Jen T.

Witty & empathetic fantasy murder mystery

Revisado: 11-17-24

As a huge fan of books like both Gideon the Ninth and Murder on the Orient Express, this book was a fantastic fit for my tastes. It is also very inclusive and full of positive messages, including self-acceptance, equality, learning to value diversity, and the power of chosen family.

The book reminded me most strongly of Gideon the Ninth, but with a central character who is more tender-hearted and conflicted internally.

The characters, world-building, and magic system are all really nicely done. I personally like epic fantasy so would have liked more details, but a lot of people don't like extra details and the plot was tightly edited and not at all lacking for sure.

I hope there will be a sequel because it would be nice to see how things evolve with the changes being made and the societal shifts that were already underway accelerating.

A very well-done and welcome entry into modern fantasy whodunnits! loved it

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Laugh out loud amazing sequel!

Revisado: 11-15-24

I absolutely adored the first Isaac Steele audiobook and was impatiently awaiting the next one. Daniel Rigby and Audible's production team did not disappoint.

Daniel Rigby writes such witty, snappy, and engaging sci-fi. I read a LOT of sci-fi and I find it impressive how he weaves so much humor into very tight sci-fi romps. His characters are all so vibrant and thanks to both his comedy acting abilities and the fact it's his own work, his narration nothing short of non-stop absolutely brilliant.

Audible has once again pulled out all the stops with the music, sounds effects, voice effects, and audio production quality, taking the audiobook to the next level.

I mentioned in my review of the first book that Rigby reminds me so much of Douglas Adams, Sir Terry Pratchett, and Robert Kroese.

A true delight to listen to. i can't wait for Isaac Steele 3!!!

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Fun and romantic, great narration

Revisado: 10-10-23

I'm a huge fan of modern historical dramas and period romances, and the Scarlet Pimpernel withstands the test of time. Kate Redding (aka Johanna Ward) does an amazing job narrating this installment of the Pimpernel's adventures. It's a lot of fun for such a grim Revolutionary period piece. I adore Sir Percy's droll nature, and even if this hadn't been a free Audible Plus book I would have definitely coughed up to have this one part of my library. It's just enjoyable listening.

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Promising and intriguing, if a bit sedate

Revisado: 10-08-23

I feel like this would have made a good manga or anime -- the level of detail and day-to-day mundanities seems kind of repetitive for audiobook, but for someone like me who is used to, say, a slice-of-life anime taking a few episodes to settle into its stride, it managed to keep my attention.

The characters are interesting and the underlying plot was enough to keep me listening. I would be interested in seeing where the series goes.

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As dark, witty, and entertaining as Gideon the 9th

Revisado: 10-08-23

Tamsyn Muir has quickly become my new favorite author. And Moira Quirk is absolutely brilliant at narrating, especially narrating Tamsyn's characters. I don't usually do short stories, but I happily made an exception for this work and overall I am glad I did so, for this book is really entertaining and amusing, if quite dark and gory (as one should expect from Tamsyn Muir, who does modern gothic fantasy exquisitely.)

I admit I wasn't a fan of the ending, and I would have loved to have had more extensive coverage of some of the floors that were sped through, but then again I'm an epic fantasy person and a glutton for more Tamsyn Muir writing and Moira Quirk's amazing voices, so that's just how I am built.

It is a thoroughly enjoyable audiobook as is, and if you're a fan of Gideon the Ninth/The Locked Tomb series you'll enjoy this short story and see plenty of enjoyable echoes of Gideon, Harrowhark, Coronabeth, etc,, here.

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Dubious , but wide-ranging and interesting

Revisado: 09-24-23

1) Entirely too many unsubstantiated Biblical stories presented as fact, with very little actual outside provenance or citations given. Sorry, but I did not purchase this book to listen to Sunday school stories repeated again.
2) Asserts Midas was the first king of Phrygia and Alexander cut his cart's knot instead of Gordias. Midas was the son of Gordias, and Gordias has his own mythology about how he came to Phrygia and was made king, very much apart from the myths associated with Midas. I find this an incredibly strange error since Alexander the Great is very famously known for solving the "Gordian knot" that has become an idiom over two millennia old.
3) The narrator reads too fast to pick up all the names, places, and details. I slowed down the narration speed and it helped a little bit, but I still have to rewind a fair bit. I also zone out because it can get rather dry at times.

Over all, I feel like I have learned much of the Greek, Trojan, and even Persian history tangentially through excellent works like Stephen Fry's Mythos series. The Egyptian and Chinese history is definitely a good gap to fill. I would recommend taking a lot of it with a hefty grain of salt though, because there does not seem to be much modern scholarship behind what is purported here -- ancient sources, whether Biblical or Greek are equally likely to be more mythical than historical.

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Absolutely hilarious

Revisado: 07-09-23

So entertaining and funny. The voice acting is outstanding and the humor is so witty. As a fan of both fantasy and comedy, this was such a treat. The cameos are extra delightful and the songs are also amazing.

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So much fun

Revisado: 07-04-23

All of the books in this series are entertaining and funny. Each main character has a distinct and endearingly amusing personality. They interact wonderfully. It's weirdly light-hearted considering how gruesome the fights can be since it IS necromancy, but it's like the perfect pick-me-up twisted fantasy for grown ups. I love it.

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Accent so awful I can't finish listening

Revisado: 03-10-23

I've got well over 200 audiobooks and I've only ever returned a handful over the last 10+ years. This is going to be one because unfortunately the narrator is affecting a terrible British accent that is, to me, unbearable after just seven chapters.

Why they didn't just have her use her regular speaking voice, or hire someone with the actual British accent they mainly wanted I don't understand.

I cannot comment on the entirety of the plot because I couldn't much concentrate on it due to the painful voice acting. The premise was intriguing and the political aspect was shaping up to be interesting, but I already wasn't liking "abused female protagonist falls for brusque but deep down actually a good guy" romance; it's tired and such a "not all men" vibe anymore.

I would be interested in checking this book out from the library and reading it, but sadly due to asking a bit too much from the narrator, for now it's a pass.

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Very problematic themes

Revisado: 12-19-22

I really wanted to like this, but it dredged up some really painful, almost triggering feelings:

Alcoholism -- the relationship between Eadmund and his friends and family vacillates between a rose-tinted, cutesy version of how he's just this poor sad boozy guy and a more realistic view of how destructive alcoholism really can be. The notion that just by caring enough about Eadmund and not giving up on him it's enough to cure him of drunkenness will likely feel hollow and painful to anyone who has dealt with an addict.

Women as rehabilitators -- I picked up this book because everyone raved at how badass the female protagonist was, but immediately she's thrust into the role of a woman who is supposed to rehabilitate a wayward man. The social standard of women doing all the emotional labor for the men in their lives is exhausting enough in real life; I expected more of Jael, a purported amazing woman. But she just constantly gives in and accepts the emotional labor of fixing things for every male she knows or meets, from her father, to her uncle, to her brother, to her boyfriend, to her father-in-law, to her husband, to her husband's best friend, to the boy lost in the woods. Like yes, it's good that she is willing to take on challenges, but she has no independent desires except improving the mental health of the men in her life -- the women she leaves to handle themselves. Her main independent streak is in choosing non-traditional males to prioritize. But she never chooses herself. She only falls in love with Eadmund once she realizes she is the one who can fix him. This is such a dangerous idea to continue spouting in this day and age -- adults should take responsibility for themselves, codependency will not fix anyone, it just makes for two broken people.

Rape as character development -- Not one, not two, but three characters (five if you count Ivar's wife and dreamer) have their personalities defined by their repeated rapes. Beyond being really triggering for survivors of sexual abuse, it is such lazy storytelling. There's way more defining attributes to people than the suffering others inflicted on them, and it's a horrible thing to turn propagate rape culture just to use it as a hackneyed character development tool when it's incredibly unnecessary and boring. G.R.R. Martin is not someone to emulate here.

It's unfortunate because I did like the writing style and the underlying plot, but I cannot stomach the idea of continuing the series because of these glaring problematic themes. I have a feeling it will only get worse.

Finty Williams as narrator does a great job as always, it's just a shame the book has so many thematic issues.

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