Tag: Action Packed

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Fantasy, Five-Star Books, Science Fiction, Throwback Thursday13 Comments

Publisher: Soundbooth Theater (Audiobook – 21 September 2020)

Series: Dungeon Crawler Carl – Book One

Length: 13 hours and 31 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Have you ever had one of those books or series that everybody seems to be talking up all the time?  Lately for me that series has been the Dungeon Crawler Carl novels by Matt Dinniman.  An intriguing LitRPG series, the Dungeon Crawler Carl books are a funky and hilarious fantasy and science fiction hybrid that places its outrageous protagonist into an unlikely alien reality show filled with subterranean dungeons inspired from classic RPGs.  A series with a very interesting premise, I have been seeing so much online about the Dungeon Crawler Carl books over the last couple of years, with everyone praising it and really talking it up.  Despite not having a lot of experience with the LitRPG genre (except for Ascension by B. F. Rockriver), I decided to check out the first novel in the series, also titled Dungeon Crawler Carl, to see what all the fuss was about, and boy did that have an excellent result.

When aliens come to Earth, first contact is far more brutal and unusual than you could ever expect.  Instead of communicating or conquering, the aliens instead instantaneously collapse every single human-made structure down into the ground, killing everyone who was inside.  Only those standing outside at the time survived, and they are given a dire choice: either remain on the planet’s now desolate surface with no shelter, or journey down into the subterranean 18-level dungeon that has been formed from humanity’s repurposed buildings.

For those few million human survivors who journey into the newly labyrinth, they soon encounter a fantasy-inspired dungeon, filled with traps, monsters, loot and other dark dangers to navigate.  These survivors, known as dungeon crawlers, need to keep moving downwards in the hope of reaching the 18th floor and the promised reward it contains.  Death and dismemberment are a near certainty in the dungeon, so contestants will need to learn how to kill mobs, find enchanted gear, learn new combat skills or magic and keep getting stronger, all before the level they are on collapses.  However, this dungeon is far more that a contest of might and magic; it is the most popular reality program in the galaxy, seen by untold trillions of aliens, and only those crawlers who can gain a strong following and rich sponsors are likely to survive.

Into this chaotic situation is thrown unlikely hero Carl.  A simple man caught outside in his underwear as he attempted to retrieve his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, Carl soon finds himself fighting for his life in the most ridiculous of circumstances.  Teaming up with the now sentient Princess Donut, Carl finds that the dungeon has a steep learning curve, and he will need all his resolve, cunning and the friendship of a superpowered cat to survive.  However, as Carl and Princess Donut accidently become two of the most popular contestants in the game, they will need to contend with everyone who wants them dead, both from inside the dungeon and without, as they constantly move downwards.  Dangerously overmatched, completely overwhelmed, and with a distinct lack of pants for Carl, this unlikely duo will need to learn how to survive big and show the universe and the unhinged AI controlling the game that they are worth keeping alive.

Goddammit Dinniman, how could you create something so damn addictive.  It turns out that for once the internet crowd had this 100% right, and Dungeon Crawler Carl was everything they said it would be and more.  A clever, intense and overall hilarious romp through a cool LitRPG scenario, Dungeon Crawler Carl had me hooked very early on and I absolutely powered through this epic adventure novel which I just had to give a full five-star rating.

I really, really loved the cool story in Dungeon Crawler Carl, which starts off quickly and never lets up all the way to the end.  Starting with a quick but effective introduction to Carl, which then leads to the world collapsing and him being forced to enter the dungeon with his cat, you are soon immersed in this new crazy world, with some bloody opening fights setting the crazy tone for the rest of the novel.  After an in-depth sequence that explains the rules of the world, Dungeon Crawler Carl takes off again at a fast pace made even more entertaining thanks to the introduction of the now sentient cat, Princess Donut.  Forced to keep fighting through monsters, traps and other obstacles, the action and excitement never lets up, and I really appreciated how Dinniman naturally flowed the protagonists into fresh scenarios, including unusual boss fights, explosive opportunities, and starting a meth war between goblins and fire-spitting llamas.

The second half of Dungeon Crawler Carl goes in some very interesting direction, as the protagonists encounter other Crawlers, with some very different results, while also ensuring the full and often ultra-bonkers horrors of the first two levels of the dungeon keep coming at you hard and fast.  There is some great character development as the book continues, both literally and figuratively, and it was interesting to see the characters evolve to face the unique threats of the dungeon in their own way.  Dinniman threw in some clever and often hilarious solutions to many of the obstacles the protagonists face (although most of them involve explosives), and you’re constantly on the edge of your seat as you wait to see how they will survive going forward.  There is also some excellent universe expansion as the characters experience the reality-television obsessed world outside the dungeon, which often leads to some hints of the dangers to come later in the series.  These upcoming elements are well placed into the book, which allows the readers to anticipate what is to come, while not distracting from the main plot points.  The conclusion of Dungeon Crawler Carl comes a little after the big events of the book, but it sits in a good place as part of the wider series.  This novel ends up being an exceptional read on its own, while also being an excellent first entry in the series that perfectly sets up the many over-the-top adventures to come.

This proved to be a very cleverly put together novel, and Dinniman really excelled at utilising the unique elements of the LitRPG genre and utilising in his story.  Featuring a very cool explanation for why the protagonists are trapped in a fantasy dungeon (alien reality television show to determine the fate of the planet is an awesome plot idea), you soon get engrossed in the LitRPG themes of the book, as the characters are instantly forced to battle mobs to survive.  Due to the time limits built into the plot, the protagonists are quickly forced to adapt to the new way of living (or dying), and the reader is given a crash course in the mechanics of the game system.  I found these to be quite fascinating, and you really get engrossed in the various levelling, skills, magical items, achievements and other elements of the game, which fans of RPGs of all varieties will be familiar with.  The dungeon itself is a unique blend of classic fantasy creatures and tropes, with exaggerated elements of modern human culture, allowing for modern references to go together with fights against goblins and other creatures.  Dinniman also adds in a great reality television element to the plot, as the protagonists are forced to earn followers and appeal to a wider audience to improve their chances, like The Hunger Games on steroids.  The author does an excellent job of setting these unique elements up, and it’s a great extra edge to the typical LitRPG elements.

Dinniman ensures that these LitRPG elements continue to be quite entertaining throughout the entirety of Dungeon Crawler Carl thanks to a variety of factors, mainly humour.  Nearly every scene in this book is incredibly funny of various levels, including entertaining character interactions, reactions to over-the-top scenarios, various subtle jokes, and a large amount of more noticeable adult humour that reflects the crazy situation and big personalities of the plot.  I personally loved how Dinniman enhanced all the game elements of the book, such as item and mob descriptions, achievements, skill discussions and more, by including comedic summaries loaded with jokes, references and the barely controlled fetishes of the AI running the dungeon.  These wacky descriptions made the more LitRPG-heavy parts of the plot flow a lot better, especially as readers with less interest in RPGs can still have fun with these scenes.  Dinniman works to make various other LitRPG elements more entertaining for casual readers in various other ways, such as ensuring all the scenes featuring the chat function are quite distinct and humorous due to Princess Donut’s insistence of only writing in caps.  I honestly was left laughing out loud multiple times throughout Dungeon Crawler Carl, and the sheer ridiculousness of the story, as well as the often quite inappropriate, yet hilarious jokes, was just too much for me.

While there is a definite focus on comedy and jokes in Dungeon Crawler Carl, Dinniman also adds in some real emotional heart to the story, mainly through the focus on the protagonists.  The relationship between the perspective protagonist Carl, and the now sentient cat Princess Donut adds some excellent and powerful depth to the book, especially as they grow to be a compelling team.  While initially thrown together in unlikely fashion, the grumpy Carl and the amusing Princess Donut, who has all the smugness and confidence of a prize-winning cat, turn into the ultimate odd-couple, made even more entertaining by the fact that the cat is much more powerful than Carl.  Dinniman throws in a lot of very entertaining quirks for both characters that makes you love them; however, it is the more subtle examination of the protagonist’s deeper emotions that help to enhance this narrative even more.  This includes Carl’s deep internal anger, brought on by various factors, the despair he feels at the complete destruction of his world, and his continued attempted heroics, even when it puts him at greater risk.  I loved how both Carl and Princess Donut both grew to become quite dependent on each other as the book continued, and while there is still a lot of growth needed for both, you can see that their bond is going to be the powerful centre of the plot.

Aside from Carl and Princess Donut, Dungeon Crawler Carl is loaded with an outstanding array of characters who each bring their own brand of fun to the plot.  I personally enjoyed the protagonist’s guide, Mordecai, a veteran former crawler who provides advice on how to proceed, while also hiding the trauma of his own adventures in a previous dungeon.  There was also an array of compelling and distinctive mobs, alien night show hosts, and other creatures associated with the production, who on the surface are quite entertaining and funny, but whose deeper tragedies work to highlight just how dark the dungeon process truly is.  There are also some other distinctive fellow crawlers thrown into the plot, and it is interesting to see how humans will react to the terrible situation before them, either becoming heroes or dark villains.  Finally, I must mention the AI running the dungeon, who proves to be one of the more entertaining figures in the book, despite not appearing in person in any way.  His very over-the-top commentary and descriptions for all the game mechanics was ultra-hilarious, and there are so many great jokes there.  However, it was the AI’s more subtle actions that proved to be the funniest part of this electronically ethereal figure’s inclusion, as it guides the game to suit its own interests and desires.  This includes giving very specific items to the protagonists to produce the most amusing story, while other rewards and loot encourage Carl to remain barefoot and lacking pants throughout the game for “reasons”.  I felt that this excellent cast really matched the over-the-top story that Dinniman threw together for Dungeon Crawler Carl, and every character made an amusing and memorable impact on the story.

I ended up checking out the audiobook for Dungeon Crawler Carl, which was honestly exceptional, and I cannot emphasise enough just how effective this format enhanced Dinniman’s great story and outrageous humour.  Narrated by Jeff Hays, who might be one of my new favourite audiobook voice actors, all the action, intensity and the distinctive characters of Dungeon Crawler Carl came across exceptionally well in this format, and I absolutely loved how effectively Hays conveyed the entire craziness of this novel.  The narrator provides an excellent voice for the protagonist, Carl, that served as the base tone for most of the narration, and you really get to feel the protagonist’s fear, determination and continued exasperation, especially when he encounters all the crazy twists and inclusions.  Hays’ voices for the other characters of Dungeon Crawler Carl also helps to make this audiobook stick out.  For example, the tone that Hays choice for Mordecai perfectly fit the tired, old mentor, while his Princess Donut voice is so damn entertaining, especially as you can fully appreciate the character’s catlike nature with Hays’ high-pitched and demanding voice.  Hays also captures all the fun features of weird mobs of the dungeon, including goblins and other sentient creatures, and there are some very striking and funny voices featured there.  However, it is the tone he uses when speaking in the voice of the AI running the dungeon that is the best.  Cheerful and sarcastic, Hays perfectly captures this computer program’s weird sense of humour with his narration, and I loved the boisterous way he reads out the achievements, the skills, item stats and more, especially for more colourful descriptions that require accents or other creepier voice changes.  This outstanding narration worked on so many levels with Dinniman’s unique style, and I frankly could not get enough of listening to Dungeon Crawler Carl on audiobook, which is just the best way to check out this novel.

Overall, I had an exceptional time with Dungeon Crawler Carl, and this series instantly became my new obsession.  Fun, outrageous and constantly exciting, Dungeon Crawler Carl lives up to all the hype surrounding it, and I was really impressed with Matt Dinniman’s ability to craft a complex story that will potentially get better with each new entry.  Honestly the best way to showcase just how much I enjoyed Dungeon Crawler Carl is to reveal that as soon as I finished this first book I instantly started listening to the sequel, Carl’s Doomsday Scenario, and then the third book, The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook, soon after that.  I will probably end up powering through this series in the next few months, hopefully before the eighth book comes out next year, and I cannot wait to see where Dinniman takes this beautifully unhinged plot next.

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The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy, Five-Star Books, Murder Mystery3 Comments

Publisher: Hodderscape (Trade Paperback – 29 April 2025)

Series: The Eternal Path – Book One

Length: 646 pages

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Intriguing author Antonia Hodgson presents one of the best fantasy debuts of 2025 with The Raven Scholar, a powerful and complex novel that hooks you early and refuses to let go all the way to its shocking end.

Earlier this year I was lucky enough to receive a copy of The Raven Scholar, a massive fantasy novel with a very interesting plot idea behind it that will set up the new Eternal Path trilogy.  I had really enjoyed Hodgson’s debut novel, the historical thriller The Devil in the Marshalsea, many years ago, and I really got caught up in The Raven Scholar’s complex and brilliant story.

In the empire of Orrun, a new emperor is crowned every 24 years, with a replacement chosen from acolytes of the eight animal guardians whose blessings have warded and kept the empire in check for generations.  However, the current emperor, Bersun the Brusque, has not had a peaceful reign, marred by an attempted assassination and the subsequent execution of his attacker’s daughter.  His replacement offers a chance at a new era for Orrun, but the sins of the past continue to haunt all involved.

As the next Trials to determine the next emperor begin, seven skilled and revered young challengers emerge for the crown, and it falls to Neema Kraa, the emperor’s brilliant, if unsocial, High Scholar to organise much of the proceedings.  However, the Trials are thrown into chaos when the Raven contender is brutally murdered, and all the evidence points to Neema as the suspect.

Tasked with proving her innocence, Neema is shocked when emperor Bersun decides to make her the new Raven contender.  Suddenly facing six highly skilled rival contenders who have trained their entire lives to compete in the trials, as well as a proxy chosen by the mystical Dragon temple, Neema finds herself fighting for her life in the deadliest contests imaginable.  If she succeeds, she could take the throne, but to do so she must first survive a dark conspiracy infecting the palace, one that threatens all Orrun and could lead to a new age of darkness for the empire.  Nothing is what it seems, and with the animal guardians returning to the world, chaos is about to engulf the trials, changing its contenders forever.

With an exceptional and powerful story that I could just not put down, The Raven Scholar was a particularly amazing fantasy debut that I absolutely could not stop reading.  Clever, twisty, and continuously exciting, Antonia Hodgson really impressed me with The Raven Scholar, and due to how quickly I absorbed its over 600 pages of content, I have no choice but to give it a full five-star rating.

I must admit, going in I didn’t know what to expect from The Raven Scholar, but I ended up being extremely impressed with the elaborate narrative Hodgson pulled together.  Set around a wonderfully expansive fantasy story about a tournament of skill and brains, Hodgson had to do a lot in this book, and I feel that she ended up creating something very special and particularly addictive.  Starting with an intense introduction that provides some key context for the later events of the story, Hodgson pulls a very interesting move of inflicting a dark fate on the protagonist of this initial part of the book before jumping the plot forward several years and presenting a new main perspective character.  The impacts of this introduction are well felt throughout the rest of the book’s plot, and I love the various secrets, hidden hints and impacts these first couple of chapters had.

Hodgson then moves the narrative of The Raven Scholar into the elaborate period of the tournament to determine the new Emperor of Orrun.  Primarily shown from the perspective of High Scholar Neema Kraa, an isolated figure who suddenly finds herself in the middle of proceedings when the initial Raven contender for the throne, an old rival of Neema, is murdered, and Neema is considered a potential suspect.  Attempting to investigate the crime, Neema finds herself placed as the new Raven contender and must try to survive the intense trials to come.  I love a good tournament arc in fiction, and this proved to be an extremely fun one as each of the participants had to complete several different tasks chosen by each of the participating temples, as well as compete in a series of duels between each task.  This allows for an interesting combination of physical and mental assignments, which proved to be very compelling, as you tried to see who would take the throne.

While the tournament is the narrative highlight of The Raven Scholar, it is only one part of the story, as Hodgson creates some very interesting additional arcs throughout the plot.  Namely, Neema finds herself investigating a dark conspiracy within the palace following the murder of her former contender.  The author uses her past crime fiction experience extremely well here, crafting together a very elaborate and intense mystery narrative that the protagonist is constantly dragged into.  It doesn’t take too long for her to realise the scope of the conspiracy before her, as well as who the participants in it are, although there are a lot of hidden secrets and motivations that come out as the story continues.  I really loved all the impressive twists and turns that resulted in this part of the book, and the massive overarching conspiracy blends extremely well with the tournament part of the story, with the revealed antagonists using elements of it to try and take out the Neema and other problematic contenders.  I also really appreciated how so much of the big moments of the plot flowed on from the complex introduction to the story, and Hodgson does an amazing job hiding hints at what is to come throughout the entire book.  Everything leads to the big finale of The Raven Scholar, where all the secrets come out and you are left shocked by what occurs.  I honestly didn’t see every twist coming, and I loved how Hodgson kept subverting expectations about where the plot would be going.  The book ends on a very interesting note, and you will come away very excited to see where the series goes from here, especially as the story can only get more complex and twisted.

The Raven Scholar was a really well written novel, and I must highlight how well Hodgson combined her elaborate fantasy world and it’s defining tournament, with complex characters and excellent intrigue and mystery.  The range of elements in this novel is very impressive, and I liked how well Hodgson brought them together, allowing for quite a well-layered book.  The author’s ability to insert an array of subtle hints and important details throughout the book was also amazing, with a variety of seemingly inconsequential statements, conversations or observations coming back into play at later parts of the story.  Some of these were particularly clever and I really appreciated seeing all these cool elements coming into play as the story continued.  This powerful narrative is further enhanced by the author’s intricate fantasy universe, which makes good use of its zodiac inspired system of animal guardians to create a very compelling tournament background.  The scenes throughout the tournament are a true highlight and I loved the intense action and the high stakes that accompanied them.  Throw in the machinations of several of the animal guardians, as well as the complex past of some of the characters, and there is so much to absorb and appreciate about this elaborate book.

I also really enjoyed the impressive cast of The Raven Scholar, whose unique stories added some excellent additional detail to the plot.  The main protagonist, Neema Kraa, was a great central figure in the book, especially with her complex past, poor social status, and the fact that her current advancement came as a result of her worst actions.  Neema spends much of The Raven Scholar trying to redeem her past mistakes, and her eventual placement in the tournament allows her the chance to prove herself.  You really get invested in Neema’s struggles as the book continues, and I liked how she kept evolving to meet the challenges before her, becoming a major contestant to the throne.  The rest of the contenders are all interesting in their own way, and I appreciated the compelling storylines and history that the author built around them.  This includes the Fox contender, Cain, whose complicated romantic past with Neema becomes one of the more interesting recurring plotlines in the book, while his bold nature and inappropriate sense of humour made him a firm favourite of the reader.  I personally enjoyed how Neema twisted his past a little as the plot continued, ensuring that his arc went in some surprising and dark directions, and you really feel drawn to him, especially when he annoys all the other more serious figures in the book.

Other key characters include the Tiger contender, Ruko Valit, who was a dark figure in the plot, especially as he deals with the treachery that led him to become a favourite in the tournament.  A determined and arrogant figure, Hodgson works a great potential redemption arc around Ruko, while also cleverly hinting at the destructive role he will have in the future.  Ruko’s sister Yana was a key early figure in the novel, and while you don’t get the chance to know her too well, the consequences of the actions taken around her haunt many of the characters to come.  The rest of the cast are also cool, although I will limit myself by highlighting a really sinister hidden antagonist, as well as certain animal guardians who visit the realm and interfere with some of the contenders in dramatic manners.  I personally felt the various aspects of the Raven for example were fun, not only with how part of them influences Neema, but with the narrator role the main body takes on for part of the book, which includes footnotes.  All these figures, as well as the many other compelling figures featured within the plot, help to make The Raven Scholar something very special, and I look forward to seeing how many of the fantastic character arcs Hodgson started here, continue in the future.

Overall, I found The Raven Scholar to be an extremely cool and outstanding book, especially as author Antonia Hodgson weaved together a particularly intricate and captivating narrative.  Loaded with intriguing details, clever twists, amazing characters, and so much excitement, I quickly fell in love with The Raven Scholar, and I could not stop reading it, powering through hundreds of pages at a time.  I honestly cannot recommend this book enough, and I enjoyed The Raven Scholar so much that I had to include it on my recent list of top books from the first half of 2025.  I cannot wait to see how Hodgson continues this series going forward, but I am already certain it is going to be something really awesome and very memorable.

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Mort by Terry Pratchett

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Comedy/Satire, Extended Universe, Fantasy, Five-Star Books, Throwback Thursday1 Comment

Publisher: Gollancz/Penguin Audio (Audiobook – 1987)

Series: Discworld – Book Four/Death – Book One

Length: 7 hours and 18 minutes (Planer version)/7 hours and 57 minutes (Clifford version)

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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My dive into the always outstanding Discworld series by the legendary Terry Pratchett continues with one of the earlier classics, Mort, a clever and highly entertaining novel that still hits hard after all these years.

Readers of this blog will be aware of my obsession for all things Discworld, which I have been a mega fan of for many years.  I have had the very great pleasure of reading all the books in the Discworld series multiple times, and I honestly love everything about them, so much so that I even named this blog after a key setting in the series.  I’ve recently been having one of my periodic re-reads of the series, which has seen me finally review some of my favourite Discworld entries, including Pyramids, Guards! Guards!, Moving Pictures, Small Gods and Men at Arms.  The next entry in the series I decided to reread was the wonderfully compelling Mort.  The fourth book in the series, this is one of the earlier Discworld novels and serves as the first book in the Death sub-series.

They say that death comes for everybody, but on the Discworld that statement couldn’t be more true, as everyone will eventually encounter Death, the black-robed, scythe wielding skeleton who personifies the end of life.  However, not all encounters with Death are the same, as terminally unqualified teenager Mort is about to discover, as instead of taking his life, Death offers Mort a job.

Suddenly saddled with the responsibilities of being the apprentice of Death, Mort finds his life a lot more complicated.  Reaping the souls of the recently departed is one thing, but learning to walk through walls and deal with the unlikely whims of his new master is another, especially as Death seems determined to set Mort up with his adopted daughter Ysabell.  However, the big problems begin when Mort impulsively decides to change fate and save the life of a young princess destined to die.

Forced to find a way to stop the diverging threads of reality while keeping the princess alive, Mort soon discovers that being the Grim Reaper isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.  Worse, with the real Death suddenly discovering the joys of life, Mort’s own humanity is starting to slip away.  Can Mort and a group of unlikely companions save reality, or will he have to face his final judgement at the hands of the universe’s most unyielding employer?

Mort was a particularly impressive Discworld novel from Pratchett, especially as it was probably the book where the author finally found his true writing groove.  Fun, thoughtful and featuring a clever and concise story, Mort was an outstanding read, and I once again powered through in very short order.  As such, Mort gets a very well-deserved five-star rating from me and is a particularly awesome Discworld novel to check out.

I loved the very impressive story that Pratchett came up with for Mort, which takes the concept of Death finding an apprentice and going to the extreme with it.  Starting at an initially slow pace that introduces the key characters of Mort and Death, you soon get invested in Mort’s tale of young man coming into his own in a very unusual field.  Things get interesting quickly when Mort decides to save the life of a young princess destined to die and soon splits reality down the middle.  This leads to a very addictive middle section, as Mort attempts to save the princess while also ensuring reality doesn’t split apart.  At the same time, Death, who finds his time freed up thanks to his assistant, begins to wonder around the world learning about humans and trying to have fun.  The resulting outlandish interactions with Death are a great counterpoint to Mort’s storyline, especially as this results in the apprentice starting to obtain his own powers, often with hilarious results.

Everything cleverly and quickly leads up to the big final third of the novel, where a less-than-human Mort and a scrappy Ysabell attempt to do a disappeared Death’s duty, while also finding a way to save the doomed princess, whose own attempts to stay in reality have been less than successful.  At the same time, fun supporting character Albert, Death’s manservant, returns to his old profession on the Disc and tries to find the original Death, who has found his own unlikely niche in the mortal world.  This final third of Mort is extremely fun, fast-paced and surprisingly impactful, especially as the author keeps raising the stakes for the protagonists, and you are very much unable to stop reading it as you try to see where all the entertaining storylines are going.  However, it’s the inevitable showdown between Death and Mort that really ties everything together perfectly.  Their intense, deeply personal and perfectly showcased duel is amazing, especially as it expertly builds off all the character growth in the novel.  Ending on a hopeful note that sets the tone for a great character going forward, you come away from Mort very happy and with an interesting new outlook on life and its always-grinning counterpart.

I really enjoyed how Mort came together, especially as this is the Discworld novel where Pratchett perfects the style and storytelling methods that make his later novels such a treat to read.  As such, Mort is an early classic in the series, so much so that it is a perfect entry point for new Discworld fans, who get to see a lot of key ideas develop here, while also being introduced to the author’s humour and clever storytelling.  Mort definitely benefited from Pratchett developing a more concise storytelling style here, keeping the narrative a little more focused than the previous novels, and this works as a well-crafted standalone read.  Pratchett also does an outstanding job combining cool fantasy elements with outrageous humour and complex characters, and the result is a very entertaining read that will appeal to a wide range of readers.  Part coming-of-age story, part examination of an extreme mid-life crisis, Mort’s narrative hits a lot of generational notes, and while some of his ideas about splitting reality and the nature of the Discworld are a little complex, Pratchett ensures that readers can completely follow his thought all the way to the fantastic conclusion.

As with all Discworld books, Pratchett imbues Mort with an amazing level of humour, and I loved how intensely funny this novel was at times.  Despite Mort essentially being a novel about mortality and destiny, this is a very light-hearted novel thanks to the entertaining characters and the unusual situations they find themselves in.  There are several different levels of humour contained within Mort, ranging from obvious jokes and over-the-top situations to well-setup references or clever name gags, as well as the subtly funny footnotes that really dive into the absurdity of this flat world that lies atop a giant turtle.  Some of the funniest parts of Mort lie in the usually hardboiled and cynical inhabitants of the Disc suddenly encountering Death in unlikely scenarios.  This becomes particularly prevalent later in the novel when Death leaves the job to Mort and wanders the world looking to understand “fun”, and the various scenes with Death fishing, going to parties, getting drunk, gambling and even searching for a job, are particularly hilarious, especially as everyone else involved in these situations is either deeply unsettled or completely terrified.  Other great jokes involve wizards coming to terms with an apparently animated statue, very long-running bar tabs, fun, if short-lived, political intrigues, unlikely deaths, and the young protagonist upsetting everyone by unwittingly walking through walls.  I laughed myself silly multiple times in Mort, even though I had heard all the jokes many times before, and you are guaranteed to have a lot of fun with this great Discworld entry.

As with all of Pratchett’s novels, Mort features an excellent array of entertaining characters, whose unique arcs add some excellent power to book’s overall narrative.  The cast of Mort was particularly compelling and well-rounded, and I think that Pratchett did a great job of introducing some excellent new figures while also making use of one of the best side-characters in the entire series.  Unsurprisingly, most of the novel’s focus settles on the titular character of Mortimer (Mort), a young teen who unexpectedly finds himself the apprentice of Death.  Shown at the start of the book to be an awkward and unusually thoughtful figure, Mort’s storyline revolves around his attempts to fit in, learn his unlikely trade, and the interesting relationships that form thanks to his new position.  Pratchett works in a very compelling coming-of-age narrative around Mort, especially as he grows into his new role and gains the confidence that comes with finding oneself, while also walking the fine line between morality and duty.  However, there is a definite dark edge to Mort’s storyline towards the end, as Mort starts to lose his humanity and becomes more like Death, and it falls to the rest of the characters to keep him human.  Pratchett did a really good job introducing and building up Mort as a complex young character, and he ended up being one of the author’s better one-shot protagonists.

While much of the book is focused on Mort, the character who constantly steals the show is Death.  The literal personification of death on the Discworld, Death appeared in the first three novels in the series, serving as an ethereal and often entertaining figure on the sidelines who occasionally haunted the author’s original protagonist.  Pratchett cleverly expands on Death in this book, showcasing him as a wise and implacable figure doing his duty in a dispassionate way.  However, his interactions with humans, especially Mort, soon start to change his personality, especially as he becomes curious about life and tires of his eternal station.  This allows him to become a particularly entertaining figure in the second half of the book, as he roams the Disc in unlikely situations, trying to learn how to have fun.  His various ponderings on mortality and human nature result in some hilarious moments, and there are so many fantastic and funny interactions that occur here.  However, it is the final third of the book where you get a real sense of Death’s character; at first, he wistfully tries to embrace life, only to leave that behind when confronted by the actions of Mort.  The anger and sadness that accompany his return to his role and his confrontation with Mort is extremely powerful, and you can’t help but feel for him as he faces an impossible choice, as well as rejection from those he loves.  An overall excellent first deep dive into the character of Death from Pratchett, and you can really see why the author wrote several more books around this character going forward.

Aside from Mort and Death, the rest of the main cast of Mort is quite concise and contains an excellent blend of distinctive and impactful characters.  This includes Death’s adopted daughter, Ysabell, a seemingly spoiled princess and lover of over-the-top romance, who is initially antagonistic to Mort.  Despite her attitude, Ysabell soon turns into quite a likeable and sympathetic character, especially when certain traumas from her unusual life become apparent.  Due to her having some of the more emotionally poignant dialogue and character moments in the book, Ysabell is an excellent part of Mort, and I liked how Pratchett paced her storyline.  The other major resident of Death’s domain featured in this story is Albert, the mysterious servant determined to hide his past from Mort and Ysabell.  Pratchett does an excellent job of setting him up as a bigger figure within the Disc’s history, and his explosive return to form after some entertaining scenes between him and a threatening Mort are a highpoint of the book.  Other major characters include Princess Keli, a young princess who finds her sudden reign made even more difficult due her convoluted existence, and young wizard Igneous Cutwell, who serves as a great foil to the more serious Mort and Keli and becomes an excellent comic relief for the book.  Throw in an array of over-the-top minor Discworld characters whose lives briefly become that much more interesting due to their interactions with either Death or Mort, and Mort has an especially fun cast that Pratchett uses to great effect within this masterful novel.

I must once again highlight the amazing audiobook formats that are my favourite ways of enjoying the Discworld series.  I honestly have so much fun with the Discworld audiobooks, mainly because the format does such an incredible job of showcasing Pratchett’s legendary humour and inventive worldbuilding, and there is frankly no better way to enjoy this cool series.  Like the rest of the series, Mort has two particularly awesome unabridged audiobook versions, both of which come highly recommended by me.  This includes the old-school version narrated by the legendary Nigel Planer, who provided his voice to over half the unabridged Discworld audiobooks.  As with all the Discworld books he narrated, Planer does a remarkable job in this early entry in the series, and I loved the impressive array of voices that he utilised in Mort.  Due to this being the first Death audiobook, Planer had a ton of fun featuring his amazing Death voice, which combines beautifully with some of the other new character tones he had to come up with for this novel.  His great voice work also helped to showcase some of Pratchett’s excellent jokes and key bits of humour, and you really get drawn into the author’s brilliant story and fantastic writing with this classic audiobook release.

Despite my love for the Planer version of Mort, which in some ways is still the definitive audiobook version of this novel, I must also really hype up the new Mort audiobook that was recently released.  Part of the recent rerecording of the Discworld audiobooks I have spruiked in previous reviews, this new version of Mort was extremely awesome, and in some ways it surpasses the old-school version.  Coming in with a runtime of just under eight hours, around half an hour longer than the Planer version, this was a brilliant listen, especially with the impressive combined voice work of Sian Clifford, Peter Serafinowicz and Bill Nighy.

Sian Clifford (of Fleabag fame) did an excellent job as the main narrator for this audiobook, reading out most of the story and the voices of the associated cast.  This results in a swift, well-voiced and deeply compelling version of Mort, and I loved how effectively Clifford brought the story to life and helped to showcase the author’s great humour.  You really get drawn into the cool narrative as Clifford reads it out, and I enjoyed her fresh take on many aspects of the audiobook.  Despite Mort being a rather male character dominated entry in the sub-series, Clifford did an excellent job portraying the cast, and there are some great voices featured here, including of some iconic figures from other sub-series (her Rincewind voice was sufficiently terrified and grovelling).  Clifford clearly has fun when it comes to some of the more outrageous members of the cast, such as Albert, while her take on Princess Keli was excessively regal, and captured both her irritation at the events unfolding around her, while also showcasing her fear and uncertainty.  I must also highlight the voice Clifford provides for the main character, Mort, as the narrator really paints a great picture of a gangly, uncertain teenage boy who starts to come into his own as he gains confidence, and more.  I particularly enjoyed the clever voice changes that Clifford did later in the book, especially when Mort started becoming more like his employer, and the corresponding changes to Death’s voice were just perfect.  This was honestly some amazing voice work from Clifford, and I look forward to listening to her narration of the other Death audiobooks, especially once Susan is brought in as the main character.

While Clifford is amazing, I felt that Peter Serafinowicz clearly stole the show in Mort, playing his character to perfection.  Voicing the recurring character of Death in all the new Discworld audiobooks whenever he appears in the plot, Serafinowicz hits listeners with a deep and final tone that perfectly portrays the Discworld’s Grim Reaper in all his bony glory.  For most of the audiobooks, this is just a fun extra inclusion, as Death only appears in a few hilarious scenes.  But for Mort, this is much more of an involved role, as Death is one of the book’s main characters, and so much of the book’s humour and complex narrative is based around Death interactions with humanity.  As such, Serafinowicz has a ton of fun voice Death through various unusual situations and emotional states, all while keeping up the foreboding Death voice.  The clever and subtle changes to this voice that Serafinowicz makes are extremely impressive, and the humour that results from hearing Death engage in these unlikely scenarios and conversations cannot be overstated.  I also must highlight one brilliant sequence where Serafinowicz hilariously hummed the classic funeral march in his Death voice in response to the text describing Death walking away humming a tune.  Details like that in Serafinowicz’s performance, as well as the increased utilisation of Death in this audiobook, really enhanced the overall impact and humour of Mort, and I loved every second I spent listening to it. 

The final actor featured in this audiobook is the legendary Bill Nighy, who also has a recurring role in all the new Discworld audiobooks.  Nighy has a very important job of narrating all the various footnotes that Pratchett includes in his text, and his gentle voice really brings out the subtle humour hidden in these footnotes.  While Nighy doesn’t get much to do in Mort due to author only featuring a few footnotes in this novel, he still makes an impact, and I’ve really enjoyed how expertly he enhances these clever inclusions.  Honestly, all three of these narrators did an outstanding job in this new version of Mort, and I deeply appreciated how well their compelling performances blended into one impactful listen. As such, Mort is best enjoyed on audiobook, and whether it be the classic Planer version, or the new one with extended cast, you will have a wonderful time listening to it.

As the above rambling pages no doubt prove, I have a lot of love for Mort which was an excellent early Discworld novel from Terry Pratchett.  Featuring some excellent storytelling and fully embracing the clever writing style and comedic charm that made the later Discworld novels so damn awesome, Mort was a brilliant read, and one that proves impossible to put down.  An outstanding novel that really shows how impressive Pratchett could be as an author; Mort comes highly recommended and is guaranteed to be enjoyed by any reader.

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The Malevolent Eight by Sebastien de Castell

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Comedy/Satire, Fantasy5 Comments

Publisher: Acardia (ebook – 27 May 2025)

Series: Malevolent series – Book Two

Length: 397 pages

Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

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The always entertaining Sebastien de Castell unleashes one of the funniest books of 2025 with the dark fantasy novel, The Malevolent Eight, a compelling and impressive sequel that I couldn’t get enough of.

Over the last couple of years, I have really become attached to the amazing Sebastien de Castell, a leading fantasy author with some outstanding stories under his belt.  Known for his impressive and varied stories, including his Greatcoats, Spellslinger and Argosi novels, de Castell has a brilliant imagination, and I love the range of complex settings and narratives he brings to life.  Some of my favourite de Castell books are from his recent The Court of Shadows fantasy murder mystery series, which serves as a sequel to his original Greatcoats books.  These include the witty and entertaining Play of Shadows (one of my favourite books of 2024) and the particularly clever Crucible of Chaos (one of my favourite audiobooks of 2024), both of which were real highlights of my reading calendar last year.  However, for this review I’m going to focus on a far more entertaining series of de Castell’s that I have had a blast with.

This series is the Malevolent collection of books, which contain dark magic, over-the-top characters and ridiculous humour.  Starting back in 2023 with The Malevolent Seven, this series followed seven morally questionable mercenary mages who come together into an unlikely team to defeat a group of dangerous wizard brothers.  However, their attempt to do the right thing spectacularly backfires on them when they are tricked into allowing the hosts of heaven and hell to simultaneously invade, turning their realm into the battleground for their final war.  I ended up having an exceptional time with The Malevolent Seven, and I really got drawn into it’s clever, if outrageous plot.  Naturally I was keen to see how the series continued, and the recently released sequel, The Malevolent Eight, has long been on my to-read list.

After a great betrayal, the mortal realm is in peril as the heavenly Lords Celestine and the dark Lords Devilish have simultaneously invaded, determined to fight their long-anticipated final battle on this unclaimed ground.  As both sides recruit as many additional human soldiers and followers as they can to their cause, the survival of humanity seems to lie in the hands of an unlikely group of rogue magic users.  Unfortunately for everyone involved, humanity’s saviours are the damn fools who caused this calamity in the first place, the insane mages better known as The Malevolent Seven.

At the head of this misfit band is Cade Ombra, a man who has known power and betrayal from both the Celestine and the Devilish and is determined to allow humans to remain free from their dual influences.  Forced to work with the most emotionally unstable group of mages and wonderists in the mortal realm, including a destruction-loving lighting slinger, a fallen angel, a righteous devil trying to serve the Celestine, an uncertain blood mage, a roguish rat admirer and their newest member, a vampiric kangaroo, Cade begins to wage a surprisingly moral war on both the Celestine and the Devish.

However, The Malevolent Seven aren’t the only beings attempting to disrupt the plans of the two invading armies.  Another group of mages, as well as a mysterious woman from Cade’s past with unimaginable power, are also fighting for their own purposes, and looking good while doing so.  Forced to contend against angels, devils, and ambitious mages, Cade will need to outthink all his enemies, while also ensuring that his own chaotic allies don’t make everything even worse.  However, the harder he fights, the more Cade begins to realise that he may have to sacrifice everything, especially when it becomes clear that the origin of the apocalypse lies in his gilded past.

De Castell continues to deeply impress with this brilliant, if somewhat unhinged, novel, as The Malevolent Eight was an exceptional dark fantasy sequel that comes very highly recommended.  Taking all the comedic craziness from the first book and amping it up to eleven, The Malevolent Eight was a perfect follow-up to de Castell’s previous narrative that takes the reader on an exceptional adventure you just won’t be able to look away from.

After having a ton of fun with the awesome first book in the series, I honestly wasn’t too sure what to expect with The Malevolent Eight’s story.  However, not even in my wildest dreams did I imagine just how unhinged, wild and downright insane this sequel’s plot would get as de Castell pumped the narrative all the way up to 11 and beyond.  Starting with a fun and particularly bloody sequence that not only reintroduces the unruly protagonists but also showcases the dark scenario that they find themselves in for this book, the readers are quickly thrust into The Malevolent Eight’s plot, and frankly after the first series of crazy events, you find yourself pretty hooked as the self-proclaimed Malevolent Seven’s attempt to fight both the armies of heaven and hell.  However, as the story progresses, the unconventional heroes soon find that there are far more dangerous beings involved in this war, including a mysterious mage with previously unknown destiny-altering magic.

Determined to find out more about their new opponent, Cade leads The Malevolent Seven to both the Lords Celestine and Devilish to find out what they know and soon begins to understand his unfortunate role in the outbreak of the apocalypse.  After some hilarious interactions with both sets of lords, the protagonists embark on a series of missions, only to encounter betrayals, hidden secrets, the consequences of Cade’s lies, capture, revelations and a surprisingly humorous torture sequence.  This leads up to the big conclusion of the story, as the protagonists find themselves in the middle of a battle against three separate sides trying to claim their world for various purposes, all while manipulative figures work from the sidelines.  This big finale for The Malevolent Eight gets a little overcomplicate and convoluted, especially as we dive into alternate realms and different realities, but the entire thing is highly entertaining to behold.  It finishes off on an interesting conclusion, which has a nice hopeful note to it (especially in comparison to the previous book), while also hinting at some dark events to come.  This is an overall quite entertaining and wild story that really highlights de Castell’s creativity and ability to craft over-the-top narratives.

I deeply enjoyed the wonderful style that de Castell utilised in The Malevolent Eight, as the author pulls together a chaotic and hilarious dark fantasy that hits a lot of over-the-top notes at the same time.  Perfectly told from the single perspective of main character Cade Ombra, The Malevolent Eight is a balls-to-the-wall blast, loaded with insane action, excessive blood, crazy moments and fantastic humour.  De Castell keeps the pace of the story moving pretty fast throughout The Malevolent Eight, and the reader absolutely powers through the fantastic combination of carnage, intrigue, and hidden motivations.  Working well as a sequel to the previous book, The Malevolent Eight cleverly returns to the author’s fun setting, which has been drastically altered due to the rival inter-dimensional armies fighting across it.  Serving as the perfect background to such an entertaining and oddball dark fantasy narrative, de Castell makes perfect use of the changed setting and existing book history to go all out with his narrative.  While a seemingly simple and insane book on the surface, de Castell also adds in some impressive extra depth to the story, including through its complex magic system and the inclusion of several alternate realms that allow or some interesting inclusions from the author’s wider fictional reserves.  There is also a great moral greyness to the entire setting, as even the most noble of people or beings in this setting is generally pretty flawed or evil in their own way, and I frankly loved how cynical things got at times.

While this is a rather dark story, loaded with brutal combat and destructive magic, de Castell keeps the overall tone of The Malevolent Eight pretty light thanks to the excellent use of humour.  This is an insanely funny book, and while there is a certain subtly to some of the comedy contained within, for the most part de Castell utilises over-the-top scenarios (such as a swearing kangaroo), unhinged dialogue (the one swearword said kangaroo can say) and silly over-reactions for his comedy, which frankly fits the overall crazy feel of The Malevolent Eight.  The author gets a consistent amount of humour out of all the crazy antics of his characters, which stays pretty damn funny all the way through and never gets too tiring or overplayed.  Highlights of The Malevolent Eight’s humour for me included a very cleverly written demonic contract that spelled out the terms of a deal with the protagonists with some unique caveats, a particularly entertaining torture sequence where the protagonist causes more discomfort for his torturers than himself, ill-timed relationships with the book’s apparent antagonist, and so many crazy conversations between the seemingly sane point-of-view protagonist and every single person he encounters.  While I’m slightly salty about de Castell’s description of the Australian accent being “halfway between some poncy foreign nobleman and an inebriated fishmonger” (ok fine, it was pretty funny), this was quite a hilarious read, and I honestly laughed out loud multiple times in public as I read through this crazy comedic book.

One of the things I appreciated about The Malevolent Eight is the way in which de Castell made it accessible to all readers, even though who didn’t read the preceding novel.  While those who have checked out The Malevolent Seven are probably going to get the most out of this novel, especially as they can continue the hilarious character arcs from the first book, I feel that new readers can easily jump into The Malevolent Eight without any real context and still follow the story perfectly.  Indeed, I quite enjoyed how well de Castell cleverly and effectively recapped the events of the previous book, especially after a two-year gap between reading The Malevolent Seven and The Malevolent Eight.  Established de Castell fans will probably appreciate the references to the author’s other series, as a new major character in the novel is from the author’s Spellslinger universe and utilises that series’ unique magic to great effect in this novel.  While those readers who have read the Spellslinger books will no doubt find this inclusion really cool, people who are less familiar with this series can still follow The Malevolent Eight’s plot without any issue, especially as the events of the other series don’t really come into play here.  As such, I would recommend The Malevolent Eight to any fantasy readers looking for a dark comedic turn, although for the sake of completeness, try The Malevolent Seven first.

As with The Malevolent Seven, this excellent sequel features a fantastic cast of compelling damaged characters whose unique and often quite outrageous stories helped to ensure The Malevolent Eight was an impressive read.  Cleverly building on the storylines of the previous book, The Malevolent Eight features the immoral characters who make up titular Malevolent Seven attempting to be heroes in this book, often with mixed results.  This includes main protagonist and point-of-view character Cade Ombra, the leader of group and a man with quite a complex past.  Shown in the previous book to be a power hunger survivor with a conscience, The Malevolent Eight really dives into his characterisation even further as you look at his past as an arrogant holy warrior and his eventual fall from grace to work with demons.  His complex past becomes a key part of The Malevolent Eight’s plot, especially as much of the current issues lie in his past mistakes, and it was quite moving to see Cade attempt to make amends, especially as it gets him into even more trouble.  Despite this, Cade is still a massive bastard at times, and his manipulative nature and evil strategic mind are some of his greatest weapons.  Serving as the apparent straight man to a group of crazy friends, Cade sees himself as the sole voice of reason in the entire book, and it was fascinating to see his compelling perspective unwind throughout the book, especially when he faces certain realities about his friends and what he must do for redemption.

The rest of the cast of The Malevolent Eight is pretty crazy in comparison to Cade (at least from his perspective), and it was so much fun to see these outrageous personalities interact with each other.  My favourite supporting character is still the rude and crude Corrigan Blight, a thunder mage who serves as Cade’s unwieldly second.  Despite his outward appearance as an idiot controlled by his element (I mean, he is), Corrigan is a surprisingly deep figure and his ability to act as Cade’s conscious really highlights their great friendship.  The rest of the returning members of The Malevolent Seven, which includes a rat mage, a fallen angel, a holy demon and an uncertain blood mage, are slightly less well featured in this book, although de Castell does dive into their uncharacteristic attempts to be heroes, and their always fun interactions as a group allowed for some amazing moments.  I also must mention the newest member of team, Temper, a giant, swearing, vampiric kangaroo who has joined the team since the events of the first book.  Temper was quite a surprising figure to behold, and de Castell cleverly keeps the kangaroo’s origins somewhat hidden from the reader for much of the plot, allowing you to really enjoy his random presence without thinking too much about it.  This main cast was so much fun, and de Castell tops it off with a new magic user from Cade’s dark past with surprising connections to the Spellslinger universe, Cade’s former demonic benefactor whose intrigue, and paella, is to die for, and a variety of high demon lords and celestial beings whose motivations are never black and white.  These characters, and more, ensure that The Malevolent Eight is an exceptional read from start to finish, and I deeply enjoyed seeing these crazy characters in action.

Sebastien de Castell was in rare form with his impressive new dark fantasy novel, The Malevolent Eight.  A bold sequel that takes all the best elements from the first book and amps them up to a hilarious new height, The Malevolent Eight was an extremely entertaining read, with some brilliant comedic charm that worked well with the damaged characters and very dark fantasy elements.  Outrageous and excessive in all the best ways, The Malevolent Eight was such a great read and I couldn’t get enough of de Castell’s latest ultra-fun offering.  Make sure to also keep an eye out for de Castell’s other 2025 novel, Our Lady of Blades, later this year, which I strongly feel is going to be even more amazing.

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Battle Mountain by C. J. Box

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Thriller1 Comment

Publisher: Head of Zeus (ebook – 25 February 2025)

Series: Joe Pickett – Book 25

Length: 327 pages

My Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars

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Last year I had the very great pleasure of reading my first novel from C. J. Box, Three-Inch Teeth, which was a wonderfully fun thriller.  The 24th book in Box’s long-running Joe Pickett series, Three-Inch Teeth saw a gang of vengeful criminals attempt to kill several of their old enemies, including the book’s protagonists, using an elaborate contraption that simulated a deadly bear attack.  Naturally, such a fantastically over-the-top narrative greatly appealed to me, and I had a blast getting through this amazing book.  After this excellent introduction to the series, I was keen to read the next Joe Pickett book, especially as I just had an incredible holiday around Wyoming, the main setting of the series. I couldn’t wait to see more depictions of this beautiful landscape after being back in the less-than-picturesque office for a few weeks, so I just read the 25th book in the series, Battle Mountain, which featured another amazing and exciting story.

Plot Synopsis:

Outlaw falconer Nate Romanowski is off the grid and out for revenge in this riveting new novel from #1 New York Times bestseller C. J. Box.

The campaign of destruction that Axel Soledad and Dallas Cates wreaked on Nate Romanowski and Joe Pickett left both men in tatters, especially Nate, who lost almost everything. Wondering if the civilized life left him vulnerable to attack, Nate dropped off the grid with his falcons in tow to prepare for vengeance.

When Joe gets a call from the governor asking for help finding his son-in-law, who has gone missing in the Sierra Madre mountain range, he enlists the help of a local, a rookie game warden named Susan Kany.

As Nate and fellow falconer Geronimo Jones circle closer to their prey, Joe and Susan follow the nearly cold trail to Warm Springs. Little do Nate and Joe know that their separate journeys are about to converge . . . at Battle Mountain.

Battle Mountain was a highly exciting and entertaining thriller from Box, who once again amps up the action and takes his readers out into the wilds of Wyoming.  An intense and compelling novel that readers are guaranteed to power through, Battle Mountain was a lot of fun, and I’m really glad I decided to continue this cool series.

This latest book from Box had a great multi-layered narrative to it that set up some interesting story developments, while also moving the series along in a big way.  Coming off the tragic end of Three-Inch Teeth, which featured the murder of major protagonist Nate Romanowski’s wife, Battle Mountain starts with Nate on his own and hunting for the culprit, long-time enemy Axel Soledad.  As Nate and his friend, Geronimo Jones, begin their hunt anew, the main protagonist, Joe Pickett, is tasked with finding the governor’s missing son-in-law, who was taken near the infamous Battle Mountain.  However, Joe is unaware that his target has been kidnapped by Soledad, and his actions to find the missing man could lead him right into the middle of his enemies most ambitious and destructive scheme.

Box did a good job setting up both main storylines, and you soon become quite intrigued by the separate journeys the two main protagonists embark on, especially as one stays within the law while the other is an unsanctioned revenge mission.  The two diverging paths of this story complement each other quite nicely, especially as Box also throws in some additional perspectives, including from the antagonist, the Governor’s kidnapped son-in-law, and a young woman working at the site of Soledad’s next attack, which provides key information to the reader and helps to increase the stakes of the narrative.  After some fun action-packed scenes, where the protagonists get closer to their respective goals, Box brings all these story elements together for the big conclusion, which ends in the expected shoot out.  This conclusion is relatively short and sharp, but provides a satisfying ending to the plot that leaves the series wide open for the future.

I quite liked how Battle Mountain turned out, although it did lack the fun, over-the-top nature of the previous book in the series that I read, Three-Inch Teeth.  However, Box makes up for that with a darker, grittier tale of revenge, as one of the characters embarks on a dark hunting mission to finally kill his long-time enemy.  The darker tone helped to make this a more addictive story, which, when combined with the fantastic action, ensures that you can just power through Battle Mountain in no time at all.  I really enjoyed how Box initially split his narrative and set up the key characters of the book, with Joe Pickett being the more noble protagonist, Nate Romanowski being the figure of righteous vengeance, while Axel Soledad proving to be a particularly nefarious and manipulative overarching antagonist.  Battle Mountain had a great flow as a result, and the cool tension in the lead up to the big conclusion, ensured that you couldn’t put the book down, especially near the end.

As with most of the books in the Joe Pickett series, Battle Mountain works very well as a standalone novel, although established readers of the series will no doubt get a lot more out of it, especially after tragic ending of Three-Inch Teeth.  While there are some ongoing character elements that are addressed, I felt that Box did an excellent job reestablishing all the characters, including once again hyping up Soledad as a great villain, while also ensuring that all readers get the emotional stakes of the plot.  I liked how Battle Mountain’s tone and focus matched the previous novels in the series, with a particularly enjoyable focus on the natural beauty and personality of the people of Wyoming.  I personally loved this book a little more thanks to my very recent journey to the fantastic state of Wyoming, especially when Box references locations and local elements I can now relate to (for example, bison-caused traffic jams), and you can really feel the love that the author has for this state (it’s mutual, by the way; I visited a bookshop in Wyoming with every single Joe Pickett book proudly displayed on the shelf).  This depiction of Wyoming does include a large look at the politics of the state, which as you can imagine is a bit fractious.  However, Box ensures it’s not too overwhelming, and readers can interpret or focus on it as much as they want.  An overall excellent addition to the Joe Pickett series that I feel any thriller fan could have fun with.

Once again loading up the action, outrageous characters and fantastic depictions of some of the most beautiful country in the United States, Battle Mountain was another awesome book from C. J. Box, that I had a lot of fun with.  Exciting and extremely fast paced, Battle Mountain was a very easy book to get through, and I look forward to seeing what cool adventures Box has planned next.

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The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy, Murder Mystery5 Comments

Publisher: Orbit (Trade Paperback – 26 November 2024)

Series: The Echo Archives – Book One

Length: 389 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Take a bold leap through various time loops with one of the more exciting and clever fantasy novels of 2024, The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso.

Melissa Caruso is a very talented author who has been producing brilliant female-led fantasy fiction since her debut in 2017.  Starting with her outstanding Swords and Fire trilogy (The Tethered Mage, The Defiant Heir and The Unbound Empire) and continuing with her sequel Rooks and Ruins trilogy, Caruso made a big impact the first several years of career, and her writing has only gotten stronger since.  As such, I made it a big priority to get my hands on her 2024 novel, The Last Hour Between Worlds, which I had the pleasure of reading at the start of this year.  The first book in the author’s new The Echo Archives series, The Last Hour Between Worlds sets up a cool new fantasy series with a murder mystery twist behind it and some great story ideas.

Plot Synopsis:

A whip-smart adventure fantasy packed with rival guilds, reality-bending magic, and sapphic pining, The Last Hour Between Worlds is the brilliant launch of a new series from David Gemmell Award-nominated author, Melissa Caruso.

Kembral Thorne is spending a few hours away from her newborn, and she’s determined to enjoy herself at this party no matter what. But when the guests start dropping dead, Kem has no choice but to get to work. She is a Hound, after all, and she can’t help picking up the scent of trouble.

She’s not the only one. Her professional and personal nemesis, notorious burglar Rika Nonesuch, is on the prowl. They quickly identify what’s causing the a mysterious grandfather clock that sends them down an Echo every time it chimes. In each strange new layer of reality, time resets and a sinister figure appears to perform a blood-soaked ritual.

As Kem and Rika fall into increasingly macabre versions of their city, they’ll need to rely on their wits—and each other—to unravel the secret of the clock and save their home. 

The Last Hour Between Worlds was a particularly elaborate and compelling read that had me hooked from the start and kept dragging me along, much like its characters were dragged down through death and echoes.  Sharp, intense and featuring a ton of unique world-building, The Last Hour Between Worlds was a bold read that cleverly sets up a great new fantasy series.

I had a brilliant time with The Last Hour Between Worlds, as Caruso features a complex narrative with compelling stakes that proved hard to put down.  Starting off with a good introduction to the protagonist, Kembral Thorne, a nearly retired Hound and expert at travelling through the various arcane Echoes that exists under her city, and several other key characters as they are entertained at a party held by a prominent city politician.  It doesn’t take long for the action to kick off as several dark denizens from the Echoes arrive at the party, determined to kill certain guests and drag the entire gathering down into the reality below.  Dragged along with it, Kembral finds herself stuck in a dark time loop which only she remembers thanks to an interaction with a mysterious grandfather clock.  Forced to watch her friends and colleagues brutally murdered and dropped into a deeper Echo with each variation of the loop, Kembral seeks a way to stop the recurring murders and ensure that everyone comes out alive.

The plot goes in some interesting directions as The Last Hour Between Worlds continues, and it soon becomes apparent that Kembral and the rest of the humans are caught up in a deadly power struggle between the Empyrean, the masters of the Echoes, who are using this event as a key piece in their games.  Forced to team up with the only other person who can remember events, her nemesis and potential love interest, Rika Nonesuch, the two work through various iterations of the time loop, figuring out more clues about the event and trying knock all the competing Empyrean out of the time loop before the final chime of the clock.  This results in an entertaining, exciting and complex storyline, which Caruso sets up extremely well.  The blend of human and magical intrigues that the protagonists are forced to navigate allows for a very compelling story, and I loved all the cool twists that emerge, as well as the deeper personal struggles between Kembral and Rika.  It all leads up to the big conclusion at the final Echo, as the two desperately fight to ensure everyone survives.  I felt that Caruso set up an excellent ending for The Last Hour Between Worlds, especially as this story is wrapped up in a satisfying manner, while also hinting at some more dark adventures to come.

I really enjoyed how cleverly The Last Hour Between Worlds came together.  The slick blend of unique fantasy elements, a cool time-loop mechanism, and the layers of intrigue surrounding events was particularly impressive, and I really got hooked on the story because of how well these elements were utilised.  The time-loop part of the book was especially great, and the way in which Caruso kept reframing the story in each successive Echo ensured that you were constantly on your feet and you never quite knew what was going to happen next.  The underlying setting and magic of The Last Hour Between Worlds was also quite clever, as Caruso envisioned an elaborate array of alternating dimensions and dark creatures that mirror the humans above in twisted ways that the protagonists need to overcome and bargain with.  While I think that some of the elements of the setting could have perhaps been explored in a little more detail before the major events of the plot kicked off, for the most part readers can come in and completely follow what is happening in the plot without any issues.  The resulting action, well-hidden twists, and cool character interactions really enhance The Last Hour Between Worlds’ already compelling narrative, and you won’t be able to turn away from Caruso’s new fantasy adventure.

The final thing I want to talk about were the great characters featured within The Last Hour Between Worlds, with the focus primarily being around the heated pairing of Kembral Thorne and Rika Nonesuch.  A fun case of attracted opposites with lots of history, the law-abiding Kembral and the roguish thief Rika are the perfect foils for each other, and I love their heated interactions.  Despite their initial mistrust, the two soon begin to work together to survive and find their old feelings rekindling.  Caruso nicely slow burns their inevitable romantic attachment, , and they must work through a lot of mistrust, hidden secrets, and their own perceived slights to get there.  The rest of the cast is also interesting and entertaining, and you get quite attached to them as the time loops continue, even though some wind up temporarily dead.  Several are these characters are slated to have bigger roles in the upcoming sequel to The Last Hour Between Worlds, and I cannot wait to see what happens there.  Throw in some excellent dark mystical figures in the Empyrean, who act as either antagonists or shadowy figures on the sidelines, and this was a stacked set of characters that Caruso clearly has some intriguing plans for.

With a slick plot, a great mixture of fantasy adventure of murder mystery hijinks, and some entertaining characters, The Last Hour Between Worlds was an outstanding novel from Melissa Caruso, who continues to showcase why she is one of fantasy fictions most inventive rising stars.  Serving as a great starting point to a new series, The Last Hour Between Worlds comes highly recommended, and I loved its powerful and complex plot.  I honestly cannot wait to see where Caruso takes The Echo Archives series next, although the upcoming sequel, The Last Soul Among Wolves, sounds particularly awesome.

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A Tide of Black Steel by Anthony Ryan

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Fantasy, Five-Star Books11 Comments

Publisher: Orbit (Audiobook – 24 September 2024)

Series: Age of Wrath – Book One

Length: 19 hours and 20 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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After finally getting something up for We Solve Murders, I continue trying to publish long-overdue reviews for some of the better books of 2024, including the highly captivating fantasy novel A Tide of Black Steel by Anthony Ryan.

Veteran fantasy author Anthony Ryan is an author I have been really learning to enjoy in recent years, especially as I fell in love with his epic The Covenant of Steel series.  Following a young rogue who takes on the mantle of a warrior, spy, strategist and most importantly a scribe throughout his complicated and danger-filled life, The Covenant of Steel novels were an impressive collection of books loaded with great characters, a compelling chronicle style and some brilliant twists.  All three books in the series, including The Pariah (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2021), The Martyr (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2022), and The Traitor (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2023), were instant five-star reads from me, and I had so much fun getting through them.  As such, I was very excited to find out about Ryan’s new novel, A Tide of Black Steel, especially as it serves as a sequel to The Covenant of Steel series.  The first book in the author’s new Age of Wrath series, A Tide of Black Steel sets up a mighty fantasy tale that I had a brilliant time with.

Plot Synopsis:

From the international bestselling author Anthony Ryan comes the spectacular first novel in a new epic new fantasy trilogy inspired by Norse mythology. A new age has dawned. An age of blood and steel. An age of wrath.

The land of Ascarlia, a fabled realm of bloodied steel and epic sagas, has been ruled by the Sister Queens for centuries. No one has dared question their rule. Until now.

Whispers speak of longships of mysterious tattooed warriors, sailing under the banners of a murderous cult of oath-breakers long thought extinct. A tide of black steel that threatens to vanquish all in its path.

Thera of the Blackspear, favoured servant of the Sister Queens, is ordered to uncover the truth. As Thera sails north, her reviled brother, Felnir, sets out on his own adventure. He hopes to find the Vault of the Altvar – the treasure room of the gods – and win the Sister Queens’ favour at his sister’s expense.

Both siblings – along with a brilliant young scribe and a prisoner with a terrifying, primal power – will play a part in the coming storm.

The Age of Wrath has begun.

A Tide of Black Steel was another outstanding novel by Anthony Ryan that provided readers with a cool and layered fantasy adventure.  Cleverly expanding the fantasy universe introduced in The Covenant of Steel books, A Tide of Black Steel brings together several interesting storylines into one exciting read with a very different tone to the author’s previous novels.  Powerful, action-packed, and featuring some interesting twists and turns, A Tide of Black Steel gets a full five-star rating from me, and it was one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2024.

I really enjoyed how this cool novel turned out, especially as Ryan introduced an ambitious and powerful new narrative that combines bold, seafaring adventures with some complex world-building to create an outstanding read.  Serving as a loosely connected sequel to the author’s The Covenant of Steel books and told through the eyes of four compelling protagonists, the plot of A Tide of Black Steel breaks off into several divergent threads that each have their own charm while also individually exploring a dangerous new enemy threatening the world.  These perspective characters include Ruhlin, a young man who is captured for his mysterious magical abilities and must try to escape from dangerous new masters who want to use his gifts in the fighting ring.  At the same time, Thera of the Blackspear, an agent of the Sister Queens of Ascarlia, investigates a mysterious series of raids against Ascarlia’s borders, travelling to the most isolated islands of the nation.  Finally, Thera’s brother, Felnir, and the young scholar Elvine, are tasked with trying to find an ancient treasure horde and the dark secrets it contains.

Apart from Thera and Felnir’s perspective chapters, which are strongly linked for much of the book, these major storylines are kept mostly separate from each other, allowing for three separate adventures to occur simultaneously.  All these arcs were equally interesting and provided some cool alternate perspective and themes to the book, with Ruhlin’s being a dark coming-of-age plot, Thera’s being a brutal series of battles and investigation, while the combined plot of Felnir and Elvine was a great mixture of exploration, redemption and secrets.  While I was a little more drawn to Felnir and Elvine’s plotlines at times, primarily because of a couple of secretive supporting characters that hinted at a great connection between this book and The Covenant of Steel series, I honestly had a brilliant time with all the storylines, and they combined nicely into one compelling and cohesive overall plot.  All these storylines progress nicely, amping up the stakes and enhancing the adventure until they reach some thrilling conclusions where some big reveals come to pass.  While I saw a few of the twists coming, the impact of these arc conclusions was really impressive, and I came away from A Tide of Black Steel wanting more, especially as there was a cool and brutal cliff-hanger that is going to result in dark moments for the series going forward.

Ryan gave it a real classic adventure feel that worked in the context of the plot.  The author used a very different writing style here compared to The Covenant of Steel novels, as this latest book was a multi-character epic that lacked the chronicle style of the previous trilogy.  While this change in style while remaining the same universe could be potentially jarring, I think it worked quite well, and I enjoyed the complex and entertaining narrative that emerged.  Ryan proved adept at splitting the narrative between various protagonists, and the diverging perspective chapters blended well into a large and compelling story, with only occasional crossovers.  The reveal of key plot points in one perspective arc was well utilised in some of the other protagonist’s chapters, and I really enjoyed the tight, character-driven narrative that emerged.

As I have mentioned a few times, A Tide of Black Steel and the Age of Wrath series it is a part of are a sequel to Ryan’s The Covenant of Steel series, which the author uses to full effect to makes this novel even more enticing and fun.  Set years after the conclusion of The Traitor, A Tide of Black Steel takes place in a new setting, Ascarlia, a neighbouring realm to the lands featured in The Covenant of Steel books and features several characters with interesting connections to figures from the previous trilogy, including that series’ main protagonist.  Ryan has a wonderful time diving into this new setting, which has a distinctive Norse/Viking feel compared to the more traditional medieval Europe vibe of the previous novels.  This allows for an entirely new focus on naval combat, a boat and island focused culture and Norse-inspired military tactics, which really helps to set A Tide of Black Steel apart.  Ryan utilises all these elements to great effect in this new book, and the multiple longship-on-longship battles and clashes at the shield wall were impactful, as well as the well-researched and beautifully written depictions of maritime activity and nautical life.  I deeply enjoyed this expansion of Ryan’s universe, and the focus on a whole new realm within this world really opened the story options and allowed new protagonists and threats to shine.

While A Tide of Black Steel stands on its own extremely well, the events of The Covenant of Steel books are routinely referenced, and there are some very interesting connections between it and this new series.  As such, I feel that A Tide of Black Steel is a book that fans of Ryan’s previous series are going particularly enjoy, especially as they eagerly await any clues or hints about the open story threads from the end of The Covenant of Steel novels.  I know I was constantly curious to see whether some of the characters with more mysterious pasts were going to be revealed as figures we’d previously seen in the other series, and the result of that was pretty good.  I also liked how the use Ascarlia in this book finally provided a good follow-up to a key part of the first The Covenant of Steel novel, The Pariah, and I really enjoyed seeing Ryan expand on these events, including bringing back an antagonist from that book and making them a key supporting character here.  Despite all these references, those readers interested in checking out A Tide of Black Steel without reading The Covenant of Steel novels first are still guaranteed a good time, especially as Ryan provides all the relevant background and refreshes your mind about details relevant to the plot.  Still, for the full emotional attachment and background, I would recommend reading the other trilogy first, especially as they are excellent pieces of fantasy fiction.

I should also take the time to mention the excellent array of characters featured within A Tide of Black Steel, as Ryan introduces four outstanding central protagonists, as well as a great collection of supporting figures.  These characters are used to full effect throughout the course of the plot, and you grow attached to several, especially when you learn their background and motivations.  Each of the four perspective protagonists set an own excellent tone for their chapters, and I frankly enjoyed seeing all their separate adventures and differing mindsets.  Watching all of them overcome adversity, lies and issues from their past was quite impressive, and Ryan sets up some interesting, long-running character arcs that are going to be really interesting to see conclude in the future books.  The supporting cast was also quite impressive, and Ryan introduced a range of fantastic characters who were usually exclusive to a particular protagonist.  I personally enjoyed seeing a couple of Ascarlian-related characters previously featured in The Pariah return here, include Margnus Gruinskard, whose deadly duel in his previous appearance directly led to much of the carnage in the previous trilogy.  A couple of mysterious prisoners who find themselves tied to two of the protagonists also added a great deal of interest to the plot, and it was fascinating to see how they connected into the larger plot of the overall series, as well as their personal connection to a key character of this book.  I deeply enjoyed this fantastic cast, and their complex storylines added so much to the overall plot of A Tide of Black Steel.

While I was lucky enough to receive a copy of the A Tide of Black Steel paperback, I ended up listening to the audiobook version instead, primarily because I previously had such a great time with The Covenant of Steel audiobooks.  This proved to be an outstanding choice, especially as the audiobook version really helped to showcase the extended scope of Ryan’s fantasy world, while also enhancing the cool action sequences.  I personally really appreciated that they brought back narrator Steven Brand for A Tide of Black Steel, especially after he did such an awesome job voicing The Covenant of Steel audiobooks.  Brand really gets Ryan’s writing style, and he once again perfectly voiced all the key elements of the plot through his narration.  His take on the large cast of characters was particularly impressive, and each of the compelling figures featured in the plot was perfectly portrayed, with their complex personalities on full display.  I absolutely sped through A Tide of Black Steel’s nearly 20 hour long run time thanks to both the great story and the excellent narration, and this ended up being a particularly amazing audiobook that I deeply enjoyed.  A highly recommended listen and one of the best ways to experience Ryan’s cool new series.

Overall, A Tide of Black Steel was an outstanding fantasy novel, and one I really should have written something about earlier.  Cleverly expanding Ryan’s previously utilised fantasy world to create a compelling Norse-inspired fantasy adventure loaded with twists and hidden secrets, A Tide of Black Steel was a very worthy follow-up to The Covenant of Steel books and takes the reader on a very wild ride.  Exciting, intense and featuring some impressive characters, A Tide of Black Steel was extremely good, and there is a reason it was one of my favourite books from last year.  I cannot wait to see how Ryan continues the Age of Wrath series this year, and the upcoming sequel, Born of an Iron Storm, already sounds particularly awesome.

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Midnight Black by Mark Greaney

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Five-Star Books, Thriller4 Comments

Publisher: Sphere/Audible (Audiobook – 18 February 2025)

Series: Gray Man – Book 14

Length: 15 hours and 51 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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The always outstanding Mark Greaney provides another addictive and heart-pounding addition to his iconic Gray Man series with the incredible 2025 spy thriller, Midnight Black.

Ever since I started getting fully into the thriller genre, one of the main authors I check out each year is Mark Greaney, a veteran master of thriller fiction who has produced some incredible reads.  Some of his more entertaining books include his Josh Duffy series (Armored and Sentinel), as well as the fun military thriller Red Metal (cowritten with Hunter Ripley Rawlings IV).  However, his best-known body of work is the long-running Gray Man series, which was adapted into a Netflix movie of the same name.

The Gray Man series is an outstanding collection of spy thriller novels that follows elite assassin and black ops operative Court Gentry, better known by the titular moniker of the Gray Man, as he faces off against an array of deadly enemies while occasionally working for the CIA.  I have become a pretty major fan of the Gray Man series thanks to the author’s complex stories, gritty action sequences and damaged characters, and I have had a blast with books like The Gray Man, Mission Critical, One Minute Out (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2020), Relentless (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2021), Sierra Six (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2022), Burner (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2023) and The Chaos Agent (one of my favourite books of 2024).  Due to how epic all these previous Gray Man entries have been, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the next entry in the series, Midnight Black.  Providing an intense follow-up to a fantastic cliffhanger from the last book, Midnight Black was one of my most anticipated releases of 2025, and it really did not disappoint.

In the icy wilds of Mordovia, lies the brutal woman’s penal colony IK-2 Yavas.  A harsh work camp for the many political enemies of the current Russian regime, IK-2 Yavas is hell on earth for any women who have defied the state.  However, despite the prison holding many prominent criminals and politicians, their most valuable prisoner is former spy Zoya Zakharova.

Once a prominent Russian foreign intelligence agent, Zoya was forced to flee her position and eventually found herself working covertly for the CIA as a deniable asset.  However, after being captured by the Chinese and traded to the Russians, Zoya’s future is bleak as she is slowly worked to death.  Worse, a ruthless FSB operative is using Zoya as bait for the person most important left in her life, her lover Court Gentry, the Gray Man.  But, unknown to Zoya, the Gray Man is far closer than she realises.

Having spent months prowling the Eastern European countries, Gentry seeks a way to steal across the Russian border and save the woman he loves, no matter the cost.  Embarking on a risky entry plan with only minimal help from his old CIA contacts, Gentry is determined to find Zoya and kill anybody who gets in his way.  But with the entire Russian state security apparatus turned against him, can Gentry once again do the impossible and save Zoya, or will this be the final mission for the legendary Gray Man?

Mark Greaney continues to impress with his epic Gray Man series, as the 14th brilliant entry in the series, Midnight Black, was absolute fire.  Providing an intense and deeply addictive spy thriller narrative, Midnight Black hooked me from the very beginning and refused to let go until the final explosive confrontation.  Slick, emotionally charged and very clever, Midnight Black gets an easy five-star rating from me, and I had such an amazing time listening to it.

This proved to be an outstanding book to get through, as Midnight Black featured a compelling and cinematic narrative that had me hooked the entire way through.  Expertly following on from the emotional cliffhanger from the end of the previous book in the series, The Chaos Agent, Midnight Black starts several months later and sees a desperate Court Gentry doing anything he can to try to enter Russia, only to encounter setbacks he has to take care of in his usual destructive manner.  This works as an excellent introduction to Midnight Black’s plot, especially as it helps you appreciate the emotional stakes of the book, and you quickly become invested in the protagonist’s quest.  Greaney quickly expands the plot through several additional character perspectives, including recuring characters Zack Hightower and Zoya Zakharova, who have their own missions/problems, an intriguing new Russian rebel protagonist, and the perspective of some sinister Russian operatives, including the FSB agent pulling all the strings around Zoya’s imprisonment.  This serves as a great base for the rest of the story, and the author soon starts to feature some of the more complex and action-packed sequences in Midnight Black.

Starting with a well-layered extended shootout sequence in Europe, the second half of Midnight Black hits hard and keeps the reader deeply engaged.  Greaney continues to set out quite an impressive story, as Gentry enters Russia and proceeds to cause all manner of havoc, while his allies in Europe and the US throw together an audacious plan that really amps up the narrative.  Greaney keeps the plot constantly moving, taking the protagonists from one dangerous situation to the next, with compelling character moments and well-featured exposition that keeps everything going forward.  The author also throws in a ton of high-octane and memorable sequences, including a fun extended chase in Moscow involving a stolen train, which was so entertaining to behold.  Everything leads up to the big finale in the last third of the story, where the protagonist makes his play to free Zoya in very cinematic fashion.  There is a lot of intense anticipation involved in the leadup to this final part of Midnight Black, and it proves to be particularly captivating and exciting.  The conflict, high stakes and constant worry you have for the characters ensures you won’t be able to put this part of the book down, and I was so keen to see how everything came together.  Greaney wraps things up perfectly, and I liked the hopeful conclusion to Midnight Black, especially after some of the dark preceding books, and you come away satisfied, as well as excited to see where the series goes next.

I am always greatly impressed with how Greaney sets out his outstanding novels, and Midnight Black is a particularly strong example of this.  A fast-paced book with several interesting layers to it, Midnight Black drags you in with its powerful narrative and keeps you there with the well-set-out action, complex characters, and gritty realism.  Thanks to the blend of character arcs and alternating storylines, there is a lot going on in Midnight Black, and you are given a great mixture of ultra-exciting sequences of action and spy craft, intense personal moments of despair and hope, as well as a cool dive into real-world issues, such as the current war in Ukraine, that enhance the overall plot.  I particularly enjoyed the gritty realism loaded in the story, especially when it comes to looking at the current politics of Russia, and there was a particular dire tone to much of the plot that was well mirrored by several protagonist’s circumstances.

One of the writing techniques I always enjoy with the Gray Man novels is the author’s excellent use of alternating character perspectives, as the reader gets to see the narrative through a variety of different viewpoints.  While primary characters like Gentry, Hightower and Zakharova naturally get most of the focus, you also see events through the eyes of more minor protagonists, such as Gentry’s former CIA handler in the US, or a Russian rebel fighter launching attacks in Moscow, as well as from several of the book’s antagonists.  This provides a much more expansive narrative for readers, especially as you soon understand the compelling motivations of all the significant characters, as well as their often conflict plans and schemes.  I particularly enjoyed how well some of Midnight Black’s many action sequences become even more impressive when you get to see events through the eyes of all the participants in the event.  Seeing all the alternate sides of conflicts really helps to make the fight sequences stand out, and it is captivating to see the various moves and countermoves of all the characters involved.  I felt this worked particularly well in some of the book’s big firefights, such as one sequence out in the woods where Gentry and Hightower’s camp gets raided by a squad of hitters, and you really get drawn into the books brutal action thanks to this.

While Midnight Black can probably be read as a standalone novel, especially as Greaney does a good job recapping key events, I feel that this latest Gray Man novel is probably best enjoyed by those who have read the previous books in the series, especially the preceding entry, The Chaos Agent.  This is mainly because Greaney is following up on a major cliffhanger from the previous book, and a lot of the emotional weight of the plot is based around the protagonist trying to right this wrong and save the woman he loves.  Being invested in the relationship between Gentry and Zakharova, as well as appreciating the protagonist’s other character relationships, really helps to amp up the stakes of Midnight Black, and I know I was personally hooked on seeing how events played out.  While having this background does enhance the experience, I do think that new readers can easily come into the series here and still have an amazing time, especially once they get caught up in the intense plot.

I also need to once again compliment the compelling characters found within Midnight Black, as Greaney really went out of his way to create some intense character moments in this latest Gray Man novel.  A lot of this revolves around the protagonist, Court Gentry, who finds himself in emotional turmoil following the Russians imprisoning the woman he loves.  Unsure about her fate and desperate to enter Russia to rescue her, Gentry is a ghost of his former self, recklessly engaging in deadly actions without his former skill and tradecraft.  This uncharacteristic lack of planning from the main protagonist and the way he lets his emotions overwhelm him adds a compelling edge to the story, especially as it results in more carnage and close calls.

The rest of the cast are also well featured in Midnight Black, especially as Greaney brings back several old favourites in dire circumstances.  For example, Court’s love interest, Zoya Zakharova, ends up having a particularly powerful arc in Midnight Black, as she is imprisoned in a Russian work camp.  Slowly losing hope due to her surroundings, her imminent execution, and her worry for Court, Zoya’s scenes are often hard to read and really help to hammer home the dark stakes of the book.  Greaney also brings back fun recurring character Zack Hightower, who serves as a lighter point of view protagonist compared to Court and Zoya.  A veteran operator with a lot of history with the other protagonists, Zack was a great foil for Court’s moodier persona in Midnight Black, and I loved seeing them work together in this way.  Other characters of note include Court’s former CIA handler, Matthew Hanley, who works to provide outside help despite his own downward career trajectory, and Major Colonel Eriks Baronov, an FSB operative trying to use Zoya as bait for the Gray Man.  I really enjoyed how Hanley and Baronov provided interesting alternating tactical insights into the events of Midnight Black, which gave the novel a great global conflict feel at times.  All these characters and more helped to turn Midnight Black into something special, and I really enjoyed how complex and exciting the various character-driven storylines turned out to be.

As has become my habit with the Gray Man series in recent years, I ended up listening to Midnight Black on audiobook rather than reading a physical copy.  I find that the audiobook version of the Gray Man books, narrated by the always reliable Jay Snyder, are an excellent way to absorb Greaney’s fantastic stories, especially as the various action sequences and compelling showcases of spycraft are highlighted particularly well in this format.  For Midnight Black, I listened to this audiobook while on a holiday with a lot of flying/driving time, which not only kept me from getting bored on the bus/plane but which ensured that I absolutely powered through its near 16-hour run time.  It helped that many of the best sequences in the book, such as the epic firefight at the halfway point and the big chase through Moscow, were particularly impactful in this format, and Snyder did an excellent job voicing all the characters.  I particularly appreciated all the eastern European and Russian accents that Snyder attributed to the various characters, and he also did a good job capturing key parts of the protagonist’s personalities, especially Gentry’s weariness and desperation that were a key part of this book.  Due to this brilliant voice work, as well as my general love for the format, I would strongly recommend Midnight Black on audiobook, and I can guarantee it makes for great entertainment on long road trips.

Overall, Midnight Black was another outstanding and captivating new entry in the always impressive Gray Man series.  Author Mark Greaney did an amazing job continuing one of the very best spy thriller series out there, and I deeply enjoyed Midnight Black’s particularly intense and personal story.  Featuring some fantastic action, complex character arcs and some compelling insights into major contemporary events, Midnight Black was extremely addictive, and I cannot wait to see how Greaney continues the series in the future.

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The Devils by Joe Abercrombie

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Fantasy, Five-Star Books5 Comments

Publisher: Gollancz/Macmillan Audio (Audiobook – 13 May  2025)

Series: The Devils – Book One

Length: 25 hours and 7 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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The master of grimdark fantasy fiction presents a bold and over-the-top new story with The Devils, an outstanding, addictive and highly entertaining read that you will not be able to turn away from.

Joe Abercrombie is an impressive and compelling author who has been wowing fantasy fiction authors with his complex reads for nearly 20 years.  While he has written some other cool books, like his Shattered Sea trilogy, Abercrombie is best known for his iconic First Law series of dark fantasy novels, that followed a group of highly damaged people as they tried to survive war, magic and politics in a messed-up fantasy world.  I really enjoyed the original First Law trilogy, and Abercrombie has cleverly expanded it out over the years, including with three standalone novels and his sequel Age of Madness trilogy.  The Age of Madness novels were ones that I particularly enjoyed reading, and A Little Hatred (one of my favourite books of 2019), The Trouble With Peace (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2020) and The Wisdom of Crowds (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2021), were very highly rated by me, and I could not get enough of this series.

Needless to say, I am a pretty big fan of Abercrombie’s novels, and I have been eagerly awaiting a new book from him since I finished The Wisdom of Crowds.  While I had hoped that we would be getting a new First Law novel, Abercrombie instead decided to present readers with something a little different with his new The Devils series.  Starting off with The Devils, this series is another clever dark fantasy series, set in an alternative, magic filled version of medieval Europe.  One of my most anticipated books of 2025, The Devils sounded so damn good, especially with its crazy plot and intriguing new setting.

The lands of Europe are in dire peril.  Between the constant wars, dangerous monsters, ruinous famines and deadly plagues, the various kingdoms of Europe are in poor condition, barely held together by the fractured church.  However, the real danger lies outside its borders, as the mysterious elves gather their power in the Holy Lands, preparing for another invasion of Europe that will surely lead to the destruction of all humanity.

In response to the growing threat of the elves, the church and its juvenile pope determine that a new ruler needs to be placed upon the Serpent Throne of Troy after its evil sorcerous empress dies.  With all four of the empress’s duplicitous and power-hungry sons unfit for the crown, the church surprisingly finds that their ideal candidate is a lowly street thief from the Holy City called Alex.  A ferrety sneak with no noble bearing or confidence, Alex is shocked to discover that she is really the long-lost Princess Alexia Pyrogennetos of Troy, destined to reunite the churches of Europe by claiming the throne.

Turning the reluctant and terrified Alex into a potential princess is one thing, but getting her to Troy is a far more difficult prospect, especially as her rival contenders to the throne are stalking Europe with their deadly, magically enhanced followers, determined to claim Troy for themselves.  To succeed in marching Alex through the European hellscape and placing her on the Serpent Throne, the church will need far more than prayers and the blessing of saints; they are going to need devils.  Luckily, such devils are close at hand. 

Deep within the Holy City lies the Chapel of Holy Expediency, which binds dangerous heretics and monsters and forces them to seek redemption through holy missions for the pope.  Led by the hapless Brother Diaz, the congregation of the Chapel of Holy Expediency is charged with getting Alex to Troy and placing her on the throne.  But can a terrified monk, an immortal knight, an arrogant necromancer, an invisible elf, a sarcastic vampire, an uncontrollable Viking werewolf and the most experienced woman in Europe succeed in making a street-rat an empress, or will their new mission only bring even more death and destruction to the continent? 

Joe Abercrombie once again shows why he is one of the very best authors of dark fantasy fiction with his captivating and deeply impressive new novel.  The Devils was an ultra-entertaining read that perfectly introduced the author’s intriguing setting and populated it with highly amusing characters and dark deeds.  Exciting, clever and loaded with over-the-top humour, The Devils was an absolute joy to listen to, and I loved every second I spent with it.  One of the most addictive novels of 2025 so far, The Devils gets a very-well deserved five-star rating from me, and readers are guaranteed an extra fun time with this crazy novel.

I absolutely loved the cool and highly entertaining story that Abercrombie came up with for The Devils, which was essentially a fun dark fantasy iteration of The Dirty Dozen/Suicide Squad narrative with some amazing monsters.  Providing a quick introduction to the key characters, the reader soon becomes highly invested in the narrative, as the memorable and very amusing protagonists begin their trek to Troy.  What follows is a classic travelling adventure story with some dark and comedic twists, as the protagonists encounter all manner of foes on the way to their destination, which they are forced to dispatch with ruthless efficiency.  While parts of this story start to become a tad formulaic, especially as the protagonists are intercepted multiple times by one of Princess Alexia’s cousins, with each encounter resulting in a deadly battle for survival against different occult forces, you are generally so entertained by the compelling characters, interesting interactions, and over-the-top action sequences, you don’t even really mind.  Abercrombie works to break up these encounters with some fun side quests, as well as altering the circumstances by having the characters occasionally split up into unlikely pairings, exploring the fun alternate medieval Europe that works as such an effective setting for this book.  This allows for some interesting changes of pace in the main quest narrative, while also allowing for some outrageous character moments as the reader gets to know the protagonists a little better.

Everything nicely leads up to the last third of The Devil, which sees the protagonists arrive at their destination against the odds.  Without going into much detail, things naturally go to hell, and everybody is forced to fight for their lives.  This chaotic series of events isn’t unexpected, as the reader is waiting for the other shoe to drop the entire book, but the who and the how of it makes for great reading.  Some excellent twists come to life here, often revealed in a fun meta way, and, while you see a couple of them coming, the entire ball of surprises and reveals make for quite an exciting end sequence.  These twists are well backed up by some of the grittiest action sequences in the entire book, and you are constantly on your feet waiting to see what happens next.  The entire novel ends on a tragic, if thoughtful note, especially when you’re left to consider who the true monsters of the story are.  An overall impressive narrative, that blends alternate history and classic adventure narrative threads with Abercrombie’s wild imagination to create something exceedingly entertaining and addictive.

The Devils was a very fun and well-written story as Abercrombie provides a very intense and hard-hitting tale, bound together by dark humour, over-the-top sequences, and complex characters.  Abercrombie once again showcases his skill at balancing multiple distinctive perspectives to tell an integrated and ongoing narrative, with the story cleverly bouncing between the viewpoint of several impressive protagonists.  The continued switches between the characters allows for a very elaborate narrative, and the reader is drawn into both the overarching plot and the more personal battles of the protagonists.  I liked how Abercrombie was able to tailor the descriptive narration of each of the perspective chapters to suit the character it was following, and each chapter has a slightly different tone as a result.  However, this is a very dark overall story, as the characters encounter outrageous scenarios of death and destruction, and the resulting carnage allows for some intense moments.  I will say that The Devils did feel a little sillier than some of Abercrombie’s previous novels, although the author uses this extra layer of ridiculous energy to full effect to tell an extremely addictive story.

As you would expect from Abercrombie, the intense action sequences are a highlight of The Devils, with the many brutal sequences coming to life thanks to the author’s great descriptive style.  There was a certain casualness to some of the fights, especially those featuring the plot’s more dangerous killers, and which was enhanced by the clever overall narration of the writing.  I loved how Abercrombie set out all his scenes, with a lot of subtle humour revolving around cynical description of events, especially as the author provides some ironic results and meta commentary.  This more subtle writing of events is counterbalanced by the over-the-top humour of the dialogue, especially when it comes to certain characters.  A lot of the dialogue gets downright filthy at times, with some very adult discussions coming out in outrageous fashion.  While this excessive crass language had the potential to distract from the story, I think that Abercrombie got the right balance, with the ridiculously rude dialogue fitting in well amongst the crazy events of the plot.  While the combination of ugly events, adult humour and cooky carnage isn’t going to be everyone, I think most fantasy fans are going to have a ton of fun with it, especially as it plays into Abercrombie’s grimdark style.  Throw in a clever alternative medieval Europe as the elaborate setting which will delight history buffs with the intricate differences, and The Devils was a very impressive read that perfectly plays the author’s strengths and talent for entertaining and dark fantasy fiction.

Fans of Abercrombie will know that the author specialises at making damaged and captivating characters to set his narratives around, and The Devils is no exception to this.  The author introduces an amazing cast of complex and memorable characters in The Devils, and I love the very impressive storylines that emerge around them.  This includes six separate perspective protagonists, two major supporting characters, and an array of interesting figures throughout Europe who play various roles in the outcome of the plot.  Abercrombie does an excellent job of introducing and utilising this complex cast, with all the major characters getting their chance to shine in some impressive ways.  While some of the characters in The Devils didn’t quite have the complexity of the protagonists from the First Law books, Abercrombie instead amps up the entertainment aspect of these figures, introducing several particularly hilarious, ridiculous and highly relatable monsters, each of whom added a great deal to the overall reading experience.

The first two characters I want to talk about are major perspective protagonists, Brother Diaz and the newly discovered princess, Alex.  Despite neither being members of the titular devils, both have major roles in this book and are shaped by their experiences with the monstrous pawns of the church.  Brother Diaz, a simple monk who is brought in to guide the devils, is initially shown to be a hapless and terrified figure, clearly out of his depth when it comes to the dangerous mission he has been entrusted with.  Abercrombie has a lot of fun showcasing him as a useless social climber at the start of the novel, and he initially has more of a comedic role in the plot.  However, as the story progresses, Diaz starts to gain a little confidence as he continues to survive, and you soon see flashes of the man he could be.  Despite falling to temptation (repeatedly), Diaz ends up being quite a stalwart figure in the book, and I loved some of the scenes where he got to show off his intelligence (including one particularly entertaining legal battle).  The way in which Abercrombie subtly added more and more depth to Diaz’s personality as the story continued was very impressive, and his growth as a character was a highlight of the book.  The author also ensured that Diaz was one of the more relatable characters in The Devils, especially as he continuously makes mistakes, finds himself shaken by his fears and failings, yet continues to try to do the right thing.

Much like Diaz, the other non-devil perspective protagonist, Alex, is also shown to be an imperfect figure who finds themselves thrust into events outside of their control.  Initially shown as a simple thief, Alex, or Princess Alexia Pyrogennetos, is ill prepared for the events before her, and is forced to rise to the occasion when she is declared long-lost royalty.  Mostly shown as the book’s damsel in distress, Alex is generally scared and lacking confidence, especially as she knows she is not the princess everyone wants her to be.  Like Diaz, Abercrombie writes Alex slowly rising to the occasion throughout course of The Devils’ plot, as she learns to fight back and become a leader.  I really liked following Alex’s journey in The Devils, and while the journey to the character finding her self-confidence is a long and bloody affair featuring some good twists, it ended up being a powerful part of the book’s overarching narrative.

Outside of Alex and Diaz, a lot of time is also spent following the other perspective members of The Devils, including Balthazar, Sunny and Vigga, who are a necromancer, an elf and a werewolf respectively.  These three characters are amazing, and I liked how well they played off each other and the rest of the cast with a great mixture of serious and more comedic elements.  For example, Balthazar (or to introduce him properly, Balthazar Sham Ivan Draxi), is a highly arrogant figure who chafes at being captured and controlled by the church.  Much of his story focuses on his many attempts to break the Papal binding compelling him to help Alex, while also dealing with the realisation that he is helpless against those he considers his lesser.  Much of the entertainment around Balthazar is his complete lack of self-awareness or humility, especially within his own mind, and while there are times when it appears that he is going to become a better person, he usually returns to his old personality when he hits a wall.  Sunny the elf, on the other hand, is a far more sensible character, who serves as the team’s shadow thanks to her ability to become invisible.  Despite her nice and helpful personality, Sunny is shown as an alien creature, incapable of understanding the humans who generally hate and fear her.  Imbued with a more subtle humour than her fellow devils, Sunny proves to be quite an interesting figure, especially when you examine her past and her dark experiences with humans.  Probably one of the more likeable and selfless figures in the book, Sunny’s arc adds a lot to the overall story, especially through her unlikely romance angle, and Abercrombie clearly had fun writing the various scenes where she traipses around invisible.

One of the more memorable cast members of The Devils is Vigga, a former Viking raider who was cursed as a werewolf and then captured by the church.  Crass, constantly controlled by her urges, incapable of self-restraint and particularly deadly, even when not a massive wolf, Vigga powers through the entirety of The Devils’ narrative, leaving a major impression whenever she appears.  Featuring some of the more visceral and entertaining perspectives of the book, which includes a combination of hungry sequences from her wolf mind and her more entertaining insights as a human with no impulse control and an inability to focus on anything, Vigga is responsible for a large part of The Devils’ chaotic and outrageous tone, and the book would not be anywhere near as fun without her.  However, as this is Abercrombie, there are quite a few darker moments in Vigga’s story, and you soon become absorbed with her attempts to pull together her fractured mind and control the monster within, especially when she gets close to her travelling companions.  The dark depression that occasionally befalls her because of her uncontrolled actions adds some major drama to certain tragic parts of The Devils’ plot, and Vigga comes away as one of the more sympathetic, if scary, characters in the book.

While the above perspective characters are all particularly impressive, my favourite was the team’s resident knight, Jakob of Thorn.  An old soldier cursed with immortality who has been fighting battles on behalf of the church and God for hundreds of years, Jakob is a tired and haggard figure bound by his many vows.  Suffering from the degradation of his body due to age and the many injuries inflicted on him, Jakob is weariness personified as he attempts to deal with his pain, and the guilt from his long history of death and service to the church.  Readers familiar with the author will know that Abercrombie specialises at writing tired old warriors who are sick of the death and destruction they cause, and Jakob of Thorn is one of his better ones (which is saying a lot).  I loved all of Jakob’s scenes, especially as he doggedly continues to fight despite his pain, often providing some of the book’s best quotes and insights.  Unsurprisingly, Abercrombie makes Jakob suffer a lot in this novel (what else would this sadistic author do with an immortal character?), and you learn a lot about his resolve and psyche as a result, especially as he knows he is the biggest monster of them all.  I really think that Jakob’s grittier and more self-aware perspective chapters helped to balance out the more outrageous character arcs in The Devils, and he was a perfect addition to this outstanding narrative.

The final two major characters I want to highlight are Baron Rikard, an ancient vampire, and Baptiste, a rogue hired to keep the devils in check, who seems to have experience with every profession possible in Europe.  Both these characters are excellent additions to the plot and manage to shine through, despite not being perspective characters.  Indeed, I felt that their role in the book was enhanced by the readers not having direct insights about their motivations or actions, and instead you get to enjoy the mystery surrounding them as you see them through the eyes of the other characters.  Baron Rikard, who serves as a fun, sarcastic figure who only helps when it suits him, proves to be a great inclusion in the plot, especially as his gentlemanly manners and demeaner makes him stand out amongst the other characters.  While a ridiculously charming figure (especially when he starts talking about dumplings), you are initially given the impression that Rikard is another trapped monster keen to escape his binding.  However, Abercrombie nicely turns this assumption on its head as the story continues, and I really enjoyed the character’s revealed motivation, especially as it shades all the character’s actions in a new light.

Baptiste, on the other hand, is a suave and entertaining figure whose impact on the book would be diminished if you got a deeper look at her thoughts, motivations or true history.  I particularly enjoyed how well Baptiste served as a foil to Balthazar, and they had a great back and forth that helped to define them both.  Throw in a range of other impressive supporting characters, including a barrage of outrageous or diabolical antagonists, and the cast of The Devils was something very special.  I cannot emphasise enough just how much fun all these characters were, and their moving and complex arcs and interactions really helped to give some powerful meat to The Devils’ entertaining narrative.  You really come away with some conflicted feelings for many of the protagonists, especially as none of your favourites have a truly happy ending, and it will be interesting to see what happens to the survivors in the future entries of the series.  A special shoutout as well to the fun artwork depicting several of these characters in The Devils paperback, especially as the artist really captures how the author wrote these colourful protagonists.

While I did receive a physical copy of The Devils, I ended up listening to this novel on audiobook, which was a fantastic choice.  Not only did the audiobook version allow for a fuller immersion in Abercrombie’s new fantasy universe and his crazy action sequences, but it also featured the superb voice of actor Steven Pacey.  Pacey, who is one of my favourite audiobook narrators, previously lent his voice to the audiobook versions of Abercrombie First Law novels, and he frankly does a perfect job of capturing the author’s unique tone and style.  Abercrombie’s complex writing, witty dialogue and excessive humour really come to the fore when read out by Pacey, and the narrator’s tone and cadence in The Devils always perfectly matched the intended mood of the scenes, no matter how dark or over-the-top they became.  Pacey also does some very entertaining and highly fitting voices for the key characters of The Devils, and it is amazing how well he captures all these outrageous figures.  All the defining character details, including the timid nature of Brother Diaz, the arrogance of Balthazar, the pain and weariness of Jakob, the wry amusement of Baron Rikard, the unearthly nature of Sunny and the sheer wildness of Vigga are all amazingly highlighted by Pacey’s various voices, and really come to love the characters the way that Pacey reads them out.  Thanks to Pacey’s brilliant acting and evident love for the content, this was an incredible listen, and I really cannot emphasise enough just how effectively he narrated this crazy story.  I flew through the books lengthy, 25-hour runtime due to this brilliant narration and epic narrative, and I honestly don’t believe that anyone but Steven Pacey could make Abercrombie’s amazing novels come to life in the same way.  An exceptional audiobook and one of the best things I have so far listened to in 2025.

With his trademark blend of chaos, fantastic humour and complex characters, Joe Abercrombie presents one of the very best books and audiobooks of 2025 with The Devils.  A unique and very entertaining fantasy adventure novel, The Devils pushed everything to 11 and beyond, ensuring that you couldn’t turn away.  An exceptional read from start to finish, I had so much fun with The Devils and I cannot wait to see how Abercrombie will continue this series in the future.

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Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Five-Star Books, Science Fiction, Young Adult4 Comments

Publisher: Scholastic Audio (Audiobook – 18 March 2025)

Series: The Hunger Games – Book 0.5

Length: 12 hours and 48 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Acclaimed author Suzanne Collins presents the next epic and heartbreaking entry to her iconic Hunger Games series with the brilliant prequel, Sunrise on the Reaping.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few years, then you’ll probably be more than familiar with the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins, as well as the major film franchise that it spawned.  Set in a dystopian future where 24 teenagers are forced to fight to the death each year, the Hunger Games franchise is a very cool and inventive young adult series that expertly blends great characters, an overarching anti-authoritarian narrative and a ton of complex action with its excellent central concept.  I have been a massive fan of the Hunger Games since watching the first movie, which I went into blind and ended up deeply enjoying.  I have since read all the books, including Collins’s previous prequel, A Ballad of Songbirds and Serpents, all of which are extremely awesome and contain exceptional stories that cleverly add to the larger setting.

While I have enjoyed all the awesome Hunger Games books that Collins has so far written, there has always been one intriguing story from the universe that I always felt needed to be expanded on, that of the rascally old drunk mentor Haymitch Abernathy (played perfectly by Woody Harrelson in the films).  I especially have always wanted more detail about Haymitch’s own Hunger Games, which were briefly summarised in the second novel, Catching Fire.  Well, Collins has just granted one of my fondest literary wishes as her latest book captures just that with Sunrise on the Reaping.  Sunrise on the Reaping has been very high on my to-read list since it was first announced, and it was one of my most anticipated novels of 2025, as well as a much-anticipated film in late 2026.  I had a real blast listening to it, and boy did Collins take her story to all the dark places I wanted, and further beyond.

May the odds be ever in your favour!

As the dawn breaks on the 50th annual Hunger Games, few people have cause to celebrate, even young District 12 bootlegger Haymitch Abernathy, whose birthday unfortunately falls on Reaping Day each year.  Despite growing up in a totalitarian dictatorship, Haymitch believes that he has a good life, with friends, family and the love of his life.  However, he is unprepared for just how badly a single moment can change everything.

Selected as one of his district’s Hunger Games tributes, Haymitch suddenly finds himself torn away from everything he loves and must contemplate fighting for his life to survive in the Capitol’s arena.  However, this is no ordinary Hunger Games, it is the second Quarter Quell, and twice as many tributes have been taken from each of the districts, ensuring that his games will be the largest and most brutal battle ever seen.

Forced to compete alongside three other District 12 tributes, including one of his best friends, an oddsmaker whose family prospers by betting on the games, and the most stuck-up-girl in town, Haymitch knows that his chances of survival are slim.  However, something within Haymitch wants to fight back against both the Capitol and the controlling President Snow.  Finding unlikely allies, Haymitch seeks a way to make his impending death mean something and to strike a blow that the Capitol can’t ignore.  But can Haymitch survive long enough to make his stand, while still keeping true to his own loyalties and friendships? The fires of rebellion start to burn here, but Haymitch will soon find out that when flames start, people get burnt.

Well hot damn, that is how you do a prequel.  Suzanne Collins once again shows why she is the leading lady of dystopian young adult fiction, with the brilliant and powerful Sunrise on the Reaping.  A devastating prequel to her original Hunger Games trilogy that perfectly tells the haunting tale of Haymitch Abernathy, Sunrise on the Reaping was an exceptional novel that I can’t help but give a full five-star rating to.  This is a must-read for all fans of the Hunger Games series, but be warned: you won’t be prepared for how tragic the book gets.

I honestly have so much to say about the epic new story that Collins came up with for Sunrise on the Reaping, although I really don’t want to ruin anything for those who have yet to read it.  I will say that if you think you know the story from the summary in Catching Fire, then you are very, very wrong, as Collins twists everything you thought you knew about the 50th Hunger Games and Haymitch Abernathy, while breaking your heart in so many ways.

This dive into tragedy is very well established, and Collins does a brilliant job of initially setting the scene around young Haymitch and showing his early life, family and the other connections he has around District 12.  It doesn’t take long for Collins to turn the expected narrative on its head, thanks to a very clever bait-and-switch, and from that moment on, you really don’t know what to expect.  While much of Sunrise on the Reaping does follow the story beats you would expect from reading the previous books and from Catching Fire’s summary, Collins keeps cleverly turning or twisting them around, so that events like the Tributes parade, the pre-game training and the interviews go in some surprising and often even more traumatic directions.  At the same time, Haymitch has interesting interactions with an array of great supporting characters, many of whom will be very familiar to those who have read the previous Hunger Games books.  All this works to provide much more depth to a story that could have simply been about a massive teenage deathmatch, and which helps to drag you even more into the story, especially as it gives you some intriguing context about Haymitch’s upcoming actions.

Things get pretty crazy once the characters get into the games proper at around the halfway point, and Collins keeps this part of the story fast paced, as you watch Haymitch navigate the arena, surviving the fights and trying to enact his own plans.  This is the part of the book that really deviates from the previously shown version of these games, and I loved how much more detail and complexity Collins gives this latest batch of carnage as Haymitch tries to enact his own hidden goals alongside the previously known narrative.  This works to form quite a compelling plot, which I won’t talk about too much to avoid spoilers.  I will say that there are some truly devastating moments, and you cannot help but feel despair as you witness what really happened to Haymitch and his fellow tributes.  There are so many heartbreaking scenes scattered throughout this part of the book, as well as some great moments of rebellion and humanity, all of which keeps you hooked as you wait to see the brutal final moments of these games.  Collins does an amazing job wrapping everything up in a powerful way, although the conclusion is guaranteed to gut you.  While you know something bad is coming, the full enormity and devastation of the ending really does break you and ensures that will come away from Sunrise on the Reaping haunted and with a deeper appreciation of the rest of the series.

I deeply enjoyed how this epic novel came about, as Collins delivered a complex, powerful and distinctive character-driven read that has the right balance of moving character arcs, desperate survival, brutal tragedy and clever word building, all brought together by a series of shocking twists and heart-breaking reveals.  Once again told exclusively from the protagonist’s perspective, you witness events through the eyes of the young and rebellious Haymitch, which narrows the reader’s vision of the plot.  While I do hope that the film makers show some alternative perspectives like they did in the original Hunger Games films (i.e. what was happening in the control room), I think that this single-character perspective worked extremely well for the book, allowing the reader to get closer to the protagonist, appreciate his emotional reactions to the dark events unfurling around him, while also provide a great outsider perspective to the craziness of the Capitol and the arena.  Collins utilises this to tell a dark and haunting tale, and you are soon inundated with the many injustices Haymitch experiences that Haymitch experiences as he makes his may towards the inevitable Hunger Games.  I really appreciated how well Collins set out the various pivotal events of Sunrise on the Reaping, especially as there are some subtle hints about some of the big events cleverly scattered throughout both the early part of the book, as well as the brief synopsis of the games featured in Catching Fire.  I felt the author did an excellent job pacing everything out, and the reader is constantly on their toes as unexpected events hit the protagonist, and you never quite know what is going to happen next.

As with most of the books in this series, I found Sunrise on the Reaping to be a novel that will appeal to a wide range of readers, including both its intended young adult audience and older fans.  Thanks to the protagonist covering his adventure from start to finish, new readers can easily jump into the series here if they wanted to and not lose any of the book’s intensive impact.  Unsurprisingly, though, Sunrise on the Reaping is going to be best enjoyed by those readers who have enjoyed the rest of the Hunger Games books or movie adaptations.  Collins layers in a ton of references, cameos and hints at events to come, throughout the course of Sunrise on the Reaping’s plot, and eagle-eyed readers will have a lot of satisfaction picking up on them.  I personally loved some of the clever references to the previous prequel, A Ballad of Songbirds and Serpents, including one scene where President Snow utilises some of his knowledge gained from his sojourn to District 12 to rattle Haymitch.  I also quite liked the author’s depictions of the games 24 years before the events of the first novel, and it was interesting to see the similarities and differences between the events, especially after the more basic version that was showcased in A Ballad of Songbirds and Serpents.

One of the things that fans of the series will no doubt be interested in seeing is how the events of Sunrise on the Reaping are widely different to the summary included in Catching Fire.  While certain broad strokes of the event are the same as what Katniss and Peeta saw in the recording, most of what happened in the actual games and its lead-up is vastly different, with Collins showing some very surprising motivations and hidden events throughout the course of the book.  I found this to be extremely fascinating, mainly because it so cleverly invokes the overlapping theme of Sunrise on the Reaping: control of information as a powerful tool of authoritarian governments.  There are some very clever scenes where the Capitol edits and rewrites key events of the plot to suit their own propaganda, and it was fascinating to see tragedies, injustices and occasional flashes of kindness hidden away or completely erased to make Snow look good and Haymitch and the other tributes look like animals or noble patriots.  This allowed Collins to hide a very compelling early rebellion storyline amongst the events of the book, which puts the events of the main trilogy in a whole new light and makes you full reevaluate some of the supporting cast members.  Collins did this in a very clever manner which doesn’t devalue or contradict the events of the other Hunger Games novels but which allowed Sunrise on the Reaping to stand out as a major entry in the larger canon, with events that would resonate down the years.  I really cannot emphasise enough what an impressive act of long-term series writing this is, and you can tell that Collins put an exceptional amount of thought and planning into bringing this unique story to life.

This compelling read features an excellent and varied array of major and supporting characters, including a whole collection of major existing characters from the franchise, as well as several great new figures.  Collins wrapped some amazing storylines around these outstanding figures, and I was really impressed by how attached I grew to several of them, even though I knew what their eventual fate was likely to be.

Due to his role as the book’s main narrator and point-of-view character, most of Sunrise on the Reaping’s focus was around the young Haymitch Abernathy, and it was particularly fascinating to see a younger version of this iconic figure.  Initially shown to be a hopeful and confident teenager with ambitions of love and a future, you soon become quite attached to the young Haymitch due to his selflessness and his willingness to protect his friends and loved ones leading up to the games, as well as the inherent rebellious nature that makes him a target of the Capitol and Snow.  However, as the book continues and Haymitch experiences multiple tragedies, including a series of dark deaths, you witness his spirit start to break piece by piece.  While you had to know that Haymitch was going to have a hard time in this novel, especially after seeing the drunk and damaged figure from the original trilogy, it was still very heartbreaking to see every dark event that befalls him, especially while witnessing all his thoughts and emotions.  I really loved this deeper dive into Haymitch’s life, especially as you get to see why he had so little hope or resolve when you first met him in The Hunger Games, and this makes his entire story from the main trilogy even more impactful.  A truly amazing origin story for one of the best characters in the Hunger Games series.

Aside from Haymitch, Sunrise on the Reaping contains an outstanding array of supporting characters, many of whom Collins makes shine in the time that they appear.  This includes several great new figures, primarily those fellow tributes of Haymitch, whose story alongside the protagonist is highly impactful.  I’m not going to go into too much detail to avoid spoilers, but I felt that several of these new characters were extremely cool, and will no doubt become even larger than life on the big screen.  Highlights for me include Wyatt Callow, a young oddsmaker whose family business makes the other tributes distrust him; Louella McCoy, the youngest tribute from District 12, whose story is especially tragic; and Ampert Latier, a tribute with connections to a major character from the original trilogy.  Lenore Dove Baird, Haymitch’s love interest back home, is a very enthralling figure who has some potential connections to a major figure from A Ballad of Songbirds and Serpents, which allows for some very compelling and moving scenes.  Other interesting new figures included the cruel Capitol escort, Drusilla Sickle, and the reptile-obsessed stylist Magno Stift, while several other great characters step up in their own way.  However, it was the final District 12 tribute, Maysilee Donner, who really stole the show for me, and her fantastic wit and brutal barbs helped turn her into a major favourite of mine, especially when you realise that she isn’t as stuck up as people believe she is.

Collins wraps up this cast with several characters introduced in the original trilogy who have some memorable appearances here.  However, they aren’t just there to please the fans; Collins used them strategically to give a lot more depth to some of these recurring characters as you witness early key events in their personal history.  Many of these appearances helped to underscore why they are so willing to rebel or help Katniss, and I loved how well they were featured in the plot.  Special mention must go to a returning President Snow (the only character to appear in all five books), who was a spectacular antagonist in this latest Hunger Games book.  The author made sure to showcase Snow at his most cruel and vindictive during his scenes, and Collin’s use of him here was a pure masterclass of evil that you had to love.  I also need to highlight the fantastic deeper dive into Plutarch Heavensbee, whose motivations during the Catching Fire, are a little clearer after reading Sunrise on the Reaping, and it was awesome, if initially a little surprising, to see him so well utilised in this novel.

Overall, I think that the character work in Sunrise on the Reaping was quite exceptional, and I loved how well all these characters were featured in this book.  While the particularly large cast of supporting characters did mean that some tributes weren’t as well featured or explored as they could have been (this is also a side effect of there being twice as many tributes), the figures who were highlighted more than made up for this, and I loved the various complex and tragic story arcs that surrounded them.  I cannot wait to see how many of these characters come across in the upcoming Sunrise on the Reaping film, although based on the recent casting announcements, they are going to shine so brightly when they appear.

As with the rest of the books in the Hunger Games series, I chose to listen to Sunrise on the Reaping on audiobook, which is an exceptional way to absorb Collins’s dark and brutal tale.  Featuring a runtime of just under 13 hours, Sunrise on the Reaping has a decent length that I managed to move through quickly.  Thanks to some great narration and an excellent pace, the audiobook format did an outstanding job of enhancing many of the best elements of Sunrise on the Reaping, especially the central characters and the emotional depth of the protagonist.  The narrator of this audiobook, actor Jefferson White, was particularly effective, and I loved how he brought the story to life with his voice.  His take on many of the characters was pretty damn perfect, with his voice for the young Haymitch being particularly effective.  His young Haymitch, which was the default tone for much of the audiobook, was a great take on a younger Woody Harrelson, and I really felt that he captured the characters many nuances and emotions.  I also liked how White tried to sing out the various melodies that were so intrinsic to the plot of Sunrise on the Reaping, which ensured that they were a little more impactful.  This outstanding narration really helped to enhance my enjoyment of the books’ epic plot, and I honestly felt that this was the best way to enjoy this exceptional addition to the Hunger Games franchise.

I think the above five pages are more than enough to showcase just how much I loved Sunrise on the Reaping, which was such a brilliant addition to the Hunger Games series.  Suzanne Collins honestly outdid herself with this incredible prequel, and you will not be prepared for how complex and emotionally traumatising this outstanding novel is.  I honestly cannot not stop thinking about how Sunrise on the Reaping turned out and this is easily one of the better books (and audiobooks) I have so far enjoyed in 2025.

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