FloribundaMorosa

Mixed feelings

Reviewed: 06-02-21

Despite a pretty removed writing style I still felt very connected with the MC's raison d'etre and motivations. I thought the foes, human, and otherwise, were extremely interesting through about the 60% mark. A cool combo of distanced viewpoint with very visceral experiences that worked well IMO. I really enjoyed the cultural exchanges and conflicts, and the demonology was well done.

With approx. 2 hours to go I actually thought I had just heard the last line of the book: it was a natural stopping point IMO and felt like a strong conclusion to the character arc so far (at least, knowing that there was a sequel). I was surprised when it turned out there were 2 hours more. That was the weakest section of the book in many ways. I suddenly found myself losing track of characters (not a problem earlier) and feeling unsure that I actually understood what was going on. It could just have been the result of disorentiation after hearing what I thought was the "ending" 2 hours earlier, but still, disappointing.

The aspects of the story which I most disliked felt very remniscent of the Conan the Barbarian, both tonally and in terms of plot. These weren't overwhelming but they were present. I don't recommend this book for people who want female characters with agency as defined in modern terms, or for listeners who are sensitive to objectification/reductive gendered thinking. But if you can handle this as an extension of the character's upbringing and still root for them, this story is pretty interesting and does a lot of things that I have been hoping more African-inspired fantasy will do.

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cute

Reviewed: 12-03-20

Light and family-friendly and short and sweet. A very pleasant way to kill 5 minutes.

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charming and ridiculous

Reviewed: 11-11-20

I wouldn't have used a credit on this, but I thoroughly enjoyed it for what it was. Very charming, didn't take itself too seriously as a story, very nice twist that made me literally lol. MMC was inconsistent as a character (portrayed as a certain type of personality, but lots of evidence to the contrary throughout), which was the bulk of the reasoning behind this being a 4 rather than 5-star story for me. It was just annoying to hear so many references to character traits that did not seem to exist at all. But excellent performances and production.

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good for what it is

Reviewed: 10-15-20

This is solid for what it is. It is not high literature and it knows it, which makes that okay. Lagged a bit in the middle but redeemed itself later. And one of the few audiobooks with sound effect transitions that I didn't totally resent.

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least favorite of the series

Reviewed: 06-06-20

All my previous quibbles were amplified in this one, plus new vectors of irritation added. I just don't have any more patience for the main character's overthinking, his lily-livered qualms-about-being-viewed-as-a-certain-type-of-special-while-simultaneously-using-that-status-literally-whenever-it's-convenient-but-I-have-qualms-so-that-means-it's-okay shtick, his odd yet completely uninteresting marriage, his perplexing inability to think of inventing birth control for the women he is not sure he loves despite constantly expressing a worrying lack of interest or time for his offspring, or his incessant Mary-Sue-but-hey-I-am mystified-by-the-behavior-of-women-but-I-never-think-to-ask-them-what-their-reasons-are-so-I-guess-I'm-not-really-a-Mary-Sue-after-all "quirks." Good grief.

Oh, and the narrator sounds really excited and intense at odd moments. You'll be halfway through an armory inventory and suddenly he'll get super enthusiastic about a certain type of munitions.

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2 people found this helpful

Very long, very good

Reviewed: 05-05-20

This was very dense, but not in an off-putting way. I took so many breaks while listening to this, but not out of boredom or because it was an overly emotional experience. It was just... a lot... but in a good way. I really can't think of many criticisms which hold up after I admit that the things I could quibble with didn't actually hinder my enjoyment. Even though the ending is unequivocally a lead-up to the next book in the series, I didn't feel cheated by the loose ends because there was plenty of weight and resolution to what happened so far. I truly enjoyed this story.

Regarding the recording: the narrator spoke very slowly, not sure if that was an intentional choice. I found that 1.20x speed sounded much more natural, but I could actually push it up 1.45 before it sounded too rushed. Some of the exclamations/sounds described were voiced a bit oddly.

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1 person found this helpful

interesting

Reviewed: 03-25-20

This was a fairly interesting, low-commitment story with heist-y vibes. I disliked the narration: while done well, I feel it was done wrong. The narrator would be great for a romance novel, but the tone was just too flirty for what was actually happening in the story. From the text, there was zero flirting happening at any time. But the audio experience felt like some of the characters were constantly about to make out. Bizarre.

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13 people found this helpful

fun

Reviewed: 01-13-20

My kids loved this story, what they could understand of it at least. Unfortunately the narrator's brogue was very thick and hard to follow, even though we are pretty used to a variety of accents.

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charming, ridiculous, life-affirming, entertaining

Reviewed: 11-29-19

I loved this. So many characters to enjoy despite their dubious morals. So much absurdity yet somehow still grounded. Requires a lot of suspension of disbelief yet in such a disarming way that I gave it happily.

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twists and turns

Reviewed: 11-12-19

I wish I loved the whole book as much as I lived many aspects of the book. Very solid overall, I just felt that there were places that could have been removed or switched with others without having a negative impact, aka they were unneeded. I also can't keep track of the vast host of side characters. That said, the theme, main plot, MC, and primary side characters are very well-realized and compelling.

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