Category: Audiobook

The Last Kingdom by Steve Berry

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Historical Fiction, ThrillerLeave a comment

The Last Kingdom (Steve Berry) Cover

Publisher: Hachette Audio (Audiobook – 21 February 2023)

Series: Cotton Malone – Book 17

Length: 14 hours and 20 minutes

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

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Prepare for a remarkable and captivating mystery from out of history as acclaimed thriller writer Steve Berry presents another outstanding and riveting novel in The Last Kingdom.

Ever since I started reading thrillers a few years ago, one of my favourite authors in the genre, as well the most consistently entertaining, is the fantastic Steve Berry.  A veteran author who has been producing compelling reads since the early 2000s, Berry has over 25 books to his name that blend intense modern thriller narratives with intriguing history elements.  His most iconic body of work is his long-running Cotton Malone series, which follows a US Justice Department agent as he investigates unique historical conspiracies or secrets whose revelation will have major implications in the modern world.  I first fell in love with Berry’s writing back in 2019 when I read The Malta Exchange.  Since then I have gone on to read several more Cotton Malone novels including The Warsaw Protocol and The Kaiser’s Web, as well as the standalone novel The Omega Factor, each of which have contained some addictive stories that I’ve deeply enjoyed.  As such, I made sure to read his 2023 release, The Last Kingdom, as a soon as I could.  The 17th Cotton Malone novel, The Last Kingdom presented the reader with another brilliant conspiracy from history that was pretty awesome to behold.

There are many strange tales scattered throughout the history of Europe, but few are more unusual than that of King Ludwig II of Bavaria.  An unstable and fanciful figure who loved stories, solitude, and magnificent castles, King Ludwig dreamed of a magical kingdom, one far different from the lands he ruled.  Determined to find such a kingdom, he despatched agents throughout the world before his murder in 1886.  History suggests that he never found what he was looking for, but what if he did?

Now, in modern day Bavaria, freelance intelligence agent Cotton Malone has been hired by his old friend and protégé Luke Daniels to help him infiltrate a small group of radical separatists with dreams of securing Bavaria’s independence from Germany.  The focus of Luke’s investigation is the prince of Bavaria who seeks to usurp his older brother, the duke, and restore the ousted Wittelsbach monarchy with himself as king.  But to achieve his dreams, the prince needs the ultimate leverage, the Last Kingdom of King Ludwig II.

Following clues throughout several significant sites in Bavaria, Cotton and the Prince’s men are soon caught in a race to find a mysterious deed, one that Germany, China and the United States would kill for and which could greatly shift the balance of power in the world.  With the White House, Chinese intelligence, a mysterious Bavarian secret society and a rogue group of former CIA agents all vying for the prize, Cotton desperately attempts to solve the puzzle of the Last Kingdom and the terrible legacy it holds.  But can Cotton once again defeat the odds and keep the word safe from another historical mystery, or will the world be irrevocably altered by a secret form another century?

Well damn, now that was a pretty awesome read.  I have so much damn love for Steve Berry’s work, and The Last Kingdom is probably one of my favourites so far.  Perfectly combining an excellent thriller storyline with an elaborate and deeply captivating tale of history, The Last Kingdom was an exceptional read and one that I honestly could not stop listening to.

Berry has produced an amazing and addictive masterpiece of a thriller in The Last Kingdom with a particularly strong story behind it.  Like most of Berry’s books, The Last Kingdom is primarily a modern day thriller that introduces an original conspiracy that took place in history and has remained hidden until Cotton Malone wanders along (that man finds ancient mysteries wherever he goes).  As such, what starts as a simple infiltration at a famous Bavarian palace soon devolves into an elaborate treasure hunt for unique piece of history.  This latest historical mystery revolves around the eccentric and tragic final kings of Bavaria, and their desires to either retain power or find their own place in the world.  Berry expands on this historical detail throughout the entire course of the book, providing a good combination of real facts and some exaggerated fictional elements, which works into the main plot extremely well.  This modern day storyline gets some legs really early on as the protagonist and his companions are dragged into a major shadow war with several different factions attempting to take advantage of the situation and the hunt for the historical mystery.  Cotton soon finds himself working for several old colleagues, including a reckless CIA agent, while other groups, including the Bavarian prince and a rogue group of former CIA agents, start to use deadly force to solve the clues and find the hidden deed.

Berry keeps the pace of The Last Kingdom quick and compelling by raising the various stakes of the book while still showing off the entirety of Bavaria and its historic beauty.  There is a good reveal of why everyone is after the deed about halfway through which sets everyone on the road to a big confrontation.  While the full details of the conspiracy are a little over-the-top, Berry fits it into the story well, and the examination of modern and historical concerns surrounding is quite clever and intriguing.  The final half of the book is an intense thrill ride in several great ways, as Berry loads up the story with fun reveals, clever twists and so many betrayals.  I loved how the mystery of the King’s deed unfolded, and Berry really mixed the various original puzzle pieces of his conspiracy with the overlying historical detail to create a fantastic scavenger hunt.  The modern day thriller elements flitted around this extremely well, and watching the various participants in the hunt betray or outwit each other to try and get the prize was deeply exciting and led to some big moments.  The conclusion to the story is very good, and readers will come away extremely satisfied, both with how the story came together, and with all the extra knowledge Berry leaves you with.

I have a very deep appreciation for how Berry writes his outstanding novels and I think that The Last Kingdom was a particularly impressive example of this.  The blend of a high-intensity modern thriller storyline wrapped around a mystery loaded in historical detail is always entertaining, and I felt it turned out well again in The Last Kingdom.  The way that Berry splits the story out using alternate perspective chapters is particularly useful, as you get to see each of the characters interpreting the historical elements from different perspectives.  At the same time, several of the chapters are set in the 19th century and provide some deeper historical context to the story, which I felt was particularly useful and fun.  Berry really excels in simultaneously showing the different aspects of his story, and readers come away from The Last Kingdom having had fun with the thriller elements, while also learning so much more about some fascinating topics.  I really think that The Last Kingdom had one of the better thriller storylines associated with it thanks to inclusion of spies, disaffected royals, and several warring governments, and the way that story element unfolded had me pretty damn hooked the entire way through.  Like most of the Cotton Malone novels, The Last Kingdom can be read as a mostly standalone book, and readers don’t need to have any real knowledge of the previous entries in the series to enjoy this great novel.  While there are references to previous adventures and mysteries, the relevant details of these are well explained and new readers won’t be thrown by them.  However, long-term fans of the series will appreciate the continuation of several recent storylines, especially around Cotton’s feud with the US President, and I liked how that unfolded.

As I have mentioned a few times already, one of the best things about The Last Kingdom, and indeed all of the Cotton Malone novels, is the way that Berry dives into unique and intriguing parts of history to really give his stories a captivating kick.  In The Last Kingdom, this takes the form of a focus on the unique history of the kingdom of Bavaria, specifically the last 19th and early 20th century and the last three monarchs of the Wittelsbach line.  I have to admit, this was an area of history that I was not familiar with, but that changed after reading The Last Kingdom.  Berry conveys an immense amount of detail about this period and the relevant kings to the reader throughout the course of the book, so by the time you are done, you know so much about them.  However, Berry does it in such a way that ensures that the reader don’t get bored with it, as he showcases the more compelling elements of their reigns and the nation’s history around it, while also hinting at how it ties into the big conspiracy/mystery of the story.  I particularly enjoyed the detailed and fascinating examination of eccentric King Ludwig II.  Berry covers so many parts of his compelling life in this story, including his complex reign, his unusual outlook on the monarch, and his infamous end that saw him deposed and murdered.  The mysteries of Ludwig II and his search for a new kingdom proved to be a deeply compelling centre for the entire plot and I am really glad I got to learn more about them.  Another nation’s history, which I mention for spoiler reasons, is also concisely featured here, and I liked how Berry tied it together with Bavaria, resulting in a cool mixture that perfectly fed into the modern-day thriller.  The author clearly has so much fun researching and utilising all this historical detail in his books, especially if the extensive author’s notes section at the back is anything to go by.  Featuring all this historical detail works to create a great story, and I cannot emphasise how awesome it can be, especially in Berry’s capable hands.

In addition to all the historical elements of the book, I also really need to highlight how well Berry showcased Bavaria as a whole throughout the course of The Last Kingdom.  Many of the Cotton Malone novels act like a tourist brochure as the protagonists travel from one picturesque area of the country to the next, visiting all manner of historical sites.  This is very much the case for The Last Kingdom as the characters are forced to travel to several impressive locations throughout Bavaria, including iconic cityscapes, famous cathedrals, and beautiful landscapes.  Berry really spares no detail when it comes to describing these locations, and you can easily visualise them in all their stunning glory.  Some of the best descriptions are the iconic three castles that King Ludwig II built, which were strongly connected to his life story.  These castles form the basis for much of the plot’s historical scavenger hunt, and Berry really goes into the history and layout of them, even describing the furniture and the decorations.  You really grow to appreciate these locations around Bavaria, and I know that if I ever get the chance to visit, several of them are going to be on the top of my list of places to check out.  However, it is not just these iconic locations that are explored.  Berry also spends substantial time trying to show off the intangible nature of Bavaria, including its politics, its current attitudes, the state of its old monarchy, its place within larger Germany, and various other elements of its culture, including a real secret society dedicated to King Ludwig II.  All these elements are masterfully researched, examined, and showcased throughout The Last Kingdom, and all of them add to the authenticity of the story in immeasurable ways.

Aside from the excellent story and complex historical details, I also need to mention the great characters featured throughout The Last Kingdom.  Berry always writes fantastic figures, and it was awesome to see more of his central protagonist, Cotton Malone, as well as recurring supporting character Luke Daniels.  Both are well utilised throughout The Last Kingdom, and it was always great to see them working, especially as they have some major veteran presence at this point and work well against the various forces coming for them.  I did think that there was not a lot of development between the two, as both are essentially the same people they were in their last appearances, but they still make solid and likeable central focuses for the story.  However, there was some fantastic character development occurring outside of these main characters, especially as Berry introduces an amazing supporting cast of aging spies, angry deposed royalty, intriguing members of Bavarian society and deadly foreign agents.  Several of these characters have key roles in the book and Berry utilises them perfectly as great alternate perspectives for large swathes of the plot, producing a complex and powerful extended plot.  I loved the utilisation of Derrick Koger, a veteran CIA agent who has history with Cotton and has worked with him/against him in the past.  The funny and morally ambiguous Koger plays off the honourable Cotton perfectly as they work together in this book, and it was interesting to see them teaming up.  I liked how several of the antagonists, as well as Koger, shared a compelling character theme of people who believe they were overlooked or betrayed by their peers or people, and it serves as a great driving force for them to do bad things.  This group of characters and their conflicting priorities are an excellent part of The Last Kingdom and I had an outstanding time following them along this powerful quest.

I once again chose to check out this latest Steve Berry novel on audiobook, which is always a pretty epic experience.  Coming in at nearly 14 and a half hours, The Last Kingdom is medium length audiobook, although once you get caught up in the compelling story it flies by extremely quickly.  I personally love the Cotton Malone audiobooks as the narration really enhances all the elaborate detail of the story, especially the historical background, and ensures that they stick in the mind.  Hearing the key historical facts again and again really drives them home and I find that this helped me get even more fixated on the narrative as I was extremely eager to see how everything came together.  It helps that The Last Kingdom once again features narration from Scott Brick, one of the premiere thriller audiobook narrators out there who has lent his voice to all the previous Cotton Malone audiobooks.  Brick has a great voice for thrillers and I find his narration really fits Berry’s cool stories, especially as he gives some gravitas and complexity to both the modern day events and the historical elements.  Brick also has a great array of accents that he employs to full effect throughout The Last Kingdom, which I deeply appreciated.  His various American accents, which includes one from the wilds of Tennessee, are very well done, and I was once again extremely impressed by his dazzling array of German and European tones.  Even his Australian accent, something I am particularly sensitive about, was passable, if slightly stereotypical, and this fantastic choice of voices enhanced the audiobook experience.  Due to this outstanding voice work, as well as the great impact this format has on some of the key parts of the book, I would strongly recommend The Last Kingdom audiobook, and it is always one of my favourite ways to enjoy a good Steve Berry novel.

Steve Berry continues to impress with his latest outstanding Cotton Malone novel, The Last Kingdom.  Featuring his typical blend of exciting and intense thriller storylines and fascinating historical detail, The Last Kingdom is a brilliant read that powerfully showcases Bavaria in all its glory.  Examining key elements of the state’s past, as well as its current beauty, and perfectly working them into an excellent story, this was an exceptional outing from Berry and one that I had such an amazing time reading. Highly recommended!

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Throwback Thursday – Dead Beat by Jim Butcher

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Fantasy, Five-Star Books, Throwback Thursday1 Comment

Dead Beat Cover

Publisher: Penguin Audio (Audiobook – 3 May 2005)

Series: Dresden Files – Book Seven

Length: 15 hours and 7 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Welcome back to my Throwback Thursday series, where I republish old reviews, review books I have read before or review older books I have only just had a chance to read.  For this latest review I dive back into the epic Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher with the seventh entry, Dead Beat.

Over the last couple of years, I’ve had a ton of fun finally getting into the iconic Dresden Files books by legendary author Jim Butcher.  Generally considered one of the very best urban fantasy series, the Dresden Files are a deeply captivating series that follows Chicago’s resident wizard, Harry Dresden, as he investigates a series of mystical cases throughout the city, often resulting in epic moments loaded with magic.  I started this series with the latest book, Battle Ground (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2020), and then went back to the start to experience the series from the beginning.  So far, I have managed to read Storm Front, Fool Moon, Grave Peril, Summer Knight, Death Masks and Blood Rites, as well as last year’s novella, The Law.  All these books have been extremely good in their own way, and I have loved the elaborate stories each of them contained.  As such, when I was in the mood for something I was guaranteed to love this week, listening to the next Dresden Files book on my to-read list was an easy choice for me, with the seventh book, Dead Beat.

Harry Dresden, private wizard detective and magical protector of Chicago is always willing to help a person in need no matter the cost.  But even he is unprepared for how far he’ll have to go when an old and merciless enemy imperils one of the people closest to him.  The ancient vampire Mavra has evidence that could destroy his best friend, Karrin Murphy, and threatens to unleash it unless Dresden recovers a powerful book of magic written by the legendary, long-dead necromancer Kemmler.

With no choice but to find the book, Dresden begins his search around Chicago, attempting to discover any trace of its location.  However, his search soon leads him into conflict with a new dark power arriving in the city.  Three of Kemmler’s students have their eyes on the book and the rituals it contains, and they are willing to destroy everyone and anyone to get it, including each other, especially when the prize at stake is godhood.

Caught between the three warring necromancers and their minions, Dresden needs to find the book first to stop their dark ultimate ritual before it can decimate Chicago.  However, each of Kemmler’s students far outclasses him in terms of magical ability and ruthlessness, and with only limited allies to call upon, it looks like even Dresden will have trouble saving the day again.  To survive, he might have to a make a dark deal with an even more malevolent evil, one that that has the potential to damn him forever.

I don’t know how he does it, but every single one of Jim Butcher’s novels that I read is so damn addictive and epic that I always struggle to put it down.  Dead Beat was another outstanding entry in the Dresden Files series, and honestly it might be one of the best I have read so far.  I absolutely powered through its clever and elaborate story as I tried to get to the end, and everything about it was highly enjoyable and fun.  Dead Beat gets another easy five-star rating and I have so much love for how amazing this seventh entry in the series turned out.

Dead Beat has an amazing story to it that effortlessly drew me in with the cool combination of magic, character moments and investigative angles.  Starting off quickly with Dresden drafted into the search for a powerful magic book, the protagonist begins his new investigation, only to discover the dangerous necromancers waiting for them.  Dresden soon has deadly encounters with all three necromancers in Chicago searching for the book, as well as their various minions and associates, which results in some brilliant scenes.  Dead Beat continues by setting Dresden and his allies on a dark course as they simultaneously attempt to find the book and the full extent of the warring necromancer’s plans, while also fending off their attacks.  Dresden keeps getting confronted again and again by his foes, barely escaping each time while also learning more about what is to come.  At the same time, he is forced to deal with certain personal issues, including trauma, complicated relationships, and a literal demon in his head, tempting him with power and knowledge.  There are some great twists, dark moments and emotionally powerful scenes set up around the middle of the novel, and I loved how well Butcher laid out the storylines and hinted at some big moments to come. Everything leads up to an epic concluding final third of the book as Dresden makes some hard decisions and compromises to save the day.  The final confrontation with the bad guys is pretty damn awesome, especially as the protagonist, utilising his usual restraint and good judgment, unleashes a very monstrous response to the antagonist’s minions.  This entire narrative was enthralling from start to finish, and I cannot emphasise just how addictive and entertaining the entire story was.

Dead Beat featured Butcher’s usual excellent writing style which once again lent itself extremely well to the elaborate narrative he came up with.  The pacing of this book was constantly fast and exciting, which guarantees that the reader is always paying attention, especially as every page has either action, some intriguing bit of lore or history, or some intense and compelling character development.  Butcher also ensures that this latest novel has the right blend of great story elements to it, and I deeply enjoyed how the fantasy and mystery elements are well featured as the protagonist is forced to do detective work to get the answers.  All this is overlayed by a great smattering of humour, mostly from the funny protagonist, who approaches the dark events and villains with his usual cockiness and disrespect.  The use of a first-person perspective from Dresden is also quite effective, and I loved seeing events through his eyes, as it allows readers to fully grasp the mystery, while also showcasing the great character developments.  While Dead Beat can be read as a standalone read, especially as Butcher is good at quickly recapping events, at this point in the series readers will benefit from going back and reading the earlier Dresden Files books first.  Dead Beat proves to be a key entry in the larger series, with multiple major events occurring here, and there are a ton of references to the preceding books, including the return of several fantastic characters.  I really got a lot more out of Dead Beat’s story for having read the previous novels, especially as you get to see how much Dresden has been through in the lead up to this book.  Overall, this was a very well-written and impressive novel, and Butcher really ensured that his cool story came through perfectly.

As with the rest of the Dresden Files books, I was really impressed with the blend of fantasy and urban fiction elements in Dead Beat, especially as Butcher has come up with such an elaborate world to set his stories in.  The author adds some cool new elements into his complex world throughout Dead Beat, as Dresden is forced to deal with a whole new branch of dark magic, necromancy.  Necromancy, or the control over the dead, is always a great villainous power in fantasy fiction, and Butcher makes excellent use of it in this book, with three rival necromancers vying for power.  Each uses a different form of necromantic magic in battle, and this results in some outstanding scenes where Dresden is forced to confront them.  The resulting magical mayhem is pretty epic, and Butcher’s unique depiction of zombies was both fun and a little scary.  This intriguing new form of magic ensured that Dead Beat really stood out, and I appreciated how Butcher turned it on its head towards the end when Dresden gets creative.  These excellent portrayals of magic fit within the fantastic setting of modern-day Chicago and it is always fun to see the elaborate balance of magical and mundane features that Butcher has set up within the city.  These great fantasy inclusions blend well with the character work and mystery elements of Dead Beat, and I look forward to seeing how Butcher further expands it in future books.

One thing that I felt Butcher did particularly well in Dead Beat was how he portrayed his brilliant cast of characters.  The Dresden Files always contain great protagonists and villains, but this novel had some of the best portrayals of them to date.  This is especially true for series protagonist and point-of-view character Harry Dresden, who had a great outing here.  Dresden has always been a damaged and conflicted figure in the series, but recent traumas are really weighing him down in Dead Beat as he struggles with a terrible hand injury, as well as the malign influence of the fallen angel bound to him, Lasciel.  The protagonist spends most of the book trying to deal with the influence of Lasciel who subtly manipulates him in many ways, tempting him with power or a solution to his many problems.  Each damaging and desperate encounter that Dresden survives in Dead Beat forces him to reconsider the wisdom of refusing her help, and the subsequent internal battles produce some of the most intense and compelling scenes in the novel.  This continued temptation and manipulation alters Dresden’s personality at times, and it was interesting to see how his allies and friends treat him, especially as Dresden begins to understand the different ways that members of the magical community view him.  Of course, Dresden hides most of his internal pain with his usual hilarious wit and humour, and his irreverent opinions, funny observations, and sheer ability to annoy anyone he encounters, results in most of the book’s humour and over-the-top moments.  Throw in other concerns, including complex relationships, unrequited love, and the character’s desire to prove himself and do the right thing, and this was some of the best character work that Butcher has ever done around his main protagonist.

On top of Dresden, Butcher also features a brilliant cast of support characters and villains that really help to enliven the book.  Dead Beat features a mixture of established supporting characters, as well as several great new ones, each of whom get some excellent moments to show off throughout the book.  I particularly enjoyed how well Butcher utilised the character of Waldo Butters in Dead Beat.  Butters, a kooky and big-hearted mortal medical examiner who had minor roles in a previous novel, is thrust into the limelight during this book, becoming a major ally to Dresden.  Butcher weaves some great storylines around him as he simultaneously finds his courage and begins to understand the magical world that keeps trying to kill him.  Butters proves to be a great supporting figure to Dresden in this book, and I loved their amusing team-up and developing friendship.  There is also a couple of great hints at some of the future storylines involving Butters, and I look forward to seeing more of him.

Aside from Butters, I also enjoyed the appearance of Dresden’s half-brother, the vampire Thomas Raith, who has been crashing at Dresden’s place.  Butcher paints a fun brotherly relationship between the two in this novel, which was quite entertaining at times.  However, the more humorous elements of their relationship are often overshadowed by the deep pain within Raith as he tries to overcome the emotional damage done to him in the previous novel.  I also loved learning more about Dresden’s skull spirit companion, Bob, in Dead Beat, and his dark history proves to be quite fascinating, especially as his former nature contrasts substantially with his usually entertaining persona.  The three necromantic villains, Grevane, the Corpsetaker and Cowl, each bring a certain level of sinisterness to the table, and they prove to be exceptional antagonists in their own way.  Finally, I must highlight the inclusion of Dresden’s new dog, Mouse, who has an awesome outing in Dead Beat.  A young and growing gentle giant, Mouse is a fun animal companion to Dresden and his allies, and I look forward to seeing more of his hijinks in the future.  Honestly, the entire cast of Dead Beat was pretty damn exceptional, and their powerful interactions and internal issues, added so much to the impact and power of this awesome novel.

As with all the Dresden Files novels, I chose to listen to Dead Beat on audiobook, which was an exceptional experience as the audio format helps to enhance the great characters and magical action.  Coming in at just over 15 hours, this is a substantial audiobook, however, I manage to knock it out in a few days, especially once I got caught up in fantastic story.  Naturally, the best thing about the Dead Beat audiobook is the return of actor James Marsters as the narrator.  Marsters, who is one of my favourite audiobook narrators thanks to his work on this series, did another brilliant job in Dead Beat and I have so much love for his outstanding performance.  After lending his voice to all the previous Dresden Files novels, Marsters has all the characters down, and each figure is given a fitting and powerful voice that carries through from book to book.  I particularly appreciated his portrayal of main character Harry Dresden, and Marsters perfectly captures the protagonist’s deep emotions and cocky demeaner, ensuring that you are both drawn to his pain and entertained by his antics.  In addition to the excellent voices, Marsters also has some noticeable and contagious enthusiasm in his narration, especially when it comes to the magical battles, and you can really feel his passion and excitement in parts of the story, especially when he loudly shouts out Dresden’s magical spells.  This narration from Marsters is so damn good, and it ensures that I had an exceptional time with Dead Beat’s audiobook, while is the absolute best way to enjoy a Dresden File novel.

In the seventh entry in his iconic Dresden Files series, Dead Beat, Jim Butcher has produced another exceptional read and one that I cannot recommended enough.  Featuring a particularly impressive and captivating narration, cool magical inclusions, and some of the best character work Butcher has ever done, Dead Beat is one the best Dresden Files novels I have read so far, and I loved everything about it.  This was such an amazing book, and I am very much intending to read several more entries in this outstanding series later this year.

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Son of the Poison Rose by Jonathan Maberry

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Fantasy, Five-Star Books2 Comments

Son of the Poison Rose Cover

Publisher: Macmillan Audio (Audiobook – 10 January 2023)

Series: Kagen the Damned – Book Two

Length: 25 hours and 55 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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One of my favourite authors, Jonathan Maberry, returns to his intriguing fantasy world in a big way with the second Kagen the Damned novel, Son of the Poison Rose.

Readers familiar with my blog will know I am a massive Jonathan Maberry fan, and the path to my current obsession with his work is well documented throughout The Unseen Library.  I started off by reading his fantastic 2018 novel, Deep Silence, quite early in my blogging career, and this ended up getting me into the rest of his exceptional Joe Ledger series, including The Dragon Factory, The King of Plagues, Predator One and Dogs of War.  I have also had a great time reading his sequel Rogue Team International series, which featured the epic books Rage (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2019) and Relentless (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2021), as well as the fun standalone novel Ink (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2020).  Needless to say, I have deeply enjoyed his cool books, and this only increased when he made his impact into the fantasy fiction world last year with Kagen the Damned.

Kagen the Damned was an amazing and exceptional dark fantasy novel that took the reader on a wild ride.  Set in a brutal fantasy world of Maberry’s own invention, Kagen the Damned followed the titular character of Kagen Vale, a highly regarded hero and palace guard of the Silver Empire who loses everything in a single night when the armies of the dread nation Hakkia invade with dark magic, led by the powerful and deadly Witch-king.  Forced to watch his parents, his empress, and the royal children he was sworn to protect die terrible deaths, a haunted Kagen flees, only to be further destroyed when he beholds his gods turning their back on him, damming him for his failure.  Now known as The Damned, Kagen travels the world in a daze before finally regaining his senses and launching an attack on the Witch-king at his coronation.  However, this reveals secrets that shock Kagen further and spelling doom for the entire world.  I had an epic time reading Kagen the Damned last year, and it ended up being one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2022.  Between this and the cool Kagen the Damned novella I Say Your Name in the Dark Nights, I have been eagerly awaiting a second novel and I was very excited when I heard that Son of the Poison Rose was coming out.  Son of the Poison Rose was one of my most anticipated books of 2023 and I finally managed to read it a short while ago and it was everything I hoped it would be and more.

“There is blood on the ground between us!”

Following his failed assassination attempt on the Witch-king of Hakkia, Kagen Vale, better known as Kagen the Damned, is once again the run with his companions, Tuke Brakson and Filia alden-Bok, attempting to find safety and come up with a new strategy of survival and revenge.  While their plan to kill the Witch-king failed, their attack stopped the return of the Hakkian God, Hastur, while also opening up the possibility of war, as the Witch-king’s fellow monarchs see the Hakkians as vulnerable.  However, Kagen also uncovered the terrible secret that the Witch-king is his older brother Herepath, who has turned his back on everything he once believed in to unleash great evil upon the world.

Wandering the wilderness, Kagen, Tuke and Filia attempt to come up with a new way to strike back against the Hakkian forces.  Their journey eventually leads them to the north of the continent, where they attempt to recruit an army of nationless-rogues, mercenaries and fighters to their cause.  But force of arms alone will not be enough to stop the Witch-king, instead Kagen and his allies will need magic.  But with magic long banned within the Silver Empire, only the Hakkians have any real knowledge of the mystic arts.  To that end, Kagen turns to former nun turned spymistress, Mother Frey, who sends Kagen on a deadly mission to a long lost city in a dangerous jungle in the hopes of recovering ancient books of dark magic.

However, the Witch-king is far from idle while Kagen is working against him.  With his army spread thin and the nations of the former Silver Empire all gearing up for war, the future looks grim for the usurper and his advisors.  But with new dark allies arriving every day, called to his side by magic, the Witch-king plans to unleash a magical plague, one that will turn his enemies into a ravenous, unthinking horde.  With such power at the Witch-king’s command, will Kagen’s quest reveal something powerful enough to defeat him?  And even if he does, will Kagen be able to fight his own brother?

Wow, wow, wow, what an epic and exceptional book!  Maberry can really do no wrong when it comes to his writing and this impressive sequel really hammers home what a talented author he is.  Masterfully expanding on the narrative set up in the first book, Son of the Poison Rose contains Maberry’s trademark blend of intensity, awesome action, complex characters, and dark world building that I love so much.  I absolutely powered through this lengthy novel, and it earns Maberry another easy five-star rating from me as I loved every single second I spent with it.

Maberry continues his sprawling and dark narrative in Son of the Poison Rose, as this book takes the reader in some great and captivating new directions.  Taking place in the explosive aftermath of Kagen the Damned, Son of the Poison Rose starts off in a big and action-packed way as Kagen and his allies find themselves being hunted by everything the Witch-king can throw at them.  Maberry quickly establishes his usual practice of featuring a huge number of different perspectives to showcase not only the adventures of the protagonists, but also the actions and schemes of the antagonists and the impacts that their machinations have throughout the world.  The main story of Kagen is pretty epic as it sees the protagonist and his friends struggling through new lands in the search of allies and magic.  While this results in some great scenes for Kagen in the first two thirds of the book, including a great haunted house sequence, his story here feels a little meandering at times without too much progress being made.  However, this is more than made up from the various alternate perspectives and worldbuilding that occurs in the same period.  It is so damn fascinating and entertaining to see the various dark and often horrifying plots of the antagonists come into effect as they plot for war.  These storylines blend spy thriller and dark fantasy elements together really well and you are drawn into these storylines, especially as Maberry takes the opportunity to strengthen the followers of the antagonists in some big ways.  The simultaneous build-up of other complex supporting characters, as well as the many examinations of various corners of Maberry’s new fantasy world adds to the impressive tapestry of the first two thirds of the story, and I was pretty damn hooked during this part of the book.

Maberry ramps up the intensity in the final third of the book as the various intriguing storylines he set up in the start of the novel really come to fruition.  This is headlined by Kagen and his allies travelling into a dangerous jungle nation to find a legendary ancient city where magical texts are hidden.  While I was initially concerned this part of Kagen’s story was going to be rushed, it ended up being very well written and awesome, as they encounter all manner of evils out in the jungle.  This final third of the book was again firmly enhanced by the continued dive back to the antagonists, where you see their evil plot to fill the jungle with zombies and other deadly creatures to kill Kagen and his comrades.  This results in an epic series of battles which keep you on the edge of your seat, as you know Maberry will not hesitate to kill off his characters.  The author chucks in several massive revelations around this part of the book, including finally showing the motivation behind the Witch-king’s actions, and the entire narrative ends on a big note while also expertly setting the stage for even more chaos in the following novel.  This ended up being a particularly epic story and I was firmly hooked the entire way through.

Those who are familiar with Mabbery’s novels will know that the author has a very distinctive style which has worked wonders in his many thriller novels.  Maberry successfully transported this style across to the fantasy genre last year with Kagen the Damned, and I felt it really enhanced his already impressive story.  Naturally he continues it in Son of the Poison Rose and it is still really effective at conveying the vast scope of his tale.  The main basis for his style is the utilisation of a vast number of shorter perspective chapters which showcase events from multiple characters across the narrative.  This results in a vast and complex story that not only allows the reader to see the adventures of the protagonist but also highlight the other players throughout the realm, including the antagonist, his court, the members of the resistance, and even several kings and rulers from unaligned nations who are making plans for war.  Maberry further expands out the plot by including a series of intriguing, often standalone interludes, which showcase smaller, self-contained stories within the wider universe.  These interludes are usually pretty cool, both by themselves and as extensions of the larger story, and I love how inventive and dark Maberry can be at times.  This mass of perspectives really helps to create an extensive and complex plot that has so many different aspects to it.  Seeing the protagonist and antagonist constantly reacting to the actions of each other, as well as other figures in the book, really ups the stakes and intensifies the plot, and I loved how Maberry gave this fantasy novel a strong thriller feel, especially with the continues focuses on politics, espionage and revenge.

Now, one thing about Maberry’s writing style that is not going to appeal to everyone is just how dark and disturbing the author makes the story.  Maberry is a particularly over-the-top writer at times, as he really does not hold back on the gore, violence and depravity, with the characters witnessing or causing all manner of mayhem or gruesome acts.  While this excessive violence and brutality fits the dark fantasy realm that Maberry has created, particularly as it highlights just how evil the antagonist and his legions can be, it is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea.  The torture, abuse and sadism of many scenes can be a bit much at times, and anyone that dislikes that sort of inclusion is probably best served to avoid this series.  However, for those that remain, I will point out that Maberry’s attention to bloody detail does ensure that the action sequences are extremely awesome.  The author has a gift for bringing the brutality and intensity of the battlefield to life in some truly glorious scenes, and you will be enthralled by every swing of the dagger or sword that he writes.  These action scenes are a beautiful, if bloody, highlight of this book, and the overall excessiveness of some of the scenes, especially when focusing on an over-the-top villain really plays into the wider narrative and setting.

I am still in love with the cool new dark fantasy world that Maberry created in Kagen the Damned, especially as the author took his time to populate with evil creatures, Lovecraftian gods and so much damn despair.  His first book served as a brilliant introduction to the various intriguing nations, and I deeply appreciated the intricate depictions of the Hakkian invasion, as well as the subtle and slow reintroduction of magic into this world.  Maberry continues to build up this world in several ways throughout Son of the Poison Rose, which results in some amazing story elements.  The focus on several of the other realms not seen in the first book is pretty interesting, as is the examination of the complex politics of the land as these now independent nations contemplate war with Hakkia after the concluding events of Kagen the Damned.  This builds up several great storylines as these rebelling nations and the Witch-king’s court plot different strategies to win any future wars.  Maberry also has a lot of fun exploring several new lands that were only hinted at in the previous books, and the protagonists soon end up in several unique and deadly landscapes, including cursed snowscapes with mysterious creatures, lethal jungles, and massive ruined cities dedicated to overthrown gods.  All of these locations are expertly introduced and described by Maberry, who uses them to his full advantage to increase tension and ensure that all the inevitable battles have a compelling new edge to them.

Another excellent thing that Maberry continues to do in Son of the Poison Rose is show how magic is slowly returning to the land due to the machinations of the Witch-king.  Thanks to several great chapters and interludes, you get to see the full horror as old magical creatures re-emerge, including the always reliable zombie, which plays very heavily into the plot.  Maberry is no stranger when it comes to zombies, having featured them in several books before (Patient Zero and Code Zero for example) and he uses to them to great effect here, both as political tools for the antagonist, and as rabid obstacles for the protagonists.  Other awesome features include the unstoppable, demonically powered, Razor Knight, which has a great showing at the end of the book, and it will be interesting to see how that, as well as some of the other magic unleashed in Son of the Poison Rose, come into effect in the rest of the series.  I also really appreciated how Maberry kept including a few references to his other series throughout Son of the Poison Rose, which is always a lot of fun for his established fans.  The hints of connection between this world and the settings of other books from Maberry is noticeable and fun without being too mysterious for new readers.  I especially loved the inclusion of a fantastic new villainous character who readers of the Joe Ledger books will be well familiar with under a different name, which I thought was an awesome touch for those who have read his other books.  I deeply enjoyed the impressive world building that Maberry did in Son of the Poison Rose, and I look forward to seeing how else he expands it in the rest of the series.

As always, one of the absolute best parts of Son of the Poison Rose were the exceptional, complex, and well-written characters that Maberry has expertly crafted together.  This includes a great combination of established figures from the first book, as well as a good collection of new characters who add some outstanding original spice to his second book.  Thanks to huge number of perspective chapters, the Kagen the Damned series features a pretty massive cast of damaged or sinister figures that Maberry uses to full effect to tell an elaborate overarching narrative.

Unsurprisingly, most of the focus of the book falls on series titular character, Kagen Vale, better known as Kagen the Damned.  Kagen had an outstanding introduction in the first book, where you see him lose everything, including his gods, in a single night, which drives him to great despair.  While he has managed to mostly recover from this thanks to his friends, he is still haunted by that dark night, especially after learning the truth about who the Witch-king is, as well as the identity of his heirs.  Driven by even further guilt, confusion, and anger towards his brother and his treachery, Kagen continues his impressive and emotionally rich journey in Son of the Poison Rose, and I had an outstanding time along the ride with him.  Maberry writes Kagen in an outstanding way throughout this book, and you really feel his pain and continued anger as he tries to deal with everything that has happened to him.  While he does bear some noticeable similarities to Maberry’s other major protagonist, Joe Ledger, especially when it comes to lethal prowess and severe psychological damage, I think that the author does enough to set Kagen apart, especially as his painful motivating event is a lot more raw and personal, resulting in some emotionally charged sequences.

Aside from Kagen, Maberry sets up a great supporting cast who add a lot to the main storyline while also introducing their own intriguing character moments.  It was great to see the return of Kagen’s main associates, Tuke and Filia, who continue to follow him into hell.  These three characters have great chemistry together and they form an impressive emotional centre to the story, especially as Tuke and Filia serve as Kagen’s conscience and voice of reason.  I also liked the return of Mother Frey, the clever spy mistress who is attempting to control the resistance against the Hakkians.  Her insights into the world and its political players often expands the intrigue of the story and she serves as a compelling figure in the plot.  I did find it interesting that one of the major figures from the first book, Ryssa, barely appeared in this novel after her fantastic storyline in Kagen the Damned.  However, her few appearances seem to hint at some sinister things in the future, and I look forward to seeing what Maberry organises with that.  Some of the more complicated and disturbing scenes of Son of the Poison Rose revolve around the captured Alleyn and Desalyn/Gavran and Foscor, the royal twins who were captured during the invasion, psychologically broken down, and forcibly given new identities.  These two mentally mutilated children spend the entire book trying to retain and regain their memories in some pretty dark scenes and thanks to their affliction, they run the gauntlet from sweet and damaged, to homicidal maniacs.  I felt that Maberry really showcased the twins’ mental state perfectly, and their dark storyline was an excellent addition to the plot.

However, to my mind, some of the best characters in Son of the Poison Rose are the villains, who add an entertaining and impressively sinister edge to the book, while also expanding out the political intrigue aspects of the plot.  These complex antagonists are led by the evil and destructive Witch-king, who was revealed to be Kagen’s long lost brother Herepath.  Empowered by dark magic, vengeance, and a need to keep his true identity hidden, the Witch-king continues his mission to kill Kagen and ensure that and opposition to this power is utterly destroyed.  The Witch-king proves to be a particularly malevolent figure throughout Son of the Poison Rose, even after his motivations are revealed to the reader, and he is the perfect foil to Kagen and his companions.

The Witch-king is backed up by a court of loyal, terrified advisors, each of whom are dedicated to the Witch-king’s plans, while also trying to stay alive and gather their own power.  This includes the fantastic trio of Lord Nespar, Lady Kestral and Jakob Ravensmere, each of whom have their own reasons for serving the Witch-king, and who each suffer for it in different ways, especially Kestral.  Nespar and Ravensmere deeply enhance the political thriller focus of Son of the Poison Rose, as their analysis, plotting and attempts to keep the Hakkians strong on behalf of their master results in some fantastic and powerful moments.  I also must call out the mysterious new evils that join the Witch-king’s side during Son of the Poison Rose, especially as many bring their own form of magic and despair with them.  The highlight of these new characters is the fantastic and devilish Prince of Games, a mysterious figure who comes to the Witch-king’s side to give advice, counsel and chaos.  The Prince of Games really stood out to me, not just because of his portrayal in Son of the Poison Rose but because of the great, universe-spanning implications his appearance has, and I cannot wait to see what havoc he creates throughout this series.  All of the antagonists are pretty great, and they all bring their own horror and darkness to the story, especially as they all do some pretty terrible and gruesome things to stay in power.  Honestly, every character in Son of the Poison Rose is awesome and memorable in their own way, and Maberry once again shows himself to be the master at effectively bringing together a truly complex cast of damaged and misfit figures.

In my opinion, the only way to properly enjoy a Jonathan Maberry novel is to listen to its audiobook, especially if that audiobook is narrated by the legendary Ray Porter.  This has been the case for pretty much every Maberry novel I have had the pleasure of reading, including Son of the Poison Rose, and all these epic audiobooks have been something special.  Not only do Maberry’s elaborate storylines and settings get the gravitas and exposure that they deserve in this format, but Porter’s narration really amps up the dark nature of the narrative and provides perfect depictions of the characters.  Porter, who is easily one of my favourite audiobook narrators, does another exceptional job in Son of the Poison Rose and I absolutely powered through this audiobook thanks to it.  His voice really lends itself to every dark and deadly scenario that Maberry envisions in this novel, and the way that he can convey fear, hatred and pure evil with his voice is just amazing.  His real talent lies in his ability to bring all Maberry’s complex characters to life in a particularly fitting way.  I especially love how he portrays the main protagonist, Kagen Vale, and he really captures every bit of pain, despair and resolve that this battered character contains.  Throw in a series of particularly disturbing voices for all the inhuman and horrifying creatures that the characters encounter, and this is a perfect narration that adds so much to my enjoyment of an already epic book.  With a run time of nearly 26 hours, Son of the Poison Rose is a particularly long audiobook (it would come in at number 14 on my latest Longest Audiobook I Have Ever Listened To list), but it is well worth the time investment especially once you get caught up in the twisted story.  I personally powered through it extremely quickly, as the combination of the amazing writing and impressive narration ensured I was listening to it continuously and loving every damn second of it.  As such, I must once again strongly recommend the audiobook format to anyone wanting to check out Son of the Poison Rose, and you will not be disappointed if you do as this is easily one of the best audiobooks of 2023.

I could go on for ages about Son of the Poison Rose, as Jonathan Maberry has done another exceptional job with this second Kagen the Damned novel.  Featuring an electric and addictive dark fantasy narrative, loaded with carnage, battles, great characters and an elaborate world on the brink of war, Son of the Poison Rose was a joy from start to finish, especially in its audiobook format.  This is easily one of the best fantasy books I have read all year and I cannot wait to see how Maberry continues this epic story in the future.  A masterful second book in one of the best ongoing dark fantasy series!

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Quick Review – The Omega Factor by Steve Berry

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Quick Review, Thriller1 Comment

The Omega Factor Cover

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (Audiobook – 7 June 2022)

Series: Standalone/Book One

Length: 13 hours and 38 minutes

My Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars

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Prepare to dive into another intense conspiracy straight out of history from legendary thriller writer Steve Berry, The Omega Factor.

A major thing I have noticed about my reading habits in recent years is that I have been getting more attached to the thriller genre due to several amazing series, many of which have long become essential reading for me each year.  One of these main series is the compelling and intriguing Cotton Malone books from veteran author Steve Berry, which I was lucky enough to discover a few years ago.  Following the titular intelligence agent as he uncovers historical conspiracy after historical conspiracy across America and Europe, the Cotton Malone novels are very cool and I love the elaborate scenarios that Berry comes up with, especially as they combine deep historical detail with cool modern-day espionage missions.  I have had a pretty epic time with Berry’s more recent Cotton Malone books, including The Malta Exchange, The Warsaw Protocol and The Kaiser’s Web, each of which were great and captivating additions to this long running series.

Berry also released an intriguing standalone novel last year, The Omega Factor.  Following a new protagonist, The Omega Factor contained another intriguing historical conspiracy, this time around the legendary Ghent Altarpiece, which sounded very cool.  I did manage to listen to it close to its release date last year, however, I didn’t publish a review for it, and I have been meaning to fix that for a while.  As I literally just started listening to Berry’s latest novel, The Last Kingdom, I figured it was about time that I gave a shout-out to the great and enjoyable The Omega Factor.

Plot Synopsis:

The Ghent Altarpiece is the most violated work of art in the world.  Thirteen times it has been vandalized, dismantled, or stolen.

Why?  What secrets does it hold?

Enter UNESCO investigator, Nicholas Lee, who works for the United Nations’ Cultural Liaison and Investigative Office (CLIO).  Nick’s job is to protect the world’s cultural artifacts—from countless lesser-known objects to national treasures.

When Nick travels to Belgium for a visit with a woman from his past, he unwittingly stumbles on the trail of the twelfth panel for the Ghent Altarpiece, stolen in 1934 under cover of night and never seen since.  Soon Nick is plunged into a bitter conflict, one that has been simmering for nearly two thousand years.  On one side is the Maidens of Saint-Michael, les Vautours, Vultures, a secret order of nuns and the guardians of a great truth.  Pitted against them is the Vatican, which has wanted for centuries to both find and possess what the nuns guard.  Because of Nick the maidens have finally been exposed, their secret placed in dire jeopardy—a vulnerability that the Vatican swiftly moves to exploit utilizing an ambitious cardinal and a corrupt archbishop, both with agendas of their own.

From the tranquil canals of Ghent, to the towering bastions of Carcassonne, and finally into an ancient abbey high in the French Pyrenees, Nick Lee must confront a modern-day religious crusade intent on eliminating a shocking truth from humanity’s past.  Success or failure—life and death—all turn on the Omega Factor.


The Omega Factor was another great book from Berry that blends intriguing elements from history with a modern-day thriller storyline.  Starting off with a bang as the new characters, Nicholas Lee and Kelsey, become involved in a crazy plot when part of the Ghent Altarpiece is destroyed.  Berry does a good job of quickly introducing all the players in this new narrative, and the reader is soon wrapped up in the awesome storyline that sees ninja nuns, corrupt members of the Catholic Church, and a secret organisation of Cathars facing off against each other with Nick caught right in the middle.  Like most of Berry’s novels, The Omega Factor features multiple character perspectives during the entire intriguing run, as well a series of flashbacks to historical events which give the main storyline a lot more context.  This results in a very compelling read, and you soon get wrapped up in seeing the elaborate conspiracy that Berry carefully hints at come to fruition.  I had a lot of fun seeing how this entire story came together, and Berry produces a complex overall read that proves very hard to put down in places.

While I had fun with this book, I did think that the storyline behind it was a bit weaker than Berry’s typical work.  The twists are pretty obvious going in, and the stakes of the plot never seem particularly serious.  There are some good characters featured within, and I liked the elaborate motivations behind several of the antagonists.  However, I’m not really sure the use of a new protagonist was really necessary, especially as this reads like a typical Cotton Malone book. It might have been a bit better with some of Berry’s established characters, especially as I didn’t connect too much with the new protagonist of Nick, nor his failed romance with Kelsey and her personal journey.  Still, the rest of the book is pretty strong, especially with the intrigue and secrecy, and The Omega Factor also works quite well as a great standalone read and new readers can easily jump in and experience Berry’s style and story ideas for themselves.

As with all of Berry’s books, the real highlight of The Omega Factor is the elaborate and captivating historical detail that the author dives into as part of the plot.  Having the reader understand all the relevant historical events and artefacts is vital to the plot of the book and Berry meticulously relays everything through several of the characters in an interesting way that always keeps the reader’s attention.  For example, so many intriguing features about the Ghent Altarpiece are raked over again and again so that the reader can get a full understanding about why this piece of art is so important and how it has been stolen or defaced multiple times.  The author honestly needs the reader to understand every detail of this artwork’s history, and he manages that perfectly every time.  The same goes for so many other relevant bits of history that are relevant to the main story, such as the crusades against the Cathars and other relevant wars and political events.  Berry does such as outstanding job of giving concise and targeted history lessons to the readers, and he backs them up by expertly building several intriguing thriller storylines around them.  The resulting plots that see the characters attempting to fully excavate the secrets from the past are always so damn interesting, and it is a ton of fun to simultaneously uncover modern threats and ancient twists at the same time.  Berry always has the right blend of hard historical fact and inventive inclusions, and you soon get embroiled in the very elaborate historical details.  Throw in some beautifully portrayed locations throughout Europe, many of which are very historically significant and this proves to be another great example of Berry bringing history to life in a very modern story.

Like most of the Berry books I have been able to enjoy, I ended up checking out The Omega Factor on audiobook rather than a physical copy.  This proved to be an excellent way to enjoy this amazing book as the audio format really allows the reader to enjoy all the cool historical detail.  Having the characters narrate all the key elements to you again and again is quite effective at building up a listener’s understanding, and you really appreciate how well this format performs in this way.  It helps that the narrator, Scott Brick, has such a great voice for historical fiction and modern thrillers.  Brick, who in addition to voicing most of Berry’s audiobook also narrates the cool Orphan X audiobooks by Gregg Hurwitz (for example, Into the Fire, Prodigal Son and Dark Horse), is an awesome narrator who always adds some gravitas to his productions.  He does another amazing job in The Omega Factor, and you swiftly become engaged with how he makes all of Berry’s intense detail really stand out.  Coming in at over 13 and a half hours, The Omega Factor is a decent sized audiobook, but it is well worth listening to for this awesome story.

Overall, The Omega Factor was a great standalone novel from Steve Berry that his fans will have a fantastic time reading.  Bringing together another exciting and compelling historical conspiracy with a cool modern thriller storyline, The Omega Factor was very entertaining and I had an awesome time getting through it.  As I mentioned above, I am currently in the middle of Berry’s latest novel, The Last Kingdom, which I will hopefully finish off and review later this week.

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Warhammer 40,000: Warboss by Mike Brooks

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer4 Comments

Warhammer 40,000 - Warboss Cover

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 25 March 2023)

Series: Warhammer 40,000

Length: 8 hours and 48 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Prepare for the ultimate battle for control as several feuding ork bosses fight to become the new leader of the Waaagh! in this amazing and highly entertaining Warhammer 40,000 novel, Warboss by Mike Brooks.

2023 has been a big Warhammer 40,000 fiction year for me as I have been having an absolute blast reading all manner of cool novels from across the franchise (make sure to check out my recently released list about my favourite Warhammer 40,000 novels).  However, while I have read a ton of Warhammer books this year, I have not had the opportunity to read any 2023 Warhammer releases.  Well, I am on my way to rectify that by looking at the recently released Warboss by awesome author Mike Brooks, who also wrote the 2022 novel Huron Blackheart: Master of the Maelstrom.  Brooks did an outstanding job with this fantastic new book, and I had so much damn fun with Warboss and its highly entertaining and hilarious story.

In the far future of the 41st millennium, there are few things are more destructive or unstoppable than an ork warband on a rampage.  One of the most effective bands currently killing its way through the galaxy is that of Warboss Gazrot Goresnappa whose Waaagh! has conquered the once mighty human fortress world of Aranua.  After several decisive and bloody victories, the Waaagh! celebrates in front of the planet’s remaining bastion, the massive Davidia Hive.  All it will take is one final assault to totally defeat the humans on Aranua so Warboss Goresnappa can strip their resources and lead his boyz to bigger and better fights out in the stars.

However, before Goresnappa can achieve his great victory, an unfortunate accident sees him very, very dead under the giant decapitated head of a Gargant war machine.  With their leader squashed, the Waaagh! now has an opening for Warboss, and several ambitious orks from across the no-longer united clans step forward to fight for the job.  However, before the usual brawl for leadership can begin, a prophecy from the clan’s resident weirdboy, Old Morgrub, reveals that the ork gods have something very special in store for the Waaagh! and its next leader.  A mysterious gate lies underneath the human city that could transport the Waaagh! to fights anywhere in the galaxy, and whichever boss finds it first will be the new Warboss.

Forced to obey the words of the gods, the bosses engage in their own elaborate plans to breach the Hive City and claim the gate.  But which boss can triumph over the others?  Will it be the brutal Goff Big Boss Mag Dedfist, the suicidally fast Speedboss of the Evil Sunz, Zagnob Thundaskuzz, the sneaky and cunning leader of the Blood Axes, Da Genrul, or could it even be the leader of the grot uprising, the self-proclaimed prophet of Gork and Mork, Snaggi Littetoof?  All four believe that they are the only ones capable of leading the Waaagh! and they will fight tooth and nail to become Warboss.  But to succeed they’ll need to not only overcome all their rivals but the human defenders of the Hive City and an Aeldari army waiting in the depths to defend their gate.  May the best ork win!

Oh dear, oh dear, what a damn funny book.  Honestly, any Warhammer 40,000 novel that focuses on the orks is bound to be comedy gold, but Warboss is one of the better ones I have had the pleasure of reading.  Author Mike Brooks does a wonderful job of telling a tight and amazingly fun story that perfectly showcases the orks in all their green skinned glory.  I had so much fun with this book and I managed to power through Warboss in very short order.

This proved to be a pretty fast-paced and impressive story, and it’s one that I was able to have a blast listening to as it unfolded.  Primarily focusing on the various ork characters that are part of Waaagh! Goresnappa, Warboss starts off with a sudden game changer for the protagonists as the infamous Warboss Goresnappa is killed off in hilarious fashion thanks to a group of argumentative grots and the falling head of a massive war machine.  This leads several of the remaining ork bosses throwing their hats into the ring to become the Warboss, and all hell follows as a result.  Tasked with finding a hidden Aeldari gate under the human city, each of the ork bosses implements their own plans to get into the city first, whether that be through blowing down the walls, infiltrating from below, or driving around the city at high speeds, hoping for the best.  Brooks breaks the story up around the main three contenders nicely, and you soon get a good idea of their different, but very orkish strategies.  However, the story is made even more enjoyable thanks to some of the alternate perspectives that emerge.  This includes the ambitious grot Snaggi Littletoof who, after accidently killing Warboss Goresnappa, attempts his own grot uprising and tries to find the gate to gain his cause legitimacy.  Several human characters are also shown, often to add some interesting contrast to the orks, and it is fun to see their attempted counterattacks, which often leads to disaster.  This makes for an excellent first two-thirds of the book and Brooks does a great job of showcasing both the protagonists and the ork nation as a whole while also setting up a very entertaining story.

Unsurprisingly, the orks make it into the city and everyone starts arriving at the gate at the same time, often in comedic or unexpected ways.  This leads to a very fast-paced final third as everyone starts fighting everyone else to become Warboss, facing off against humans, Aeldari, and every rival faction of the Waaagh!.  Brooks showcases this final big battle in some excellent ways, and you get really drawn into the crazy carnage that follows thanks to the well-written and exciting action scenes.  The use of multiple perspectives was pretty useful here, and I liked how the author showed the same massive battle again and again, each time from the point of view of another character.  This added more detail to the brawl each time, as well as some amusing alternate opinions of events from some very different characters.  Brooks throws in some excellent twists and turns here and you are never quite certain who is going to come out on top in the battle for supremacy.  The eventual fate of every major character is pretty fantastic and really fits the storylines that have been building up throughout the book.  I personally came away from Warboss extremely satisfied and I loved all the cool developments and totally insane moments that occurred.  Overall, this was a very impressive standalone Warhammer 40,000 narrative and it is very hard not come away loving this story thanks to the awesome humour and all the fantastic, over-the-top interactions that occurred.

All fans of Warhammer fiction know that ork focused novels are some of the funniest novels out there, due to the way that they focus on the over-the-top antics of this beloved faction.  Some good examples of previous Warhammer books that strongly featured orks include Ghazghkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waaagh! by Nate Crowley (one of my favourite books of 2022) and Catachan Devil by Justin Woolley, and I think that Warboss is up there with these fantastic reads.  This outstanding book really dove into the humour as you watched the crude and eternally underestimated orks battle it out amongst each other and the other factions, often coming up with insane and funny solutions to all the deadly problems they encounter.  There honestly wasn’t a single chapter where I wasn’t laughing at some of the crazy stuff that just occurred, and Brooks had a real talent for writing from the ork perspective.  There was some great consistency in the way that the ork characters acted and thought throughout Warboss and every chapter focussed on them saw the characters using similar lingo, slang and descriptions of the other races in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.  As such, you get a great appreciation for the ork mindset and it was great to see the ork perspective on all the book’s over-the-top moments.

One of the things that I felt set Warboss aside from some other Warhammer 40,000 novels featuring orks is that Brooks didn’t fall into the trap of portraying them simply as funny simpletons.  Instead, Brooks shows that the orks are quite smart and complex in their way, it just that their culture, in comparison to humans or Aeldari, has more of a focus on violence and straightforwardness than the other races in the galaxy.  This is backed up by scene after scene of the orks utilising their skills, technology and cunning to win various encounters against seemingly smarter or more organised opponents, and it is always quite fun to see the orks looking down on their opponents for making mistakes that they wouldn’t do.  While this love of extreme violence is mostly played for fun, Brook’s also tries to show the darker side of it, as the orks are pretty damn brutal in how they deal with the humans and Aeldari they encountered.  I loved the great contrast between the ork and human characters that Brooks added into Warboss, as the humans were always so arrogant and condescending towards the orks’ intelligence, even when they were beating them.  This complete lack of understanding by most of the human characters really enhanced the various ork chapters, especially those that showed the orks managing to understand and outthink their human opponents, and I really appreciated this fantastic deeper dive into ork mindset and society.  I did think that Brooks might have made the orks slightly too overpowered in Warboss, as they manage to take on quite a few major enemies with relative ease, but this always added some fun to the story and it was interesting to see the full potential of the orks.

This deep dive into the orks is further cemented thanks to the several outstanding character arcs that Brooks set up throughout Warboss, particularly around the four main characters fighting for control of the Waaagh! in their own way.  The three ork characters Mag Dedfist, Zagnob Thundaskuzz and Genrul Uzbrag (Da Genrul), are in some ways quite similar, in that they have several similar racial tendencies towards violence or leadership.  However, each of them represents a different clan, and so they have different battle tendencies which really helps to highlight the different factions within ork society.  Mag Dedfist is a Goff, and so he relies more on classic violence and explosions to achieve his goals in the most direct ways possible.  Zagnob is an Evil Sun boss who has dedicated himself to the Kult of Speed and believes in riding the fastest vehicle he can find right towards the enemy.  The most entertaining of these is probably Da Genrul, a member of the Blood Axe clan who admire human martial ability and utilise their own take on tactics, discipline and stealth to achieve their goals, often outsmarting the humans they are aping.

I was also a big fan of the character of Snaggi Littletoof, a grot with ideas of grandeur who attempts to start a grot uprising against their cruel ork masters.  The grots (also known as gretchins, essentially goblins from classic fantasy), smaller cousins of the orks who are used as slave labour and cannon fodder, aren’t particularly well featured in most Warhammer 40,000 fiction, so I had fun with a whole character arc around them in Warboss.  Snaggi and his band of rebellious grots (Da GrotWaaagh!), are a very entertaining inclusion, and I liked the revolutionary storyline that Brooks set around them that provided both humour and an interesting look at typical grot life.  It was so much fun to see Snaggi inspiring his followers to go against their nature and rebel, especially as the orks had no idea what they heck they were doing.  Thanks to Brook’s use of Mag, Zagnob, Da Genrul and Snaggi, you get a great understanding of each of their specific faction and the author did a particularly good job of featuring each of them equally.  Indeed, thanks to the appearance of several different ork characters in a supporting role, you get a pretty good idea of nearly every major ork clan, faction and designation, and even those readers completely unfamiliar with orks can come away from this book knowing most of the key things you need to know about them.

These ork and grot protagonists are well backed up by several entertainingly arrogant human characters who honestly make the orks seem reasonable and likeable in comparison.  The best is easily Captain Armenisu Varrow, who is held prisoner by Da Genrul as his pet and tactical advisor.  Varrow goes through so much hell in this book, but is so deliciously haughty while he does so that you really can’t feel sorry for him.  Despite his ironclad belief in his own intelligence, Varrow is outsmarted time and time again, and it is just great to see him cower his way through events while still thinking he is the smart one.  His story arc is very entertaining and I loved how very dark it gets, especially at the end.  The rest of the humans are also great in their own ways, even if they are only featured for a short amount of time, and their ongoing false remarks about the abilities of the orks in the face of the carnage they are laying down always made me chuckle.  An overall great group of characters who help to turn this amazing story into something truly special.

I checked out Warboss on audiobook, which honestly is becoming my go-to format for all things Warhammer.  This proved to be another excellent decision as the Warboss audiobook was a ball of absolute fun that I had a brilliant time listening to.  Coming in with a runtime of under nine hours, this is a pretty easy audiobook to power through quickly and I managed it in a few, hilarious sessions.  The outstanding, comedy laden story really works well in the audiobook format and so many of the great jokes come across that much better when you listen to them.  It definitely helped that they brought in established Warhammer narrator Harry Myers to voice this book as he did a spectacular job here.  I have deeply enjoyed Myers in several recent Warhammer audiobooks, including The Wraithbone Phoenix by Alec Worley (one of my favourite audiobooks of 2022) and Day of Ascension by Adrian Tchaikovsky, and he has another amazing performance in Warboss.  His voice is just perfect for all the alien characters featured within this novel, and the various gruff tones of the orks and high-pitched squeals of the grots are very spot on.  In addition, several of the human characters are shown in all their arrogant finery throughout the audiobook and you really appreciate just how stupid they are through this medium.  Each character is expertly showcased to the reader through Myers’ voice, and I loved every line he read out as a result.  I also deeply enjoyed how well his narration worked to convey all the fantastic jokes loaded throughout the production, including that hilarious bit involving the ork characters failing to know the chapter numbers.  This was a such a great audiobook to listen to and I cannot recommend this format enough for Warboss as you are guaranteed to have an exceptional time listening to it.

Mike Brooks continues to impress me as an outstanding author of Warhammer fiction with his amazing novel Warboss.  A comedy heavy novel that perfectly showcases the always fun orks, Warboss is pure entertainment from start to finish that both established fans of the franchise and new readers can easily enjoy.  Brooks has a clear appreciation for this faction which really shines through in his storytelling, and I loved his great take on everything orkish.  One of the funniest and enjoyable releases of 2023 so far, this is essential reading for all interest in hilarious Warhammer fiction, and I am very glad I checked it out.

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Throwback Thursday – Warhammer 40,000: The Guns of Tanith by Dan Abnett

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Throwback Thursday, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer3 Comments

The Guns of Tanith Cover

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 25 April 2002)

Series: Gaunt’s Ghosts – Book Five

Length: 10 hours and 10 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Welcome back to my Throwback Thursday series, where I republish old reviews, review books I have read before or review older books I have only just had a chance to read.  After having such a great time reviewing the previous Gaunt’s Ghosts novel, Honour Guard, in my last Throwback Thursday, I immediately read the fifth fantastic entry in the series, The Guns of Tanith, which proved to be just as awesome and exciting.

As I mentioned last week, I have been really getting into the works of Dan Abnett over the last year, and I now consider several of his books to be amongst the best Warhammer 40,000 novels I have had the pleasure of reading.  Not only did I deeply enjoy his epic Eisenhorn trilogy (made up of Xenos, Malleus and Hereticus) but I have also been powering through his Gaunt’s Ghosts books.  The Gaunt’s Ghosts books are some of the more iconic novels in the Warhammer 40,000 franchise and are often considered essential reading by fans of the franchise due to the captivating way they capture the gruelling experiences of ordinary human soldiers in this grim, futuristic setting.  The first four novels in the series, First and Only, Ghostmaker, Necropolis and Honour Guard, as well as the prequel novel The Vincula Insurgency, are all excellent and exciting in their own way, and I have had a ton of fun seeing the impressive war narratives set around the men of the Tanith First-and-Only, informally known as Gaunt’s Ghosts.  As I was still in the mood for some awesome action at the end of last week, I just had to keep going with these books and I quickly picked up the fifth entry, The Guns of Tanith.

As the massive Sabbat Worlds Crusade continues to pit the forces of the Imperium of Man against the foul forces of Chaos, the battlelines extend across multiple planets and systems, drawing in millions of soldiers.  The latest phase of the crusade has severely stretched the supply lines of the Imperial assault and the Chaos foes are quick to take advantage, threatening to cut off and surround the main Imperial force.  To stave off disaster, Warmaster Macaroth, needs the Tanith First-and-Only to recapture the vital promethium producing planet of Phantine so the crusade can be resupplied and continue.

Led by the heroic Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt, the Tanith First-and-Only engage in a deadly airborne assault on several of the planet’s domed cities.  Relying on their unique skills of navigation and infiltration, the Ghosts prove to be vital to the operation and soon take the key city of Cirenholm.  However, holding the city proves to be harder than expected.  While preparing for the next assault, the vile murder of a freed Cirenholm civilian places a Ghost on trial and opens up the festering cultural divides within the regiment.

As Gaunt attempts to get to the bottom of the crime and ensure that the innocent are left alive, the Ghosts are given a vital mission to undertake.  A dangerous Chaos warlord has taken command of the final occupied city, Ouranberg, and his lethal command threatens to devastate an attack by the Imperials.  To ensure a successful invasion of this Chaos stronghold, a specialised team of Ghosts is tasked with infiltrating the city and assassinating the enemy leader in advance of the main assault force.  Featuring some of the best the Ghosts have to offer, the assassination squad will be forced to walk through hell to achieve their objective and not everyone will be coming back.

In this fifth entry in this amazing series, Abnett continues to impress with another powerful and captivating character-driven read that takes the Ghosts through a gruelling round of battles, tragedy and growth that proves near impossible to put down.  The Guns of Tanith was a pretty strong entry in the series, expanding on some of the interesting storylines from the first novel while also introducing a new dark scenario for the characters to deal with.

The Guns of Tanith features a fantastic narrative from Abnett that contains his usual blend of high-intensity action, character growth, and intriguing examinations of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, that make all the Gaunt’s Ghosts novels such a treat to read.  Following on from the events of the previous books in the series The Guns of Tanith is told in Abnett’s typical style, with a ton of unique character perspectives, mostly those of the Ghosts, which presents the reader with a rich and vibrant view of the events, as well as the unique, character-driven storylines that emerge.  While this fifth Gaunt’s Ghosts novel can be read as a standalone book, The Guns of Tanith does see several ongoing, character focused storylines come to a head or get even more complicated. As such, readers should really consider checking out the previous novels first so they can get the full emotional weight of the revelations and twists that emerge.

The main narrative of The Guns of Tanith is bookended by major extended battle sequences that see the Ghosts and their allies engage in elaborate fights across two separate cities.  The first of these battles, in Cirenhom, sees all the Ghosts forced to engage in a particularly bloody battle with limited ammunition against a dangerous and determined foe that has set up some elaborate traps.  This extended sequence is both epic and useful as it provides the reader with a ton of intense action to draw them into the novel while Abnett introduces the characters and storylines that this latest novel is focused on.  You also get a good overview to the new setting of Phantine, a polluted planet with a toxic atmosphere that requires multiple forms of airship to traverse.  This unique location adds some great spice to the overall story, especially as it requires the characters to learn some unique aerial skills, while also allowing Abnett to have fun featuring several impressive dogfights.  There are some great moments during this first extended battle sequence, and it sets the rest of the book up nicely.

The middle of the book is where the reader gets into the real meat of the story, especially as it lowers the intensity levels down from the action-packed introduction and allows the reader to breathe and absorb all the intriguing story elements to come.  At first, I wasn’t too keen on a quieter middle section to this novel, especially as I thought it would make The Guns of Tanith more of a bridging novel in the series, rather than a book that could stand on its own.  However, Abnett soon proved me wrong as this intriguing central storyline contained a lot of major character moments and intriguing plot lines, while also expertly setting up the final third of the book.  The main storyline explored in the centre involves a murder investigation when one of the Ghosts is accused of killing an innocent civilian.  Abnett does a great job with this murder storyline, especially as it brings in compelling mystery and legal thriller elements to it, while also driving the characters in some excellent directions.  However, the real joy of this part of the book is the focus on the camaraderie and factions within the Ghosts, and the fracturing coherence in places leads to some memorable moments later on.

The final section of the book focuses on the assault of the Phantine city, Ouranberg, and the special Ghosts mission to assassinate the Chaos warlord.  Following several supporting members of the cast, this final third of The Guns of Tanith takes these characters on a particularly dark mission through a Chaos stronghold, and Abnett throttles up the tension and brutality to the maximum, ensuring that the readers are strongly hooked on everything unfolding.  Watching the separated teams attempt to navigate through enemy territory leads to some dark and bloody sequences, and everything comes together in a brutal confrontation where all the characters get a moment to shine.  The invasion in the aftermath of this assault brings the entirety of The Guns of Tanith together in an outstanding way, as several major storylines are expertly and impressively resolved, often in ways that leave the characters even more damaged than when they started.  This is also a particularly shocking death of a major character that is guaranteed to move long-term readers of the series.  Abnett does a masterful job of setting this death up, including by showcasing several misleading near-misses, so you really don’t know who is going to live or die right up to the end.  His eventual choice is one designed to wound his readers, and you will have to come back to see how it impacts the rest of this series.  Overall, this was an extremely solid and impressive Gaunt’s Ghosts narrative, and I deeply enjoyed how Abnett continued and finalised some of the great character storylines from the previous books, while also providing the reader with more action and intrigue than they can handle.

As with most of the Gaunt’s Ghosts books, The Guns of Tanith is an open read to all those unfamiliar with the wider Warhammer 40,000 canon.  Abnett goes out of his way to make his books accessible for new readers, and he always provides enough detail and background so that anyone can catch up and enjoy the subsequent story.  However, for those fans more familiar with the Warhammer universe, there are always a ton of great elements or unique world building details that they will find particularly fascinating.  The new locations in The Guns of Tanith are pretty damn spiffing, and I had a lot of fun with the polluted planet, especially as it requires multiple arial sequences.  This is turn leads to the introduction of the Phantine XX Fighter Corps, who Abnett will go on to feature in his spin-off novel, Double Eagle, and it was fun to see how they get their start here.  For me, though, the best part of the universe expansion was Abnett’s in-depth look at the day-to-day life of the common soldier in the Imperial Guard.  While Abnett has always done a masterful job of capturing the footslogger experience in his novels, I felt that The Guns of Tanith was one of his best attempts to dive into the core of his beloved regiment.  Not only is there are lot of story focus on the various members and factions of the regiment, but Abnett also spent some time trying to explore the downtime and personal lives of the characters, and it was pretty intriguing to see the accompanying civilian baggage train of the regiment, which includes their families and other vital services.  I also personally loved the scenes that examined the problems associated with the Imperial bureaucracy as the Ghosts come up against their greatest enemy: bad paperwork.  Certain mistakes ensure that the Ghosts are left with minimal ammunition as the Departmento Munitorum orders the wrong power packs for their lasguns.  The following extended sequence which saw the regiment unable to fight effectively because their ammunition couldn’t fit their guns was an impressive part of the book and it definitely raised the stakes during the book’s introduction.

As usual, one of the major highlights of The Guns of Tanith is the amazing characters that the story focuses on, as Abnett once again fits a huge number of character-driven storylines into the book.  At this point in the series, Abnett has introduced a pretty substantial cast of characters, many of whom have ongoing storylines, and it is intriguing to see them unfold even further in The Guns of Tanith, especially as Abnett does a great job featuring most of them equally and then combining them into the larger narrative.  Many of the more intriguing character arcs in this book carry over from the previous novels and there are some great conclusions and expansions to them here that helps to improve the already great narrative of The Guns of Tanith.  At the same time, several new characters are introduced here or finally given prominence, and it was interesting to see how they fit into the already established character dynamics that Abnett has been building up.  The cohesiveness of the Ghosts as a regiment ends up becoming a huge fixture of this book as the Tanith-Verghastite divide is explored in greater detail by many of the characters.  It was fascinating to see how Abnett handled these character storylines in The Guns of Tanith, and several of them ended up being some of the best parts of the book.

As with most of the novels in the series, quite a lot of character focus goes towards the main protagonist, Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt, whose experiences as the commander of this unique regiment continue to trouble him in various ways.  In The Guns of Tanith, this takes the form of his apparent unconscious bias towards the Tanith elements of his regiment over the Verghastite recruits, which is showcased by his differing reactions during two court cases.  This results in several intense interactions between Gaunt and members of his team, which helped to showcase the protagonist’s idealism and a certain degree of naiveté when it comes to Imperial politics, both of which will cause him trouble in the future.  This is also an intriguing look at the issues caused by Gaunt holding the dual rank of Colonel and Commissar, which make him simultaneously a command officer and a political officer in charge of discipline.  This is the first time the duality of his roles has caused some major problems for him, and it was interesting to see several characters question him about it.  Watching Gaunt try to balance his various hats while also maintaining the respect of his men and his superiors makes this a rather compelling novel for Gaunt and I will be intrigued to see how this affects the character in the future.

While there is always a lot of focus on Gaunt, many of the other characters have big moments here, and it is always interesting to see which characters Abnett will focus on in each particular novel.  Firstly, this is one of the Gaunt’s Ghosts books where the major characters of Colm Corbec and Elim Rawne do not get a lot of focus, as Abnett sets them aside to make room for others.  Corbec is once again wounded early on in the plot to keeps him out of the action, while Rawne, after getting a good needling into Gaunt, is showcased as the senior commander, but that’s about it.  Instead, a lot of the focus goes towards some of the newer members of the cast, such as Gol Kolea, whose attempts to balance his complex family concerns leads only to tragedy and despair for him and the reader.  Cuu continues to be a menace, while surgeon Ana Curth acts as several character’s consciences throughout the book.  The previously overlooked but surprisingly lucky Bonin finally got some prominence in this novel, and I loved finding out how he survived Necropolis.  The newer characters of Commissar Hark and Captain Ban Daur also proved to be essential parts of the plot, and I am really glad that Abnett continued to utilise them, as they helped Gaunt see the errors of several decisions while simultaneously taking on some of Gaunt’s more unorthodox methods.  Members of the original Ghosts, such as Brin Milo, Larkin, Bragg and Mkoll all had good roles in The Guns of Tanith as well, and their balanced scenes showcased different triumphs and tragedies.  Finally, I was glad that Abnett decided to keep featuring the mysterious preacher, Ayatani Zweil, after his fun introduction in Honour Guard.  Zweil is an always entertaining yet serious figure, and it was great to see him knock some sense into several characters when they needed it.  I’m honestly only scratching the surface here, as a ton of other characters were well featured throughout The Guns of Tanith as Abnett continues to build and bring together his final cast of major characters.  Each of these amazing protagonists had some superb impacts on narrative of this novel, and I cannot wait to see how Abnett continues to develop them in the later books of the series.  I am assuming it is only a matter of time until more of the characters start to die, and I am sure that will break my heart just as much as the big death in The Guns of Tanith did.

Due to my love of the format, I of course listened to The Guns of Tanith on audiobook, which is easily the best way to enjoy any Warhammer book.  I have gone on a lot about the fantastic Gaunt’s Ghosts audiobooks in recent reviews, and The Guns of Tanith has all the same advantages, as one of my favourite audiobook narrators, Toby Longworth, brings the reader right into the heart of the action with his great voice work.  Every scene is masterfully showcased by his narration, and all the characters are brought to life thanks to the great voices he utilises for them.  Longworth really stretched himself when it came to accents in this latest novel, and he features a ton of great new voices, as well as the existing tones from the previous audiobooks, to bring this entire audiobook together.  With the standard runtime of just over 10 hours, The Guns of Tanith audiobook is a real snap to power through, and I honestly finished it off in only a few days.

Unsurprisingly, I absolutely loved the fifth entry in Dan Abnett’s exceptional Gaunt’s Ghosts books, The Guns of Tanith, which proved to be another powerful and enjoyable Warhammer 40,000 novel.  Filled with Abnett’s usual impressive battles, The Guns of Tanith also had a brilliant focus on characters-driven storylines that dominated most of the plot and kept the readers hooked the entire time.  An intense, addictive, and deeply personal Gaunt’s Ghosts books, The Guns of Tanith was pretty damn outstanding and I loved every second of it.

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Quick Review – Warhammer 40,000: Huron Blackheart: Master of the Maelstrom by Mike Brooks

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Quick Review, Science Fiction, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer3 Comments

Huron Blackheart Cover

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 7 May 2022)

Series: Warhammer 40,000

Length: 6 hours and 23 minutes

My Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars

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I am really in love with the Warhammer 40,000 universe at the moment as they are producing some incredible books.  While many feature huge casts or examine vast conflicts, some of the very best Warhammer 40,000 novels provide greater context and insight into the game’s legendary characters.  These major character driven novels often result in some intriguing and powerful reads, and I love the complex stories that they tell.  One of the more interesting ones recently was the epic Huron Blackheart: Master of the Maelstrom by rising Warhammer 40,000 fiction author Mike Brooks.  This was a great and exciting read from last year, which I unfortunately never got the chance to properly review.  However, as I have just started listening to one of Brooks’s more recent novels, Warboss, I thought it would be beneficial to do a quick review of Huron Blackheart.

Plot Synopsis:

Huron Blackheart is the lord of the Red Corsairs, master of the lawless Maelstrom and its piratical denizens – but oathbreakers and renegades can seldom rely on the loyalty of their followers. With the galaxy thrown into turmoil by the return of Roboute Guilliman, the former Tyrant of Badab faces a renewed Imperium and fresh challengers emerging within his own ranks.

Huron must call on every trick he knows to stay in control – and alive. Yet even a warrior as ferocious and opportunistic as the Blood Reaver must be wary, for although there are many bargains he can strike, all power comes at a price…

Brooks has produced a very awesome and enjoyable read with Huron Blackheart which drags you in with its intense and entertaining story.  As the name suggests, the book primarily focuses on one of the more interesting characters from the wider Warhammer 40,000 canon, Huron Blackheart.  Huron Blackheart is a particularly cool character with a well-established background as a former loyal space marine who turned traitor and become a notorious pirate lord, haunting vast swathes of the Imperium.  Rather than diving into the full history of the character, Brooks instead tells a more contemporary narrative that shows the current actions of Huron Blackheart in the aftermath of the return of Roboute Guilliman.

The story sees Huron planning his next great offensive against the hated Imperium when one of his subordinates suddenly becomes a threat when he arrives with a mighty war prize, a legendary Ultramarines battle cruiser and Roboute Guilliman’s personal flagship, which the canny underling had managed to capture.  Now faced with a potential rival, Huron is further blindsided when several of his underlings ensure that a powerful daemonic relic falls out of his hands, further weakening his hold on his minions.  Forced into a corner, Huron soon finds himself caught between his murderous minions and the dark powers that surround him, and he’ll need to make a deadly decision that could change his existence and the remnants of his soul forever.

This is a pretty enjoyable and compelling overall narrative, and it is always quite a lot of fun to see events unfold from a villain’s perspective.  The author did a good job of balancing out some of the elements of the story, and the reader is treated to a great mix of Chaos politics, intense action, and a focus on the always awesome figure of Huron Blackheart.  Brooks makes good use of a multi-character perspective throughout Huron Blackheart, which is mostly effective in telling the fun and enjoyable narrative.  The main one of course is from Huron itself, which gives you some very interesting views into his mind, but several other characters are also well featured, including a captured Tech Priest who is forcibly recruited into Huron’s ranks at the start of the novel.  She provides a great outsider perspective to the entire story, and, when combined with Huron’s own cynical observances, you get a great view of the book’s events, especially all the backstabbing, politicking and carnage that emerges.  Not every character is given this great treatment however, as several of the supporting cast end up being a bit one-dimensional in places, which make their subsequent perspective shots a bit hard to care about.  Still, Brooks’s great use of perspective does capture the novel’s slightly darker and more bloody tone that some of the other Warhammer 40,000 novels out there as Brooks attempts to capture the villainous edge to every character.  I particularly enjoyed several of the scenes that showed the entire elaborate nature of Huron’s corsair organisation, and it was a lot of fun to see all the different factions, as well as several different groups of Chaos Space Marines, working together for piratical purposes.  I did think that the story itself was a little basic in places, especially when it came to its direction, and several of the twists or reveals were well telegraphed.  Still, I was pretty entertained the entire way through Huron Blackheart, and readers are guaranteed a pretty good time with the story.

Naturally for a book titled Huron Blackheart, a lot of the story is built around the exploration of who Huron is and what role he fills in the galaxy.  I must admit that this was one of those established Warhammer characters that I wasn’t particularly familiar with, so I was quite keen to see how the author would feature them.  Unsurprisingly, Brooks does a good job of setting Huron up as a particularly intense and ghastly central character for the novel, and you soon get a good idea of his motivations and the rage burning within him.  While Brooks was a little light on Huron’s full character history, readers fully understand his hatred, as well as other intriguing aspects of his character, such as his pragmatism, his deep-seated rage, and an actual understanding of the powers he has bound himself to.  I loved seeing the world through Huron’s eyes in parts of the book, especially as you see all his canny and cynical insights into the motivations of his minions and the key players of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.  Watching Huron attempt to manipulate every situation to his advantage is a ton of fun, and he cuts quite a distinctive figure in this book, even when on the losing end of a potential scheme.  Despite some of the setbacks he suffers in this novel, Huron comes away as a particularly strong and intelligent character, and it was fun to follow a Chaos leader that can control so many naturally treacherous beings.  Brooks also does a good job of tying Huron’s story into the wider current canon of the Warhammer 40,000 universe and it was fascinating to see what role Huron envisions his raiders having in the current wars of the galaxy.  There are some great references to other recent books and events, particularly when it comes the events around the captured Ultramarines ships, and I felt that this entire novel slid in nicely into this wider canon.

I ended up listening to Huron Blackheart on audiobook, which is always my preferred medium for Warhammer stories.  The Huron Blackheart audiobook ended up being a pretty awesome listen, especially with the impressive narration of Andrew Wincott.  Wincott captured every dark and bloody setting perfectly with his narration, and you got a real sense of the scale and menace of every scene, especially those focused on Huron himself.  Wincott made sure to also feature some great voices which really showed the full range of crazed figures that made up the supporting cast.  However, the best voice work was saved for Huron Blackheart himself, as Wincott wanted to inject some intensity into him.  Wincott gives him a deep, loud, and croaky voice, that perfectly captures his inhuman nature and helps readers to envision his mutilated flesh.  As such, the Huron Blackheart audiobook is an outstanding way to the enjoy the story, and with a run time of just under six and a half hours, it is one that you can power through pretty quickly.

Overall, Huron Blackheart: Master of the Maelstrom was a great Warhammer 40,000 book and I am glad that I got the chance to listen to it last year.  Mike Brooks had a lot of fun bringing the intriguing central protagonist to life in this new book, and his subsequent story of treachery and survival was interesting and easy to get through.  This was a particularly solid entry in the Warhammer canon, and all established fans of the franchise will have an excellent time with Huron Blackheart, especially in its audiobook format.

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Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Audiobook Narrators – April 2023

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, List6 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics.  In this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, participants are required to list their favourite audiobook narrators, which is a subject near and dear to my heart.  As readers of this blog will be well aware, the audiobook format is a particular favourite of mine and I have listened to a ton of awesome novels over the years.  Indeed, this subject is so important to me, that I already did a version of this list a few years ago back in 2021 (see my previous list here).  However, now is as good as time as any to quickly review and rethink my previous list, so I fired it up and had a look to see how it could be updated or altered.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like I’ll be making too many changes to my previous list.  While I have enjoyed some new narrators over the years, the favourites I featured on my previous list have also continued to impress me in the intervening years, and I have a hard time removing too many of them.  Still, I had a go at moving some names around, and I eventually came up with a slightly altered list.  I was also able to add in a few new audiobooks from the existing narrators to talk about so it should be an interesting change for those who read the last list.  Now, let us see what made the cut this time.

Honourable Mentions:

Jay Snyder – Gray Man series

The Gray Man Cover

Over the last few years, I have been really getting into the Gray Man books, and a lot of that is because of Snyder whose audiobook versions are pretty exceptional.  Snyder has lent his voice to all the books in the series, and his work on The Gray Man, One Minute Out, Relentless, Sierra Six and Burner were pretty incredible.  As such, he gets a good honourable mention here, as I really enjoy his work.

 

Jim Dale – Harry Potter series

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Cover

I had to include actor Jim Dale somewhere on this due to his outstanding work narrating the Harry Potter audiobooks.  While Stephen Fry also did a version, I have only had the pleasure of listening to Dale’s version, and it is such an outstanding way to enjoy this iconic series.

 

Scott Brick – Orphan X and Cotton Malone series

Into the Fire

Scott Brick is the narrator of two awesome thriller series, the Orphan X and Cotton Malone books.  I have listened to several great books narrated by Brick, including Into the Fire, Prodigal Son and Dark Horse by Gregg Hurwitz, and The Malta Exchange, The Warsaw Protocol and The Kaiser’s Web by Steve Berry, all of which were fantastic and compelling listens.

 

Joe Jameson – King of Assassins, Fire Made Flesh and The Legacy of the Mercenary King series

king of assassins cover

One narrator who keeps growing on me is Joe Jameson, a talented voice worker who has been narrating several amazing fantasy novels.  This includes the audiobook version of King of Assassins by RJ Barker, and the Warhammer 40,000 novel, Fire Made Flesh by Denny Flowers, both of which were really good.  However, I best know Jameson for his work The Legacy of the Mercenary King series by Nick Martell (The Kingdom of Liars, The Two-Faced Queen and The Voyage of the Forgotten), where I was deeply impressed with his exceptional ability.

Top Ten List (unranked):

Ray Porter – Joe Ledger, Rogue Team International and Kagen the Damned series

Rage Cover

The first entry on this list is the incredible Ray Porter, a narrator whose work I always have such an amazing time with.  While Porter has narrated an excellent number of books, I know him primarily through his collaboration with author Jonathan Maberry.  Porter has narrated most of Maberry’s novels over the years, and they are an impressive and captivating team.  I particularly enjoyed Porter’s work in Maberry’s Joe Ledger series (which includes books like Patient Zero, Code Zero, and Dogs of War) and the sequel Rogue Team International series (featuring Rage and Relentless), as Porter always perfectly fits into the skin of the titular protagonist.  Porter also followed Maberry over to his dark fantasy Kagen the Damned series (Kagen the Damned and Son of the Poison Rose), where his trademark flair really enhances the already exceptional reads.  I also really enjoyed his work on the standalone horror novel Ink, which was one of the best audiobooks of 2020, and the compelling debut, The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield.  Porter always gives 100% to his narration, and he was a very easy first entry for this list.

 

R. C. Bray – Planetside series, The Dark, Mind Bullet and Tribe

The Dark Cover

Another fantastic narrator whose work I have been appreciating lately is R. C. Bray, who has lent his voice to some amazing audiobooks.  I first came across Bray through his work on Michael Mammay’s Planetside series, including Planetside and Colonyside.  Bray did an outstanding job on these science fiction military thrillers, and his gruff voice was perfect for the veteran soldier the series followed.  However, Bray can also voice some other unique characters, a fact I discovered when I listened to the wildly entertaining horror novel, The Dark by Jeremy Robinson.  In this book, Bray voiced a stoner character who finds himself leading the fight against a horde of invading demons.  Not only did Bray really get into this different protagonist, but he helped to turn The Dark into one of the best audiobooks of the year.  Indeed, Bray’s narrator was one of the reasons why I continued to seek out more books from Jeremy Robinson and I also enjoyed his compelling releases Tribe and Mind Bullet.  Both impressive novels were made that much better by Bray’s narrator, and it ended up being a real joy to listen to them.  I look forward to checking out more from Bray in the future, especially as there are so many other great books by Robinson that he has brought to life.

 

James Marsters – Dresden Files series

Battle Ground Cover

The next entry on this list is someone who I was a fan of well before I enjoyed their audiobook work, actor James Marsters.  Best known for his roles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, Marsters has also provided his voice to the audiobook versions of the Dresden Files urban fantasy series by Jim Butcher.  I found this out in 2020 when I listened to the awesome latest entry in the series, Battle Ground, and I instantly fell in love with Marsters’ take on the various characters.  Marsters really dived into the role of titular protagonist Harry Dresden, and I appreciated all the cool voices he did throughout this novel.  I was very excited to see that Marsters narrated all the prior Dresden Files audiobooks as well, so it was an easy choice to check them out.  I have so far enjoyed the first six Dresden Files novels, Storm Front, Fool Moon, Grave Peril, Summer Knight, Death Masks and Blood Rites, and each of them has featured some exceptional voice work from Marsters, which is really worth checking out.

 

Robert Petkoff – Star Trek audiobooks

Star Trek - Picard Cover

Each year there are a ton of Star Trek tie-in novels released, all of which get adapted to audiobook.  Of these multiple Star Trek books, nearly all feature the voice of Robert Petkoff.  Petkoff has an excellent voice for Star Trek, especially as he can perfectly replicate most of the Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Next Generation cast.  I have already listened to a great number of his Star Trek audiobooks including More Beautiful Than Death by David Mack, Agents of Influence by Dayton Ward, The Unsettling Stars by Alan Dean Foster, Picard: The Last Best Hope by Una McCormack and The Captain’s Oath by Christopher L. Bennett, just to name a few.  I currently have several of his audiobooks currently loaded up on my phone, and I will hopefully listen to some of them soon. 

 

Marc Thompson – Star Wars audiobooks

Thrawn Cover

Moving from Star Trek to Star Wars the next narrator I need to highlight is the outstanding Marc Thompson.  Thompson is a wonderfully talented narrator who has been lending his voice to some of the best Star Wars tie-in novels out there, and perfectly bringing them to life.  I love the outstanding range of characters that he can voice, including those from the films, characters from the animated shows, and new characters never seen on screen.  I am a particular fan of the voice he uses for the character of Grand Admiral Thrawn, as he perfectly captures the character’s complexities, especially in books like Thrawn, Chaos Rising, Greater Good and Lesser Evil by Timothy Zahn.  Other impressive examples of his voice work can be seen in the audiobook versions of Scoundrels, Dark Disciple by Christie Golden, Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule and The Rising Storm by Cavan Scott, just to name a few.

 

Steven Pacey – First Law and Age of Madness trilogies

The Trouble with Peace Cover 2

I am a major fan of Joe Abercrombie’s First Law series, so I also must highlight the impressive Steven Pacey.  Pacey is a great narrator who I primarily know through his work on Abercrombie’s novels.  I deeply enjoyed the narration he provided to Abercrombie’s iconic dark fantasy series, the First Law trilogy, with each of the complex characters perfectly portrayed by this talented narrator.  Pacey really puts a lot of himself into this exceptional audiobook adaptions, and I was very happy that he continued to provide his voice to Abercrombie’s Age of Madness sequel trilogy, providing his exceptional voices to books like A Little Hatred, The Trouble with Peace and The Wisdom of Crowds.

 

Jonathan Keeble – Trollslayer series

Vampireslayer Cover

One narrator I had to include on this list due to my continued love of him was the amazing and impressive Jonathan Keeble.  Keeble is a well-established narrator with an intense and powerful voice, and anything he narrates becomes very hard to stop listening to.  I personally known him best as the guy that Black Library entrusted to narrate the audiobook version of the classic Gotrek and Felix series from the Warhammer Fantasy universe.  I have so far enjoyed all the original Gotrek and Felix novels (those written by William King) on audiobook including Trollslayer, Skavenslayer, Daemonslayer, Vampireslayer and Giantslayer and each of these has featured some impressive voice work, especially around the main characters.  I deeply enjoy just how much Keeble thrusts himself into the narrative with his narration, as you can literally here the excitement when he describes all the cool action.  I am hoping to enjoy more of the Gotrek and Felix novels in the future, and as Keeble is lending his voice to the rest of the audiobooks, I will no doubt listen to them on this format as well. 

 

Nigel Planer/Stephen Briggs – Discworld series

Moving Pictures Cover

There was no way that I could do a list about audiobook narrators without mentioning the epic duo of Nigel Planer and Stephen Briggs.  Both Planer and Briggs are talented actors and narrators, but I love them the most for their work on adapting the epic Discworld series by Terry Pratchett.  The Disworld books (such as Moving Pictures and The Last Continent), are my absolute favourite books, and I have so much love for them, especially in their audiobook format.  All the Discworld novels (as well as some other standalone books that Pratchett wrote), were voiced by either Planer or Briggs, with Planer voicing the first 23 books, while Briggs narrated the last 18 books.  Each of these narrators brings something a little different to the books they adapted, but both do an amazing job capturing Pratchett’s unique humour and compelling characters.  I would strongly recommend any Discworld audiobook that these two narrate, and I have so much appreciation for them.  However, this might change in the future as there are some new Discworld audiobooks out with celebrity narrators.  I haven’t had a chance to listen to them yet, and it will be interesting to see how they stack up against the original audiobook versions.

 

Jonathan Davis – Star Wars audiobooks

Star Wars - Kenobi Cover

Another great narrator who has lent his voice to the Star Wars tie-in genre is the talented Jonathan Davis.  Like Thompson, Davis is a leading Star Wars audiobook narrator, and he always does a great job portraying some of the iconic characters from the franchise.  I have had a lot of fun listening to Davis’ work on such books as Master & Apprentice by Claudia Gray, Lords of the Sith by Paul S. Kemp, Maul: Lockdown by Joe Schreiber and the Dooku: Jedi Lost audio drama by Cavan Scott.  I also really need to highlight his work on the awesome Kenobi audiobook (written by John Jackson Miller), which features a really good impersonation of Obi-Wan Kenobi.  I also deeply enjoy his take on iconic characters like Emperor Palpatine, Qui-Gon Jinn and Jabba the Hutt, and it is crazy how good Davis is at replicating their voices.  As such, any Star Wars novel by Davis is really worth listening to, especially if it features characters from the movie, and I cannot recommend this narrator enough. 

 

Toby Longworth – Eisenhorn and the Gaunt’s Ghosts audiobooks

Warhammer 40,000 - Xenos Cover

The final narrator I want to highlight on this list is a relatively new addition for me which is tied into my recent obsession with Warhammer novels.  Longworth is a very impressive narrator who has lent his voice to so many different audiobooks over the years.  However, I have particularly enjoyed his work in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, where he is mostly widely associated with author Dan Abnett.  Longworth has really become the go-to narrator for all Abnett’s classic novels, and I have deeply enjoyed his outstanding take on all these amazing books.  This includes the high concept Eisenhorn trilogy (Xenos, Malleus and Hereticus), as well as the amazing Gaunt’s Ghosts books (First and Only, Ghostmaker, Necropolis, Honour Guard, The Guns of Tanith and The Vincula Insurgency).  In all these audiobooks, Longworth provides an exceptional range of different voices that capture the complex nature of all the relevant characters.  I deeply enjoyed every single audiobook that Longworth works on, and I look forward to listening to all his amazing collaborations with Abnett in the future.

 

 

That’s the end of this latest list.  I think it turned out pretty well, although I do wish I could have made some more changes to it.  I do think I am being a little lazy only rewriting my existing list, so I have come up with some extra lists for this Tuesday which I am hoping to get up later today.  Make sure to check them out and let me know what you think in the comments below.

Throwback Thursday – Warhammer 40,000: Honour Guard by Dan Abnett

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Throwback Thursday, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer4 Comments

Warhammer 40,000 - Honour Guard Cover

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – July 2001)

Series: Gaunt’s Ghosts – Book Four

Length: 10 hours and 12 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Amazon

Welcome back to my Throwback Thursday series, where I republish old reviews, review books I have read before or review older books I have only just had a chance to read.  For this week’s Throwback Thursday I’m still in a Warhammer 40,000 mood, so I decided to dive even further into Dan Abnett’s classic Gaunt’s Ghosts series with the fourth book, Honour Guard.

Readers of this blog will no doubt have noticed a fair increase in the number of Warhammer 40,000 novels I’ve highlighted this year, as this entire grim expanded universe has quite an addictive quality to it.  Foremost amongst these books have been the compelling works of veteran author Dan Abnett, who has written so many impressive and key parts of the Warhammer canon over the years.  I deeply enjoyed his Eisenhorn trilogy (Xenos, Malleus and Hereticus), all three of which were given pride of place in my recent post listing my favourite Warhammer 40,000 novels.  However, his best-known works are his Gaunt’s Ghosts series of books, which catalogue the adventures of the Tanith First and Only regiment of Imperial Guard, better known as Gaunt’s Ghosts.  I have had a wonderful time with the first three novels, First and Only, Ghostmaker and Necropolis, as well as the prequel novel The Vincula Insurgency, which showcased the bloody lives of the common soldier in this war-torn universe.  I have really gotten attached to this series and when I wanted a quick read, there was nothing I would rather turn to then the next Gaunt’s Ghosts book, Honour Guard.

Throughout the extended, system-spanning Sabbat World crusades, the men of the Tanith First and Only have fought against the dark forces of Chaos in every way imaginable.  Led by their heroic commander, Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt, the Tanith soldiers, known colloquially as Gaunt’s Ghosts, have had many victories, but few failures.  So, when fighting on the holy Shrine World of Hagia, the Ghosts are devastated when they trigger a disastrous enemy trap that destroys a holy city and creates a psyker beacon that will draw a massive Chaos fleet down on their position.

Troubled by his failures to protect one of the most important planets in the Sabbat Worlds and made a scapegoat by his commander, Gaunt is left a broken man.  His one chance to save his career and his regiment is to lead the Tanith and an armoured company as an honour guard to a sacred shrine to recover the holy relics of Saint Sabbat.  If he can recover the relics and evacuate them from the planet before the Chaos fleet arrives, he may be able to keep the Ghosts under his command.

Beginning the arduous pilgrimage, Gaunt and his men soon discover that the road to the shrine isn’t as clear as their intelligence indicated.  A vast enemy army lies in wait for them, and the Ghosts will have to fight every step of the way to secure their objective and make their escape.  However, there are far more mysterious forces at work behind the scenes as Gaunt and some of his men soon find themselves being driven on by religious visions of Saint Sabbat herself.  Is the holy saint talking to them, or is something more sinister manipulating them?

Honour Guard was another epic science fiction military adventure that I powered through in no time at all.  Skilfully continuing the intriguing Gaunt’s Ghost story, Abnett has produced a thoughtful and intense read that throws the protagonists into a captivating action-packed scenario that really showcases the gritty nature of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

Honour Guard has a somewhat typical Gaunt’s Ghosts story to it, and if you’ve read the series before then you know that means great characters, intense fights with big set-piece battles, and a compelling look at the common soldier in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.  This fourth book follows on from the events of Necropolis, and Abnett quickly and ably shows the changes to the regiment that the previous adventures have wrought, especially with all the new Verghastite recruits.  Abnett starts things off with an epic series of battles as the Ghosts attempt to take a Chaos controlled city.  This opening sprawl of fights is not only intense but it expertly introduces the new setting, sets up several key story points, and lets the reader know who the main characters of Honour Guard are going to be.  From there, the characters, especially the main protagonist, Gaunt, face a major setback as the city is destroyed, their allies are killed, and a massive Chaos fleet has been summoned to destroy the holy planet they are on.  There are some great moments in this early bit of the book, especially as Abnett really dives into the impacts of the failure on Gaunt.  It also sets up the intriguing story element that Gaunt is likely to lose his command and the Ghosts will be broken up as a result.

With that set up, Abnett then drives into the meat of the story, with Gaunt leading the Ghosts and an armoured regiment as an honour guard to retrieve the sacred relics of one of the Imperium’s most important saints before the enemy fleet arrives.  Framed as an easy mission to give Gaunt an honourable send off, the mission naturally goes to hell when the Ghosts discover a vast enemy army between them and their goal.  This results in several major battles on the road, and Abnett has a lot of fun combining infantry fighting with tank warfare to make the conflicts even more impressive.  Each battle is extremely fun in its own regard, and fans of action and military combat really won’t be disappointed by Honour Guard as a result.  At the same time, there is a real focus on the characters, as several of the protagonists are going through different personal struggles, especially Gaunt.  Abnett also introduces an intriguing and moving side storyline that sees several long-running Gaunt’s Ghosts characters, who were wounded and left behind, attempt to make their own way to the conflict, guided by religious visions.  Everything leads up to a final battle sequence at the objective as the honour guard are trapped with a massive enemy force coming towards them.  Abnett naturally spends pages detailing all the bloody fighting, which serves as a great backdrop to the main story elements.  While I did think that the big finale of the book was too sudden and coincidental, it did fit into the general theme of faith and miracles that were covered in a lot of the plot.  Overall, this was another great, action-heavy narrative that I was able to sit back and enjoy.

As with all Abnett’s work, Honour Guard is extremely well written, and readers who have enjoyed any of the author’s previous books will be aware of what they are in for with this fantastic novel.  The author features a great blend of action, universe building and character development throughout his novel, and readers are ensured of constant excitement or intense, character-driven moments.  The entire story is told from multiple character perspectives, as the entire cast is well represented.  Not only does this allow the reader to get interesting updates from all the intriguing characters, many of whom have been built up in previous books, but it also ensures that you get a wide view of events featured throughout the novel, including several different perspectives of each battle.  I do think that the book was lacking a good antagonist perspective (or honestly a real antagonist character), and if Abnett would have included that, the entire story would have felt a bit more complete.  Still, the sheer number of perspectives and supporting characters ensures that the reader sees every angle of the action.  That is really great, as the battle scenes are some of the best parts of the book.  Abnett never holds back when it comes to the carnage, and every massive fight, armoured vehicle engagement and or infantry push is covered in high detail.  The author really tries to highlight the brutality and trauma of war, as well as the hell each of the soldier characters goes through, and you ended up riveted to the plot as a result, especially as no side character is safe.  I am glad that Abnett keeps up his outstanding writing throughout the Gaunt’s Ghosts series and I ended up getting really caught up in Honour Guard as a result.

This proved to be another interesting addition to both the Gaunt’s Ghosts series and the wider Warhammer 40,000 universe, and fans of both are going to have a pretty great time with this new novel.  As with most of the books in the series, Honour Guard can be read as a standalone novel, although starting with the earlier books does give the reader more insight into the characters.  Abnett really tries to make each of his novels as accessible as possible, and readers new to the series or Warhammer fiction in general can easily dive in here and have a fun time with all the military action.  However, Abnett also has a lot of fun expanding out the canon in Honour Guard, especially as you get to see more regiments of the Imperial Guard in action against the forces of Chaos.  One of the most intriguing lore aspects of Honour Guard is the examination of key elements of the Sabbat Worlds, which have been the overarching focus of this series.  In particular, there is a focus on the legendary figure of Saint Sabbat, who is a personal hero of many of the characters.  This sends the story down an interesting spiral of faith and devotion in the Imperial Cult, as many have their religious beliefs tested due to the earlier events of the story.  As such, there are some great examinations of the Imperial religion, and it is fascinating to see the potential spiritual ramifications of several events throughout the novel.  I also quite enjoyed the main setting of the planet of Hagia, which is only really featured in this novel.  Abnett sets the entire world up very quickly and you soon find yourself caught up in the fight for this religious planet which is completely dedicated to worship of the Emperor and his saints.  Abnett works several religious elements of the planet into the story extremely well, and it proves to be quite fascinating backdrop for this awesome novel.

One of the best things about Abnett’s writing is his ability to construct multiple complex and intriguing characters who all go through some great development.  This is particularly true in the Gaunt’s Ghosts books, as he has constructed a pretty massive cast of characters throughout the first three books in the series who all come into play in Honour Guard.  I really enjoyed all the amazing characters in this fourth novel, especially as there is a very interesting change of dynamics due to the Verghastite recruits joining at the end of the previous novel, Necropolis.  Not only does that mean that some of the best new characters from the previous book are once again featured here, but it builds some fantastic rivalries between the soldiers as the new Ghosts attempt to gain acceptance from the men of Tanith.  Honour Guard ended up being a fantastic litmus test for Abnett’s expanded cast, especially as it introduces some compelling cultural and gender divides to the regiment, while also ensuring that all the fantastic characters the author utilised in Necropolis don’t go to waste.

Many of these great characters really stood out to me in Honour Guard, but of course most of the focus was once again on the central protagonist of Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt.  This was a pretty significant novel for Gaunt, as readers get to see him at his very lowest point after he suffers a devastating defeat.  This pushes him into a depressive spiral, which is very surprising after how controlled and confident he has been in the previous novels.  Abnett really does a great job of showcasing Gaunt’s lost confidence and internal anger, and watching him overcome it becomes an intense part of the book.  The author really dives down deep into Gaunt’s motivations throughout Honour Guard, and you come away feeling a lot closer to the character as a result.  It isn’t always easy for an author to show their main protagonist dealing with defeat and loss, but Abnett did a wonderful job of it in Honour Guard, and I think it makes Gaunt a much stronger figure as a result.

Aside from Gaunt, a lot of the other characters are really well utilised throughout Honour Guard, with some great side storylines and adventures.  Colonel Corbec’s adventure with long-running Gaunt’s Ghosts characters Dorden, Brin Milo and Bragg, had some excellent moments to it, especially as many of them are still dealing with the loss of loved ones or their planet.  Abnett also makes great use of several notable characters introduced in Necropolis like Gol Kolea, Captain Ban Daur and Ana Curth in Honour Guard.  It was great to see the author spending time developing storylines around them which will continue to build throughout the series, and I enjoyed seeing them attempting to integrate into the Tanith regiment.  Even new characters like Viktor Hark, the regiments new Commissar, the slippery and entertaining killer Cuu, and troubled Trooper Vamberfeld, all added some awesome elements to the overall story.  I liked how Hark proved to be a compelling reflection of Gaunt, while Vamberfeld showcased the traumas war can have on a soldier’s mind, while also placing him right in the middle of key events.  However, some of the best character work in Honour Guard occurred around the always entertaining Major Rawne.  Rawne, who has sworn multiple times to kill Gaunt, bears witness to his commander’s fall from grace after his defeat.  However, rather than revelling in it, Rawne ends up having a big confrontation with Gaunt towards the end of the book to snap some sense in him.  Watching this cynical character be the voice of reason to Gaunt was just brilliant, and the resulting exchange added some fantastic layers to Rawne that I deeply enjoyed.  While I really would have loved some more named antagonists, the characters overall in Honour Guard were pretty exceptional, and I really loved how Abnett worked their unique personal narratives into the wider plot.

I doubt anyone is going to be too surprised that I checked out Honour Guard on audiobook, as that has been my preferred format for all Abnett’s books.  This is mainly because the action, characters, and grim setting are always translated across so effortlessly on the audiobook, and you can really appreciate all the cool detail that Abnett includes as a result.  Coming in a just over 10 hours, the Honour Guard audiobook has a pretty typical length for a Warhammer book, and I was able to quickly power through it.  As usual, I need to highlight the amazing narration of Toby Longworth, who has lent his voice to all of Abnett’s previous books.  Longworth has an outstanding voice that really captures the tone of the story and ensures that the reader can envision every single battle taking place.  His real talent is his ability to dive into every single character Abnett comes up with and give them a fitting voice that captures their personality and emotions.  There is some impressive continuation from the previous Gaunt’s Ghosts audiobooks as Longworth brings back all the voices he previously featured there, which I deeply appreciated.  He also employs an intriguing range of accents, which help to emphasise the different planets of origin for the various characters and regiments featured in the book.  This attention to detail and impressive voice work helps to make Honour Guard, and indeed all the Gaunt’s Ghosts audiobooks really stand out, and I had a wonderful time listening to the book in this format.  Easily the best way to enjoy this fantastic novel.

Honestly, there was no question about me enjoying Honour Guard, considering how much fun I have been having with the previous Gaunt’s Ghosts books.  This fourth entry has a great story and some brilliant writing by Abnett, and readers are in for an exceptional experience of bullets, blood and explosions in some the best military fiction in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.  This was an outstanding read, and I can give no higher compliment than to say that the moment I finished off Honour Guard, I started listening to the next novel in the series, The Guns of Tanith.  I honestly cannot get enough of this incredible Warhammer 40,000 series and it will be very interesting to see what unique storylines Abnett cooks up next.

Amazon

City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Fantasy, Five-Star Books1 Comment

City of Last Chances Cover

Publisher: W. F. Howes (Audiobook – 15 December 2022)

Series: Standalone/Book One

Length: 20 hours and 7 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Amazon

Acclaimed fantasy and science fiction author Adrian Tchaikovsky delivers one of the best fantasy books of 2023 with the intricate and captivating City of Last Chances.

Over the last year I have been really getting into the works of Adrian Tchaikovsky, one of the most inventive and imaginative authors of fantasy and science fiction writing today.  Tchaikovsky is a skilled and prolific author who has been a major figure in genre since 2008.  Best known for his Shadows of the Apt, Children of Time, Echoes of the Fall and The Final Architecture series, as well as a compelling collection of standalone novels and novellas (I personally have my eye on his previous novel, Guns of the Dawn), Tchaikovsky has a great habit of creating elaborate new worlds filled with intriguing characters and scenarios.  I have only read a couple of his books so far, including Tchaikovsky’s first Warhammer 40,000 novel, Day of Ascension, and his outstanding 2022 novella, Ogres, but both were outstanding reads and I loved the epic stories both of them contained.  Because of this, Tchaikovsky’s latest standalone novel, City of Last Chances, has been on my radar for a while.  It was released last year, and I finally managed to get a copy on audiobook a short while ago and dove into it as soon as I could.  However, I was unprepared for just how captivating its story would be.

There has always been a darkness hanging over the ancient city of Ilmar.  Known colloquially as the City of Long Shadows, the City of Bad Decisions, and the City of Last Chances, Ilmar is home to many dangerous magical occurrences, including the mysterious Anchorwood at its centre, which serves as a gateway to other far-off worlds.  However, a far more sinister enemy has arrived at Ilmar, the soldiers of the Palleseen, a powerful empire seeking to bring its ideas of perfection and order to all it conquers, whether they like it or not.

After several years of occupation, Ilmar is at a tipping point.  Its citizens are fed up of the corrupt and brutal soldiers, and everyone in Ilmar, be they rebels, criminals, refugees, idealistic students or factory workers, is looking for an opportunity to strike back and make their lives better.  With these forces straining to be unleashed, all it takes is one spark to set the fire of anarchy.  That spark occurs when a powerful Palleseen official leads an ill-advised expedition into the Anchorwood, searching for additional power.  However, he is unaware that an opportunistic thief has stolen the necessary protective amulet in advance, and the expedition is massacred by the creatures that live within the wood.

As news of this crime spreads throughout the city, chaos begins to rear its head.  Everyone is searching for the valuable amulet that was stolen as it represents the greatest chance of freedom many will see, while the Palleseen soldiers are clamping down on the entire city, determined to find those responsible and make them pay.  In this chaos, a mixture of Ilmar’s citizens, including a desperate priest, a violent murderer, an unlucky thief, a duplicitous lecturer and several of the most lost people in the city, will seek to survive the oncoming storm, only to fan the flames further.  However, none are truly prepared for the full danger about to engulf Ilmar, or the heartbreak that follows with it.

Well damn, now that was a pretty damn epic book.  Tchaikovsky has delivered an exceptionally intriguing and addictive novel in City of Last Chances that got me hooked very early on.  I was honestly blown away with the captivating and unique narrative that City of Last Chances contained, and Tchaikovsky drew me in with every fantastic detail and distinctive character.  This book gets a very easy five-star rating from me as I am still thinking about every detail of this book.

City of Last Chances has an amazing fantasy narrative at its centre, which Tchaikovsky backs up with his impressive and distinctive writing style that results in an extremely entertaining, powerful, and intense read.  City of Last Chances follows a raft of different characters as they attempt to navigate a series of deadly events following a single theft.  Tchaikovsky sets out the story in a very interesting way, and the book initially feels more like a collection of short stories than one cohesive narrative; for most of the first half of the book, each chapter acts as a semi-independent story that introduces the reader to a new character and shows their place in Ilmar.  These new characters are often supporting or named figures from a previous character’s chapter, who have their own unique stories and lives.  These character-driven stories are all quite enjoyable and compelling in their own way, and Tchaikovsky cleverly alters the tone so that some come off as very serious, some are quite dark, and others can be a little more comedic and thought provoking.  Some of my initial favourites include the funny and philosophical first chapter around the priest Yasnic and his relationship with God (which reminded me a lot of Small Gods by Terry Pratchett), Langrice’s scene-setting chapter at the mysterious Anchorage inn, and the chapter that gave a proper and humorous introduction to the grim figure of Blackmane as he finds himself about to be executed by a very cheery hangman.  Not only are these chapters very entertaining in themselves, but they effectively set up a larger narrative within City of Last Chances, while also providing great character moments and more and more glimpses into the many aspects of Ilmar.

As the book continues, the character-driven chapters begin to flow on from the preceding storylines, with the catalytic theft of the Palleseen artefact leading to bigger events down the line.  Each chapter adds its own spin to these events by showing new factions, impacted characters, or horrors within the city, or by introducing a new series of spiralling events that begin to unwind the situation even further.  As the story continues, a main cast begins to develop as more of the chapters focus on certain characters.  This really starts to bring the overarching narrative together, and soon the best parts of each unique character and their arcs begin to mingle with the other fantastic figures.  The story soon develops into a great tale of revolution with some Les Misérables vibes to it, as students, refugees, resistance fighters and factory workers begin to revolt.  The substantial main cast is worked into these events extremely well, and the reader is soon wrapped up in their powerful character arcs as well as the overarching story of Ilmar as everything begins to unfold.  Most of this is captured in a series of great chapters focused on the main cast, although new characters are still introduced right up into the end, with some unique, if brief, storylines skilfully worked into the larger narrative.  The author really pushes everything up a notch as the book comes towards the end, and every danger, unusual occurrence and strange character is unleashed to some degree.  There are some outstanding reveals, big battles, and some deeply personal moments that really help to bring the entire fantastic story together.  I particularly loved how some great story elements that were hinted at earlier in the book are brought to the fore at the end, especially as this includes some outstanding twists (Hellgram’s wife was a fun one for me).  However, the true joy is in the way that every major character gets a resolution to their emotional and complex character arcs, leaving the reader breathless in multiple ways.  I felt that Tchaikovsky wrapped everything up perfectly, and this serves as a brilliant and captivating standalone fantasy narrative.

I cannot compliment the way that Tchaikovsky presented this outstanding story enough, as his distinctive writing style really helped to compliment the epic and complex plot.  I have already mentioned his great use of different character focused chapters above, and I must once again highlight how effectively they were used to tell a cohesive and distinctive narrative with so many entertaining facets.  While it did take me a little while to fully appreciate what Tchaikovsky was trying to achieve with these semi-independent chapters, once you notice how the story is coming together through character-focused sequences, you really grow to appreciate it.  The continued change of character focus ensures that Tchaikovsky keeps the pace of City of Last Chances pretty brisk, and it is easy to quickly move through the story, especially once you get caught up in the tale of Ilmar and its people that the author is developing.  Tchaikovsky also introduces some impactful changes in tone throughout the book, as City of Last Chances runs the gauntlet from being light-hearted to emotionally draining, as the protagonists go through hell and back while also trying to deal with their own personal problems.  The author puts in some pretty intense scenes throughout this powerful story, many of which leave the characters reeling in different ways, and there are also some quite terrifying or shocking sequences as the full horror of this city is revealed in gruesome fashion.  However, these darker scenes are often undercut with some fun and amusing humour that helps to diffuse the tension at some key parts of the plot and which I found to be very refreshing.  This humour is often a little black and cynical in context, which ensures that the reader is left amused, and sometimes laughing, without the story getting too light and drifting away from its harsher content.  I really think that Tchaikovsky found the right balance here, and I rather enjoyed how he mixed everything together.  I had so much fun seeing how Tchaikovsky wove his complex tale into this book and City of Last Chances really emphasises just how talented he is as an author.

One of the key things that made City of Last Chances such a hit for me was the outstanding setting of Ilmar.  Tchaikovsky has always been exceedingly good at effectively building up an inventive and complex new setting for his stories, and this is some of his best work yet.  The author shows Ilmar through the eyes of so many different characters in this book, each of whom adds a new aspect to its history, character, and energy, as the story progresses.  This proves to be quite an effective way to introduce the setting, and the reader soon gets an impressive picture of the entire chaotic glory of this oppressed city.  I love all the aspects of this place, including the magical dimension-hopping wood and the responsibilities surrounding it, the demon powered factories, the oppressed refugee areas, the idealistic student academy and the sinister Reproach, an abandoned part of the city filled with magically cursed wretches dancing to their death.  Each of these complex and compelling elements are explored to their fullest throughout City of Last Chances and I really appreciated how Tchaikovsky built them up and then effectively featured them again later in the story.

The author also explores various parts of the world outside of Ilmar, and it is interesting to see how that impacts on the main story.  I particularly liked the use of the Palleseen as the overarching antagonists of the story and Tchaikovsky paints them as an obsessed group of fanatics trying to bring their ideas of perfection to an unwilling world.  This plays into several of Tchaikovsky usual themes about oppression and revolution, and he sets the Palleseen up as a vindictive group, who are often hamstrung by the practices and bureaucracy they force on their enemy.  The entire focus on the city of Ilmar being unleashed to face the occupiers was an excellent part of the book, and Tchaikovsky built up all the factions and chaotic nature of the city really well.  As such, Ilmar is a brilliant background setting to this great story and I really appreciated how Tchaikovsky set his story into it.

While I loved so many of City of Last Chances elements, for me the most important and powerful part of the book is the characters, as Tchaikovsky introduces the reader to a massive and captivating cast of figures who travel through the story in their own fashion.  Due to the way the story is set out, there are quite a lot of characters in City of Last Chances, with new cast members being added in every chapter, either to support the current point-of-view protagonist or to set them up for their own chapter later.  As such, there is a real focus on quickly and effectively getting to the root of each character in their first chapter, and I think that Tchaikovsky did a great job on this score.  You get to know each of these figures really quickly and you really get drawn into their unique tales and arcs, many of which are perfectly developed over the course of the book.  While the cast is pretty massive, each of these characters is given plenty of time to develop and many prove to be particularly complex and relatable as a result.

While there are so many great characters, several definitely stood out to me, especially as Tchaikovsky kept going back to them.  This includes Yasnic, the last priest of a diminished and petty god who now haunts his one follower.  Yasnic is a fantastic and occasionally comedic character, which reminded me a little of the protagonist of Terry Pratchett’s Small Gods.  While I did think that Yasnic was a bit one-note at the start of the book, he develops as the story continues, and you really appreciate just how complex and damaging his life as a priest has been, thanks to his god’s arbitrary rules, many of which have actual good reasons behind them.  Watching him try to balance his faith and connection to his god against the terrible things being done to him and the city is a key part of the book, and it leads to some emotionally powerful scenes, especially when Yasnic thinks that his god is being taken away from him against his will.

Other great characters include Langrice, the shunned owner of the Anchorage, the inn that borders the Anchorwood, and Blackmane, an Allorwen refugee and former sorcerer, who serves as a criminal pawnbroker.  Both characters are older and wearier figures who are trying to survive the harsh circumstances of their lives the best way they can.  Both are shown to be outcasts to their own people in different ways, and this leads to a compelling relationship between the two, even if they do not actually trust each other.  I also quite liked the character of Maestro Ivarn Ostravar, a lecturer at Ilmar’s Gownhall university, who acts as a great patriot to his students while actually collaborating with the Palleseen.  Ivarn is a particularly arrogant figure who manages to manipulate people’s views of him, and it is really fun to see him thrown into situations outside of his control, especially when his own reputation works against him and forces him to become the figure head of resistance.  His student, Lemya, is also a great part of the book due to her fervent idealism brought on by Ivarn’s teachings.  Off course, her naivety comes back to bite her and the other characters repeatedly, and while her actions are often a little frustrating, it is great to see her slowly realise she is being manipulated and gain some common sense.

However, to my mind the best character in the book is Ruslav, which is frankly a shock as he initially shown as a simple thug with an obsession for women.  However, Tchaikovsky keeps coming back to him as the story develops and each new situation he finds himself in makes him more complex and likeable.  His first chapter shows how his entire perspective on life is changed when he falls in love with a beautiful painting, which starts a great character arc of self-discovery and confusion for him.  Tchaikovsky keeps developing Ruslav’s story as the book continues and he soon faces more and more challenges, including a mortal injury, a hanging, and forced religion.  The latter is the most damaging to him as he is forced to give up violence, the one thing in life he is good at, to stay alive, which results in quite the existential crisis.  Watching him try to fit all the unusual events occurring to him into his insights as a street thug proves to be entertaining and very relatable, as you understand just how much of a struggle each of his new experiences are for him.  His coarse humour fits into this arc very well, and watching him swear at his new, inadvertent god and all the people of different backgrounds he is forced to deal with, makes for some very fun scenes.  However, not all of Ruslav’s storyline is comedic, as Tchaikovsky loads in continued tragedy for him as well, that really shakes him, and the reader, to their core.  The author seems to both love and hate Ruslav, and the resulting damage and development he goes through result in some of the most emotionally rich parts of City of Last Chances.  I honestly am still surprised that Ruslav turned out to be such a great character, but he and the rest of the cast really make City of Last Chances an epic book, and I am really glad I got the opportunity to dive into their unique lives.

As with many of the larger fantasy books I tend to read, I chose to seek out the City of Last Chances audiobook format, which served as an outstanding way to enjoy this fantastic and elaborate book.  This new Tchaikovsky audiobook is pretty long with a run time of just over 20 hours, and it did take me a little while to get through it, although it was very much worth the time.  I always find that listening to an audiobook helps me to absorb more detail for some books, and this was particularly useful for City of Last Chances as Tchaikovsky has once again loaded his unique setting and captivating story with so many intricate elements.  As such, I was really able to full appreciate the full complexity of the dark city of Ilmar and its many, desperate residents.

I was also extremely impressed with the voice work of narrator David Thorpe, who ensured that the listeners could full enjoy every single aspect of City of Last Chances.  Thorpe, whose narration I have not had the pleasure of before, did a spectacular job here in City of Last Chances and I honestly enjoyed every second he spent telling this story.  Not only has he got a great base voice that tells the main story at a clipped and exciting pace but he also provides a ton of impressive tones for all the characters in this book.  Every one of City of Last Chances’ unique characters is given a particularly fitting voice that captures their personalities and really helps to convey to the reader some of their key points, such as Yasnic’s meekness, Ostravar’s arrogance, or Lemya’s unbridled idealism.  Thorpe also comes up with several great accents that he uses to differentiate some of the different races and nationalities contained within the city, and I felt that this really helped to emphasise the cultural elements contained within the story.  Overall, the City of Last Chances audiobooks is pretty damn spectacular, and I loved how the entire thing came together.  I had so much fun listening to Thorpe’s great take on the characters, and this is easily the best way to enjoy this epic read.

City of Last Chances is a brilliant and wonderful novel by Adrian Tchaikovsky that I cannot start raving about.  I quickly became enthralled the outstanding and compelling narrative that he pulled together throughout City of Last Chances, and his fantastic delivery, intriguing setting, and impressive characters all drew me in.  This is easily one of the best books I have read so far in 2023 and it comes very highly recommended by The Unseen Library.  I cannot wait to see what amazing book Tchaikovsky comes up with next, as if it is any where as good as City of Last Chances, I am going to love it.

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