Tag: Euan Morton

The Strength of the Few by James Islington

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Fantasy, Five-Star BooksLeave a comment

Publisher: Text Publishing/Audible Studios (Audiobook – 11 November 2025)

Series: Hierarchy – Book Two

Length: 31 hours 8 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Australian author James Islington continues his Hierarchy series in epic form with the incredible and complex novel, The Strength of the Few, an outstanding and highly addictive fantasy novel that I had an incredible time getting through.

Back in 2023, I had the pleasure of reading the outstanding novel, The Will of the Many from James Islington, which I very quickly fell in love with.  Following a fugitive prince who finds himself enrolled in an academy for the children of the elite members of the nation that conquered his homeland, The Will of the Many had an intricate plot that forced the protagonist to deal with elaborate ancient puzzles, the unique magic of his world, unlikely friendships, deadly rebels, and all his hidden secrets potentially becoming uncovered.  I had such an amazing time reading The Will of the Many that it got a very easy five-star rating from me, and it ended up topping several of my end-of-year lists for 2023, including my favourite book, audiobook, new-to-me author and Australian fiction lists.  Unsurprisingly, I have been keen to see how the series would continue ever since I finished the final page of The Will of the Many, and the long-awaited sequel, The Strength of the Few, was one of my most anticipated novels of 2025.  I started reading The Strength of the Few the second I could, and it turned out to be another captivating read, with a plot that goes in some captivating and intense directions.

After infiltrating the Academy and running the mysterious Labyrinth, the man known to the Catenan Republic as Vis Telimus thought that he would finally understand some of the secrets of the nation that destroyed his people.  However, his encounters within the Labyrinth have instead resulted in the impossible and placed him in the firing line of an ancient evil determined to destroy his world.

While the original Vis continues to live in the Catenan Republic, attempting to avenge the massacre of his Academy classmates and friends at the Iudicium, he is unaware that the ancient devices within the Labyrinth replicated him across three separate words.  Mirrors of each other influenced and altered by different history, the worlds of Obiteum, Luceum and the world Vis already knows as Res, are divergent places, each with their own troubles, rulers and chaos.

Now one of the few beings existing across all three concurrent realities, Vis stands as the only person who can stop the upcoming Cataclysm that will burn away all he loves.  But first he needs to face the different challenges each world has for him, especially as he truly belongs in none of them.  Forced to fight, to learn how to control the unique powers his situation has granted him, and to understand the different worlds they find themselves in, all three versions of Vis will be pushed to their limits as they try to prove themselves and understand the secrets behind their unlikely journey.  If any version of Vis fails, then all their chance to stop the Cataclysm are finished.  But can Vis really survive in three separate realities, each of which is filled with beings who desperately want him dead?

Well damn, now that’s how you do a sequel.  The Strength of the Few was an incredible novel as James Islington expertly continued the elaborate and ambitious narrative of his epic Hierarchy books.  Featuring a layered story loaded with complex world-building, intricate story details and compelling characters, The Strength of the Few was an exceptional novel that gets a very easy five-star rating from me.

Islington came up with an especially complex and powerful story for The Strength of the Few, which served as a very worthy follow-up to the compelling events of the previous Hierarchy book.  Right out the gate readers are treated to an intricate plot, with the protagonist from The Will of the Many split into three different versions of himself in three separate mirror worlds.  Each version has its own very distinct narrative that revolves around that specific Vis trying to overcome the challenges of that specific world.  For example, the version of Vis on Res, the world that The Will of the Many was completely set in, continues to endure the politics of the Hierarchy, while also attempting to uncover those responsible for the massacre of his classmates at the end of the previous book.  The storyline set on Obiteum is a bit of a post-apocalyptic narrative, as Vis is forced to survive a broken world ruled by the enemy responsible for several previous Cataclysms, and must try to find a way into a forbidden city, half staffed by the living dead.  The final storyline set in Luceum offers a much more adventurous narrative, as a version of Vis that is completely unaware that he is in an alternate world, is forced to explore a new culture and attempt to survive amongst people who have no idea of his past or his destiny.

These three separate and very distinctive storylines each go in some interesting directions as the book continues, and the result is a very impressive and compelling overall narrative, especially as Islington expertly sets up necessary details in the early stages of the book and cleverly builds from there.  For most part, each of these storylines stay isolated, although some key details from each bleed into the wider narrative, and you can appreciate the significance of certain events or revelations in one storyline better thanks to the events in one of the other worlds.  Each plot line goes in some very interesting directions, with the dark politics of Res forcing Vis to engage in some complex schemes and deceptions, the struggles of Obiteum slowly getting to an isolated version of the protagonist, while positive character interactions in Luceum turn that Vis into a completely different person.  Islington starts to enhance the tension of all three storylines in the second part of the book, and there are some very amazing scenes that completely change the tone of each of the main storylines.  I felt the political instability of Res allowed for some particularly powerful moments, especially after a shocking scene about two-thirds of the way through book.  A growing war in Luceum also provides some compelling drama for that storyline, as Vis must decide what he wants in life, while the continued threat of discovery in Obiteum proves to be particularly draining.

The final third of the book contains some of the best scenes of The Strength of the Few, as Islington builds on all the novel’s great storytelling and complex worldbuilding to bring forth an epic conclusion.  Thrusting all three versions of Vis into mortal danger, the tension is particularly thick, as the protagonist and much of the supporting cast are in constant risk.  This includes a final desperate attempt to achieve his goal of killing a god in Obiteum, which hits a range of snags amongst the ancient city Vis has spent most of the book infiltrating.  At the same time, the Vis in Leceum finds himself in the middle of a deadly war, where his unique abilities and the unlikely rewards of a deadly ceremony weigh him down.  However, the most intense is the narrative set on Res, where Vis finds himself attempting to save who he can from the chaotic events brought on by those manipulating him.  Islington probably throws the book’s most shocking moments into the Res storyline, which nicely builds on a lot of the drama and intrigue from the first novel, and forces the protagonist to make some dark decisions, out of both vengeance and necessity.  One scene where the title of the book is quoted by an antagonist really sticks in the mind, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to forgive Islington with the dark bait-and-switch there.  All three of these storylines end on an interesting note that hint of destructive events for the future, and it is going to be fascinating to see how Islington continues the Hierarchy series going forward.

Thanks to the elaborate ideas that Islington had for this epic sequel, The Strength of the Few turned out to be an exceptionally written read, which provides an intense and compelling fantasy narrative, filled with some great emotional depth.  The inventive way that the author splits the book to follow three separate versions of the same protagonist worked surprisingly well, and it allowed for quite a unique character-driven story, which really showcases Islington’s writing ability.  I felt that the split between the three distinctive storylines was very well done, and these separate narrative threads each stood on their own merits, provide a distinctive experience in each.  I loved how there was something special in each of the storylines, and you got some interesting interactions, world building and different focuses with each of them.  All three were very well written, and there were honestly no weak links with any of the storylines, which is always a risk when you split the narrative like this.  I will say that the intrigue-laden narrative on Res was a particular favourite of mine, but both other storylines were also quite exceptional, and they balanced each other nicely with their alternating themes and varied character growth.  Throw in some creative expansion of the universe the narrative is set in, with its cool Will-based magic system, and three worlds each inspired by different ancient cultures (Roman, Egyptian and Celtic), and this was a very well written book, and I really appreciate how effectively Islington builds up his different worlds and showcases them to the reader.

The Strength of the Few proved to be an impressive continuation of the Hierarchy series, and I felt that Islington did an outstanding job building on the impressive fantasy elements and storylines of the first book.  However, the complex narrative split and the way that Islington dives immediately into the story does mean that The Strength of the Few is probably best enjoyed by those readers who have already gotten through The Will of the Many.  While Islington does re-examine key elements of the plot from the first book as The Strength of the Few continues, it is a very gradual process, and new readers trying to read the sequel first are likely to get confused if they don’t know some necessary details from the first book.  The Strength of the Few might have benefited from a good summary or recap at the front of the book to remind readers of some key details, especially if they haven’t had a chance to read re-read The Will of the Many since its 2023 release.  Still, for the most part, all readers should be able to follow and appreciate The Strength of the Few, especially once you get drawn into the three compelling storylines, and people who love extremely elaborate fantasy narratives with a lot of intricate detail are going to have an outstanding time.

I was once again impressed with Islington’s great characters in The Strength of the Few, as this book has a massive cast, made up of an interesting combination of figures from The Will of the Many, and new characters from the three separate worlds of the setting.  However, most of this book naturally follows the young protagonist from the first book, who is primarily known as Vis Telimus.  A studious and damaged figure who had already gone through a lot before the events of this novel, Vis has rather a unique experience in this sequel, as unbeknown to him, there are now three separate versions of him concurrently existing in the mirror worlds of this setting.

Islington perfectly sets up and utilises this three-way split of his protagonist, and readers are soon treated to three distinct variations of the protagonist, each of whom are altered by their experiences and losses, especially the two versions of Vis who lose their left arm.  It was fascinating to see how each of the Vises are influenced and changed by their respective traumas, and how their adventures are altered by the different information or people that they meet.  For example, the Vis in Res, who is essentially the same protagonist from The Will of the Many, finds himself longing for vengeance after the events of the Iudicium, and spends much of the book angry and forced to endure politics and lies.  The version of Vis on Luceum, while feeling lessened by the loss of his arm, soon finds peace in his new setting, and his eventual motivations for fighting and living are very different from his other incarnations, especially as he finds friends he can trust completely.  Finally, the Vis on Obiteum is one of the more confident incarnations of the protagonist, having full knowledge of the upcoming Cataclysm and his place in the three worlds explain early in the book.  As such, he soon becomes the most competent at utilising his Will talents and appears the most undamaged of the three due to not losing his arm.  However, in many ways the Obiteum Vis is the worst off out of all versions of the protagonist due to his isolation, the desolate surroundings, and the early expectations of murder and potential death that are thrust upon him.  I really cannot emphasise just how clever the split between these different variations of the protagonist is, especially with the subtle differences and alternate reactions to similar events or situations. It really makes for quite a distinctive and moving read, especially as all three versions of Vis experiences even greater trauma and damage as this sequel continues.

While Vis is the obvious focus of The Strength of the Few, there is a huge supporting cast utilised throughout this book, including various characters only found on each distinctive world.  Indeed, each version of Vis picks up its own supporting cast, which allows for some very different interactions in each of the major storylines.  Highlights include many of the recurring characters from the first book who serve as Vis’ friends and mentors in Res.  There is a particular focus on Eidhin and Aequa, who have an expanded role as Vis’s main confidants in this novel, and I liked some of the powerful storylines that formed around them.  Other major supporting characters from the first novel are showcased to a lesser extent in this sequel, primarily due to the book being split into three separate parts, although many of these characters still got a notable role in this sequel.

The cast supporting Vis on the desolate world of Obiteum is a lot more limited, mainly to emphasise the protagonist’s loneliness, although he does find a compelling mentor in Caeror, his adoptive uncle, who the protagonist was hunting for in the first book.  A couple of other native characters from Obiteum gain prominence later in this storyline as Vis attempts to complete his mission, and it is fascinating to see how their experiences living on a dead-world, impact their interactions with the protagonist.  Finally, the cast of the Luceum plotline represent a compelling counterpart to the supporting characters of the rest of the book.  While Vis has enemies in Luceum, he also finds several true friends who he can trust with all his secrets.  It was interesting to finally see Vis truly open up to other people, and it allowed for some very different interactions to the secrets and lies that define the protagonist in the other two storylines.  Throw in a compelling array of antagonists, as well as an entertaining manipulator who keeps chucking Vis into the deep end on Res, and this was an impressive cast for this great sequel.  It honestly was an extremely intriguing experience to have three separate casts of characters set around different versions of the protagonist.  While this narrative split did result in some restrictions when it came to character depth or a full exploration of relationships, I think the overall extended length of the book overcame this and allowed the reader to grow close to the supporting characters.  I will warn readers not to get too attached to the extended cast though, as Islington does get a little murderous as the book continues, however, all these characters are impressive while they last.

While I was lucky enough to receive a physical copy of The Strength of the Few, I ended up holding out for a little bit to listen to the audiobook version of this book instead.  I’m a big fan of audiobooks when it comes to ultra-elaborate fantasy narratives, as I tend to absorb and retain more of the details that way, and this worked out well with The Strength of the Few.  I felt that Islington’s complex story came across very effectively when read out, and all the elements, including the elaborate worldbuilding and the great character work, were well translated to the reader.  I also appreciated how the switches between the three different versions of the perspective protagonist, was easily discernible, and this was a very easy story to follow on audiobook.  The Strength of the Few audiobook saw the return of Euan Morton for narrator, who previously read out The Will of the Many, and who I quite enjoyed as a narrator of the Star Wars audiobook, Tarkin.  Morton has a very interesting cadence to his voice as a narrator, which provided a very unique edge to this audiobook.  While Morton’s narration style might not appeal to everyone, I felt that he did a good job voicing this compelling story, especially through the eyes of the complex protagonist, and his unique narration on this elaborate story worked extremely well.  I also felt that Morton excelled at pronouncing all the different names and titles that Islington featured in his plot, no matter their Roman, Celtic or Egyptian inspiration, and the characters of all three different worlds had a subtly different cadence and accent that helped to distinguish the separate storylines from each other.  As such, I really got stuck into this audiobook, powering through it quickly, even with its 31-hour runtime.  This was probably one of the more intense and moving fantasy audiobooks I had the pleasure of listening to in 2025, and I cannot recommend this format enough.

James Islington does it again with his incredible second Hierarchy novel, The Strength of the Few.  Brilliantly continuing his elaborate narrative from the first novel in a unique manner, The Strength of the Few was an ultra-addictive read, that really showcased Islington’s writing ability and imagination.  Clever, powerful and easy to get addicted to, The Strength of the Few was one of my favourite books of the year, and I cannot wait to see how Islington continues the series going forward.

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Top Ten Tuesday – Longest Audiobooks That I Have Listened To – Part IV

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, List6 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics.  For this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, participants were given a love themed freebie in honour of Valentine’s Day.  As such, I’m going to focus on something that I have a lot of love for, the audiobook format, as I once again revisit and update a fun post I last looked at nearly two years ago.

As readers of this blog will be aware, I am a massive fan of audiobooks, and it is often the best way to enjoy a good book.  I have been lucky enough to listen to an impressive collection of audiobooks over the years, with some of them being extremely long, often taking me weeks to get through.  Back in 2019, I got curious about all the audiobooks I had listened to, and I wanted to know which was the longest one that I had ever listened to.  As a result, I sat down and worked out which ones had the longest run time and turned it into a massive list.  This ended up being such an interesting endeavour that I posted it on my blog here, with the longest 20 books featured.  I had such an amazing time doing this that a year later I had a go at updating it, adding in a few additional audiobooks I had listened to, and then I once again updated it in 2022.

Well, it has been nearly two years since I last updated this list and I always intended to keep coming back to this list to see how the recent long audiobooks I have listened to stacked up against the books already on this list.  Since the last update in 2022 I have managed to listen to quite a few new audiobooks, several of which had an excellent run time.  The list below is similar to the list I posted a couple of years ago, with several new additions added in (see the highlight posts).  I ended up returning the list back to the original 20 entry format I previously had, and the resulting post turned out pretty damn well.

Top Twenty List:

  1. The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, narrated by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading – 45 hours and 48 minutes

WAY OF KINGS MM REV FINAL.indd

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  1. The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss, narrated by Nick Podehl – 42 hours and 55 minutes

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  1. Magician by Raymond E. Feist, narrated by Peter Joyce – 36 hours and 14 minutes

Magician Cover

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  1. A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, narrated by Roy Dotrice – 33 hours and 45 minutes

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  1. The Shadow Casket by Chris Wooding, narrated by Simon Bubb – 32 hours and 37 minutes

The Shadow Casket Cover

The longest new entry on this list is the exceptional audiobook, The Shadow Casket by Chris Wooding.  The sequel the Wooding’s previous novel, The Ember Blade (the audiobook version of which also appears on this list), The Shadow Casket proved to be a remarkable piece of epic fantasy fiction, and I loved the elaborate narrative that emerged.  The impressive narration by Simon Bubb helped to turn this massive audiobook into something very fun to listen to, and The Shadow Casket ended up being one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2023.

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  1. Mistress of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts, narrated by Tania Rodrigues – 32 hours and 1 minute

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  1. Inheritance by Christopher Paolini, narrated by Gerrard Doyle – 31 hours and 29 minutes

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  1. Servant of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts, narrated by Tania Rodrigues – 30 hours and 42 minutes

Servant of the Empire Cover

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  1. The Ember Blade by Chris Wooding, narrated by Simon Bubb – 30 hours and 40 minutes

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  1. Brisingr by Christopher Paolini, narrated by Gerrard Doyle – 29 hours and 34 minutes

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  1. The Will of the Many by James Islington, narrated by Euan Morton – 28 hours and 14 minutes

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Another exceptional audiobook from last year was The Will of the Many by James Islington.  An awesome and complex fantasy book that saw a young, fugitive prince infiltrate an elite academy of his enemies, The Will of the Many had so many fun elements to it, and I was quickly enthralled by its brilliant narrative.  Narrator Euan Morton added his unique voice to the mix, and this helped to turn The Will of the Many into a pretty fun listen, and one I managed to power through quickly despite its over 28 hour long run time.  A highly recommended audiobook, especially if you are looking for a long listen to get lost in.

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  1. Howling Dark by Christopher Ruocchio, narrated by Samuel Roukin – 28 hours and 3 minutes

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  1. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, narrated by Nick Podehl – 27 Hours and 55 minutes

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  1. House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas, narrated by Elizabeth Evans – 27 hours and 50 minutes

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  1. Dragon Mage by M. L. Spencer, narrated by Ben Farrow – 27 hours and 18 minutes

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An intriguing and powerful fantasy audiobook from a couple of years ago.  Dragon Mage was an impressive book, that featured some great classic fantasy elements to it.  Following two young protagonists dragged into a deadly war for the fate of magic and its dragon protectors, Dragon Mage was an awesome listen that I couldn’t get enough of.

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  1. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling, narrated by Jim Dale – 27 hours and 2 minutes

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  1. Son of the Poison Rose by Jonathan Maberry, narrated by Ray Porter – 25 hours and 55 minutes

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One of my favourite author and narrator combos, Jonathan Maberry and Ray Porter, made its way onto this list with Son of the Poison Rose.  The sequel to Kagen the Damned, Son of the Poison Rose is an excellent and very brutal dark fantasy read that I could not get enough of.  Maberry makes full use of the extra runtime of this novel to tell an impressive story, and this audiobook comes highly recommended, especially with Porter’s exceptional voice work.

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  1. Red Seas under Red Skies by Scott Lynch, narrated by Michael Page – 25 hours and 34 minutes

Red Seas Under Red Skies

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  1. In the Shadow of Lightning by Brian McClellan, narrated by Damian Lynch – 24 hours and 52 minutes

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An epic and highly addictive new fantasy novel by Brian McClellan, In the Shadow of Lightning was one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2022, and I really fell in love with its elaborate story.  I honestly flew through In the Shadow of Lightning’s near 25-hour runtime, and narrator Damian Lynch ensures the action and intrigue laden narrative really flows along.  An exceptional piece of fantasy fiction that comes alive in its audiobook version.

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  1. Murtagh by Christopher Paolini, narrated by Gerard Doyle – 24 hours and 32 minutes

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Considering how some of the other original Inheritance Cycle audiobooks dominate the top half of this list, it is unsurprising that Christopher Paolini’s latest addition to the series, Murtagh, also makes an appearance.  Featuring original narrator Gerard Doyle, Murtagh was a great addition to the series, and I had a wonderful time getting through this lengthy audiobook at the end of last year.

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Well, those are some cool new additions to this list.  I am pretty happy with how this new version of the list turned out, although I should work on listening to some longer audiobooks in the coming year.  I will have another go at updating this list in a couple of years or so, but in the meantime let me know what the longest audiobook you have listened to is in the comments below.

Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Audiobooks of 2023

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, List54 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics.  The official topic for this list involved listing the ten most recent additions to your bookshelf, which is a topic I would usually try to address.  However, I am afraid I’m going to have to skip this topic and instead I will continue my annual end of year wrap up of some of the best books of 2023.  In previous weeks I have highlighted some of the best pre-2023 novels, best new-to-me-authors and the best 2023 sequels I read in the last year.  However, this week I am going to look at something near and dear to my heart, the best audiobooks of 2023. 

Readers of this blog only need to check out my extensive audiobook category to know that I have a lot of love for the audiobook format.  In my opinion, the audiobook is often the best way to experience a good book and in many cases this format makes a novel far more enjoyable.  As a result, I listened to quite a few audiobooks this year, and while a good chunk of them were books released before 2023 and featured in my Throwback Thursday posts, most were released this year.  There were some truly outstanding and impressive audiobooks released in 2023 and I knew going in that I was going to have an extremely hard time coming up with a final version of this list.

For this list I have only included audiobooks released in 2023 that I have listened to, which left me with a long list of extremely impressive audiobooks which I wanted to include in this post.  To help cut this down, I considered a range of factors, including the quality of the original novel, the skill of the narrator, production value, pacing and other features.  Looking at all this I was eventually able to cut the list down to the absolute best 10 audiobooks, with my typical generous honourable mentions section.  I had to make some very hard decisions here, and I ended up excluding several extremely good audiobooks from the main list.  Still, I think it really represents the best audiobooks I enjoyed this year and there are some amazing productions below.

Honourable Mention:

The King of the Spoil, written by Jonathan D. Beer and narrated by Gabrielle Nellis-Pain

The King of the Spoil Cover

A fun and intense Warhammer 40,000 book that effortlessly blends gothic science fiction with a great crime fiction narrative.

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The Last Kingdom, written by Steve Berry and narrated by Scott Brick

The Last Kingdom (Steve Berry) Cover

Intriguing European history and modern-day espionage combine perfectly in this new Cotton Malone novel by Steve Berry, which is expertly brought to life by veteran narrator Scott Brick

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Cypher: Lord of the Fallen, written by John French and narrated by Jon Rand

Cypher - Lord of the Fallen Cover

The very talented Jon Rand does a wonderful job of bringing one of the most mysterious Warhammer 40,000 figures to life in this cryptic and fast-paced audiobook by John French.

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Murtagh, written by Christopher Paolini and narrated by Gerard Doyle

Murtagh Cover

Christopher Paolini cleverly adds to his iconic Inheritance Cycle with original series audiobook narrator, Gerard Doyle, returning as well, bringing some familiar and compelling voices to this epic piece of fantasy fiction.

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Top Ten List:

Son of the Poison Rose/Cave 13, written by Jonathan Maberry and narrated by Ray Porter

Son of the Poison Rose and Cave 13 Cover

In 2023, we were lucky to get two novels from one of my favourite authors, Jonathan Maberry, as he continued some of his best series.  These novels were the dark fantasy epic, Son of the Poison Rose and the science fiction thriller, Cave 13, which continued the outstanding Rogue Team International series.  Both books were awesome in their own way, but I chose to combine their audiobooks into a single entry here, due to the fact both shared the same narrator in the legendary Ray Porter.  Porter, who is one of my favourite audiobook narrators, is synonymous with Maberry, having lent his voice to most of his books, and he always provides an exceptional performance that works so well with Maberry’s style and captures his complex and damaged protagonists.  The combination of Maberry and Porter is always a winner, and the resulting audiobooks are something extremely special.  As such, both come highly recommended, and both are some of the best audiobooks of the year.

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Holly, written by Stephen King and narrated by Justine Lupe

Holly Cover

I have been really enjoying some of the legendary Stephen King’s more recent books and my favourite so far is his latest novel, Holly.  A continuation of the adventures of Holly Gibney that started in Mr Mercedes, Holly was a complex and dark thriller that saw the protagonist investigate a missing persons case, only to discover something truly disturbing and horrifying.  This was such an incredible novel, that featured great characters and some shocking twists, and I can honestly say that my love for Holly was even more enhanced because of its amazing audiobook as the producers cleverly brought in actress Justine Lupe to narrate the book.  Lupe, who played the character of Holly Gibney in the Mr Mercedes television series, once again dove into the character and really brought her to life.  Combined with her great take on several other impressive characters, including two of King’s most surprisingly sinister villains, and Holly was a joy to listen to from start to finish, and indeed proved to be an excellent accompaniment for a fun road trip.

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The Will of the Many, written by James Islington and narrated by Euan Morton

The Will of the Many Cover

One of my favourite fantasy novels of 2023 was the inventive and exciting release from Australian author James Islington, The Will of the Many.  A powerful read that saw a clever teenager with secrets attend a prestigious magical academy while also trying to bring down a destructive empire, The Will of the Many was one of the most impressive books of the year and I got really addicted to its elaborate storytelling and unique new world.  The audiobook version of The Will of the Many proved to be extremely good, especially as it allowed me to absorb more of the compelling world detail and envision some of the more elaborate elements of the story.  Narrator Euan Morton also provided a unique voice to the story, and this ended up being on of the best fantasy audiobooks of the year.

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The Last Devil to Die, written by Richard Osman and narrated by Fiona Shaw

The Last Devil to Die Cover

After wowing me with his previous Thursday Murder Club books, including The Thursday Murder Club (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2020), The Man Who Died Twice (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2021) and The Bullet That Missed (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2022), Richard Osman produced another outstanding release this year with The Last Devil to Die.  Thanks to its clever mystery, subtle humour, and some of the best character work you likely to see, The Last Devil to Die was Osman’s best book yet, and I cannot emphasise how wonderful and moving it ended up being.  The audiobook version proved to be particularly good, as they once again brought back actress Fiona Shaw to narrate.  Shaw has an amazing handle on all the characters, and her excellent voice conveyed all the intense and powerful emotional that this book contained.  I honestly teared up in placed while listening to this audiobook and I cannot recommend it enough as a result.

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The Fall of Cadia, written by Robert Rath and narrated by Mark Elstob

Warhammer 40,000 - The Fall of Cadia Cover

I’m still listening to this next entry; however, I’m having such a great time with it that I had to include it here.  This book is a fantastic Warhammer 40,000 book, The Fall of Cadia.  Covering one of the most important events from the Warhammer 40,000 canon, the end of the 13th Black Crusade, The Fall of Cadia follows the epic last stand of the fortress planet of Cadia to the forces of Chaos.  Massive in its scope and carnage, The Fall of Cadia is a difficult book to pull together but Robert Rath, who massively impressed me with his prior novels Assassinorum: Kingmaker and The Infinite and the Divine, does an incredible job of tying everything together into an exciting and manageable read.  I am particularly loving the audiobook version as narrator Mark Elstob moves the lengthy novel along at an excellent pace and provides a huge range of voices to cover all the over-the-top personalities featured in the book.  His narration also perfectly captures the full intensity of the many battles featured within The Fall of Cadia and he makes it sound as epic and brutal as possible.  I am loving every second with this audiobook and I look forward to seeing how well the big finish comes out.

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City of Last Chances, written by Adrian Tchaikovsky and narrated by David Thorpe

City of Last Chances Cover

Probably one of the cleverest fantasy books I got to read in 2023 was City of Last Chances by the unstoppable and highly talented Adrian Tchaikovsky.  Set in an occupied city loaded with rogues, revolutionaries and other lost souls, City of Last Chances was a clever, character-driven read, loaded with unique personal stories and unusual scenarios.  This fascinating and entertaining narrative was expertly expressed by narrator David Thorpe who really dove into the strange characters and showcased all the absurdities and deep dramas perfectly.  A wonderful audiobook from start to finish that I honestly could not stop listening to.

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Burner, written by Mark Greaney and narrated by Jay Snyder

Burner Cover

One of the leading authors of spy thriller fiction, Mark Greaney, produced another outstanding entry in his Gray Man series this year with Burner.  Setting his infamous protagonist against both his former lover and a desperate Russian special forces unit, Burner was an amazing and intense read that expertly and tastefully utilised contemporary events to tell a complex story.  The resulting action, spy craft, personal drama and carnage was expertly showcased by narrator Jay Snyder, who has lent his voice to all the Gray Man books.  The resulting audiobook was extremely moving and intense, and Burner was one of Greaney’s best releases yet.

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The Shadow Casket, written by Chris Wooding and narrated by Simon Bubb

The Shadow Casket Cover

The longest audiobook I listened to in 2023 was the epic fantasy novel, The Shadow Casket by Chris Wooding.  The sequel to Wooding’s previous novel, The Ember Blade, The Shadow Casket was an outstanding listen that saw a desperate group of freedom fighters try to turn the tide against their relentless oppressors.  Perfectly continuing the story set up in The Ember Blade while also featuring some impressive character interactions and a ton of worldbuilding, The Shadow Casket was a brilliant book, and I was so glad to get a continuation of this series.  I deeply appreciated the audiobook version of The Shadow Casket, narrated by Simon Bubb, as it really helped me absorb this massive read so much better.  Bubb did an outstanding job of making this lengthy story easy to follow, and I loved the fitting voices he gifted to all the complex characters.  A captivating and extensive listen, I don’t think I would have enjoyed The Shadow Casket as much in any other format.

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The Traitor, written by Anthony Ryan and narrated by Steven Brand

The Traitor Cover

Bestselling fantasy author, Anthony Ryan, brought his Covenant of Steel trilogy to an awesome end this year with The Traitor.  The fantastic follow-up to The Pariah and The Martyr, The Traitor showcased the end of Ryan’s scribe protagonist’s big adventure, and the inevitable fall to darkness that accompanied it.  Intense, highly detailed, and featuring an outstanding antagonist, The Traitor was such a good conclusion, and I had such an incredible time listening to the audiobook version.  Steven Brand, who did such a great job narrating The Pariah and The Martyr, provided another brilliant bout of narrating in this finale, and he perfectly captured the protagonist’s despair and determination as they fought to do the right thing one final time.  A highly recommended audiobook and the only way to enjoy the Covenant of Steel books.

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The Lion: Son of the Forest, written by Mike Brooks and narrated by Timothy Watson

The Lion - Son of the Forest Cover

The final entry on this list is another Warhammer 40,000 audiobook, The Lion: Son of the Forest by Mike Brooks.  Brooks, who is quicky becoming one of the best authors of Warhammer 40,000 fiction (a quick shoutout to Brook’s other 2023 release, Warboss), sought to bring back one of the canon’s most significant characters, and did so with this deeply personal and symbolism laced novel.  Intense, moving, and featuring some compelling characters, The Lion: Son of the Forest was extremely good, especially in the audiobook format narrated by Timothy Watson.  While all Warhammer 40,000 audiobooks are pretty special and fun, I really enjoyed this one as Watson captures the gravitas of the main character perfectly while also highlighting the complex plot and pivotal action.  One of the best Warhammer 40,000 audiobooks of 2023 as a result, this is really worth a listen. 

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Well that is the end of this latest Top Ten list, and as you can see, I have been lucky enough to listen to some awesome audiobooks this year (although I clearly focused a little too much on Warhammer fiction).  All the above audiobooks are extremely good and I would highly recommend each of them in their audiobook format.  Let me know what your favourite audiobooks of 2023 were in the comments below, and make sure to check back next week to see what my overall favourite novels of the year were.

Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Audiobooks from the First Half of 2023

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, List20 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics.  Top Ten Tuesday participants get a freebie this week so I chose to have a look at my favourite audiobooks from the first half of 2023.  This is a continuation of my Top Ten list from a few weeks ago that featured my favourite overall novels from the first half of 2023.

I have a great deal of love for the audiobook format, and it is one of the main ways that I tend to check out books.  Each year I enjoy a great number of different audiobooks and use the format to check out recent releases and older novels.  I have been enjoying audiobooks for years, and it is amazing the various ways in which listening to a book can enhance your enjoyment.  A great narrator can really bring you into the story, and I find that listening to a book enhances the amount of detail that you can take in.  In addition, other features, such as captivating voices, music and sound effects can really make an audiobook something special, and there some great examples of that out there.  This year alone I have listened to several outstanding audiobooks, includes some of my favourite books from early 2023.  Because I love this format so much, I thought I would take this opportunity to highlight my favourite audiobooks from the first half of the year.

To pull this list off I had a look at all the 2023 releases that I listened to on audiobook to figure out my favourites.  It turns out that I have already gone through quite a few this year so there was a very large collection of potential additions to this list.  I was eventually able to whittle it down to the ten audiobooks I consider to be the best.  There is a bit of a crossover with my previous Favourite Books from the First Half of 2023 list, but I think there are enough new additions to make this list worthwhile.  I made sure to feature only the very best audiobooks on this list, and, in addition to the quality of the baseline novel, I also looked at audiobook production and narration.  In my experience an outstanding narration or use of music and sound effects can enhance the plot, and I think that all the audiobooks listed below were exceptional listens that are really worth checking out.

In addition, as I had also listened to a few pre-2023 audiobooks in the first half of the year, I decided to also included a few of the best in a honourable mentions section.  I had an epic time diving back into some classic reads, especially those of the Warhammer variety, and I really wanted to highlight which ones made for the best audiobooks.  With these honourable mentions, I am very happy with how the overall list turned out and I think that the below entries really highlight what my favourite audiobooks from the first half of the year are.

Honourable Mentions (Pre-2023 audiobooks):

Eisenhorn Trilogy, written by Dan Abnett and narrated by Toby Longworth

Warhammer 40,000 - Xenos Cover

Some of the very best Warhammer audiobooks I listened to this year are the epic Eisenhorn novels by Dan Abnett.  Thanks to Toby Longworth’s exceptional narration, all three Eisenhorn novels, Xenos, Malleus and Hereticus were a joy to listen to from start to finish.

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Dead Beat, Proven Guilty and White Night, written by Jim Butcher and narrated by James Marsters

White Night Cover

Few audiobooks are better than Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files novels narrated by actor James Marsters.  I’ve gotten through three of these audiobooks in 2023 with Dead Beat, Proven Guilty and White Night, and all of them were outstanding five-star reads that I had such a great time listening to.

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The Infinite and the Divine, written by Robert Rath and narrated by Richard Reed

The Infinite and the Divine Cover

A highly clever, utterly hilarious and very impressive Warhammer 40,000 audiobook that focused on two rival Necron lords, battling it out over the centuries in a petty feud.  I laughed myself silly with this audiobook and Richard Reed’s awesome narration made it even better.

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For the Emperor by Sandy Mitchell and narrated by Stephen Perring, Penelope Rawlins and Emma Gregory

Warhammer 40,000 - For the Emperor Cover

Another particularly funny Warhammer 40,000 audiobook I enjoyed this year is the first Ciaphas Cain novel by Sandy Mitchell, For the Emperor.  This entertaining audiobook about a cowardly war hero truly comes alive with the outstanding narration team of Stephen Perring, Penelope Rawlins and Emma Gregory, who compliment themselves marvellously throughout the entire production.

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Top Ten List:

Son of the Poison Rose, written by Jonathan Maberry and narrated by Ray Porter

Son of the Poison Rose Cover

I had to start this list off with the new Jonathan Maberry novel, Son of the Poison Rose.  The sequel to Kagen the Damned (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2022), Son of the Poison Rose was another epic and bloody novel that proves hard to put down.  The always exceptional narration of Ray Porter turns it into an utterly addictive and impossibly good listen, which I cannot recommend enough.

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Warhammer 40,000: Warboss, written by Mike Brooks and narrated by Harry Myers

Warhammer 40,000 - Warboss Cover

Rising Warhammer 40,000 author Mike Brooks is having a stellar 2023, and one of the first audiobooks of his I listened to was the very funny Warboss.  Focusing on feuding warband of Orks attempting to determine a new leader through conquest, Warboss was a riot the entire way through, especially with Harry Myer’s fantastic narration perfectly capturing the chaotic yet complex nature of the Ork characters.

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The Last Kingdom, written by Steve Berry and narrated by Scott Brick

The Last Kingdom (Steve Berry) Cover

History and conspiracy really come to life in the hands of Steve Berry, especially when narrated by Scott Brick.  This latest Cotton Malone audiobook, The Last Kingdom, was pretty damn good, and I have so much love for the amazing combination of a modern-day thriller and intriguing historical mysteries.

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The Lake House, written by Sarah Beth Durst and narrated by Karissa Vacker

The Lake House Cover Better

A fantastic and haunting young adult thriller that saw three teenagers thrust into a deadly situation on a remote summer camp.  Sarah Beth Durst produced a pretty amazing book here and Karissa Vacker does a great job of portraying the three teenage protagonists with her excellent narration.  I had an amazing time with The Lake House and I am hoping to get a review up for it soon.

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Warhammer 40,000: The Lion: Son of the Forest by Mike Brooks and narrated by Timothy Watson

The Lion - Son of the Forest Cover

The second Mike Brooks audiobook on this list is The Lion: Son of the Forest, which was probably one of the best Warhammer 40,000 novels of 2023 so far.  Following the return of a mythical hero, this fantastic book had a compelling and powerful plot that had me hooked very early.  Narrator Timothy Watson ensures that the audiobook version is particularly epic as he brings some outstanding gravitas to an already legendary main character.

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Burner, written by Mark Greaney, narrated by Jay Snyder

Burner Cover

Few thriller series impress me as much as the Gray Man books by Mark Greaney, and I have been having an amazing time listening to their audiobooks, especially with the very talented Jay Snyder narrating them.  The latest Gray Man audiobook, Burner, was particularly special, and I could barely stop listening to it as Greaney wove together a captivating and highly relevant spy story.  A must listen, especially with Snyder’s great take on the characters.

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The Will of the Many, written by James Islington and narrated by Euan Morton

The Will of the Many Cover

One of the audiobooks I am most glad I listened to in the first half of 2023 was the brilliant fantasy novel, The Will of the Many by James Islington.  A highly elaborate, entertaining and moving novel, The Will of the Many is one of the best fantasy books of the year so far and represents the start of an outstanding new series.  I particularly enjoyed the amazing audiobook version, which thanks to the narration of Euan Morton, really popped, and helped to cram every detail of Islington’s new world into my head.  Highly recommended!

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Warhammer 40,000: Shadowsun: The Patient Hunter, written by Phil Kelly and narrated by Helen McAlpine

Warhammer 40,000 - Shadowsun Cover

A slick, action-packed, and occasionally gruesome Warhammer 40,000 audiobook that I had a lot of fun with was Shadowsun: The Patient Hunter.  Combining Phil Kelly’s love of the T’au faction with Helen McAlpine’s great narration is a winning combination, and I powered through this cool audiobook in no time at all.

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City of Last Chances, written by Adrian Tchaikovsky and narrated by David Thorpe

City of Last Chances Cover

Another particularly impressive and captivating fantasy novel from the start of the year was City of Last Chances by the very talented Adrian Tchaikovsky.  Following multiple unique protagonists around a troubled fantasy city, City of Last Chances is a must read for all fantasy fans, and you will find your experience of it greatly improved with the outstanding audiobook version.  Narrator David Thorpe perfectly captures all of the many complex characters and ensures that Tchaikovsky’s brilliant story elaborate setting is expertly conveyed to the listener.  I cannot recommend this audiobook enough and I cannot wait to see how Tchaikovsky follows it up.

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Warhammer 40,000: Leviathan, written by Darius Hinks and narrated by Theo Solomon

Warhammer 40,000 - Leviathan Cover

The final audiobook on this list is the one I’m listening to now, Leviathan by Darius Hinks.  An intense and fast-paced book that follows a deadly alien invasion, this is a great Warhammer 40,000 read that really grew on me.  Leviathan has a very good audiobook format, thanks to the narration of Theo Solomon, and I am having an outstanding time seeing this dark tale of insanity, invasion and hope, come to fruition.  I should knock this off in the next day or so, and I will try to get a review up for it soon.

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Well, that’s the end of this latest list.  As you can see, there have been some very good audiobooks out in the first half of 2023, even my list is a little Warhammer 40,000 heavy.  It will be interesting to see which books make the cut later in the year, especially as I currently have several major 2023 audiobooks currently sitting on my phone, waiting to be listened to.  While I get to that, make sure to let me know what your favourite audiobooks of 2023 so far are in the comments below.

The Will of the Many by James Islington

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Australian, Fantasy, Five-Star Books19 Comments

The Will of the Many Cover

Publisher: Gallery/Saga Press/Audible Studios (Audiobook – 23 May 2023)

Series: Hierarchy – Book One

Length: 28 hours 14 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Talented Australian author James Islington delivers one of the best fantasy books of 2023 with the compelling and complex novel, The Will of the Many, an exceptional read that I had a brilliant time reading.

I am always on the lookout for epic fantasy novels to sink my teeth into, and one that caught my eye when it was first announced was the intriguing book, The Will of the Many.  Set in a cool new magical school setting, The Will of the Many sounded liked a very fun novel and I instantly wanted to read it.  It helped that it was written by James Islington, an Australian author who had been on my radar for a while thanks to his fantastic Licanius trilogy.  While I have not had a chance to check out the Licanius books, I was very keen to dive into The Will of the Many and I was glad I got the chance a couple of weeks ago.  The Will of the Many is the first book in Islington’s new Hierarchy series, which looks set to be a major addition to the fantasy landscape especially after this incredible first book

The Catenan Republic, known as the Hierarchy, rules the world, conquering and enslaving everything before it using its unique magic of Will, which drains power, strength and mental energy from the lower classes and passes it up to those above.  To gain true power and control in the Hierarchy citizens need to battle their way to the top of the pyramid of power and influence, and only those with drive, ambition, connections or no choice can rise.

Vis is an orphan boy with a hidden past, a quick mind, and an utter disdain for the entire Hierarchy.  Lodged in a Catenan orphanage, Vis bides his time while searching for an escape from a future of ceding his Will to the higher echelons of the Hierarchy.  However, his entire life is turned upside down when a powerful Catenan nobleman offers him a chance he never expected.  Ulciscor Telimus is convinced that there are dark dealings going on at the Hierarchy’s most prestigious school, the Academy, and he needs someone to go undercover and discover what has been hidden there.  If he succeeds, he will be adopted into Ulciscor’s influential family and be given a choice about his future.

Reluctantly agreeing to Ulciscor’s terms, Vis prepares to attend the Academy, only to discover it is a dangerous place of corrupt ambition, deadly secrets and deep rivalries.  To succeed, Vis will have to rise through the Academy’s ranks by any means necessary without losing who he is as a person.  But this will be no easy task, as deadly politics, long-buried power and a murderous rebel group all seek to control him.  Worse, the more he advances, the greater the chance that his secret past will be uncovered and his enemies will put him to death.  Can Vis survive against the terrible burden that is weighing him down or will he be ground down by the unstoppable Hierarchy just like everyone else?

Islington has created a pretty exceptional fantasy novel with The Will of the Many.  Featuring a powerful, intense and character-driven plot, all set within an outstanding new fantasy world, The Will of the Many had me hooked pretty early on and I dedicated a lot of time to reading it.  I really got drawn into Islington’s amazing inventiveness and this book gets an easy five-star rating from me thanks to how damn good it is.

I have lot of love for the epic and captivating narrative that Islington set up in The Will of the Many, especially as he simultaneously tells a brilliant introductory story while also expertly setting up the rest of the series.  There are some awesome scenes in the start of this book, including an intense fight club sequence, which do an excellent job getting the reader across some key aspects of the plot, while also showcasing the emotional range and complexity of the protagonist, through whose eyes the entire story unfolds.  I was honestly already very hooked by this point in the story, but Islington quickly picks up the pace and ensures that this character-driven narrative heads off in some very compelling directions.  The introduction of Ulciscor soon presents the idea of the Academy and the dark conspiracies around it, and Islington starts the gradual process of getting the protagonist to the school environment.  Ulciscor is a great addition to the plot, especially as he plays off Vis very well, and the early sequences with him result in some major world expansion and plot movement.  It also sets up the book’s established formula of adventure, world building, politics, mystery and espionage, that carries through the rest of the story, and which ends up being a very heady combination.

Islington keeps building the story as The Will of the Many progresses, and pretty much every new revelation or intriguing world detail is really fun to behold.  There is some good early action, as well as a couple of twists that I liked at this point, but the story is still very much on track for the promised magical school setting.  However, before we get there, there are a series of cool and fascinating training montages which build up Vis as a character and really highlight the difficult tasks to come.  There is also a deeper dive into the complexities of the tasks and the secrets surrounding them, and Islington does an impressive amount of set-up in this first third.  However, the real highlight of this first part of the book is a very surprising and explosive occurrence that pushes Vis into the limelight, while also ensuring that he is caught between some very dangerous people.  This big scene is extremely memorable, bloody and very well-written, and if you weren’t riveted to The Will of the Many before, you sure as hell were now.

From there the story turns into a more magical school focused narrative, which was something that I was really looking forward to.  This intriguing setting had some great elements to it, and the story set within the Academy was a brilliant and compelling blend of education, entertaining rivalries, compelling personal interactions, and a series of secrets, as Vis attempts climb up the ranks, while also completing some of the objectives the various groups trying to control him have forced him to do.  I honestly had a ton of fun during the scenes set in the Academy, and I liked how Islington built up the setting and the fantasy elements behind it, while also slowly advancing the story and the character development.  The substantial part of the novel set in or around the Academy has some fantastic moments to it, including a few big scenes where Vis is forced to encounter deadly enemies, hard tasks, or the secrets from his past, and each of these major moments expertly expands on some part of the plot or universe you are already enjoying, whether it be secrets of the world, or some political machinations that will come back to bite the protagonist later.

Everything leads up to a major extended concluding sequence as the final test of the Academy brings all manner of trouble to the protagonist in a variety of cool and intriguing ways.  Not only do some big secrets come to life but Vis manages to learn more about the magical secrets of the world and the Hierarchy, while also being forced to deal with deadly attacks and threats from a variety of corners.  There are so many epic moments in this final section of the book, and Islington did an incredible job of tying together his many, many story threads to ensure that a variety of previous hints and revelations are well utilised.  I loved some of the elaborate tests and set-ups featured here, and it was very fun to see the protagonist try to run them while also dealing with major threats from every angle.  This final sequence has some massive moments, including major betrayals, compelling reveals about the wider world, and a very tragic death, all of which served as the perfect cherry to an already outstanding story.  While many secrets and hanging storylines are resolved by the end of the plot, quite a few still remain for the sequels.  Islington has already set up some big moments and unique ideas for the future, and I am very curious to see how they turn out.

As you can no doubt tell from my expansive summary above, I really loved this captivating narrative in The Will of the Many and I think that Islington did a really good job of presenting this complex and impressive story to the reader.  The entire book has an outstanding pace to it, and there is barely a scene that is not filled with something exciting or entertaining, whether it be a moving character moment, some compelling world building, or a thrilling bit of action.  I honestly flew through this lengthy novel, and there was no point of the book where I not highly invested in the plot nor gripped by the events unfolding.  The author’s use of a first-person perspective from the character of Vis was a very good choice of narration that allowed the author to tell a compelling character-driven story that simultaneously explored a cool new setting from the outside, while also cleverly capturing all the key elements of the plot.  The intense balancing act of lies, politics, outside influences and personal relationships that the protagonist has to maintain really shines through as a result of this use of perspective, and it was deeply compelling to see Vis attempt to overcome all the obstacles in front of him.  The intense action scenes were particularly good, and Islington perfectly portrays the desperate violence, the life-and-death confrontations, and even some complex but exciting maze running, in ways that grab the reader’s attention and keep them fully engaged.  I personally loved how Islington included so many different compelling storylines, plot points, and fascinating detail into every single page of the book, and you really cannot help but get addicted as a result.

I always love seeing a cool fantasy setting for a new series, and Islington produced a pretty intriguing and compelling one for The Will of the Many.  Much of the main setting of the book sees Islington expand on an ancient Roman society, by adding in some intriguing new details like magic, powered constructs, a rigidly hierarchical community, and a deep political divide between the military, governance and religion bodies.  This results in a very interesting background for much of the story, and Islington showcases it all through the eyes of Vis, a hostile outsider with an established hatred of the Hierarchy, which works to showcase it in even more detail, especially as Vis focuses on both the negatives and the positives of the political and cultural structures around him.  I really enjoyed the clever balance of political concerns, oppressed citizenry and unique inclusions about status and magical power that were explored as a result, and it was fantastic to see them utilised in the plot, especially as Vis has to balance all of them throughout his many guises and missions.  The most fascinating part of this whole setting has to be the focus Will, the magic of the Hierarchy, which sees people at the bottom of society sacrifice part of their strength, drive and health to those above them.  The higher up in the Hierarchy you are, the more people you have ceding their strength to you, and this gives you greater powers, including better physical attributes, the ability to control and manipulate materials to certain purposes, and other magical abilities.  Islington does a really good job of exploring and expanding on this intriguing magical system throughout The Will of the Many, especially as the narrator is also learning about it as he goes.  The author has clearly put some time and great thought into this magical system, treating it like an established science, and I liked seeing the range of abilities it produces, as well as its related social and cultural impacts.  Islington makes sure to highlight that this is not a perfect society, and the cracks that Vis witnesses throughout The Will of the Many should result in some outstanding and compelling ongoing storylines.

I need to point out that one of the main reasons I chose to grab The Will of the Many is that it had a magical school setting.  I love, love, love magical school settings in fantasy fiction, and it is one of the best backgrounds for an excellent fantasy story (make sure to check out my recent list about my favourite books with magical school settings).  The Academy in The Will of the Many is an amazing example of this, and I enjoyed how Islington utilised it as a primary location for the book’s plot.  Just like the rest of the Hierarchy, the Academy is a rigidly hierarchical place based around a pyramid structure, with the most talented students at the top, and the other students below battling to take their place.  This made for a great background of study, competition and rivalries for much of the plot, and it was fun to see the protagonist try to reach the higher classes in a short time period, especially as he was required to overcome numerous obstacles while also coming to terms with the distinctive social structure of the Academy.  Islington adds a further twist to this education setting by introducing the Labyrinth as a unique educational and testing tool.  Essentially, the Labyrinth sees participants run through an elaborate maze while being chased, manipulating a magical gauntlet to move around walls and doors, all to prove that the participant has the concentration and focus to control vast amounts of Will.  Islington did an outstanding job of showcasing this Labyrinth in multiple scenes of The Will of the Many, and it produces some very exciting and compelling scenes, especially when the stakes around it get very high.  There is also a very complex, and highly enjoyable final test that serves as a great background for much of the final confrontation.  Islington clearly has a highly inventive streak when it comes to these unique fantasy inclusions, and I personally loved every second spent in this highly competitive magical school setting.  I hope that we see more of it in the future, and this was honestly one of the better magical schools that I have personally seen in fantasy fiction.

I also must highlight the captivating and nuanced characters that were featured within The Will of the Many, especially the main protagonist, Vis, through whom we see most of the events occurring.  Vis is an outstanding central protagonist, as he is a highly educated individual who sees all the flaws in the society he is forced to live in, and goes into the story with many secrets around him, including the fact that he is secretly the deposed prince of a realm recently conquered by the Hierarchy.  Due to his many losses, his outsider status, and the sheer resentment he holds towards the Hierarchy and those who use Will, Vis has a great deal of anger, bitterness and lack of social ability that he needs to overcome.  Vis proves to be the perfect character for the complex and morally grey narrative that Islington envisions, as Vis has to put all his learned deceit and ability to keep secrets and survive to good use to infiltrate the Hierarchy and the Academy, while being blackmailed by several different people.  Vis has an interesting analytical mind, and I wonderful time seeing him try to work through the various problems, conflicts, and hostile situations he encounters, especially as nearly everything about him is a lie that he needs to keep straight.  Despite his past and the pressures he is under, he is still a mostly kind and noble figure, trying to stay true to his original ideals while still doing what is right in a very corrupt world, and it was wonderful to see him grow throughout the course of the story and finally learn to trust again.  I grew quite attached to Vis as the story continued, and it really hurts to see him suffer time and time again, especially once he comes to terms with the traumas of his past.  I am very excited to see his story continue in the future, especially as it seems like it is going to get quite complex and multifaceted in the next book.

The rest of the cast of The Will of the Many is also very strong, and I liked the compelling and varied supporting characters that Vis has to interact with, including classmates, his new adopted family, rivals, political opponents, high-ranking members of the Hierarchy, and a dedicated group of rebels with dark plans for the future.  The powerful and intriguing interactions that occurred between Vis, who is often lying about his intentions, and these other fantastic characters results in some amazing scenes, and I loved the unique relationships that Vis was able to form with them.  You grow pretty attached to some of these characters as well, and I had my heart broken with one major fatality towards the end of the novel.

To check out this impressive novel I chose to grab an audiobook copy of The Will of the Many, which proved to be a pretty exceptional way to enjoy this fantastic read.  I have a lot of love for the audiobook format when it comes to massive fantasy novels, especially as I find myself really able to absorb the complex narratives and vast new worlds extremely well when listening to it.  This was definitely the case with The Will of the Many audiobook which really allowed me to get to grips with the powerful story it contained, and I lapped up every second that I listened to.  It definitely helped that The Will of the Many audiobook featured an outstanding narrator in the form of Euan Morton, whose work I have previously enjoyed in several Star Wars audio productions (Tarkin, Dooku: Jedi Lost and Doctor Aphra).  Morton has a unique voice that I felt gave The Will of the Many some real gravitas and impact when read out, especially with the distinctive, accented tone he utilised for both Vis and the main narration of the story.  This specific great voice was pretty impressive, and it really helped to make the protagonist’s speech really stand out throughout the audiobook.  The rest of the accents and tones he utilised for the other characters in the book really worked, and I loved how much range Morton had, covering a range of different characters perfectly and gifting them very fitting voices.  All this really helps to make The Will of the Many an absolute pleasure to listen to, and I cannot recommend this format enough to people interested in this book.  With a run time of just over 28 hours, The Will of the Many audiobook does represent a substantial time challenge for potential listeners (it is the 10th longest audiobook I’ve ever listened to).  However, I would say it is well worth the investment, especially as it does not take long for you to get obsessed with this awesome book and its elaborate story.  An exceptional audiobook that is easily the best way to enjoy this amazing fantasy tale.

Unsurprisingly, I loved The Will of the Many, and it was a pretty great introduction to James Islington’s brilliant writing and inventiveness.  The Will of the Many is a captivating fantasy read that makes excellent use of its dark setting and magical school focus to craft a powerful, character-driven tale.  This is easily one of the best fantasy novels of 2023 so far and I would strongly recommend it to anyone wanting an epic read to really lose themselves in.  An exceptional novel that perfectly sets up a bold new fantasy series!

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Star Wars: Doctor Aphra written by Sarah Kuhn and performed by a full cast

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, LGBT+, Science Fiction, Star Wars, Tie-in Novel19 Comments

Doctor Aphra Audio Cover

Publisher: Random House Audio (Audio Drama – 21 July 2020)

Series: Star Wars

Script: Sarah Kuhn

Cast: Emily Woo Zeller, Jonathan Davis, Sean Patrick Hopkins, Sean Kenin, Nicole Lewis, Carol Monda, Euan Morton, Catherine Taber and Marc Thompson

Length: 5 hours and 35 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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The most brilliant and conniving archaeologist in the entire Star Wars canon gets her own audio drama as author Sarah Kuhn and an exceedingly talented cast of audiobook narrators present Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, the audio drama.

Throughout the galaxy Doctor Chelli Lona Aphra is renowned as a criminal and bringer of chaos without peer, but in her own eyes she is simply an archaeologist and technology enthusiast, albeit one willing to sell her findings to the highest bidder.  However, her latest venture is about to get her into the worst type of trouble, the sort that will haunt her for the rest of her incredibly short life.  Attempting to steal a dangerous weapon from a restricted alien vault, Aphra finds herself surrounded and slated to die, that is until Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith and overall badass suddenly appears and saves her. 

Vader is engaging in a high-risk power play against the Emperor and Aphra has just become his most useful pawn, whether she likes it or not.  Working as his agent, Aphra must utilise her skills as a con-woman, genius technician and criminal mastermind to help Vader achieve his goals: depose the Emperor and find his new obsession, the pilot who blew up the Death Star, Luke Skywalker.  Determined to stay on Vader’s good side, Aphra, with the help of her two friendly murder droids, Triple-Zero and BT-1, helps her new master engage in all manner of shenanigans across the universe, including kidnappings, torture and elaborate heists.  However, Aphra knows that all it will take is just one mistake or slip-up to earn her new employers’ deadly wrath.  To avoid her inevitable appointment with Vader’s crimson lightsaber, Aphra will need to pull out every trick in her impressive arsenal if she is to survive.  But can even the great Doctor Aphra outsmart Darth Vader and the entire Empire, or has the smartest woman in the galaxy finally met her match?

Well this is an exceedingly fun and entertaining entry in the Star Wars expanded universe which provides a new angle to the tale of Doctor Aphra.  Doctor Aphra is an incredible and complex character who has only been recently added into the canon.  Introduced in the opening issues the 2015 Darth Vader comic book series, Doctor Aphra served as a major supporting character for much of the series run, entertaining readers with her antics and ability to survive working for Darth Vader.  Aphra proved to be an extremely popular character, and this resulted in the character getting her own comic book series (which ironically lasted more issues than the Darth Vader series she was introduced in).  The Doctor Aphra series ended up being an amazing hit thanks to some exceptional writing and it is one of my favourite pieces of Star Wars tie-in fiction (make sure to check out my reviews for the last two volumes in the series, Unspeakable Rebel Superweapon and A Rogue’s End), and there is even a second Doctor Aphra series on its way.  It seems that Aphra’s popularity has continued to grow as earlier this year this Doctor Aphra audio drama was released, written by talented author Sarah Kuhn.  This proved to be an exceptionally impressive audio release that does an amazing job bringing this fantastic character into an entirely new format.  This audio drama has a run time of around five and a half hours, which listeners are able to breeze through in no time at all.

The Doctor Aphra audio drama contains an intriguing and captivating story that follows the character as she engages in all manner of adventures in service to Darth Vader and her own survival.  Told entirely from the perspective of Aphra as she makes a series of recordings to an unknown person, and set shortly after the events of Star Wars: A New Hope, this story follows Aphra through the entirety of her ill-fated association with Darth Vader.  This employment places her in all manner of danger, as she completes a series of tasks important to Vader, including an elaborate heist; gets in the middle of a deadly conflict between Vader, one of his rivals in the Empire, and the protagonists of The Original Trilogy; and finds herself a prisoner of the Rebel Alliance before eventually attempting to manipulate the Emperor for her own ends.  At the same time, Aphra is constantly balancing on a knife’s edge, as her beloved boss has made it abundantly clear that he will kill her the moment she displeases him.  This forces Aphra into a number of tense and dangerous situations as she needs to convince Vader to keep her alive throughout the entire book.  This struggle to stay alive adds a substantial amount of suspense to the audio drama, as the listener really wants this entertaining character to survive, and it eventually leads to an outstanding and epic conclusion.  All of this proves to be an exceedingly captivating adventure, and listeners are in for an exciting and hilarious time, especially with Aphra’s entertaining and over-exaggerated narration of the events occurring. 

While I did really enjoy the story contained within this audio drama, I do need to point out that it is not actually an original tale; instead it is an adaption of several canon comic book series, namely the comics that featured Aphra’s early adventures.  The first part of the audio drama adapts most of the first two volumes of the 2015 Darth Vader comic series, Volume One: Vader and Volume Two: Shadows and Secrets.  From there the story follows the course of the crossover limited series, Vader Down, before moving on to the events of the fourth volume of the 2015 Star Wars comic, Rebel Jail.  Finally, the story returns to the Darth Vader comic, utilising parts of the fourth and final volume, End of Games.  Doctor Aphra proves to be an exceptional adaptation of these comics although they only show off the events that Aphra herself witnessed or was a part of.  I had an amazing time listening to this adaptation and I really enjoyed seeing several of the amazing events that originally occurred on the page being brought to life by this enjoyable performance. 

People interested in listening to this audio drama do not need to have read the adapted comics first, as Kuhn provides Aphra with a great deal of narration that explains her role in the story and all the events leading up to the comics.  As someone who has read the comics before listening to this audio drama, I found that there was a lot in this production for fans of the comic.  I personally really enjoyed seeing these events from Aphra’s perspective (as the original comics mostly followed main characters such as Vader, Luke, Leia, and Han), and it was extremely interesting to see her thoughts on the various events occurring.  The author also comes up with a lot of additional backstory that helps to enrich Aphra’s involvement in the narrative, which fans of the character will really appreciate.  While I had a great time listening to this audio drama, I did notice that several events were glossed over, mainly because Aphra did not witness them occur in the comics.  For example, you have no idea who is behind several of the battles or attacks that Aphra finds herself in the middle of, with Aphra herself giving limited explanations for them.  While I knew full well what was going on, people who haven’t read the comics are going to be full of questions and this may make the audio drama a little confusing at times.  That being said, this was still an outstanding and deeply enjoyable production, and perhaps it will encourage listeners to check out some of the adapted comics (trust me, they are awesome).

One of the best things about this audio drama was the way in which the narrative explored the complex and exceedingly likeable character of Doctor Chelli Aphra.  Aphra is a clever, impulsive and chaotic rogue archaeologist who is obsessed with ancient technology, particularly unusual droids and dangerous weapons.  Aphra is a wildly entertaining character who is essentially an amoral version of Indiana Jones that has no problems cheating or betraying people who she encounters, as long as she gets to hold onto the valuable antiques or can sell them for vast amounts of money (none of her loot belongs in a museum!).  Aphra appears to have a relentlessly positive personality, providing the listener with a string of continual jokes and funny observations with an infectious amount of enthusiasm.  However, deep down Aphra is actually a deeply damaged individual who has suffered a number of losses and betrayals that impact her current outlook on life and other people. 

Despite the fact that Aphra is the very definition of an unreliable narrator (she literally deletes or edits the parts of the story she does not like to suit her agenda), I felt that this audio drama does an amazing job exploring this wily protagonist.  Having Aphra’s inner monologue about the events occurring during this story proved to be not only entertaining but also very enlightening, and it showed some fascinating glimpses of her inner personality and emotional state.  While much of Aphra’s story was previously explored in the comics that Doctor Aphra is based on, this adaptation does go a little further, pulling in some backstory that was introduced in the later Doctor Aphra comics and expertly working it into this narrative.  Kuhn also comes up with some additional history that is unique to this production, including a number of scenes that explore her previous romantic relationship with Sana Starros.  While this relationship has been mentioned and discussed in several of the comics, this is probably the most in-depth examination of it in the canon and it becomes an important part of the overall plot.  I really enjoyed the way in which Doctor Aphra examined its titular protagonist and I felt that the story really captured her essence and outrageous personality.

This audio drama sports an amazing voice cast and each of them does a fantastic job in this production.  However, I really must highlight the performance of Emily Woo Zeller, who portrayed the titular character.  Zeller is an experienced and talented narrator who has contributed to a huge raft of audiobooks, including several I am quite interested in checking out, such as Cyber Shogun Revolution by Peter Tieryas.  Due to how the audio drama is written, Zeller’s voice is the one we hear the most throughout Doctor Aphra, as she recounts all of the characters dialogue and the overall narration of this book.  I really loved the way that Zeller portrayed the character of Aphra in this audio drama and I thought she got all the aspects of the character down perfectly.  Zeller gives a particularly energetic performance throughout this adaption, and listeners get a real sense of the mischievous and over confident outer shell that Doctor Aphra portrays to everyone she meets.  However, Zeller also captures the vulnerable nature of this complex protagonist, showing off the character’s full range of emotions when she is scared, angry or contemplating her many regrets.  This rich and amazing performance from Zeller really helps to make this audio drama something special, and I am really glad that she was able to bring Doctor Aphra to life in such an exceptional way.

Doctor Aphra also makes use of several other impressive voice actors throughout this audio drama, each of whom are portraying major Star Wars characters who Aphra interacts with through the course of this adventure.  This audio drama features a who’s who of Star Wars audiobook narrators, many of whose works I have previously enjoyed in a range of productions including the previous Star Wars audio drama, Dooku: Jedi Lost.  These additional narrators include Jonathan Davis (who I previously enjoyed in Star Wars: Master and Apprentice and Lords of the Sith), Sean Kenin (Death Troopers), Euan Morton (Tarkin), Catherine Taber (Queen’s Peril and Queen’s Shadow), Marc Thompson (Thrawn, Thrawn: Chaos Rising, Dark Disciple and Scoundrels), Sean Patrick Hopkins, Nicole Lewis and Carol Monda.  Each of these voice actors did an exceptional job of bringing their various characters to life throughout Doctor Aphra.  I particularly enjoyed Marc Thompson’s Darth Vader and Euan Morton’s Emperor, as both voice actors brought some realistic menace to these iconic villains.  Catherine Taber, who is best known for her portrayal of Padme Amidala in The Clone Wars animated series, does an excellent Princess Leia in this production, and I really appreciated the choice to cast her.  Sean Patrick Hopkins does a really cool Luke Skywalker, and I was really struck by how close he got to a younger Mark Hamil’s voice.  I also really enjoyed Sean Kenin’s Triple-Zero, and I felt he really captured the essence of this crazy character.  Each of these side characters added a lot to the production as a whole and, while they were not as heavily featured as Aphra, each of them had their own entertaining moments and interactions.  I particularly loved the threatening aura that Darth Vader exhibited towards Aphra, and there is also a very entertaining interaction between Aphra and Han Solo that results in some of the best jokes in the entire production.  You also have to love the fact that Aphra ends up with a posse that essentially reflects the main characters from The Original Trilogy, with a protocol droid (Triple-Zero), an Astromech (BT-1) and a Wookie (Black Krrsantan).  Of course, Aphra’s friends are all dangerous killers, which makes for some extremely entertaining and deadly encounters.

In addition to featuring an impressive voice cast, Doctor Aphra also features the full range of iconic Star Wars sound effects and musical scores that were made famous in the movies.  Pretty much every action that occurs within the book is accompanied by a sound effect, whether it be blaster fire, the sound of engines or even a susurration from other people in a crowded room.  I always love how these sound effects helped to create an atmosphere throughout the course of a Star Wars novel, and I felt that they were particularly useful for this audio drama format due to the lack of narration that a standard audiobook would have.  I also have to talk up the excellent use of the incredible Star Wars musical score that features during several key scenes of the novel.  Hearing this music during some of the most pivotal, dramatic or action-packed sequences makes the narrative seem that much more epic, and I absolutely loved hearing this music throughout this production.  The use of the sound effects and music enhances the story in immeasurable ways, and it helps to turn this audio drama into an exceptional treat for the ears. 

Star Wars: Doctor Aphra is an impressive and deeply enjoyable audio production that brings fan-favourite character Chelli Aphra into a whole new light.  Cleverly adapting several amazing Star Wars comics, the Doctor Aphra audio drama features an interesting story from author Sarah Kuhn that shows the events from the perspective of the chaotic and duplicitous titular protagonist.  Featuring an exceptional voice cast, Doctor Aphra proves to be an extremely entertaining and exceedingly addictive listen that I had a very hard time turning off.  I personally think this was one of the best audio productions of 2020 and it comes highly recommended both to general Star Wars fans and to those who have read the adapted comics.  I had an amazing time listening to this audio drama and I hope that they think about adapting the later Doctor Aphra comic book series next as there are some impressive storylines featured in there.

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Star Wars: Dooku: Jedi Lost

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Star Wars, Tie-in Novel21 Comments

Dooku - Jedi Lost Cover

Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio (Audio Production – 30 April 2019)

Script: Cavan Scott

Cast: Orlagh Cassidy, Euan Morton, Pete Bradbury, Jonathan Davis, Neil Hellegers, Sean Kenin, January LaVoy, Saskia Maarleveld, Carol Monda, Robert Petkoff, Rebecca Soler and Marc Thompson.

Length: 6 hours and 21 Minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Amazon

Prepare for another deep dive into the Star Wars canon with an audio drama that explores the past of one the biggest villains from the prequel movies, Count Dooku, with Dooku: Jedi Lost.

Dooku: Jedi Lost was one of the more interesting pieces of Star Wars fiction that was released last year. Based on a script written by Cavan Scott, an author who has written a multitude of comics, novels and radio drama tie-ins for several different franchises, Jedi Lost was originally released as an audio production featuring several different actors, with the script also released in novel format a few months later. I have been meaning to check out this unique story for some time, as it was one of the few pieces of Star Wars fiction that I did not read in 2019. This is actually one of the first entries I am ticking off my Books I Wish I Read in 2019 list (barring The Russian by Ben Coes, which was an honourable mention), and I am really glad I decided to check this piece of fiction out.

For many in the galaxy, Count Dooku of Serenno is one of the most dangerous and evil villains that ever lived. The leader of the ruthless Separatists during the Clone Wars, apprentice to Darth Sidious and master of several ruthless assassins, Dooku is rightfully feared and hated by many. However, he once was one of the most respected and powerful members of the Jedi Council. A former apprentice to Yoda himself, and the mentor to two exceptional Padawans, Rael Averross and Qui-Gon Jinn, Dooku dedicated decades of his life to the Jedi, before suddenly leaving and taking a different path. But how did such a revered Jedi turn to the dark side of the Force? That is a question that Dooku’s new apprentice, Asajj Ventress, is trying to understand when she is given a mission to find Dooku’s missing sister. Searching for leads through Dooku’s journals and messages, Ventress is given unprecedented access into Dooku’s past.

The son of the ruthless Count of Serenno, Dooku was abandoned as baby by his father the moment his abilities with the Force were identified, only to be rescued by Yoda. Upon learning the truth about his birth years later, Dooku struggles with balancing his duties as a Jedi with his connections to his family and home planet. Conflicted, Dooku finds comfort in his friendship with the troubled young Jedi Sifo-Dyas and the mysterious Jedi Master Lene Kostana, whose mission of locating and studying Sith artefacts fascinates Dooku and leads him to his first experiences with the dark side of the Force. As Dooku rises through the ranks of the Jedi Order, he finds himself stymied by the bureaucracy and corruption of the Republic and the hypocrisy of the Jedi Council. As the first waves of darkness fall across the galaxy, how will the younger Dooku react, and what will Ventress do when she realises what sort of person her new master is?

Dooku: Jedi Lost is an incredible and deeply captivating piece of Star Wars fiction that cleverly dives into the past of one of the franchise’s most iconic villains to present a compelling and intriguing story. I ended up listening to the full cast audio production of Jedi Lost, and I really enjoyed this fantastic and intriguing book. The plot of Jedi Lost is uniquely set across several different time periods, with the details of Dooku’s life being relayed to a younger Ventress at the start of her Sith apprenticeship through journal entries, detailed messages, oral histories and even some visions of the past. Scott did an excellent job of setting his story across multiple time periods, which allowed Jedi Lost to showcase the life of the titular character while also presenting an exciting, fast-paced and at times dramatic narrative that includes several plot threads that jump from timeline to timeline. All of this results in an excellent Star Wars story which features some fascinating inclusions to the franchise’s lore and which is enhanced by the incredible audio production.

At the centre of this book lies an intriguing and captivating exploration of one of the most significant antagonists in the Star Wars canon, Count Dooku. Jedi Lost contains quite a detailed and compelling backstory for this character, and you get to see a number of key events from his life. This includes his complicated childhood, the forbidden communication he had with his sister, the connection he maintained with his home planet, parts of his apprenticeship under Yoda, the tutelage of his own two apprentices, his time on the Jedi council, his first brushes with the dark side of the Force and finally the chaotic events that led him to leave the Jedi order and take up his position as Count of Serenno. Every part of this background proved to be extremely fascinating and it paints Dooku as a much more complex character, with understandable motivations and frustrations. He actually comes across as a much more sympathetic person thanks to this production, and readers are going to have an amazing time finding out what events and betrayals drove him away from the Jedi and towards his new master. The storytelling device of having Ventress read and analyse Dooku’s old messages and journal entries ensures that the story quickly jumps through the events of his life, and no key events really seem to be missing. I personally would have like to see some more detail about Dooku’s training under Yoda or his teaching of his apprentices, although I appreciate that this was already an expansive production and there was a limit on what could be included in the script. I also wonder what sort of story this could have turned into if this was told exclusively from Dooku’s point of view, however, this first-person narration probably wouldn’t be as feasible as a full cast audio production. Overall, those fans who check out Jedi Lost are in for quite an in-depth and fascinating look at the great character that is Count Dooku, and I am sure many will enjoy this exciting examination of his backstory.

In addition to exploring the character of Count Dooku, Jedi Lost also presents those dedicated Star Wars fans with a new canon look at the Star Wars universe before the events of The Phantom Menace. You get an intriguing look at the Republic and the Jedi Order in the years leading up to events of the Skywalker Saga, and it was fascinating to see the similarities and differences between the various eras in the Star Wars lore. In particular, I found in interesting to see that the groundwork for the Clone Wars and the fall of the Jedi order had already begun, with ineffectual leadership, corruption in the Senate and complacency in the Jedi Council all eventually leading the dark events of the future. Jedi Lost also shows the earlier days of several Jedi who were supporting characters in either the movies or the animated shows. In particular, this entry focuses on Sifo-Dyas, the Jedi who foresaw the Clone Wars and was manipulated into creating the Republic’s clone army. The story explores how Dooku and Sifo-Dyas were close friends growing up, while also showing the origin of his prescient powers, and he proved to be a rather compelling side character. Jedi Lost also saw the introduction of Jedi Master Lene Kostana to the canon. Lene Kostana was a rebellious Jedi who scoured the galaxy for Sith artefacts in the belief that the Sith were going to rise again. She proved to be an interesting mentor character for Dooku, and her recklessness and unique way of thinking had some major impacts in Dooku’s character development.

I also liked how this piece of Star Wars fiction focused on the early career of Asajj Ventress, one of the best Star Wars characters introduced outside of the movies. Much of the story is set immediately after Dooku claims Ventress as his apprentice and personal assassin, which allows the reader a compelling view of Ventress’s early brushes with the dark side of the Force and the initial corruption and manipulation she experienced under Dooku. This proved to be quite an interesting part of the novel, especially as the reader got to see Ventress’s thoughts and reactions to several revelations about Dooku’s past. Thanks to the way that the audio production is set out, Scott also included a rather cool element to Ventress’s character in the way that she is hearing the voice of her dead former Jedi Master and mentor, Ky Narec. While Ky Narec’s voice was mainly included to allow Ventress to share her thoughts in this audio production without becoming a full-fledged narrator, this ethereal character gives the reader a deeper insight into Ventress’s character. I also enjoyed the discussion about Ventress’s past with Narec, and it helped produce a much more in-depth look at this fascinating character from the expanded universe.

Like most pieces of expanded universe fiction, Jedi Lost is best enjoyed by fans of the Star Wars franchise, who are most likely to appreciate some of the new pieces of lore and interesting revelations. This production also bears some strong connections with another piece of Star Wars tie-in fiction that was released last year, Master & Apprentice by Claudia Gray. Master & Apprentice was one of the most impressive Star Wars novels released last year, and it featured a story that focussed on Dooku’s apprentices, Rael Averross and Qui-Gon Jinn. Jedi Lost heavily references some of the events that occurred or are represented in Master & Apprentice, and it was interesting to see the intersections between the two separate pieces of fiction. I particularly enjoyed seeing more of the unconventional Jedi, Rael Averross, and it was great to see some additional interactions between the proper and noble Dooku, and this rough former apprentice. Despite all of this, I believe that Jedi Lost can easily be enjoyed by more casual Star Wars fans, although some knowledge about the prequel films is probably necessary.

People familiar with this blog are going to be unsurprised to learn that I chose to listen to the audio production of Jedi Lost rather than read the book that was produced from the script. I have a well-earned appreciation for Star Wars audiobooks, which are in a league of their own when it comes to production value; however, Jedi Lost is on another level to your typical Star Wars audiobook. As I mentioned above, Jedi Lost was released as a full cast audio production, which is essentially an audio recording of a play. This was the first piece of Star Wars fiction I had experienced in this medium, and I really loved how it turned out. The cast did an amazing job with the script, and they acted out a wonderful and highly enjoyable production which I thought was just incredible. The production runs for just over 6 hours and 20 minutes, and they manage to fit a lot of plot into this shorter run-time (in comparison to normal Star Wars audiobooks), as the use of dialogue results in a lot less narration. Due to the way Jedi Lost is structured, with Ventress reading out journal entries or having Dooku’s tale told to her, there is a little more narration of events then a production like this would usually have. I think this was necessary to ensure the reader was clear on what was going on at all times, and it didn’t ruin the overall flow of Jedi Lost in any way.

Jedi Lost features a very impressive and talented group of actors who go above and beyond to make this an awesome audio production. As you can see from the cast list above, this production made use of 12 separate narrators, each of whom voice a major character (with some of the actors also voicing some minor characters as well). Many of these narrators have expansive experience with voicing Star Wars audiobooks, and I have actually had the pleasure of listening to several of these actors before, including Euan Morton (Tarkin by James Luceno), Jonathan Davies (Master & Apprentice), Sean Kenin (Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber), Robert Petkoff (multiple Star Trek novels, most recently Picard: The Last Best Hope by Una McCormack) and Marc Thompson (Dark Disciple by Christie Golden, Loki: Where Mischief Lies by Mackenzi Lee and Scoundrels and Thrawn by Timothy Zahn).

There is some truly outstanding audio work done in this production, with several actors producing near-perfect replication of several iconic characters from the Star Wars franchise. I particularly have to praise Orlagh Cassidy for her exceptional portrayal of Asajji Ventress; her take on the character sounded exactly like the Ventress that appeared in The Clone Wars animated show. I was also deeply impressed by Jonathan Davis’s Qui-Gon Jinn and Marc Thompson’s Yoda, both of which were incredible replications of the characters from the movies. Davis also did a great job once again portraying Rael Averross, a fun character who he first brought to life in Master & Apprentice, and I loved the somewhat laidback voice he provides for Rael, especially as it reminds me of an older cowboy character from a western (I personally always picture Sam Elliott when I hear it). Other standout stars in this production include Euan Morton, who came up with a great take on the titular character Count Dooku. Morton was able to produce an impressive and commanding presence for this character, and he did a great job modulating the character’s voice to represent the various jumps in age that the character experienced. The same can be said for Saskia Maarleveld’s Jenza and Sean Kenin’s Sifo-Dyas, whose characters also aged extremely well throughout the course of the production. I also really loved the voice that Carol Monda provided for new character Lene Kostana, and I felt that it fit the character described in Jedi Lost extremely well. I honestly loved all the rest of the voices that were provided throughout this production, and each of them brought some real magic to Jedi Lost.

Just like with a normal Star Wars audiobook, one of the standout features of the Jedi Lost production was the incredible use of the franchise’s iconic music and sound effects. I really cannot emphasise enough how amazing it is to have one of John Williams’s epic scores playing in the background of a scene. Not only does it really get you into the Star Wars zone, but this music markedly enhances the mood of any part of the book it is playing in. Hearing some of the more dramatic scores during a touching or tragic scene really helps the reader appreciate how impactful the sequence truly is, and nothing gets the blood pumping faster during an action sequence than Duel of the Fates or some other fast-paced piece of Star Wars music. The sound effects utilised throughout this production are not only really cool but they also have added significance for an audio production like Jedi Lost which relies on dialogue rather than narration to establish the scene. Having the various classic Star Wars sound effects reflect what is going on can be really helpful, and often the clash of lightsabers and the pew-pew of blaster bolts give life to a battle sequence. I always appreciate the way that certain sound effects can help paint a picture of what is happening in the room that the dialogue is taking place. Having the susurration of a crowd or the light hum of a starship engine in the background always makes a book seem more impressive, and it makes for a fun overall listen.

Dooku: Jedi Lost was an incredible and wonderful production which I had an extremely hard time turning off. Cavan Scott’s clever and intricate script, combined with the outstanding audio production, is a truly awesome experience which I deeply enjoyed. I loved learning more about the character of Count Dooku, and I think that Scott came up with a fantastic and intriguing background for the character. Jedi Lost is an excellent piece of Star Wars fiction, and I am extremely happy that I listened to it. Highly recommended to all Star Wars fans, and if you decide to check out Jedi Lost, you have to listen to the spectacular audio production, which is just amazing.

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Star Wars: Force Collector by Kevin Shinick

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Star Wars, Tie-in Novel, Young Adult2 Comments

ForceCollector-Cover

Publisher: Listening Library (Audiobook – 19 November 2019)

Series: Star Wars

Length: 8 hours and 13 minutes

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Amazon     Book Depository

We are less than a week away from the final movie in the main Star Wars saga, The Rise of Skywalker, so it is about time that I got around to reviewing the final Star Wars novel of 2019, Star Wars: Force Collector by Kevin Shinick.

This is a book that I have been looking forward to for some time. Force Collector is a curious Star Wars young adult novel with an intriguing-sounding plot behind it, and it would have ordinarily been on my reading list anyway. However, as it is one of several books being released under the title of Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (other examples of which include Resistance Reborn), it was one I definitely needed to check out before the movie comes out in a few short days.

This book was written by Kevin Shinick, who is probably best known for his work writing and developing television shows such as Robot Chicken, the 2017 Spider-Man animated show, Mad and Disjointed. In addition, Shinick has also written several comics for DC and Marvel, including Avenging Spider-Man, Superior Carnage and Axis: Hobgoblin. Force Collector is actually Shinick’s debut novel and he has produced a great Star Wars book with a rather interesting concept that provides a clever new viewpoint into the events of the Star Wars films.

Set shortly before the events of The Force Awakens, Force Collector revolves around Karr, a teenage boy living on a backwater planet. Karr lives a difficult life; anytime he touches an item that has witnessed an important or traumatic event, he gets a searing headache and blacks out. However, these items also impart onto him a vision of the history associated with it, allowing him to glimpse into the past. While his parents search for a rational explanation for his episodes, Karr’s grandmother knows the real reason for strange visions: he is gifted with the Force.

Attempting to learn how to control his abilities, Karr struggles with his training and hopes to find someone who can teach him in the ways of the Force. However, all the Jedi are long dead, and no-one on his planet knows what happened to them. Determined to learn more, Karr begins to collect historical items which he hopes will allow him to have some vision of the Jedi and learn where to find them. However, the few meagre artefacts he can lay his hands on are unable to provide him with the knowledge he seeks.

When Karr’s grandmother dies and his parents attempt to send him away to a school on the other side of the planet, he finally has enough. Determined to find an actual Jedi to help him, Karr, his droid RZ-7, and his school’s new troublemaker, Maize, steal a First Order ship belonging to Maize’s father and set out on an adventure. Travelling from one planet to the next, Karr and his friends attempt to trace the history of the Jedi. Finding obscure item after obscure item, Karr is eventually able to piece together the events that led to the downfall of the Jedi order and the rise of the Empire. However, the greatest secrets may lay even closer to home than he imagined.

Force Collector is a fun and intriguing novel which provides a unique and clever examination of the events of the Skywalker Saga, and which I am very glad I decided to check out. Featuring a great group of central characters (Karr, Maize and RZ-7) who grow closer as they progress in their adventure, and a rather captivating story, this was an amazing Star Wars read. I particularly liked the idea of a character who could revisit the Star Wars past through the objects he touches, as it allows Shinick to take the reader on a journey through a number of events in the Star Wars canon. Some really interesting bits of Star Wars history are examined through the course of this book, and it features some compelling visits to a number of iconic locations. That being said, this is a rather low-stakes novel, as the protagonists’ great adventure comes across at times like an unusually eventful school excursion (indeed, that is the explanation they give to the people they encounter). As a result, this might not be the best book for people looking for an exciting or action-packed novel (Thrawn: Treason or Master and Apprentice might be a better 2019 Star Wars release for those readers), however, the examination of Star Wars history makes this book an outstanding read for major fans of the franchise.

In order to tell his story, Shinick has filled his novel with all manner of references to the wider Star Wars universe. Not only does the reader get to see a number of visions from the past as part of the protagonists’ quest to find out more about the Jedi, but they also visit a number of familiar locations. These include Jakku (where Rey was living), Utapau (where Obi-Wan killed General Grievous) and even Batuu (the planet where the Galaxy’s Edge theme park area is set, and which has also served as the setting for several books such as the recent release Black Spire), just to name a few. Our protagonists encounter a number of unique individuals or items which witnessed some of the most iconic moments out of the films. For example, at Utapau he discovers the walking stick of the planet’s leader, which reveals the conversation the leader had with Obi-Wan when he landed. On another planet he runs across a pilot who witnessed Obi-Wan cutting the hand off Ponda Baba in the Mos Eisley cantina on Tatooine. There are some really cool and, in some cases, obscure items that Karr touches throughout the story, and the events they showed were really interesting.

In addition, Shinick also focuses on exploring the Star Wars universe just prior to the events of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. Force Collector appears to occur just before the start of The Force Awakens, and there are a number of references to the shape of the universe and the plans of the First Order. Shinick also uses this to allow the protagonists to visit and have some fascinating interactions with a couple of characters who appeared in the movie, such as Unkar Plutt or Maz Kanata. The meeting with Maz Kanata in particular was intriguing, and it was cool to see all these characters just before the events of the film rained down hellfire on their locations. In the end, this book contained all manner of references from across the films, the animated television shows and even some of the other books that make up the current Star Wars canon, making this a perfect read for dedicated fans of the franchise.

One of the most intriguing things that I liked about the story was its examination of how the characters in the wider Star Wars universe during this period perceived the Jedi and the events of the Skywalker Saga. Shinick makes it clear quite early on in the book that, during the period that novel was set, most of the galaxy saw the Jedi as a myth and barely anyone knows that much about them anymore. Even the protagonists, Karr and Maize, both of whom consider themselves somewhat more knowledgeable on the subject that most people, barely have any idea of what they were capable of or why they were destroyed. The various theories and histories of the Jedi that are postulated at the start of the novel are so obviously wrong to anyone who has seen the movies that it is quite a jarring experience. I found it deeply fascinating to see how it only took a generation or so for the legend of the Jedi to be degraded, and it explains why characters like Finn and Rey in The Force Awakens barely knew anything about them. The subsequent search for the truth is also interesting, and I liked how the characters attempted to piece together the events of the film. This search was hampered by the fact that the information they received was a random selection of events that were not in any chronological order. This ensures that they get a confused picture of all the events of the Skywalker saga, which they need to try and piece together to fully understand the lessons of the past. All of this was a really cool and unique take on the events of the films, and it was fun trip down memory lane.

While I really enjoyed all the cool references to the rest of the Star Wars franchise, I struggled to see how this book will actually tie into the events of the upcoming The Rise of Skywalker film, despite that being one of the major advertised features of the book. While this book did spend a bit of time expanding on the overall universe around the current trilogy of Star Wars films, there was nothing specific about The Rise of Skywalker in it. While this did not massively impact my enjoyment of the novel, I kept waiting for the story to kick off in another direction, perhaps after some of the galaxy-altering events that were shown in The Force Awakens took place, or feature a more major character from the films. It never did, and I very much doubt that the main character in this book is going to show up in the new movie (although I could be mistaken). The main connection I could find in this novel was the confirmation that a certain character is at the heart of all the major events of the Skywalker Saga, so much so that only touching an item of theirs was enough to make Karr understand all of the events of the films completely. This is something I believe that the Star Wars creative team wishes to reinforce, as the trailers and rumours indicate big things are happening to this character in the final movie, which will help signal the fact that the Skywalker Saga is truly over. There is also a mention of Karr holding onto a couple of certain Jedi items in case they will be needed in the future, but again I doubt this is going to feature in The Rise of Skywalker. As a result, while Force Collector serves more as an interesting recap for some of the prior Star Wars events, don’t expect any major revelations about the upcoming film.

Rather than grab a physical copy of this book, I ended up listening to the Force Collector audiobook, which was narrated by Euan Morton. Running at just over eight hours in length, this is a pretty short audiobook that most people should be able to get through rather quickly. As usual, I had a lot of fun listening to this Star Wars audiobook, as it featured all of the classic Star Wars music and sound effects, which really help to make the franchise’s audiobook formats so unique. Narrator Euan Morton is an old hand at narrating Star Wars audiobooks; I recently enjoyed his narration of Tarkin, for example. He does another fantastic job with the narration in Force Collector, coming up with a number of unique and distinctive voices for the characters who only appear in this novel, while also doing great impressions of characters who previously appeared in the film. I was particularly impressed with the realistically teenage voices he was able to come up with for Karr and Maize, and I also like how he did not really recycle any of the voices he used in the previous Star Wars audiobook of his I heard. All of this results in another outstanding audiobook adaption of a Star Wars novel, and it is easily one of my favourite franchises to check out in this format.

Star Wars: Force Collector by Kevin Shinick is a fantastic book that features a captivating and unique story, which is richly layered in references to the prior movies and other pieces of Star Wars fiction. While it does not contain an obvious connection to the upcoming The Rise of Skywalker film, it is still a really interesting and exciting novel that is worth checking out, especially as it provides a compelling recap of some of the previous films in the franchise. Aimed towards a younger audience, Force Collector will be easily enjoyed by all Star Wars fans, especially those who are familiar with the expanded fiction. However, even those readers who have seen the films will be able to appreciate the story in this book. An overall great read, this book is a lot of fun and is an excellent piece of Star Wars fiction.

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Throwback Thursday – Star Wars: Tarkin by James Luceno

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Star Wars, Throwback Thursday, Tie-in Novel13 Comments

Star Wars Tarkin Cover.jpg

Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio (Audiobook – 4 November 2019)

Series: Star Wars

Length: 9 hour and 32 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Reviewed as part of my Throwback Thursday series, where I republish old reviews, review books I have read before or review older books I have only just had a chance to read.

In this week’s Throwback Thursday I check out an amazing and compelling Star Wars tie-in novel that focuses on a fascinating character from the franchise, with Star Wars: Tarkin, written by veteran tie-in author James Luceno.

Since early 2014, Disney has done an excellent job installing a new and distinctive expanded universe for the Star Wars franchise. This new expanded universe, which supplanted the existing expanded universe (which is now known as Star Wars Legends), has featured some amazing books which I have been really getting into in the last couple of years. I have read a lot of Star Wars books in 2019 and not only have I tried to stay abreast of the latest releases (for example, the latest Star Wars novel, Resistance Reborn) but I have also been checking out some of the older novels in the franchise (such as Thrawn and Death Troopers).

Tarkin was released in late 2014 and was one of the first non-movie novelisations or young reader Star Wars novels that were released in this new canon. Tarkin was written by James Luceno, an author with a huge number of Star Wars tie-in novels from the Legends canon already under his belt, such as the intriguing-sounding Darth Plagueis. I had heard good things about this book, and I was curious to see how Luceno would alter the character of Grand Moff Tarkin.

To those familiar with the Galactic Empire, Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin is a legendary figure. A former admiral, adjutant general, planetary governor and war hero of the Clone Wars, Tarkin was one of the Emperor’s most dedicated and capable servants. Determined to enforce the Empire’s authority throughout the galaxy by any means necessary, Tarkin was renowned for his merciless nature and his ability to out-think any opponent on the battlefield or in the political arena. But where did this nature come from: his past as a solider or as a politician, or are there powerful lessons in Tarkin’s upbringing that constantly drive him forward?

Five years after the end of the Clone Wars, Governor Tarkin holds the rank of Imperial Moff and is tasked with overseeing one of the Empire’s most sensitive and covert projects, the construction of a massive mobile battle station which the Emperor believes will become the ultimate symbol of Imperial power in the galaxy. Determined to bring order to the post Clone War chaos, Tarkin finds his plans for the construction of the station stalled when a mysterious ship launches an innovative attack against one of his bases. In the aftermath of this attack, Tarkin is ordered to work with Darth Vader to determine who orchestrated this incursion and deal with them.

Travelling to an isolated planet, Tarkin and Vader begin their investigation into the rebellious activity plaguing that area of the Empire. But when their opponents manage to out-manoeuvre them, Tarkin must call upon all of his experiences, including as a young hunter on his home planet of Eriadu, to stop them. However, even the lessons of his past may not be enough, as his new foes are as smart and determined as Tarkin and Vader and are willing to do anything to achieve their revenge on the Empire.

Tarkin was a smart and exciting Star Wars tie-in novel that did a fantastic job exploring the life of one of the franchise’s most complex characters. I had a great time listening to this book, and it is one of the better Star Wars novels that I have enjoyed this year. I really liked the deep dive into the history and mind of Tarkin, especially as the author wraps a compelling and multi-layered narrative around the character’s story. As a result, the novel gets four and a half stars from me and was a really good read.

This story is an interesting combination of an adventure that occurred five years after the events of Revenge of the Sith (roughly 14 years before the events of A New Hope), and a series of tales from various points in Tarkin’s earlier life. Grand Moff Tarkin has always been a fascinating Star Wars character to me; despite his lack of force abilities, he appeared to wield nearly as much power as the Emperor and was even able to command Darth Vader. This book does a wonderful job of not only showing how he was able to obtain so much power within the Empire but also exploring all of the formulative events of this character’s life that made him into the man capable of achieving so much. I personally think that this was a great combination of character narratives which come together extremely well, and I think that Luceno did a fantastic job getting to the root of Tarkin’s psyche and personality.

Despite it being the shorter part of the book, I personally enjoyed the various chapters that explore various moments of Tarkin’s past the most. In particular, I thought that the author’s examination of his training as a hunter to be a truly fascinating basis for the character’s tactical ability. The various scenes depicting him hunting the large beasts of his home planet are pretty cool, and it was really interesting to see the way that he utilised lessons from hunting creatures in his later careers. For example, he is trained to instil fear into all the beasts he encounters in order to establish dominance above them and to show them the consequences of acting in way he dislikes. A later scene in the book shows him using this training to successfully end a pirate menace in a very harsh and final manner, and it also explains why he considered blowing up a planet to be a viable fear tactic against rebels. In addition to its impact on future Star Wars stories, Tarkin’s early training and hunting background are utilised to great effect throughout the entirety of Tarkin, and it was great to see how it impacts on Tarkin’s thought process and planning. I also really liked how the focus on the hunt comes full circle, as the author works in a fun confrontation back at the Tarkin hunting grounds with the main antagonist of the book that I absolutely loved and which was a fantastic conclusion to the whole story. This hunting aspect was an exceptional addition to this canon’s depiction of Tarkin, and I like how other authors have expanded on it in other pieces of Star Wars expanded fiction. For example, the third volume of Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith features Tarkin using his hunting abilities against Vader in a contest of wills.

In addition to this new origin for Tarkin’s tactical ability and mental acuity, I also enjoyed the various flashbacks to his history before and during the events of the Clone War. Luceno comes up with some great storylines that show off, for example, when Tarkin first gained the attention of the Emperor, or his thoughts on the various events that occurred during the course of the prequel movies. It was fun getting his theories on the causes of the Clone Wars or the formation of the Empire, especially as he is pretty close to the mark every time. I also liked that Luceno worked a confrontation between Tarkin and Count Dooku into one of the flashbacks, which shows why Tarkin remained loyal to the Republic during the course of the Clone Wars. All of these examinations of the character’s past, especially in the context of several key events in Star Wars history, was really fascinating and proved to be a fantastic part of the book.

While I did enjoy the examination of the character’s past, the main story itself is also compelling, as it shows the events that led to Tarkin becoming the very first Grand Moff. These parts of the book are a lot of fun and feature a unique and personal hunt for the protagonist which ties in well with the journeys to his past. I also quite enjoyed the fun team-up between Tarkin and Darth Vader, who assists him to complete his mission. Tarkin and Vader form a very effective team in this book, and it was interesting to examine the relationship between them and the mutual respect that grew between them. It was also cool to find out that Tarkin was one of the few people in the whole Empire who guessed that Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader were the same person (the only other Imperial character who apparently guessed that was Grand Admiral Thrawn). This section of the book also features some intriguing looks at the early stages of the Empire, and I personally liked the examination of Imperial politics, the intelligence agencies and the ruling style of the Emperor. I also really liked the idealistic opponents that Tarkin faced off against, mainly because their leader becomes more and more aggressive the longer the fight against the Empire goes, until he starts to lack the moral high ground in this conflict.

While I really enjoyed the team-up between Tarkin and Vader, I do wonder if the author perhaps featured Vader and the Emperor a little more than he should have. Do not get me wrong, I absolutely love Darth Vader as a character and I have deeply enjoyed a number of extended universe comics or books that have featured him (such as the Darth Vader and Dark Lord of the Sith comic series, or the Dark Visions limited series). However, I think that a book called Tarkin should have focused a lot more on the exploits of the titular character and shown how he dealt with the unique problems presented in the plot on his own. Instead, he received a fair bit of help from Vader and the Emperor, which kind of undermined the book’s message that he was an unsurpassed strategist and hunter. The author might have been better off only featuring a small amount of the Emperor in this novel, and perhaps introducing Vader in a later Tarkin novel, much like Timothy Zahn did with Thrawn: Alliances. Still, it was a fantastic book, and I am never going to seriously complain about too much Darth Vader.

Tarkin proved to be a really interesting book in the current Star Wars canon, and one that fans of the franchise are really going to enjoy. That being said, I would say that no real knowledge of the Star Wars extended universe is required to understand the plot of the book. While it does reflect on some of the events of The Clone Wars animated series, particularly the handful of episodes that a young Tarkin appeared in, there is no urgent need to go out and watch these episodes first, as they are more passing references. It is also important to note that this book was released back in 2014, two years before the release of Rogue One. As a result, it lacks the inclusion of Director Krennic as a rival for Tarkin, which is something most of the tie-in media released after 2016 features.

Like many of the Star Wars novels I have enjoyed in the past, I chose to listen to the audiobook format of Tarkin rather than read a physical copy. The Tarkin audiobook was narrated by Euan Morton and runs for roughly 9½ hours in length. I found myself absolutely breezing through the Tarkin audiobook, and I was able to listen to all of it in a few short days, as I become enthralled in the awesome story. Star Wars audiobooks are always a fun production to check out thanks to their use of the iconic music and sound effects from the movies. Tarkin also makes great use of a number of the classic scores from the movies to enhance the various scenes, most notably The Imperial March, which is used a number of times when members of the Empire are being particularly ruthless or authoritarian. I also really liked the use of the various Star Wars sound effects, such as the sound of blaster fire, spaceship engines and even the iconic sounds of Darth Vader breathing, all of which are used to help set the appropriate atmosphere for the scene. While some of the Star Wars audiobooks greatly overused these sound effects and music scores, I think that the Tarkin audiobook had the just the right amount of these elements. At no point did the music or sounds overwhelm the narration nor distract the reader from the plot; instead they did a wonderful job of helping the reader stay glued to the story.

In addition to the excellent use of Star Wars music and sound effects, Tarkin also featured a fantastic narrator in the form of Euan Morton. Morton does a commendable job of imitating the voice of the titular character and helps bring the stern, intelligent and ruthless character to life with his voice work. In addition, Morton was also able to do good imitations of several other notable Star Wars characters, including the Emperor and Darth Vader. I felt that Morton produced a good replication of their voices, and the listener is instantly able to figure out who is talking. I also liked some of the voices that Morton came up with for the various supporting characters that featured in the book, and I was impressed with the voices he attributed to some of the different alien species that were encountered. I particularly enjoyed his Mon Calamari voice, for example, and felt that he was able to add some distinguishing vocals to each of these different species. Based on this strong narration, as well as the great musical and sound inclusions, I would strongly recommend the audiobook version of this Star Wars book, and I know that I intend to check out more of this franchise’s audiobooks.

Tarkin was an outstanding piece of Star Wars tie-in fiction that I personally really enjoyed. Not only did it contain a compelling and exciting story in the early days of the Empire but it also did a wonderful job exploring the background of one of the franchises most fascinating characters. I had an amazing time learning more about Grand Moff Tarkin, and I am slightly disappointed that there have not been any more Tarkin-centric novels released since 2014. As a result, I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in a good Star Wars tie-in novel, and I would also recommend the excellent audiobook format.

While the next Star Wars novel I read is going to be Force Collector, I am always considering what older Star Wars book to listen to in the future. I am currently weighing up between this canon’s Lords of the Sith (the Emperor and Darth Vader trapped on a planet being hunted by rebels) or the Star Wars Legends book Scoundrels (a heist novel written by Timothy Zahn). Both sound like a lot of fun, and I will probably end up listening to them both in the very near future.

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