Sins of the Mother

The War Eternal, Book 4

By: Rob J. Hayes

Narrated by: Moira Quirk

In her darklight the world will burn.

Eskara Helsene is missing. She left her queendom, her friends, her children, even her own name behind. No one has seen the Corpse Queen for a decade.

Someone is murdering Sourcerers, forcing them to reject their magic and opening scars in reality, and monsters from the Other World are pouring through.

When an old acquaintance turns up out of the blue, Eska has no choice but to investigate the murders and the holes in reality. Can she stop the murderer before the entire world is consumed? And will the conflict reveal her true nature?

Sins of the Mother is the fourth book in the bestselling The War Eternal Series.

©2022 Rob J. Hayes (P)2022 Podium Audio

An excellent series for jaded fantasy listeners

I really can’t recommend this narrator and this series with enough enthusiasm. I love sarcastic, gritty fantasy with diverse characters written for jaded adults, and this series checks all the boxes.

Dark, sorrowful, and wonderful!

This series gets better with every book! It shows that the heroine of the series not as a perfect person, but a person grieving over her mistakes and regrets. Beside all of her misgivings she pushes on believing in herself and not the stories or the reputation that people believe in. This a very good story. I can’t wait for the next installment!

I can’t get enough of this series!!

The writing and narrating are amazing. I was sucked in the second I started the first book… 3 more later and I’m still captivated!

Excellent listen

Boring at times but necessary part of the series. I can’t wait until the next book. I teared up at the end

I ove this story

the challenge, strength and characters. it's awesome!! Plus it has funny moments in the mist of all that action 🎬 🤣

YES

Was hesitant to start this book since I thought the first three books were good on its own. But this book expanded the universe more. Can’t wait for the next one!

Love this series

Original storyline, great writing, excellent narration. I can't wait to listen to the next book.

Sins of the Mother knocks it out of the park

The fourth installment of the War Eternal is an excellent continuation, and I can't wait for more!

Creative & Compelling Continuation

Rob J. Hayes and Moira Quirk continue to make a formidable team in this excellent continuation of a fascinating series. Dark Fantasy at its very best.

Disappointing compared to rest of series

I have listened to the first three books of the The War Eternal series. After thinking the first book was good, but not great, I continued on and loved the rest of the series. I went on and listened to The Heroic Age series from Rob J. Hayes as it was released and loved it as well. It is so hard sometimes to find a book with an author you like read by a good narrator, and that is why it is so disappointing when a book like this is, well disappointing .

I mentioned above that I thought the first book The Razors Edge was ok but not great. In my review of that book I stated that the POV character spent a lot of time talking to herself in the book. At first it was funny and helped you get to know her. But it became tiresome as the book went along listening to her constantly telling you what a bad ass she was. The next two books added characters and a wider world, and the internal dialog became less the primary source for the story. I took that as a writer continuing to grow and therefore having improved output, not just in that series, but continuing through the next.

Unfortunately. Hayes has fallen back to using internal dialog as the main source for filling out Sins of the Mother. I kept waiting for something to happen, or for the story to become interesting, but until the final chapters it never did. 80% of this story is the POV character talking to herself about herself, about herself for the last twenty years, and about how she is older and not quite the badass she once was, but still a badass. I found myself losing focus on the story constantly as she blathered, only to refocus and realize I had missed nothing. Also helping to make this book even more disappointing was an infusion of current real world woke politics into the story. Hayes may have added some of this to earlier books, but i haven't noticed. Here, it is very noticeable and detracts from the story. The word xenophobia is used so often I began to roll my eyes every time I heard it.

Overall, a very disappointing 4th book in The War Eternal series, and from an author I was beginning to count on for quality books with good narrators. At least Moira Quirk didn't disappoint here. I finished the book out of curiosity that something might eventually happen, and due to the continuation from the series. I'm hoping this book is just a misstep, and Rob J. Hayes reverts back to the quality of book he is capable of.