Ken

Great character story of an emerging druid

Revisado: 03-19-23

Quick version: It was a really enjoyable story of Doric's origins and learning to be a druid that would otherwise be a 5 star review except for some really shoehorned in movie links and an unresolved major plot point (again, maybe to leave it for the movie?)

Longer version:
This was a entertaining and emotional story of Doric finding a home and learning to be a druid that I thoroughly enjoyed! She is a fun character and has a believable and well written growth arc that is the focus of the story. The secondary characters are all enjoyable even if they don't all get much depth which makes sense given the length of the story and focus on Doric. Also, having read a lot of D&D novels in the past, this is the best one I've come across that explores becoming and being a druid, an often overlooked character type in the other novels.

The audiobook narration is also incredible with distinctive but not distracting voices, and solid emotional range!

However, there are two things that shift this from "a really great book" to "a really great book BUT..." and the first is the obvious links to the movie. When Simon the sorcerer first appears, it actually works rather well with the story. The other times he appears or is mentions on top of the "bard and barbarian getting into trouble" references are so forced and tangential to the actual plot that even Doric mentions how forgettable they are! Given how solid the rest of the writing is, it feels very much like pieces forced in by editorial decree after the book was already written. Thankfully they are small and pass quickly, but they are jarring enough to momentarily knock me out of the story. Certainly not nearly so much to ruin it, but enough to keep it from being 5 stars.

Secondly, and this might be a movie thing as well, but I haven't seen it yet, is that a larger plot issue builds to a climax for the final resolution and... it just ends. Again, maybe this is just to set stuff up for the movie, I don't know. But the plot just sort of ends in a way that doesn't even feel like "and this is just the beginning" or "ambiguous ending" or anything as much as feeling like a couple chapters were just edited out. Hopefully, it's just a set up of something to be resolved in the movie, but either way, it was more jarring than the other shoe-horned movie links (which just amounted to a sentence or paragraph here and there, so they breeze by bumpily but quickly).

However, if go into this knowing that it is a CHARACTER ARC story and that the plot is secondary, then it is very enjoyable and fun read that helps you really understand Doric well!

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Awesome setting, narrator will get into your head

Revisado: 03-16-16

Finally got around to reading the book (of course, saw the movie back when it came out). Really interesting setting, and the writing really conveys Anton and his emotions well (even when he is indecisive and when depressed, which is hard to convey while still keeping the writing engaging). However, does hit that pet peeve of mine of having a protagonist with very little agency who is just a pawn. It's kind of the point of the story, and I have read far worse examples of it, but that's just a subjective thing of mine. I am definitely still interested in the rest of the series sometime. Plus, the audiobook version was very well done and since starting it, I have found my internal voice occasionally slipping into a Russian accent. Fun. I have resisted the temptation to always refer to my boss by his first and last name every time I talk to him, however.

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Explore aftermath (of course) of film great listen

Revisado: 10-08-15

It is a bit of a departure from the films primarily in that it deals with entirely different characters new to this story and, unlike the Lucas-traditional 3 world structure, it takes place all in one location. However, it is much stronger for these. The title of "Aftermath" is definitely appropriate with seeing how the victory in Return of the Jedi impacts a whole variety of people - a rebel, an Imperial, and a bounty hunter as the main 3. But the story also has numerous Interludes where we get a quick snapshot of the impact on a whole variety of worlds, and from these, the book paints an expansive and deeply personal picture of just what it would be like living in this galaxy far, far away after such cataclysmic events. Thankfully, it wraps up the story in a single book, but sets up mysteries for the rest of the trilogy nicely.

Now, the writing style is definitely strong. So, check out a sample first. Apparently some people absolutely can't stand it, but I liked it. It gave it a very immediate vibe. It might possibly be from being an audiobook where the more informal style might feel more natural when heard rather than read, but that's just a guess. It might simply be different tastes. But the writing isn't terrible as others claim, just not the standard style that makes it easy to fade into the background. This writing is definitely in your face and invokes the fast paced action directly.

Admittedly, it could occasionally get over the top ("She ran out of time because she had no time left!" - or maybe it was the other way around, I dunno, it's a bad line either way) or the few uses of adding "space" or "galactic" in front of words to make them all Star Wars-y (e.g. "space diapers"). But thankfully those problems were very rare and the action pulled me back in immediately.

Also, there is Mr. Bones. He's a good characterization of this book overall. Either he is awesome and you can't get enough of him, or he joins the ranks of some of the worst Star Wars characters ever. Personally, I thought he was hilarious and a great addition to the story - fitting for the situation and pretty awesome in the action. But, like any comedy, it either works for you or doesn't - there's probably not a lot of middle ground of opinion on Mr. Bones.

Lastly, the narration. I don't think I have listened to a Marc Thompson story before but by all that is holy - wow. Wow.

Like, uh... wow. I'm pretty sure "Marc Thompson" is actually the name of about 12 different people working together. Thompson's range especially in such an alien-heavy story blew me away. Every character was unique not just in adding an accent or different tone, but in speech rhythms and how they expressed emotions, and wow. Sorry to keep using that word, but it fits.

Even beyond the character voices, he pulled off Chuck Wendig's writing style amazingly. As I mentioned above, it is more immediate and intense, and Thompson's narration of even descriptive (non-dialogue) text conveyed emotion and intensity incredibly well. His performance is probably the best I have heard on any audiobook and I definitely need to seek out more of his work regardless of the author.

Overall, it's a fun space adventure and a great addition to the Star Wars universe.

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Anti-climatic. Starts great and then falls flat

Revisado: 09-24-14

It was interesting listening to this after having seen the movie years ago. I remembered enough of the movie to know the Secrets but not enough that I could anticipate details or make comparisons. However, there are massive differences between the book and the movie anyway. It's too bad that this is one of those rare cases where the movie is far better than the story, and not even as much in the plot as in the execution of storytelling.

The story is told through a series of journals, and Simon Vance does a nice job of differentiating the voices (even aging the voices of individual characters as necessary). As is often the case, trying to sound female or like a child is a bit of a stretch, but Vance manages it clearly yet smooth enough that it is not distracting.

Alfred Borden's journal is easily the best writing in the story. Knowing the Secret also made it really fun to see exactly where Priest was playing with the reader's expectations. I absolutely loved that section of the book! That section is very well crafted and some of my favorite writing in a while.

Unfortunately, it was all down hill from there. One of the mantras of writing is "Show don't tell", but Priest is over the top in "telling not showing" several times. Major reveals are conveyed second hand in very anti-climatic ways. Technically, it is even third hand or in one situation fourth hand as the journal writer tells us what the reporter told him that a lady told him. It could have been subtle playing with unreliable narrators, testimonial knowledge, and more subterfuge, but in reality, it isn't. It just comes across as flat and uninteresting.

I keep coming back to the word "anti-climatic" but that really sums it up for me. For example, the structure of one major Secret's reveal (hoping to keep this vague enough and metaphorical enough not to spoil anything), is like a magician performing a card trick. You figure out the card was up his sleeve and the trick is actually pretty easy. But then someone says "I checked his sleeve and didn't see the card!" So you are curious again about the trick, until that person says "Oh wait, I didn't look close enough. Yeah, there was a card in his sleeve. Never mind, you were right." The suspense and reveal are far too bland, and with a book about magicians and their secrets, the reveals are important. A clear warning sign is the fact that Priest needs to have his characters constantly remind us that this is mysterious and inexplicable. "Sure, we already have an explanation that eventually turns out true, but no, really, you don't understand it really is WAY mysterious." Again, telling us it is mysterious is far less interesting than showing us.

Also, this may be more of a pet peeve of mine, but really all of the characters except one are very unsympathetic to the point of you not really feeling bad when things go wrong for them. The only character that is remotely sympathetic is Kate, but she's barely in the book, has little personality, and no real story to her other than a mystery that she of course tells us is VERY mysterious, but given that we start the book with the theme of possibly duplicate people and every single storyline involves that theme, again the mystery falls pretty flat.

There is so much I didn't like about this story that it's sad considering that I REALLY enjoyed the first third or so and would easily give that 5 stars. It really is very well crafted. Unfortunately, the rest just doesn't work for me and comes across as a whole series of bad choices by Priest and rather poorly crafted storytelling. Perhaps Priest is really two brothers and one began the story and the other finished it. Too bad one is a great writer and the other not so much.

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Fascinating look at the upheaval of alien contact

Revisado: 11-02-11

Although it is amusing hearing references to some of the outdated technology (the advance ETs communicate through cutting edge teletype machines!), those are only minor quibbles in a very unique and interesting story. The arrival of a far more powerful and intelligent extraterrestrial race is handled in a way I have never heard before. It was refreshing for an advance species to arrive, bring peace on Earth, and... not secretly be waiting to eat us all, but honestly helping us!

Having the story play out over generations also conveys the massive impact and societal change this has in a believable and well explored manner. You know they are thinking long term when they say more or less, "We need to wait until only those born after our arrival are around to reveal that." I could definitely see a lot of other stories told in the generations that this novel covers.

The only thing holding it back in my mind is that the main thrust of the story that leads to a very dramatic conclusion kind of came out of nowhere for me. Even a hint earlier than half way through might have helped. It didn't ruin it for me, but given the world the first half sets up, there was a definite point that stretched my suspension of disbelief beyond what I expected. But the story was fascinating enough that I just went with it and was glad I did. That shift was pretty jarring at first, however. If you can't roll with it, then I imagine the ending has got to be a disappointing "What the-?!"

The narration is very good, but compared to some of the amazing narration some stories have on Audible, it's not to that level. So if I can only give 5 stars to those, this has to settle for 4. Some narrations are so great, that they really enhance the story. This narration is one of those that instead manages to nicely get out of the way and let the story speak for itself.

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