alwroteabook's review
3.0
Okay, so you know some people say the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result? Well, colour me insane.
Okay, so I listened to the audiobook of Melkorka (the first in the series) - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2006844903 - and I didn't like the narrator, promising to read it and review again at a later date. Guess what I did instead? Yep, I got the sequel on audiobook. Granted it was an ARC (ALC?), but there was no obligation on me to accept it (apart from those damned voices). So here's the breakdown.
Those three shiny stars up there are for the audiobook. Joshua Robertson is a darn good writer who understands epic fantasy and laces it Slavic mythology. I really like everything I've read of his. This book would get 4-5 stars if I'd read it. Which I didn't.
It's the narration. If you listen to audiobooks, you appreciate that the narrator's performance is the most important feature. I'm not saying the guy is a bad narrator, it's just that in this case he reads the series like a cross between Jim Henson and that guy you know who thinks he can pull off accents, but sounds like a complete turd instead. He could do a mean Yoda though.
So, I think the Kaelandur series is great so far (on paper), and I will read it in the near future. Just one more thing. If anyone (who bothers to read my reviews) hears of me reviewing the audiobook version of Maharia (Kaelandur #3), I'll have my straitjacket in an XL please.
Okay, so I listened to the audiobook of Melkorka (the first in the series) - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2006844903 - and I didn't like the narrator, promising to read it and review again at a later date. Guess what I did instead? Yep, I got the sequel on audiobook. Granted it was an ARC (ALC?), but there was no obligation on me to accept it (apart from those damned voices). So here's the breakdown.
Those three shiny stars up there are for the audiobook. Joshua Robertson is a darn good writer who understands epic fantasy and laces it Slavic mythology. I really like everything I've read of his. This book would get 4-5 stars if I'd read it. Which I didn't.
It's the narration. If you listen to audiobooks, you appreciate that the narrator's performance is the most important feature. I'm not saying the guy is a bad narrator, it's just that in this case he reads the series like a cross between Jim Henson and that guy you know who thinks he can pull off accents, but sounds like a complete turd instead. He could do a mean Yoda though.
So, I think the Kaelandur series is great so far (on paper), and I will read it in the near future. Just one more thing. If anyone (who bothers to read my reviews) hears of me reviewing the audiobook version of Maharia (Kaelandur #3), I'll have my straitjacket in an XL please.
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