Christopher Wren

World class story with themes relevant to today

Revisado: 04-13-21 El oyente recibió este título gratis

I believe in starting with the strongest point, and giving you fine details later. This book is 8 hours long, and I completed it in 8 hours, 15 minutes. I could not pull myself away for more than a fast lunch break. If that doesn't convince you to try this book, the rest of this review probably won't either.

The Right to Belong is a sequel to Kawokee, And while you should read Kawokee first, to get context to what even is a Kawokee, you can start with this book and have a great time. This story takes place a few generations after Kawokee, and so only passing references are made to those characters.

This book is absolutely stunning. You will follow a young kawokee named Max, who has never met a friend in his life. Kawokees are adorable little fox people, and people hate them because they carry a disease which makes humans infertile. They also look like adorable fox people, and because they have a foxes' muzzle, they can't speak all the same syllables humans can. Max is finally able to meet an online friend and classmate in person for the first time, and he feels like he has found a place in his world. But, as a person who looks very different from the majority, Max quickly finds himself in a dangerous situation, and the story evolves from there.

There isn't much in the way of metaphor, the topic of the book is fairly obvious. But it's executed with perfection, the pacing is great, and you never sit waiting too long to see what happens next.

The characters are great, all of them believable, most of them likeable. While it can be a little bit overwhelming in the climax, where several minor characters are introduced in rapid succession, the major characters of Max, his family, his best friend, the best friend's family, and the factions wishing to use Max for political gain, are all 3 dimensional characters. Even the antagonist of the story, who is revealed fairly late, acts in a way you can believe a real person may behave, given the stakes.

Max's story is so striking because it's such a simple desire. Max wants to make friends, and not live in fear. There's nothing supernatural or other worldly about his story, it's just a little fox man trying to make his way in the world.

When it comes to narrator, Caren Naess absolutely nails every character. At first, it may feel slightly odd for a woman to narrate the male leads, but the Kawokee feel right in a higher tone, and Caren has a solid lower register to pull off the human males reliably. She also keeps you at exactly the right spot in the story, she never lingers on a spot where we need to move, and she isn't afraid to slow down the narration just a little bit when we need to take a breath and re-evaluate the situation. It is a perfect fit between author and narrator, and I hope that she returns for book 3 of Kawokee.

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improvement on a story elevate it: Good to Great

Revisado: 12-14-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

Captured Moonlight is where Erin Kelly hits her stride. Book 1 struggled with perspective shifts. Book 2 has no issues with this. Book 1 lacked a solid villain until the last few chapters. Here, we have a loathsome character in Davie, and he is what propels you through the story. Book 1 had a lot of moments where everyone was confused on where to go. Here, we have one central tension which serves the reader very well.

My only complaint is that there is a sex scene early on which feels out of place. Werewolf stories tend to fall into this trope, but I feel that if you stripped the sex scene, you would not find yourself missing it.

I also must protest against cliffhanger endings. Yes, they are great fun and great market, but I do not like to wait on a new release to get a satisfactory ending. here, at least, the cliffhanger begins a NEW central tension, rather than drag on the existing central tension.

Torian Brackett is phenomenal here. By book 2 he has found every character's voice, and they all sound distinct. Extra Credit must be given to him for the climax of the story, where every named character save two are present. There are 13 characters in one room, and you are ALWAYS crystal clear where there stakes and the characters are. This is no small feat of writing lr narration.

Thankfully as well, book 3 is coming soon , according to Social media of the author and narrator.

if you bounced off book 1, start here. and if you loved Book 1, you need this one in your library right away.

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A fun experience with a world class narrator

Revisado: 10-29-20

Every werewolf book or movie has some type of flaw. It's half the fun of being a fan of werewolves in the first place. From The Howling's strange case of weird sequels, to King's Cycle of the Werewolf/Silver Bullet, all werewolf media seems to have something strange, some blemish which makes the work have its own charm, never seen again.

Tainted Moonlight is a werewolf novel, and therefore has a strange flaw. Due to oversight in editing, Tainted Moonlight will move between 3rd person past tense "He walked to the store to buy eggs." to 3rd person present tense, "He walks to the store to buy eggs". It does this frequently, and I never got over it. Every time I heard it, it felt weird, and pulled me out of the experience. However, halfway through the book, I found myself listening closer to see if I could find one more instance, and was overjoyed when I heard the narration slip for one sentence.

When it comes to the story, werewolves are often used as a metaphor for something. In this case, it's used as a catch all for any number of conditions where one becomes an Other. Corbin's eyes have changed color, to the point he tries to hide his condition with sunglasses to blend in. The government has classified werewolves as Non-human, so humans rights do not apply to him. He is allowed to live in New York, but if he commits a crime, his best friend pays the price, and Corbin is put down like an animal. You've heard werewolf stories in this vein before if you're a werewolf fanatic, but there's a charm to Tainted Moonlight, and the small cast of characters are all likeable.

Speaking of our cast of characters, Torian Brackett is an absolute WORLD CLASS narrator, and I am surprised this is his first book on Audible. Torian handles each character, even to the minor characters who appear in one scene, with a grace and talent which much come from a strong career of acting. Not once in this 6 hour runtime did I confuse one of his voices for any other character. They all sound so distinct, they are all so strong and memorable, and Torian uses some post-production work to amplify the moment, that you are along for the ride and loving every second. He has a great sense of timing, and does a great job of sobbing when a character discovers they have been betrayed by a loved one. It really brings the scene to life, where a different narrator would have read it more flat..

Overall, I recommend Tainted Moonlight. It's a fun adventure with good characters, but the biggest reason to get Tainted Moonlight on Audiobook is for the killer narration work. I am going to follow Brackett for more audiobooks in the future, as his voice alone is a sale in my book from here on out.

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difficult to describe, but highly recommended

Revisado: 10-12-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

What do you get when 3 alien primates, their human caretakers, and their biomechanical protectors meet the intelligent natives of their host planet? This is the core conflict of Moonstone Child. The 5 species and the Sav'ine communicate with Sign Language. miscommunication occurs, and comedy ensues. Like much of Stacy Benders work, there is tragedy as well. For while the world has predators, the real monster is the always present Doctor Anna.
A real Nurse Ratched, but more thouroughly evil.

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A story of hope, in an era of Pandemic

Revisado: 10-12-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

Bloodstone Reborn is the one Sav'ine book to read in 2020. the world of Azai is as hopeless and scarred by plague as our own. But at the end of the story, the world is on a path of recovery.

I would highly recommend reading Moonstone Child first, otherwise some B plot details will be lost to you.

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A very different Sa'vine story

Revisado: 09-28-20

*book recieved for free in exchange for review. Author is a friend to the reviewer*

After the haunting tragedy of Diamond Mind, I was so excited to move directly into Sons of Amethyst. After finishing the book, I feel confident that I understand what it was going for, but the internal impact and emotional resonance was weaker.

I can't go into details on where the actual emotional resonance does occur without spoiling the final chapters. However, if you are not paying attention, you may miss the scene core to the entire book.

Theo Holland's narration is perfect as ever. In this world, everyone must wear masks, and so each time someone talks outside, it is put through a compressor to muffle the words ever so slightly. It occurs often, and it makes the story feel so real in those moments.

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a haunting and tragic tale

Revisado: 09-28-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

*audiobook recieved for free, author is a close friend of the reviewer*

While it is absolutely accurate to call Diamond Mind a Tragedy and a Haunting story, both of these words fail to get at the emotional resonance within the book. It is the strongest story in The Sa'vine Guard ao far. Diamond Mind has a smaller number of characters than previous Sa'vine stories, and this is a point which helps make Diamond my favorite character from this series.

Theo Holland is a great narrator, he has a wide range of accents and tones, and some post production brings the characters to life. For example, at one point, two characters speak over top of each other, and Theo narrates both characters and overlaps the readings to play at the same time.

Diamond Mind is a perfect book for anyone who enjoys tragedy, mysteries, or just a strong story.

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a seriously fun and smart sci-fi tail

Revisado: 08-30-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

Carne Naess may be one of the best narrators in my Audible library. Her use of inflection and pitch help make every single character, even the minor characters appearing in a single scene, stand out from each other. In Kawokee, this is important, as different chapters follow different characters at the same time period, and solving the mysteries of Kawokee before Minnich and Bender's characters solve it is made easier with the narration.

There are several mysteries inside of Kawokee, and most of them are answered by the end. However, it was a great joy whenever i solved one mystery due to clues given, amd get proven correct by the end.

I highly recommend Kawokee to any person who enjoys sci-fi or mysteries or space adventures.

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a wonderful steampunk Sci-Fi world at war

Revisado: 03-12-20

tiboluminator is an absolutely fantastic adventure, with elements of political intrigue and mystery. It carries with it the duty to be like Sci-fi of old. it is very obvious Reid Minnich spent a lot of time thinking of the correct "techno-babble" so the fantasy science at work appears real.

give this book a listen if you enjoy female protagonists, steampunk, political intrigue, or Sci-Fi.

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A taste of Noir in Space!

Revisado: 02-07-20

First, you don't need to have read or listened to Emerald Tears to really enjoy Hands of Onyx. It feels a little bit like those Film Noir from the golden days of Hollywood. A good, solid mystery, with weird but interesting characters, including telepathic twins.

If you enjoy Noir, or Mystery on the Orient Express, you will probably enjoy this book. The performance by Theo Holland is STRONG, as always, with a different voice for each of the characters (and there are many in this small ship).

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