krysley's review
4.0
I greatly enjoyed the beginning and ending of this book, but the middle dragged a bit too much. As a result, I'd have to rate this 3.75 stars rounded up to 4.
The beginning of this audiobook really grabbed me and drew me in. I couldn't wait to find more time to sneak in a listen. I loved the complications that Radcliff's and Amira's past connections brought, how Radcliff had to relearn each day, how Amira dealt with managing that and her own role in Radcliff's torture. I especially loved the byplay between Radcliff and Amira. Radcliff, despite losing his memory every day, is flirty and smooth, often ruffling Amira’s feathers. As for Amira, she was a strong character tasked with teaming up with someone who committed such a grave wrong against her family and thousands of other people. I couldn’t imagine how hard that must be, especially when she clearly liked who Radcliff was despite what he’s done.
Though the beginning and ending were both strong (the scene escaping the cave was horribly awesome!), by the time Amira and Radcliff got to the Shay settlement and stayed there for at least two weeks, I got bogged down. I didn’t understand the pacing or why the stay was completely needed. There was such a rush for Amira to get Radcliff to the Mountain to fix his memory and then they just ... hang out for a while. There was really no progression or even much interaction between Amira and Radcliff. It all made zero sense.
One (small) issue I had was that Radcliff was supposed to come off as this big baddie, but I guess I was expecting a bigger, badder baddie in the prologue. His atrocities, though awful, didn't make him seem to be the most terrible sorcerer to have ever existed, just simply a person with powerful abilities doing the bidding of the person who was actually in charge. I was thinking baddie along the lines of Lothaire from Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series. It just didn't quite reach that horrible level for me and I wanted to see that change (though we did see a good comparison of it at the end of the book).
A bigger issue I had was time. Radcliff supposedly was trapped in his tower for 1,000 years, but it seemed as if everyone had some kind of magical ability in order to extend their life span. Therefore, they (mostly) know of him as The Destroyer. So what was the point of 1,000 years passing, especially when it seemed like nothing changed? As a matter of fact, Radcliff could summon a potion from the emperor's stores 1,000 years later, the potion having not moved/crumbled/evaporated/been used in a millennium. There was huge potential here and I feel as if it was squandered.
As for the audio part of this book, the tone of the narrator was really enjoyable, though I don't know that he quite had the voices down. Ulf Bjorklund sounded great for Radcliff, excellent for Spider, and the overall story, but I think he could improve upon his female characters. He did soften his tone a bit for Amira's perspective, though it's hard to tell sometimes when he was narrating the story from her POV and when she is actually speaking. Overall, though, I'd easily give him 4 stars for his narration.
I received a free review copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The beginning of this audiobook really grabbed me and drew me in. I couldn't wait to find more time to sneak in a listen. I loved the complications that Radcliff's and Amira's past connections brought, how Radcliff had to relearn each day, how Amira dealt with managing that and her own role in Radcliff's torture. I especially loved the byplay between Radcliff and Amira. Radcliff, despite losing his memory every day, is flirty and smooth, often ruffling Amira’s feathers. As for Amira, she was a strong character tasked with teaming up with someone who committed such a grave wrong against her family and thousands of other people. I couldn’t imagine how hard that must be, especially when she clearly liked who Radcliff was despite what he’s done.
Though the beginning and ending were both strong (the scene escaping the cave was horribly awesome!), by the time Amira and Radcliff got to the Shay settlement and stayed there for at least two weeks, I got bogged down. I didn’t understand the pacing or why the stay was completely needed. There was such a rush for Amira to get Radcliff to the Mountain to fix his memory and then they just ... hang out for a while. There was really no progression or even much interaction between Amira and Radcliff. It all made zero sense.
One (small) issue I had was that Radcliff was supposed to come off as this big baddie, but I guess I was expecting a bigger, badder baddie in the prologue. His atrocities, though awful, didn't make him seem to be the most terrible sorcerer to have ever existed, just simply a person with powerful abilities doing the bidding of the person who was actually in charge. I was thinking baddie along the lines of Lothaire from Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series. It just didn't quite reach that horrible level for me and I wanted to see that change (though we did see a good comparison of it at the end of the book).
A bigger issue I had was time. Radcliff supposedly was trapped in his tower for 1,000 years, but it seemed as if everyone had some kind of magical ability in order to extend their life span. Therefore, they (mostly) know of him as The Destroyer. So what was the point of 1,000 years passing, especially when it seemed like nothing changed? As a matter of fact, Radcliff could summon a potion from the emperor's stores 1,000 years later, the potion having not moved/crumbled/evaporated/been used in a millennium. There was huge potential here and I feel as if it was squandered.
As for the audio part of this book, the tone of the narrator was really enjoyable, though I don't know that he quite had the voices down. Ulf Bjorklund sounded great for Radcliff, excellent for Spider, and the overall story, but I think he could improve upon his female characters. He did soften his tone a bit for Amira's perspective, though it's hard to tell sometimes when he was narrating the story from her POV and when she is actually speaking. Overall, though, I'd easily give him 4 stars for his narration.
I received a free review copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
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