When I read the synopsis for this book I was a little bit skeptical. There was a chance it could turn into the kind of story I hate, where magic solves everything and there’s a generically neat happy ending. However I was pleasantly surprised to find the story drew me in, and when I finished this book I went straight to the next book in the series (and the next and the next). I will readily select any book by this author (particularly when paired with this narrator) without a second thought.

One highlight for me is the imaginative world-building; the descriptions were vivid enough to help me imagine these places being real, without the author straying into stints of lengthy gratuitous descriptive text (I hate when some authors do that)! I also appreciated the narrator’s work, especially how he alters his voice but thankfully doesn’t actually ‘yell’ when the characters raise their voices – this can be really startling when wearing headphones listening to an audio book.

The only thing that I can think of as a weakness in this book is that I would have liked more female characters, but as the series goes on it’s much more balanced so I’m happy to recommend it. Do yourself a favor and give it a try.