This stands alone as a Talon story, which is somewhat disappointing because I miss some of the previous characters. Outside of a few dreams, Talon, meets all new people, however all of them are just as interesting as previous characters and I was happy to meet them. The characters are a lot of fun and seemed to me to be a lot more pulpy and 80s fantasy than the previous characters. If only they had Brigitte Nielsen.
I have to say that I preferred this story to the first. The overall plot was more interesting to me and seemed a lot more unique. This story really seemed to take off on its own and didn’t borrow from other mainstream stories. There was a lot of this plot that really excited me. With this style of book, you have to appreciate the plot versus the characters as they are pretty static and it is all about the journey. This journey was a lot of fun and it glued my earbuds to my head.
This has a little bit of a Riddick feel. Would never compare the two, but I couldn’t help but think from time to time that that Riddick could be running around in this world. I hate myself for thinking that because he has no place in this story. The overall setting likened itself to a few of those movies.
The characters were great. Talon has moved on from his pervious life, yet can’t fully leave it, so there still is some sword and sandals aspects. I missed some of the previous characters, although the new ones are just as great. I feel like Warren really nailed the pulpy typical syfy characters and it made this that much more enjoyable.
Travis Baldree is a master at narrating, while I love this style of stories, they don’t allow him to fully show his talent. Baldree adds that layer to this story that makes it go from a decent sci fi story to an exceptionally fun one. If you haven’t had a chance to listen to Baldree, you owe it to yourself to check out his narration. As always, he nailed this story and I am happy that he continues to narrate this series.
I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.