I simply believe you will enjoy this book. It just may not lead to jumping for joy in reckless abandham, *cough* abandon (yes I wanted to do it twice. I am a little sorry, though).
I am an audiobook-exclusive reader, so the narrator choice is always important to me. I was looking at reviews on other books in the series and I saw some complaints about Andrew Tell. I can’t say I understand them, though. I feel like Andrew Tell does a wonderful job of differentiating characters and of injecting the right emotion into his reading. I don’t think I would call him one of my favorites (Tim Gerard Reynolds, McLeod Andrews, Katherine Kellgren probably top 3) but I have to say that I enjoy his work plenty.
This book takes us farther down into the thick of the story now, as I see it. Justan is no longer just some boy trying to be a man. He is a young man trying to do what he sees is right, to do Good. We have our usual cast of characters, by and large, and they are all coming along. I mentioned in my review of the first book that I felt it was little comparable to “Fellowship of the Ring” in how so much of the book inevitably felt like an introduction rather than a story all its own. Now that we are on book 3, the world is established and the story has some life all unto itself. Ewzad is still our primary antagonist, but he is getting deeper into his involvement with the Dark Prophet, and his powers. He is still twisting creatures and people in his pursuit of power, and he finds new traps and obstacles to use. Something that I’m wondering about is how much power he will carry later in the series. We can see that there is more ‘behind the curtain.’ Not only is there the Dark Prophet, there is the Mother of Moonrats. I’m glad to have layers to the opposition – it adds variety into the books and longevity to the series!
So, while this book presents more of the fantasy I want, I have found that I am asking questions about the plot while I’m reading. I have predictions and attachments within the story. I wonder what Master Coal will Teach Justan. I wonder how many bonded Justan can have, and whether or not he’ll gain any more control of selecting them. I don’t really doubt that he will succeed in the end, as most protagonists do, but I am definitely satisfied at sticking around until I found out how! This world is not a utopia – things go wrong for some, and interesting things happen!
This audiobook was given by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an –>unbiased<– review