This was the second instalment of Guy Gavriel Kay’s Fionavar Tapestry Trilogy. Sadly, it was not quite up to par with the quality of the first book. IThis was the second instalment of Guy Gavriel Kay’s Fionavar Tapestry Trilogy. Sadly, it was not quite up to par with the quality of the first book. It was weird as it actually eliminated a major issue I had with the first book (all the magic inspired sexual assaults) but was let down by new issues that hindered the story and just ended up being a slightly less enjoyable and engaging tale overall.
As always with Guy Gavriel Kay the quality of the writing is undeniable. His lyrical style draws you into the world of Fionavar with its richly detailed landscapes and evocative imagery. Kay's ability to evoke a palpable atmosphere of both melancholy and hope is a particular strength of his that has been evident in all five of the books of his that I’ve read to date. If there is a downside to the writing in the Fionavar books it is the fact that it can feel a tad overwrought at times especially when it leans in to the mysticism inherent in the story.
Despite the beauty of Kay's writing The Wandering Fire had issues in its handling of certain thematic elements, particularly love and sex. While these themes are prominent elements of the story their execution often felt hollow and lacking in nuance. Relationships between characters sometimes felt weirdly transient and insignificant and intimate moments felt more disposable than emotionally impactful in most instances. Sex in Fionavar had a vaguely misogynistic and disposable feel to it and Kay never sold me on the fact that he understood the difference between love and lust which I felt detracted from the overall impact of these particular themes and relationships in the story. (view spoiler)[Frat Boy Kevin literally fucking himself to death was the ridiculous icing on the cake in that regard. (hide spoiler)] There was also a random musing by a character observing that there would be a lot of pregnancies after a festival that summed up how sex and romance were dealt with in this story. No shit there would be a lot of pregnancies with the orgies going on! Which just hammered home the disposable nature of the sex and the fact that most of the male characters, including all the leads, did not give a shit that they were likely dead beat dads multiple times over. That sat poorly with me but I get it is likely a particular pet peeve. Also annoyed me that the women of this old school medieval fantasy world were so free with their attitude towards unmarried sex given the likely childbirth mortality rates and the fact that practically none of the fathers were sticking around to deal with the consequences! Not that Kay ever bothered to deal with any of the consequences of anybody’s actions outside of the Jennifer story arc.
One of the most significant departures from the first book in the series was the increased emphasis on Arthurian mythology. While Arthurian legends are undoubtedly fun and interesting I felt their increased inclusion damaged this tale and made it feel less original than what we got in the first book. (view spoiler)[The actual appearances of Arthur and Lancelot, as well as the revelation of Jennifer as a reincarnation of Guinevere, felt more like fan service than crucial elements of the story and was just a bit crappy to be honest. Last thing this series needs is Jennifer caught up in some tragic Arthurian love triangle in the final book! (hide spoiler)]
Another aspect of The Wandering Fire that was problematic was the frequent shifting of points of view. While I feel multiple perspectives can definitely offer insights into different characters and plotlines and add great depth to a story in general the rapid changes in perspective in this story made it a little difficult to follow especially in the audio format. The overabundance of minor character perspectives lead to a sense of fragmentation. Which made it tough to emotionally engage with a lot of those lesser characters and their individual arcs. I did like some of the minor characters and story arcs but felt like we got too much of them and that the POV segment shifting was just too rapid. Sometimes characters were barely getting a paragraph before we were off to the next one. It was a definite problem.
Despite these issues there are still moments of brilliance in The Wandering Fire that hint at the potential for a decent story but they just get a little overwhelmed by the negative aspects of the story. Which is disappointing as I really wanted to enjoy this one more but felt like the plot we got was just a lot duller than what we got in the first book.
Jennifer had a terrible story arc in the first instalment and I feared the worst in the early stages of this one as things seemed to go from bad to worse. (view spoiler)[The pregnancy arc ultimately unfolded in a fashion that was not anywhere near as bad as I was expecting and we actually got an interesting new character out of the story arc that hints at interesting possibilities that may lie ahead in the final instalment. (hide spoiler)]. I was happy that whole arc played out better than I anticipated and feared.
All in all The Wandering Fire was more negative than positive. While it showcases Guy Gavriel Kay's undeniable writing talent and evokes a hauntingly beautiful atmosphere, its flaws in thematic execution, overemphasis on Arthurian mythology, and problematic narrative structure ultimately detracted from the story. I’ll probably not read the final instalment as my interest was definitely waning towards the end of this one and that is a shame as I feel like there was definitely potential for a good old school portal fantasy in here somewhere but it just never fully materialised in this second instalment.
Rating: 2.5 stars. I’m rounding down to 2 stars as finishing this became a bit of a chore despite the fact that it was not a particularly lengthy novel.
Audio Note: I’m still not a fan of Simon Vance. I never warm to characters he is voicing and his droning narration style sucks the life out of stories for me rather than breathes life into them! I also feel like the rapid fire, and short, POV shifts made things confusing in audio as there was not enough done on the production side to emphasise them. You can see the paragraph breaks in written format but we need better breaks to emphasis them in audio than we got here and in the first book....more
This was a solid sequel to an OK slow burn romantasy series. The series offers mystery, some intrigue, plenty of action, hints of slow burn romance, aThis was a solid sequel to an OK slow burn romantasy series. The series offers mystery, some intrigue, plenty of action, hints of slow burn romance, and cool dark magic.
This instalment felt like a bottle episode of a TV show. Quinn, Lazarus, and the rest of Lazarus’s followers pitched up in a new kingdom as Lazarus continued his quest to make allies to strengthen his claim on his own throne. This time he had to win over a Pirate Queen…which proved more difficult than he anticipated!
It was an OK story. We got some progress in the Lazarus/Quinn romance but it is still pretty slow burn. Not that I’m too bothered by that development. I like both of them well enough as individual characters but I’m still not feeling any real chemistry between them as a couple!
The new kingdom we visited was interesting enough. We got a bit of intrigue and a hard to win over potential ally.
I’m warming to the secondary characters the more I read of this series which is good as I was unsure of them for a lot of the first book.
All in all this was OK. I’m not sure if I’ll read more or not. I got the first two books via the Audible Plus Catalog but I actually have to spend precious credits on the rest of the series and a full credit on a 6.5 hour third book that will likely be a plain old 3 star read does not seem great value to me. I might pause this series for now and return if it pops up on sale or in the Plus Catalog at some point.
Rating: 3 stars.
Audio Note: The narration by Amy McFadden was solid....more
This was an OK slow burn romantasy. It had mystery, plenty of action, hints of slow burn romance, and plenty of cool dark magic.
I’ll admit I was hookThis was an OK slow burn romantasy. It had mystery, plenty of action, hints of slow burn romance, and plenty of cool dark magic.
I’ll admit I was hooked by a publisher blurb that claimed this book was:
“Throne of Glass meets Black Jewels in this twisted yet alluring dark fantasy tale.”
It definitely never lived up to that bold claim but it was readable without being particularly special or memorable. The premise was fun enough. Quinn Darkova is a former slave whose life takes another turn for the worse when a stranger witnesses her losing control of her dark magic and nearly killing a man. That stranger is the mysterious Lazarus Fierte and he uses the situation to coerce Quinn into his employment. He needs her dark powers to help secure his own position in court!
Quinn and Lazarus were likeable enough but a flaw of the story was definitely the fact that I was never truly sold on the romantic chemistry between the duo. They both had really cool dark magic though that gave them a darker edge than your average romantasy leads. Quinn’s magic fed on folks fears and she could often lose control while in the grip of her powers and tend towards cruelty and violence. Dark Maji going mad and having to be killed was a pretty common thing in this world!
The world seemed a fun enough place but the worldbuilding was definitely a bit of a weakness as it was a bit simplistic and vague for my liking. It made it tight to really picture this world. Which was weird as the authors did a really good job making the magic seem cool and tangible.
All in all this ended up an OK read. I’ll press onto the next book for sure especially since this one felt like it was mostly set-up for larger stuff to come.
Rating: 3 stars.
Audio Note: The narration by Amy McFadden was solid. ...more
This was a weird dark fantasy romance. The premise was really fun but the story never quite managed to hit the heights its cool concept promised. It wThis was a weird dark fantasy romance. The premise was really fun but the story never quite managed to hit the heights its cool concept promised. It was just OK. The story was a mix of romance, humour, and plenty of monster related violence!
Homily is hunting the shapeshifting monster that supposedly cursed her family. Which would have been good to know for Shesheshen before she befriended and fell a little in love with the women considering Shesheshen herself is that shapeshifting monster. Shesheshen just has to find a way to convince her human love she has never cursed anyone in her whole life and survive her new girlfriends murderous family who seem hellbent on exterminating her.
It was a really fun idea. Shesheshen was suitably alien in nature but still fairly easy to root for despite her tendency for munching on humans! Homily was also easy to like so it made rooting for the developing romance between the lonely and slightly antisocial monster and the downtrodden Homily pretty easy.
The shapechanging nature of Shesheshen was pretty gruesome in practice but I did really enjoy this fresh and more monstrous take on the shapeshifting creature!
I’m honestly not sure why this one did not fully work for me as it had all the ingredients to be just the sort of tale I love. I guess I was just never fully sucked in by John Wiswell’s writing style. The tale was OK but I was never fully sucked into it or particularly emotionally engaged by the happenings.
The themes the story explored were enjoyable enough as it touched on love, loneliness, legacy, and toxic family and the trauma that can cause.
All in all this was OK. I really loved the idea of the story but never fully gelled with the reality of it. That said, this was still readable.
Rating: 3 stars.
Audio Note: This was narrated by Carmen Rose (Heather Wilds). I’m a fan of hers so enjoyed the performance. ...more
This turned out to be a pretty good portal fantasy. It offered a nice mix of action, adventure, romance and slice of life. It also had a decent balancThis turned out to be a pretty good portal fantasy. It offered a nice mix of action, adventure, romance and slice of life. It also had a decent balance of gritty and hopeful moments.
The premise was intriguing. Years ago, emissaries from another world, called Geamhlúrt, arrived on Earth looking for help to save their world which was being overrun by monsters. In the end, they created an online game, Gleamheart, which mimicked the abilities and conditions which the Geamhlúrtan powered heroes had to face, using it for research and to find suitable candidates to be summoned to Geamhlúrt as replacement heroes. Now, desperate for help, the Geamhlúrtans have summoned thousands of unsuspecting gamers to their world in new, super-powered bodies.
The summoning to a new world is a pretty big shock and a transition for the humans even with their new bodies and superpowers and that possessed the powers and appearance of their gaming avatars. It is especially disorienting for our lead character, Angela Fury, because even with the careful selection process by the Geamhlúrtan in place to prevent just such traumatic transitions she finds herself in the female body of her gaming avatar not the male body she is familiar with from her old life back on earth!
The tale turned out to be a very enjoyable read. Angela had to deal with being torn to a new world, being gender swapped, and with coming to terms with the fact she and the others had just been uprooted and conscripted to fight monsters in a world that was losing the war against them.
I really enjoyed this one. It was a great portal fantasy. It had a typical LitRPG setup with gamers being sucked into a game world but once summoned there was no stat system so this played like a regular portal fantasy. The fact the world was real also added the true stakes to the happenings which added emotional emphasis to the events. The world was a fun one with cool magic and monsters.
I liked Angela as a lead character. She was easy to root for as she was mostly a good person just dealing with some crazy happenings as best as she could. She did end up as one of the more powerful summoned but was definitely not overpowered and had to join and work with others to have the numbers necessary for dealing with hordes of deadly monsters. I also quite liked the fact that a lot of what made Angela a natural leader was tied to who she was as a person and not to her superpowers.
I also really liked the pacing of the story. We were not immediately thrown into monster battles. The humans got summoned to a training area and had some time to adjust to their new bodies, powers, and circumstances. There was also a bit of mystery as the Geamhlúrtan were low on folks who could communicate in English and mostly just left the humans to deal with things on their own which lead to a lot of confusion and some early issues as the humans basically had to build their own society.
I actually liked the realism in the way the humans did not always find it easy to deal with their new lives and how it was difficult to adjust to a new world when they could not communicate with the locals due to the language barrier.
This was just a really fun tale that mixed action, adventure, slice of life moments, and even some romance as the humans adjusted to a new world and had to deal with the responsibilities that came with their powers while simultaneously dealing with some resentments over the summoning!
Angela was an easy to root for main character but the book also benefited from having some decent secondary characters to support her. Those main secondary characters all had distinct personalities of their own and their own individual powers and magic.
All in all this was a really fun portal fantasy with a gender swap twist that ended up just being a small element in a very interesting portal fantasy.
The ending was a tad abrupt but I guess that is the result of this being a web serial rather than a typical novel. I’ll absolutely press on with the next four parts of the serial in the next book bundle as I definitely want more of this world and story!
Rating: 4.5 stars.
Audio Note: This had no audio unfortunately. I listened via the Alexa option from Kindle. It is definitely not the same a proper narration but it was tolerable. If this gets a real audio I’ll definitely buy it as I’m 100% sure a proper voice actor could really enhance the listening experience. ...more
This was a decent character driven UF series with a strong slow burn romance subplot. It was a solid offering!
We got a single POV story that we joineThis was a decent character driven UF series with a strong slow burn romance subplot. It was a solid offering!
We got a single POV story that we joined just as our lead character Fire Clan Mage Fiona Ember’s life goes awry. Her team were sent on an assassination mission to eliminate a group of rival Water Mages. They failed and Fiona, the only survivor of her Fire Clan team, ends up a captive of the Water Clan Mages. She expects torture and execution but instead her Water Clan interrogator, the notorious Auspex who possesses the gifts of precognition and mind-reading, offers her a chance at life. She just has to prove she can offer the value to him that he sees in some of her possible futures!
It was a pretty fun tale. The Auspex had a terrible reputation but it was, mostly, a front so it was pretty easy to root for both him and Fiona as he coaxed her over the trauma of losing her team and with basically living life as a captive with the constant threat of slavery and death hanging over her if she does not live up to the terms of their deal.
The tale was a tad dark and Fiona did have to push through some trauma and anxiety but that was balanced out by the core group of characters being pretty likeable and easy to root for once everybody got over the awful way Fiona got introduced to them and by the found family and slow burn romance elements offering a good bit of positivity to the story.
All in all this was a fun tale. Nothing special but definitely very readable and I’ll press right on with the second book in the series.
Rating: 3.5 stars.
Audio Note: Ali Dane did OK with the audio. ...more
This story was a parody of classic power fantasy anime tropes. I’d have said a classic battle Shōnen parody but there was a bit too much sexual innuenThis story was a parody of classic power fantasy anime tropes. I’d have said a classic battle Shōnen parody but there was a bit too much sexual innuendo in the comedy for that to be strictly true.
The premise was fine. Squirrel Beastkin, Lucia, ends up getting selected to be the next companion of a recently discovered magical sentient sword despite only being on the quest to find it as a slave of the true adventurers. From there she grows ridiculously in strength and rampages across the land.
The idea behind the story was fun but the execution was poor. The comedy was more miss than hit. Which was a big problem as this parody was heavily driven by the comedy as there was not much depth to the worldbuilding, plot, or characterisation. The writing was also not great.
My biggest issue with the story ended up being the characters. They all sucked. Lucia and her magical companion had potential and were initially mildly amusing but the charm wore off pretty quickly and it was apparent both were horrible people. We jumped from one mindless slaughter to the next and I had a hard time caring about both the characters and the story in general. All the other characters in the story were completely throwaway and forgettable.
All in all this was pretty bad. I’ve no chance of reading more books in this series.
Rating: 2 stars
Audio Note: Mare Trevathan went full over the top anime in style which fitted the story but definitely added to making Lucia extra annoying to deal with. ...more
This was a solid third instalment of S.J. Boyce’s Wraithblade series. This series is an action fantasy set in a fairly dark fantasy world but one thatThis was a solid third instalment of S.J. Boyce’s Wraithblade series. This series is an action fantasy set in a fairly dark fantasy world but one that never gets to grim thanks to having a few likeable characters and a tad of humour to lighten the tone from time to time.
This third book was mostly just Conner going on a few quests and building and growing his power. The same was true of his companions and his main enemies!
It was readable enough even if for some weird reason I always seem to take a while to get sucked into the flow of these books. Once I get sucked into the story I tend to find them fast paced enough. Which is impressive considering this tops 30 hours in audio!
I feel like this instalment did a good job of developing the dragons and the Connor/Quinn slow burn romance.
All in all a fun enough read.
Rating: 3.5 stars
Audio Note: This was narrated by Wayne Mitchell. I thought he did OK but can definitely see folks having a few issues with him. He was very melodramatic in terms of his performance style. He also struggled a bit voicing the female characters. He also read a tad slow so I got on better by boosting the playback speed to 1.25 regular rate. All that said, after listening to the guy for 90 hours over the course of this series I’ve gotten used to him! ...more
I’ve not much to say about this second instalment of David Drake’s Lord of the Isles series as it was pretty much just a straight continuation of whatI’ve not much to say about this second instalment of David Drake’s Lord of the Isles series as it was pretty much just a straight continuation of what we got in the first book and was similar in quality.
The series is typical old school 80s or 90s epic fantasy. It is a multi-POV tale following 4 late teen kids as they get plucked from their backwater village and in an epic battle between good and evil. It was a story full of action, adventure, magic, demons, even more weird fantasy creatures, and a touch of romance.
It was an OK second book. I still found this a slightly disjointed and confusing tale but I do feel like there is the building blocks of a good story in here somewhere if only Drake could put it together consistently.
Rating: 2.5 stars. I’ll round up to 3 stars here on Goodreads but have to admit I’m on the fence about picking up the third book or not.
Audio Note: Michael Page is a competent narrator but hopelessly miscast in this role. All four lead POV characters are teens and page sounds like he calls Methuselah a spring chicken! ...more
This fourth instalment of the Restart Again series was a solid entry in the series. Not quite as strong as the third instalment but better than the seThis fourth instalment of the Restart Again series was a solid entry in the series. Not quite as strong as the third instalment but better than the second instalment.
The premise of this series is fun. Our main character, Lux, finds himself in a new fantasy world isekai style. The problem is this is the third time it has happened to him and he still has no idea why! There is also the fact that with three previous worlds and lives behind him Lux is getting frustrated about losing the folks he cares for in those other worlds. He is also growing tired of being caught up in the sort of Chosen One nonsense that has got him in trouble in his two previous worlds!
This 4th book had Lux and his team resting a bit, doing some more magic and fighting training, and then getting on the road to deal with the next artefact before it came with an issue.
The story was fine. The slice of life stuff and character relationships are the best bits of the series. The action can actually be really dull and boring. Which is weird as the premise seems like it should be a lot more fun what with the magic being fairly cool and with Lux having to deal with two weird mystery entities that constantly plague his mind.
This was OK but nothing special. I’ll read the 5th instalment if one appears in audio.
Rating: 3 stars.
Audio Note: I do feel like Alex Knox does a great job with this series. Decent general narration voice and very solid with the dialogue. ...more
This third instalment of the Restart Again series was probably the best one yet. It felt like it got the balance right between the plot/action elementThis third instalment of the Restart Again series was probably the best one yet. It felt like it got the balance right between the plot/action elements of the story and the romance/slice of life elements of the story.
The premise of this series is fun. Our main character, Lux, finds himself in a new fantasy world isekai style. The problem is that this is the third time it has happened to him and he still has no idea why! There is also the fact that with three previous worlds and lives behind him Lux is getting frustrated about losing the folks he cares for in those other worlds. He is also growing tired of being caught up in the sort of Chosen One nonsense that has got him in trouble in his two previous worlds!
This third book had more slice of life stuff as Lux settled into his new home and developed his relationships with his new family and friends. It is a tad low key and slow paced but pretty fun. We also got a lot more progression in the development of Lux and Lia’s magic. Some action as well as some new monsters emerged that had to be dealt with.
It was a solid third book. Not my favourite series but it is readable enough stuff.
Rating: 3.5 stars.
Audio Note: I do feel like Alex Knox does a great job with this series. Decent general narration voice and very solid with the dialogue. ...more
This second instalment in the Restart Again series was not quite as enjoyable as the first instalment. The premise of this portal fantasy/isekai remaiThis second instalment in the Restart Again series was not quite as enjoyable as the first instalment. The premise of this portal fantasy/isekai remains fun with our lead character, Lux, not being your typical type of lead character thanks to the fact that his patience is wearing thin on the idea of being dragged from world to world now that he is on his 4th life with no idea why it is happening to him and with memories of all the folks he misses from his old lives!
The first book was very much a slow paced slice of life type of story but this second book tried to pivot towards a bit of quest action. It ended up being a weakness for the book! Sure we got some plot and story momentum but the quest and action were a bit dull and uninspiring. Turns out I actually prefer the slice of life stuff even if it can feel like absolutely nothing is happening in the story except characters chit chatting and travelling!
This story in this one focused on Lux and Lia being dragged before the King of Yoria and being forced into going on a quest to a neighbouring kingdom where reports of uprising and strange creatures were emerging. It ended up being a bit…meh.
As always this series works better for the reader if you imagine it as a crazy anime style story rather than trying for any sort of realism because the character interactions and dialogue are decidedly more anime in tone and feel than realistic. That said, it is worth noting the story can still get a touch dark at times.
Another thing worth noting is the fact this series is basically just one long serial with no clear break points. Which is to say both books in this series have ended with cliffhangers.
All in all this was an adequate read. Started OK but definitely ended a bit dull as we got bogged down in the action/plot. I’ll press on to the next book and see if the story can get back to what made it fun in the first instalment.
Rating: 2.5 stars. I’ll round up to three stars.
Audio Note: Alex Knox gave a pretty solid performance of the audio. ...more
This portal fantasy/isekai had a fantastic premise but never quite managed to fully deliver on what it promised due to average writing and a lackadaisThis portal fantasy/isekai had a fantastic premise but never quite managed to fully deliver on what it promised due to average writing and a lackadaisical pacing.
The premise really was fun. We joined the tale as the lead POV character Lux was just being dumped into his third new life and third new body! It soon becomes apparent that Lux is angry and frustrated by the situation and unsure why it is constantly happening to him. Life in a new fantasy world was fun at first but has grown tiresome now that he has people he misses in his previous lives! In this new life Lux is determined to keep his head down and stay out of the spotlight to avoid the sort of Chosen One nonsense that did not work out well for him in two previous lives.
The tale should have been really fun but Adam Ladner’s writing never quite managed to fully engage me and the pacing was really slow. This first book was basically just a small introduction to the new fantasy world (typically old school Isekai medieval fantasy setting complete with demihumans), a prison break, and a road trip. The quest state of the story was just beginning to get introduced right at the end.
We got glimpses into Lux’s three previous lives via some reminiscences about his original life on Earth and flashbacks to his two previous lives on different fantasy worlds. I felt the flashbacks could have been more expansive. We learned a bit about Lux’s lost first love and that the second world he landed in was not a pleasant world. We also got a glimpse into how he learned some basic magic and combat skills that has lead him to be a bit more prepared for this 4th life!
Despite some serious flaws the story was still an OK read. Lux was a likeable enough lead even if he did come across as a bit dim. The other characters were a bit simplistic and unnatural in their motivations and dialogue but it helped if you imagined them as weird anime characters rather than real people!
All in all this was OK. It is a fun concept with a flawed execution but I’ll press on to the second book for sure.
Rating: 3 stars.
Audio Note: Alex Knox gave a pretty solid performance of the audio. ...more
This was a satisfying ending to a trilogy that ended up being an enjoyable mix of character driven political fantasy thriller and slow burn enemies toThis was a satisfying ending to a trilogy that ended up being an enjoyable mix of character driven political fantasy thriller and slow burn enemies to lovers romance tale.
I’ve binged the whole trilogy so I’m not going to repeat the stuff I’ve already mentioned in my previous reviews. This can be quite a dark fantasy world but I did feel like this third and final book was a little softer in that regard and it absolutely helped that both Damen and Laurent showed very positive character growth over the course of the story which was one of my favourite elements of this whole series. Always nice to see characters growing in a positive direction over the course of a story!
This final book mainly to place in Akielos. It was good to finally see a bit of Damen’s kingdom and get to know a bit more about characters like Kastor and Jokaste who we had only known by reputation in the previous books.
In my opinion this final book did a great job of satisfactorily wrapping up both the ongoing story and the slow burn romance aspects of the tale. Both were handled very well.
One thing I’ve not mentioned in previous reviews so definitely will in this one is the fact that one of my favourite parts of this series is how both Laurent and the Regent used their minds to become pretty much the most powerful and proactive people in the story. I do love a story where the mind beats the sword! I loved all the twists and turns and fun plotting we got over the course of this story.
All in all a good ending to a good series. C.S.Pacat had an engaging writing style and it was always easy to get caught up in the happenings of this story. A real positive for the series was the fact that each new book seemed to eliminate some of the weaker or more problematic elements of the previous books!
Rating: 4 stars.
Audio Note: Stephen Bel Davies did a decent job with the audio. He is great with the general narration but is slightly weak in performing the dialogue as he is not great a differentiating the character voices. ...more
This was a good middle instalment in C.S.Pacat’s Captive Prince trilogy. This series is a character driven political fantasy thriller with a heavy focThis was a good middle instalment in C.S.Pacat’s Captive Prince trilogy. This series is a character driven political fantasy thriller with a heavy focus on a dark enemies to lovers m/m romance. It also contains some really dark content such as violence, cruelty, slavery, rape, and peadophilia that can be difficult and/or disturbing to deal with but still manages to make the story work for me because the writing is engaging and the lead characters are likeable despite their flaws which makes it easy enough to root for them.
I feel like my review for the first book in this series spent a lot of time highlighting the things I had issues with or felt were weaknesses so I’m not going to go into that again as I also mentioned that my hope was this sequel would lean more into the elements I enjoyed and less into those I did not. This sequel delivered on that wish. I got less of the stuff I had issues with in the first book and more of the stuff I enjoyed.
This was a particularly good instalment for developing the slow burn Damen/Laurent romance. It was mostly just hinted at in the first book but it got a real chance to grow and develop in this instalment while still going at a slow burn tempo. I enjoyed that a lot. Pacat did a great job with the romance and selling it to me as something that grew over time. I was a little worried it might not work for me while reading the first book but it really did! It was enjoyable to follow the growing trust and companionship of Damen and Laurent over the course of this one.
The story was a tad different in this sequel. The first book was all court intrigue with it being set in the capital of Vere. This one was more of a long road trip with Laurent bound for military service at a fort at the border of Akielos and Vere thanks to a scheme of his uncle. It meant less twisty court intrigue (but not an elimination of it!) but also less cruelty and slavery and less of the Regent and his evil inclinations.
I felt like the story in the first instalment was more powerful and compelling but that what we got in this instalment was not quite on that level but was delivered in a far more palatable package.
All in all my feelings are positive. Some of the flaws of the first book remain and some of the story was not quite as intense or compelling as we got in the first book but the slow burn romance was handled very well and the story we did get was still pretty engaging and lacking some of the more disturbing elements of the first book. A good read!
Hopefully the third and final instalment delivers a satisfactory conclusion to the story!
Rating: 4 stars.
Audio Note: Stephen Bel Davies did a decent job with the audio. He is great with the general narration but is slightly weak in performing the dialogue as he is not great a differentiating the character voices. ...more
I took a chance on this dark fantasy/romance as I got it cheap during an Audible daily deal and while it has a mixed reception from my Goodreads frienI took a chance on this dark fantasy/romance as I got it cheap during an Audible daily deal and while it has a mixed reception from my Goodreads friends it had enough positive reviews hinting it could be a good enough character driven political fantasy/romance that it might work for me….if I could get past the darker elements of the tale that alienated the other half of my GR’s friends!
From the reviews I was expecting a solid character driven political fantasy thriller with a heavy focus on a dark enemies to lovers m/m romance. I also knew to expect dark content such as violence, cruelty, slavery, rape, and peadophilia all of which, individually never mind collectively, can be story killers for me.
Were the reviews correct? Absolutely. This book was pretty much exactly as advertised in both the positive and negative reviews I read. Easy to see why some folks hated this and why others enjoyed it. It was a good character driven political fantasy thriller with a few interesting characters and plenty of drama and court scheming which was engaging. It also weaved in a very slow burn enemies to lovers romance. I enjoyed the story. Scheming court set fantasy thrillers are definitely my niche. I’m on the fence with the romance but it is still in the early phases in this first book. As for the darker elements of the tale? They were definitely all as advertised. The lucky thing is I’ve read all the elements present in this tale before on more than one occasion…I’ve just never read a tale that has tried to include the lot of them in a workable tale! There were elements of Lyn Flewelling’s Nightrunners, Carol Berg’s Transformation, and Sarah Monet’s Melisune (and a whole bunch of other stuff I’ve read over the years) that were all present in Captive Prince. I’d say Captive Prince managed to weave all the different aspects of the tale together much better than I anticipated it would. Which is to say I expected I might hate this one but ended up enjoying it while still being disturbed by a few of the more problematic elements of the story.
What did I have issues with? Weirdly not the hinted at romance between Damon and Laurent despite the fact I usually have major issues with heavily unbalanced relationships and issues of non-consent. I guess issues might arise for me as the relationship actually develops in the sequel books as this one was more hints of attraction and just a growing alliance of convenience between two characters with plenty of reason to hate each other than actual romance beyond the odd moment of fleeting physical attraction.
This was a fantasy world where slavery was a thing that was normalised albeit in a weirdly sexualised way. I managed to tolerate that aspect of the tale better than expected. This was a fantasy book with a weird tone and world that managed to eqrn the same sort of tolerant leeway from me that the SoT series by Goodkind got. Which is to say it was hard to treat things totally seriously as this was just such a ridiculous world and story that it made it hard to associate the happenings with real events which helped earn eye rolling responses to some of the happenings rather than the horror they might have inspired in other stories and definitely would have had in real life.
The rape and cruelty were more of an issue but it was more tolerable than most because the bulk of it happened “off screen” and our lead POV character Damon seemed as horrified by it as we were despite the fact the guy had his own history of owning slaves! Dude was a weirdly likeable lead in general despite his dubious history of keeping sex slaves and killing a bunch of folks in his military campaigns.
Unsurprisingly I had the biggest issue with the hinted at peadophilia. I feel like the book would have been a lot easier for me had Nicaise just not existed in the story. I get it was to show that even in this fairly dark and awful fantasy world where slavery, violence, and rape were common place the Regent was still an extra special piece of shit. I also get that being raised by this dude, and all that implies, is supposed to make the often cold and cruel Laurent a bit more of a sympathetic character for the reader. It might have worked had Nicaise played a tiny role in the story but the kid was too prominent to really forget and, worse, it felt like C.S.Pacat herself was sexualising the kid in the writing and that, for me, was actually the most disgusting and disturbing element of the whole book. Hopefully this aspect of the tale is toned down or completely eliminated in the sequels. If it gets worse I might end up pulling the plug on it like I did with the Morningwood series. In that one I weathered the disturbing aspects of the story in the first instalment but they got too much for me in the sequel so I pulled the plug despite liking Illiev’s writing and a lot of the other parts of his book. Hopefully Pacat does a better job of taking on board criticism of the first book and course corrects some of the less tolerable elements of Captive Prince in the sequel books!
I’ve did plenty of highlighting of the negative aspects of the story so I should probably get around to saying I did still quite enjoy this one despite them. It was a good character driven political fantasy thriller with an easy enough lead character to root for. It was also a big plus that Pacat had an engaging writing style. Despite some cringing and/or eye-rolling at some the content this book hooked me from the start and held me until the end. It also quickly established the world and characters despite being a pretty short read.
All in all a weirdly enjoyable read despite some troubling content. Easy to see why it is so divisive a story. I’ll press on with the next book and hope it delivers more of what I enjoyed and less of what I did not enjoy!
Rating: 4 stars.
Audio Note: Stephen Bel Davies did a decent job with the audio. He is great with the general narration but is slightly weak in performing the dialogue as he is not great a differentiating the character voices. ...more
This sequel to Wraithblade was an improvement on the first instalment. I think that was mostly because it did not suffer from the same incredibly slowThis sequel to Wraithblade was an improvement on the first instalment. I think that was mostly because it did not suffer from the same incredibly slow start as we were already familiar with the characters and the world so it was easy to get into the story from the first page.
This series is action fantasy set in a fairy dark fantasy world but one that never gets too grim thanks to having a few likeable characters and a bit of humour to lighten the tone from time to time.
The plot was just a straight continuation of the first book. Connor and his allies are still on the run while he masters his new Wraithblade powers. On top of that Connor has to deal with a few pressing demands from his bargains with the Wraith Lord and Sofia while juggling having to deal with Quinn as his prisoner. Meanwhile the usual villains were all scheming to grab power for themselves. Notably in this second instalment we got to learn a bit about the Queen and see how she might end up a formidable adversary for Connor in the future.
All in all it was a pretty fun second outing of this action fantasy series. Connor remains an easy lead character to root for while the secondary characters that surround him in Quinn, Sofia, and Murdoch are interesting and likeable characters in their own right with pretty solid backgrounds and personal motivations that drive them.
All in all a fun read!
Rating: 3.5 stars. I’ll round up to 4 stars this time as this lacked the same slow start as the first book. It was an engaging enough 33 hour ride in audio!
Audio Note: This was narrated by Wayne Mitchell. I thought he did OK but can definitely see folks having a few issues with him. He was very melodramatic in terms of his performance style. He also struggled a bit voicing the female characters. All that said, after listening to the guy for 60 hours I’ve gotten used to him! ...more
This action fantasy is a bit of a weird book to rate as it had a terrible start but actually recovered from it to end up a pretty enjoyable tale by thThis action fantasy is a bit of a weird book to rate as it had a terrible start but actually recovered from it to end up a pretty enjoyable tale by the end!
The premise was fun. Outlaw, Conner Magnusson, is hiding in the woods to keep a low profile when he goes against his king honed survival instincts and runs no towards danger when he hears a scream in the night. The woods are always a dangerous place but Connor gets more than he bargained for when he has to rescue a family from a badly injured madman. Things go from bad to worse when more folks appear through a magic portal chasing the first man and decide to get rid of both Connor and the family he was trying to rescue. The magic twist here is the fact that an evil wraith lord attached itself to Connor after he kills the first assailant and promises him magic, power, and riches if only he listens to the wraith and brings the world under his heel!
On the whole this action based fantasy was pretty fun. It was a dark fantasy world but that was offset by the fact that Connor was a super easy lead to like and root for. Despite being a loner with an evil wraith lord in his ear he was a good guy. Which had the added benefit of hilariously infuriating his new wraithlord companion!
The series was heavy on the action as right from the get go folks were coming hard to kill Connor in order to cover up their own crimes or seize the wraith, and its power, for themselves!
Connor was the lead but we got a few other POV chapters from some of the various villains and from Quinn Starling (a warrior tasked with brining in the new Wraithblade). The villains and the companions Connor ran into over the course of the story all ended up being fairly interesting and well drawn characters in their own right. I also enjoyed the fact that multiple different villains each with their own agendas were present as I felt like that added a bit of depth to this fantasy world.
If this book had a serious flaw it was the awful start and the fact it has a penchant for overly lengthy action sequences. There is no denying the start was really rough. We got a fight sequence that went on for literal hours in the audio but it all happened before we really learned anything about Connor as a character or the fantasy world in general so it was hard to engage with it. I’d not be surprised if a lot of folks quit early. I persevered and the effort did end up worth it as this developed into a fun action fantasy that offset the dark world and happenings by having some humorous moments and likeable characters.
All in all I think this recovered from a really dull start to end up a decent read. I’ll read the next book for sure.
Rating: I’ll go with 3.5 stars and round down due to that sluggish start. I’d have rounded up without that sluggish start as by the end I was really enjoying this one!
Audio Note: This was narrated by Wayne Mitchell. I thought he did OK but can definitely see folks having a few issues with him. He was very melodramatic in terms of his performance style. He also struggled a bit voicing the female characters. ...more
The second instalment of this portal fantasy was not quite as much fun as the first book in the series. I think the novelty of an author being sucked The second instalment of this portal fantasy was not quite as much fun as the first book in the series. I think the novelty of an author being sucked into their own fantasy story premise had worn off a bit and the characters and story we were left with was just not quite enough to keep me fully engaged.
I might or might not read the final instalment of the series but it if I do it will definitely not be my next read.
Rating: 3 stars.
Audio Note: Gary Tiedemann did an OK job with the audio. Though why Venn sounded 90 years old when she was only 17 is a real puzzle to me! ...more
This was a fantasy tale with a fun premise but that never quite managed to become anything more than an average story.
Author Jeff Powell is dealing wThis was a fantasy tale with a fun premise but that never quite managed to become anything more than an average story.
Author Jeff Powell is dealing with everyday issues like trying to work up the courage to ask his crush out on a date and trying to finish writing his new book in time to meet its deadline when his life takes a weird turn after he finds himself sucked into the fantasy world he created! From there it is a dealing with dragons, magic, and swords while trying to find his way back home!
The premise should have been really fun but they book never really capitalised on the fun sounding premise. The tale was light on humour and what we got was a fairly run of the mill portal fantasy tale with rather forgettable characters.
The other thing that surprised me was learning this was written by a female author as it has that typical slightly internalised misogyny that is usually associated with male written tales from the 80s and 90s. Nothing overtly offensive. Just that all the female characters are written as attractive and tend to be described in such a fashion as well as a tad of minor leering from the male lead character.
I’ll press on to the next instalment as these books are not giant in size but this is pretty run of the mill stuff.
Rating: 3 stars.
Audio Note: Gary Tiedemann did an OK job with the audio. ...more
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