M. McCormick

LGBT content

Revisado: 11-20-24

I am just over it. Reading about same sex relationships and trans is just not my thing.

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YA. Could not finish.

Revisado: 03-05-24

For a Young Adult story it is wonderful. I made it 10 hours in before I just couldn’t handle the simplicity and had to give up.
Performance is wonderful. YA level writing is wonderful. Storyline is very interesting. Therefore I give it 5 stars even though this is not the right book for me.
I wish the author could write an adult reading level version of this story. I am not asking for blood, guts and sex. The frustration is all in the dialogue and inner thoughts.

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Narrator ruined it

Revisado: 08-18-23

Couldn’t get past the narration. The narrator has superb character voices but his narration cadence is annoying. It is choppy, and he ends a sentences/paragraphs in a breathy voice that makes it difficult to understand what the last word is if it is only one syllable. For multiple syllable words one is able to determine the word by the first syllable, but still…. give me a break!!!

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Too Repetitive!!!!

Revisado: 12-27-22

I could not finish due to the repetitive description of the way the main characters magic works. Each action he takes is accompanied by why he is doing it: why he takes the precaution against his magic scent being discovered, the reason his magic is so powerful, why he would never use its full power, and so on. I get it already. If each case was different it would be okay, but by chapter 6, I already know why he doesn’t want to touch things, no need to explain. Returning the book.

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Maddeningly repetitive directions

Revisado: 05-28-21

When one establishes a pattern the repetition of the directions may be dropped. I hoped this would happen and skipped through the chapters but it was the same throughout. The repetitive script goes something like this: “Word” means xxx, Yo “xxxxxx” means I “word”. Repeat after me “Yo xxxxxx”. Let’s break it into syllables. Yo xx-xx-xx . One more time, Yo xxxxxx, And one more time, Yo xxxxxxx. El “xxxxxx” means He “word”. Let’s break it into syllables. ........ on and on for every word

If hearing the same English words over, and over, and over, and over, is not bothersome to you then this will be a a great book for you. The narrator speaks clearly. I love that the sentence is given for each conjugation and that the narrator breaks it into syllables. However, he should not need to say “repeat after me, let’s break it into syllables, one more time, and one time” over and over for each word.

Lose all of the English repetition and I will buy the remade edition in a heartbeat. As for this addition, it did not last an hour before I skimmed through to confirm there was no chapter that was not repetitive in the same English directions. Returning posthaste.

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Narrator not at his best.

Revisado: 03-30-19

I just couldn’t get into this book. Narration had no feeling or pace. I think I would enjoy the book if I were reading it or it had a different narrator. This is sad because I enjoyed Steven Brand’s narration of Blood Song and the other books in the Raven series. I bought this book expecting to enjoy the narration but instead I find the narration ruining the story.

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Turned into YA

Revisado: 02-05-19

I enjoyed the first book but now I feel like I wasted my time. This book is all feelings, feelings, feelings. I tried to get through it but just can’t.

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Great writing, horrible ideas.

Revisado: 01-20-19

Two short notes first: 1) Mr. Reynolds is amazing! My absolute favorite narrator and the saving grace of this audio book. 2) all of Sullivan’s Riyria series, as a whole, are among the top three, if not the number one, series I have ever read in my 40 years of reading Fantasy. So much so that I have listened to the Riyria Revelations several times, and recommend it to all readers of Fantasy.

After reading Age of Swords I was hoping the next book would be back to Sullivan’s superior level of writing, but I was sorely disappointed as it only got worse.

*****This review contains spoilers***

With that said, I am very disappointed in what Sullivan has produced. His writing is still excellent but he seems to be having fun with having these wonderfully written characters invent everything. This may be Fantasy, but the reader still needs to be able to feel as if what is happening could be real. Am I suppose to believe that in less than a year two people invent the wheel, leg braces, bow and arrow, and writing (just to mention a few). Then there is the naming of items. Why didn’t someone point out to Sullivan how absolutely ridiculous his idea of naming the arrow was. ‘Give me a row! A row, a row, give me an arrow’. Ridiculous! And sadly it doesn’t stop there. And the big groan came when Roan imagined that with the flip of a switch someone could light a room.

It seems also tSullivan has stepped away from learning from other authors what not to do (such as stringing along readers as Jordon and Martin did) and has decided to kill off major characters. However, unlike George R. R. Martin, who did an excellent job of killing off main characters, Sullivan’s hit jobs fall flat and have no meaning. His idea of creating a Gilarabrywn (another disastrous naming) through sacrifice not only removes beloved characters in a meaningless way, it is absolutely ruining a wonderful character, as the only way for her not to have to kill another person she loves would be to keep everyone at arms length, setting up more awful writing (because relationships is where Sullivan’s strength lies).

Lastly there are many instances where it seems he is not thinking things through and those who are giving him feedback before publishing are not pointing out the obvious. 1) Lets meet secretly under a bridge, yet we will celebrate by having dancing lights and causing the water to do all sorts of fun stuff, 2) name a river Shannarra so your readers immediately think about that book removing them from the story you have created, 3) have a powerful miralyith be able to channel his power at the site of the battle but only use it to bring down one dome, 4) have the Fhrey develop some words, but not writing (there is no word for beautiful, but there are a few words so you can send short messages). Really! They would have stopped there? No need for writing except for short messages? The list could go on.

In closing, I am left reluctant to read the remaining books. I understand that history is written by the victors, and Sullivan May be trying to write from that perspective, but he is totally ruining a wonderful history that he developed in the Haiidrian and Royce books. I was looking forward to getting to know Persephone and Nyphron. At this point I am not liking these two characters; the end of this book left me, not feeling Persephone’s grief, but thinking what an utter ungrateful b***h she was. Perhaps by the end of the sixth book Sullivan will pull it all together, I hope so, but I won’t hold my breath, as a lot of damage has been done to the history I was looking forward to witnessing through these books.

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Easy read (listen). Good characters and storyline.Not YA

Revisado: 03-13-18

While I enjoy the deeper storylines of Game of Thrones, Best Served Cold, Name of the Wind, Wheel of Time and so on, there comes a point were I look for something that is still epic but not so deep. This is exactly the type of book I am happy to find when I want a break from writers such as Abercrombie, Martin, Sanderson. I still want a good story I just don’t want all of the deep, deep, deep political intrigue and multiple storylines. This book fits the bill. The character behavior is understandable, the politics are easily followed, character interaction is enjoyable.
On a funny side note, I barely got use to the pace before the book was over, and this was the pace I was looking for!! A problem is usually solved within several chapters rather than it taking half of the book. Travel from one place to another can sometimes be as simple as the intent to travel being determined at the end of a chapter and starting in the new location at the beginning of the next. How refreshing not to have to read through travel that does nothing to really move the story forward.
The narrator does a fantastic job with distinctive voices, enunciation, pacing and allows the reader to just enjoy the story.
Highly recommend.

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Stand alone book

Revisado: 01-27-18

I truly wish more authors would follow Mr. Tghaikovsky’s lead and write strand alone books that did not end with some minor character development left open: which is a sure hint of a future book. This is not YA, not gory, not dark, not full of offensive language or warped minds and deeds. This is an easy listen with interesting character that wraps up nicely in the end. I do not need a continued story for Emily, I need more great stories like this.

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