The Student and the Slave

Krillonian Chronicles, Book 3

By: Annie Douglass Lima

Narrated by: Joseph Baltz

Is this what freedom is supposed to be like? Desperate to provide for himself and his sister Ellie, Bensin searches fruitlessly for work like all the other former slaves in Tarnestra. He needs the money for an even more important purpose, though: to rescue Coach Steene, who sacrificed himself for Bensin’s freedom. When members of two rival street gangs express interest in Bensin’s martial arts skills, he realizes he may have a chance to save his father figure after all...at a cost.

Meanwhile, Steene struggles with his new life of slavery in far-away Neliria. Raymond, his young owner, seizes any opportunity to make his life miserable. But while Steene longs to escape and rejoin Bensin and Ellie, he starts to realize that Raymond needs him, too. His choices will affect not only his own future, but that of everyone he cares about. Can he make the right ones...and live with the consequences?

©2017 Annie Douglass Lima (P)2022 Annie Douglass Lima

Awesome book

I loved this book. The character development was great and full of emotion. I did not see that ending coming.

Life Can Change With One Decision

I was entertained by book three as much as the first two books. The story gripped me from the opening paragraphs until the very end. Bensin's story touched my heart as he just couldn't seem to catch a break. Coach Steene's life had a karma element in that he experienced what the life of a slave was like, but my admiration and appreciation for him as a character grew with all the changes which added to his character's arc. I thought Joseph Baltz's narration was good, and his performance kept my attention. I was given a copy of the audiobook. I volunteered, without financial gain, to post this review which stated by honest opinions regarding this story.

Life lessons come in unexpected ways

Received as an audio review copy from the author, this is an honest review. Narrated wondrously by Joseph Baltz, comes the final book of this poignant and profound high intense trilogy. After his heroic sacrifice that allow Bensin, Ellie and others to escape to Tarnestra, Coach Steene struggles to accept the harsh reality of becoming a slave: torturous interrogations and the humiliation of being sold. Miraculously spared of being owned by the manager of Red Arena or his former boss, Steene's new owner is a spoiled teenage boy named Raymond from Neliria; whose family had bought Steene to train their to be a better Cavvarch fighter. A rocky relationship from the start, both Raymond and Steene learn to find value in each other; its in that trust Steene hates to break but the desire to be free to be with the ones he cares for, is too hard to ignore. Determined to bring his former coach home to Tarnestra, Bensin gets himself caught up into the affairs of local gangs, shady dealings and a whole bunch of trouble necessary to do any rescue plan. Yet how Steene earns his way back to his family, no one saw coming; giving this story a beautiful way to end, highly recommended.

Perfect Trilogy Finale

So many twists and turns that kept me wearing my ear buds as much as I could. This book is just as exciting and adventurous and the first two. Seeing the continuation of Steene's kindness and courage is inspiring. The family connection and love and what they will sacrifice for one another are amazing. The characters get better with each of the books It would be a spoiler to tell about the ending to the story. It's another twist and turn to be sure. Love that this is a clean read both in language and content. It gets somewhat bloody at times--just a warning if that is not your cup of tea. It's a great book and this trilogy is definitely being added to my favorites list. Best to read the books in order.

The narrator did an amazing performance!

I requested this audio book from the author and am voluntarily leaving this honest review.

Excellent conclusion to a fun series

Genre: Dystopian, Adventure, Drama, Young Adult

Note: Discussion will contain spoilers for previous entries in the series. Highly recommended that you start with book one.

Summary:
Bensin struggles to get a job and use his newfound freedom well.

Meanwhile, Steene deals with life as a green slave (someone not born to it). He’s given to a thirteen-year-old young man with an interest in martial arts.

Additional Comments:
• I don’t often give out 5 stars, but this is an exceptional series.
• Part of the middle of this story dragged, but the end wrapped up nicely on several fronts.
• Raymond probably has the strongest character development arc.
• I love how the story focuses on family dynamics as well as working within the dystopian system created. There’s bravery and honor and such, but it’s not a let’s-fix-the-empire book.
• If you want to look deeper at themes on slavery, good vs. evil, money not fixing problems, and so forth, you can find it.
• The main characters aren’t perfect, but they’re learning and adapting and all the more realistic for their flaws.
• There are two separate storylines for 98% of the book. That’s interesting to track, but there was decent page balance between the two.
• It’s a little hard to pin down the genre. It’s basically an alternate world where slavery is an accepted way of life. Collars (slaves) have some rights but are basically property. But this isn’t set in history. It’s a world with email and jet planes and motorboats and martial arts tournaments. Dystopian is as close as I can come, though most of those are about changing the messed up world, not preserving one family.
• The writing’s very strong.
• The performance is also very strong. Ellie’s letters were endearing.
• The end’s a tad convenient, but it fits so well I don’t even care about the coincidences.

Conclusion:
I’m surprised the series isn’t more popular. The books are long with some meandering but highly satisfying overall. Grab the trilogy and dig in.
*I received a free copy of the audiobook. I have chosen to review the book. These are my honest opinions.

Perfect end to the trilogy

This was an enjoyable end to the Krillonian Chronicles! We get to see even more growth in the characters, especially Steene, and meet some new characters that we expect to hate through the whole book, but end up loving. 😊 My heart went out to Bensin, who was finally in a place of freedom, but unable to provide for his little sister or himself. Of course, sometimes I wanted to tell him that he was being an idiot, but he can’t really be blamed for that. And he learned!
Steene also struggled to cope with a new life as a slave, but he also learned to handle it well and make a difference where he was. He was faced with such an impossible choice at the end – but he chose and everything came together so beautifully!
I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did an AMAZING job! He really brought the characters to life and made them sound so believable! My one hesitation with the book is that there are quite a lot of instances of made up swear words, and the narrator did a really good job with them, so they did end up sounding really bad. I wasn’t comfortable having my kids in the room while I listened because of that.
I received a free promotional copy of this audiobook and chose to review it. All opinions are my own.