Tag: audio books

Categories
Books

Review: Inherited Danger

Inherited Danger (The Dawning of Power #2) by Brian Rathbone

I give this book a 3.

Okay

This book picks up just after the end of the first book…because it had too. Needless to say, I didn’t like the way the first book ended, but since it rolled over so evenly into the second one, I was more open-minded to continue reading the story. (I bounced back and forth between listening and reading on my Kindle.)

In this follow-up to the Call of the Herald, Catrin goes on a “Lord of the Rings” type journey in search of…I think, the understanding of her power. The style of this story seemed a bit different from the first book, but after I got used to it, it wasn’t too bad. My major complaint is that not a lot happens for a long time and then everything seemed to happen all at once.

It was nice to learn more about Catrin’s background and that of her friends, even though, outside of Benjin (can’t remember how this is spelled), the others characters seem to do very little. There are tons of new characters introduced and some of them are even still alive at the end of the book, and who knows they may appear in the next story.

The understanding of the role of Herald isn’t clarified explicitly, but I think this is a good thing. It gives the reader room to decide if the Herald is a vessel for good or evil before seeing how things will play out in the story. At this point, it could still go either way for Catrin, especially since she can’t seem to decide if she’s a strong feisty fighter or a meek lost child. Sometimes she takes hold of the situation and uses her powers boldly and other times, she makes me think of a young wizard hold out his wand with his eyes closed hoping that he’s doing something right. I want Catrin to be a stronger woman than acts like sometimes.

Also, some of the relationships in this book are too quick or underdeveloped. Catrin meets her grandmother and a few passages later, we’re on to something else.

After saying all this, I want to be clear that I did enjoy this story, just not as much as I did the first one. I’ll eventually continue the series and would recommend it to fans of epic fantasy.

See my review of The Call of the Herald here.

This review has been posted to GoodReads. If you’d like to obtain a copy of this book, try this link.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Categories
Books

Review: Call of the Herald

Call of the Herald by Brian Rathbone

I give this book a 4.

LikeIt

I have no idea how I originally got a copy of this book. I literally found a copy of it on my laptop and then downloaded it onto my Kindle. Later I looked it up on Amazon and downloaded a copy to compare, but there were no differences other than the covers.

The idea of being the chosen one is not a new concept and the reality of it is not without its ups and downs. So this is the story of Catrin and how she goes from being a farm girl to a (whole vessel of sorts) herald of war while possessing some neat and sometimes confusing “super powers”.

I must say that I like this story. It’s not without its flaws, but it’s good enough to pull me in and make me want to read more in the series. The story seemed like it was short, but it took a while to read. I guess what I’m trying to say here is that the pacing didn’t match the length of the book. Most of it all happened so fast, but nothing was left out, as far as I can tell.

It does end with a cliffhanger, which I do not like. I much prefer stories to reach some kind of resolution and then move on or change direction, but this is one of those stories that build up to… nothing and then you have to read the next book to see what happens.

I think if these characters had simply come to some sort of destination and left an opening to the next book, I would have given it a 5, but as is, I’m too annoyed to do so.

Still, it’s a good story and worth reading if you like tales of “the one” and prophecies being fulfilled. It’s almost a space opera, it’s almost a high-fantasy epic, it’s almost a paranormal coming-of-age tale, but ultimately it’s an adventure.

This review has been posted to GoodReads. If you’d like to obtain a copy of this book, try this link.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Categories
Books

Review: Legend

Legend (Legend #1) by Marie Lu

I give this book a 4.

LikeIt

This dystopian YA tale is centered around two young prodigies, June from the privileged side of the Republic and Day, a rogue in the sea of Rebels.  I actually enjoyed this story (on audio) even though I found so many little things about it that seemed cliché. However, clichés and all, I can’t seem to be disinterested in a fight the system story that shows just how treacherous Big Brother can really be.

So now, let me explain what I loved about the story and tell you just why I didn’t give it a 5. The whole fight the system theme is right up my alley, but I don’t understand why the main characters had to both be fifteen. I get that appealing to young audience is where the money is these days, but what is it about the age fifteen that’s so special…and prodigies or not, some of the stuff these kids do is just a little ridiculous.

Then there are the themes of rich vs poor and the discovery of government secrets and lies. I’ve read too many books and seen too many movies to allow the “mystery” of this story be a surprise. I figured out what was going on way too early, but I still enjoyed how it was revealed in the end. Like many stories of its kind, in this reality, there’s good reason the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor.

World building is very important in this story, though it’s hard to picture everything all at once. It’s one of those stories that describes the surroundings and give you background, but you can only see as far as the horizon until the end. Most of the significance of the Republic, from a geographical point, isn’t clear until about halfway through the story. All in all, though, I liked what was done and appreciate the lack information up front.

Then there is the ever-present notion of romance that’s sure to ensue in some capacity. This particular romance makes me think of a mash-up between Romeo and Juliet, The Hunger Games, and The Matrix. If I try to explain what I mean here, I’ll give too much away. I’m glad to say that the story doesn’t spend more time here than necessary, but then again we are talking about fifteen-year-olds.

The last thing about this story that both attracted and repelling me a bit, was the sense that the whole story was about a struggle between the kids and the adults, even though it wasn’t supposed to be. Some of the things that occurred seemed to focus too much on the fact that the main characters were teenagers, making their age an important factor. It seems to me that if this story tells of the struggle between The Republic and the Rebellion, the age of the soldiers wouldn’t be so important as their actions.

Also, the story is told from the alternating povs of both June and Day. I was expecting this to somehow greatly enhance the story, but I don’t think it made any difference, for better or worse. It was nice and not too difficult to follow.

I’d recommend this book to fans of YA and or dystopian fiction with the mention of some violence and some subtle gore.

This review has been posted to GoodReads. If you’d like to obtain a copy of this book, try this link.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords