudiobook from Brilliance Audio Narrated by Luke Daniels Length: 13.25 hours
When I reviewed The Mongoliad: Book Three in the Foreworld Saga, I didn't realize that there were to be a 4th and 5th entry into the series. The book ended with the end of a major story arc (if not the most satisfying of endings) and I thought it was okay to leave it there.
But the story didn't end there. Where the story in the first three books in the series really covered the story of the Christians versus the Mongols, this book follows the Shield Brethren into Russia while the Mongols mostly start gathering to find their new Kahn of Kahns. There was a greater supernatureal element with this book than the previous ones, and it was interesting to see characters I thought we had left at the end of the first book (or thereabouts) make a reappearance. At the crux of this story seems to be old religion versus new religion. It is hinted that Cardinal Vieshi, a cardinal in Rome who we met in the 2nd and 3rd books, is behind an attempt by the Levonian Brotherhood to defeat the Shield Brethren and help "modern Catholics" take a hold in Russia. The old religion, though, the Shield Brethren, the Shield Maidens, and the native Russians, are on their own mission to keep the old religion not only still around, but still relevant. As part of this, the Spirit Banner, guarded so carefully by the Mongols in the first three books, is a central part to the plot with Ferronantus, Raphael, and the Shield Brethren. In a bit of an oddity, Leanne (former slave Chinese woman in Ogedai Kahn's retinue) has managed to save the sliver of...well, it's still not exactly clear what it is, but it's important enough that GonSuk had her protect it and it was attempted to be stolen from Ogedai in the first book. This gives her a tie--if she's not really clear on what the tie is--to the Spirit Banner and the Shield Brethren.
In some ways, this was a complete story. There was a central conflict, and the plot moved to bring that to a relatively satisfying ending. In some ways, the plot lines here were less confusing than in the previous books. There seemed to be fewer plots and fewer characters to keep track of, generally speaking. However, at the end, it got muddled. I suppose it might be just me--I often have felt like I've been "missing something" while listening to these books and this one was no different. Something happened at the end that I didn't quite grok, and it's obvious that it will play out for the 5th (and final, I think) book in the main Foreworld Saga. I hope that when I finish that one, it will make more sense.
Luke Daniels did the narration for this audiobook, as with the other Foreworld and Foreworld Prequel books that I have listened to. Sometimes, his narration is fantastic. He does different voices for the characters and makes it easy to get drawn into the world. However, between the odd names, multiple plot lines, and sometimes difficult/foreign words, it can be hard to understand what he's saying or what's going on. As with the other books, this is one that I think might be easier to read the print first, or at least have a copy handy so you can refer to the Cast of Characters and/or re-read confusing parts. Sometimes, Daniels would do lines in a characters voice and...well, in character. So if the character was to be whispering or muttering, Daniels would do that. This would make it hard to understand what he was saying, especially when he used the thick accents.
All in all, I think I liked this book better than I liked the end of the first three books. I look forward to seeing what happens in the 5th book--which I note is not narrated by Luke Daniels. I hope to read it soon, so that the end of this one is still fresh in my mind....more
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