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A review by emiann2023
Twelve Kings in Sharakhai by Bradley P. Beaulieu
2.0
I'm sorry, I tried. I couldn't do it. DNF. No clue how far it, it was an audiobook...ten percent maybe?
On the surface, this book has everything I love in an epic fantasy. 1. Epic, sprawling plot with lots of mystery and intrigue. 2. Awesome, badass characters being badasses. 3. An incredible cover. 4. Interesting unique premise.
I'm still new to audiobooks, and I'm having some trouble adjusting to having someone else read a book to me. Because I now hear that story in another person's voice, which is often markedly different than what I would come up with. So I've been lenient, because I know I need to adjust. At first, I thought that was my issue with this book. The narrator for the most part is great, except, she voices all of the men (and some of the women) exactly the same. And in this gruff, scratchy voice that not every single person would ever have. It got to be annoying, but I soldiered on.
But then, I realized, I was not excited to turn my phone on and listen to this story on my commute. I was...disinterested. Again, I assumed I just needed time. But then I realized the problem. I didn't care about these characters at all. The story, which started out mildly interesting, quickly sunk into tons of chapters of boring exposition and uninteresting events from the past that could have been summed up in far fewer words without the time skips, or even taken care of later in the book when I was more invested. As it was, it took forever for things to even move a little bit, and then I decided I didn't care.
I have my suspicions about...Ceda? Jeda? I was confused but this too, and it didn't help my impression. Unnecessarily complicated name is unnecessarily complicated. Anyway, the hints to the truth of her identity are pretty damn obvious. If I ever come across a physical copy of the book, I may flip to the back to confirm them, or view comment spoilers below, but honestly, I just can't bring myself to care.
On the surface, this book has everything I love in an epic fantasy. 1. Epic, sprawling plot with lots of mystery and intrigue. 2. Awesome, badass characters being badasses. 3. An incredible cover. 4. Interesting unique premise.
I'm still new to audiobooks, and I'm having some trouble adjusting to having someone else read a book to me. Because I now hear that story in another person's voice, which is often markedly different than what I would come up with. So I've been lenient, because I know I need to adjust. At first, I thought that was my issue with this book. The narrator for the most part is great, except, she voices all of the men (and some of the women) exactly the same. And in this gruff, scratchy voice that not every single person would ever have. It got to be annoying, but I soldiered on.
But then, I realized, I was not excited to turn my phone on and listen to this story on my commute. I was...disinterested. Again, I assumed I just needed time. But then I realized the problem. I didn't care about these characters at all. The story, which started out mildly interesting, quickly sunk into tons of chapters of boring exposition and uninteresting events from the past that could have been summed up in far fewer words without the time skips, or even taken care of later in the book when I was more invested. As it was, it took forever for things to even move a little bit, and then I decided I didn't care.
I have my suspicions about...Ceda? Jeda? I was confused but this too, and it didn't help my impression. Unnecessarily complicated name is unnecessarily complicated. Anyway, the hints to the truth of her identity are pretty damn obvious. If I ever come across a physical copy of the book, I may flip to the back to confirm them, or view comment spoilers below, but honestly, I just can't bring myself to care.