Nothing in this story is new compared to other stories out there, but the combination of ideas, themes, and setting make it worth the listen. Also, there’s a strong woman who is part of the story, which makes it even better since you never forget that this is an MM romance for even one minute–and yet, there she is and her love and journey story is also complete. She is not a ditz, she’s just strong. All the characters are strong, which is the great thing about the best new fiction.
You have a horrific ship journey, a tough across arid land journey, and even a failed civilized London journey, all set back in time with a strong modern voice. Everything works. It’s cohesive and deep, as if three or four other journey books were combined to create this one story. I really appreciate this book. For one, it has angst, but it’s not as deep and threatening as angst in similar stories.
This is probably due to the completeness of each character’s story as well as Joel Leslie reading it. Joel has the ability to do all the accents as well as create excitement, tremors, and terror in his readings. No amount of misguided sound leveling can detract much from a Joel Leslie reading. This book is probably going to be one of those whose deep personality alone will draw me back into listening to it again.