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Well constructed story - lacks punch of Book 1

Reviewed: 04-22-25

I think this was a fun action book. I'd watch this movie. Hell, I think when I was a kid I watched Chuck Norris in a few of these type stories. This third installment in the James Reece stories is not as gripping as the first one, and even a bit less engaging than book 2. As a person completely ignorant of military culture, but who has a decent footing in US history I found the descriptions of the characters, the equipment, the tactics, and the locations to be pretty believable. I have strong doubts about the capsaicin scene which was gratuitous and silly at the same time. Other than that I appreciate these small glimpses into the lives of our special forces operators, and this is as close to a battle field as I ever want to be in. Good story, just doesn't have the same gravitas as Terminal List, or the character intrigue of True Believer. Feels a lot like a middle chapter of a greater story.

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A superb version. Well translated, and narrated

Reviewed: 07-11-23

I'm glad this is the version of Les Miserables I selected on audible. The narrators are excellent. Their voices are easily distinguishable, and they do a great job of voicing different point of view characters in a way that makes it easy for the listener to know who is speaking.
The translation made some great choices. Victor Hugo frequently described when characters are speaking to one another in French using the formal pronoun Vous versus the more familiar Tu. The hard copy of the book my son has translates these always as You in English without distinction. Here, in the Penguin Audiobook they retain the French words when appropriate to help the listener understand what Hugo wants you to see. It's a small thing, but well executed in this audiobook in my opinion. I read an abridged version when I was a teenager, and after listening to this unabridged audiobook I see that there is a lot about the politics of their day that could be omitted without losing any of the story of the main characters. However, I am enjoying this more complete view of the complexities of French opinions in the decades after Napoleon. It seems very similar to the passions and fierce animosities of our era. People are complicated, and they have the tendency of seeing their rivals as more simplistic. This is clear in Hugo's text as it is in our own 21st century lives.

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3 people found this helpful

I watched the Amazon series first and....

Reviewed: 08-01-22

I think the book was good, but the changes made for the TV series were improvements. The TV series starts you out wondering if Reece is capable of discerning reality from hysteria. You don't really get any of that with the book. Also all of the villains in the book are more obvious. The author reveals the bad intent of almost every villain early in the story. I still thought it was a good story, and I am curious to listen to the next book. I think my second criticism of the book was that the reporter who is very well developed for the show is not featured very much in the novel. The TV show added sort of a muckraker thriller aspect to it. I realize it's a bit unfair to judge the source material from the adaptation, so I didn't want to rank the book too low. I think 4 stars is still a solid story worth listening to. It's pretty graphic in places. This one is not for all audiences. The scene I skipped in the TV show was in the book, and I wished I could have skipped it in the book too. Some pretty gruesome stuff happens in this story.

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Sunreach was good, ReDawn was spectacular!

Reviewed: 11-12-21

My ten year old son is the Skyward reader i n the family. But he fell behind on Sunreach and hasn't finished it. I went ahead of him, and I bought and listened to ReDawn. This was my favorite story so far among all the Skyward stories. I think the Janci Patterson novellas have been very strong additions to Brandon Sanderson's Cytonic universe. It's hard to tell how involved he was, but I do think there is a bit of a different voice in the novellas so far. Also there is quite a bit that happens in these novellas that are going to make them essential reading before anyone picks up the next full length novel. There's just not much of a chance that you can skip the Janci Patterson stories and know what's going on, unless Sanderson solely focuses on Spensa in the next book without connecting her to the other members of Skyward flight. I'm excited for the last novella to arrive next month. I'm really engaged in these books now, even though it's targeted to young readers. I would definitely rank the Skyward series above the Reckoners at this point. I think bringing in another author to focus on a few characters who had not been featured much in the main books really gives it a fresh feel. I like both FM and Alanik as we got to know them in these novellas. Some of the other characters from Skyward flight get more detail and personality built onto them too. The narrator gives a good performance as well. She has narrated all of the Skyward books, and continues to do an excellent job. It's great to have voice continuity over the course of the series.

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Fun cast, hindered by a ridiculous story

Reviewed: 11-12-21

Maybe I'm just not the target audience for this sort of thing. I got this free title because it featured John Lithgow in the lead role of a full cast audio. I don't tend to read mysteries, but I thought this one would be funny. It was so absurd a plot, that I couldn't even get into it. I'm willing and able to suspend quite a bit of disbelief for a good story, or entertaining characters. This was silly pulp fiction, so beyond the realm of possibility. The characters were not engaging enough to carry a bizarre tale by helping it along with good dialog. I finished the story, but I would not waste my time with another one of these.

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1 person found this helpful

This is very possibly Sanderson's finest work

Reviewed: 02-16-21

Brandon Sanderson is at his best in this short story. He uses a magic system called soul forging as a means to explore the various elements that define a personality. This seems to be a theme Sanderson likes to examine quite frequently. Shai, in the Emperor's Soul is able to redefine her own personality similar to other Sanderson protagonists, specifically Stephen Leeds from Legion, and Shallan from Stormlight. Because this is a short story less time is spent on defining the magic system. There is still quite a bit of exposition as Shai explains what she can do to one of her captors who is skeptical of her abilities. Some people do not like this approach, but I think it is employed effectively in this story. This story is set on the same world as Elantris, but is in no way connected to that novel. I would love to know what happens to these characters after the events of the short story. I'm not sure a sequel is warranted, but I am still curious what happens to them.

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2 people found this helpful

It was okay, but I don't want to read the next one

Reviewed: 09-02-20

The story took a while to hook me. The author tried to make a tyrant into the protagonist. Some authors can accomplish this, and eventually I sort of succumbed to Maclellan's efforts, but I could not remain permanently invested into the struggles of the revolutionaries and their bloody leader. The magic system was pretty well done. My only complaint was that there were too many different systems. Still he did a good job of telling a story in a world that has magic, without making it a story only about the magic. The thing that keeps me from moving forward is I don't love any of the characters enough to keep reading. The brutality of the war and the world is perhaps too realistic. I think a lot of people would read this and enjoy it better than I did. The narrator was top notch though. The variety of voices made each character come to life and helped distinguish the different characters in dialogues.

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Awesome conclusion to the series.

Reviewed: 08-16-19

this is a great ending to a beautiful series of books. A more dire conflict than the prior entries and necessarily the personal losses are greater for Taran and the companions. Great book for elementary age readers. I listened in the car with my 8 & 11 year olds. They both loved it.

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Beat in the series...so far.

Reviewed: 05-14-19

I read these books as a kid. now I am sharing them with my sons. This book was much better than I remembered. It is quite different from the other books in the series. It is more of a collection of short encounters with various characters from around Prydain. Instead of a conflict centered epic, it is more of an Odyssey journey. I loved it. The only gripe I have is the recordings are not very new. I think that's audio recordings are over 20 years old. I'd love for a new recording of these books.

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The best Epic Fantasy series of our day

Reviewed: 01-06-19

This 3rd book was beautiful. The only thing better than the story is the performance of the narrators. Michael Kraemer and Kate Reading make Roshar and its characters come to life. This is the third in a set of five books. Books 4 & 5 will be published around 2020/ 2023. But I thought we had some good closure to a lot of events at the end of the 3rd book. Sandersons world of Roshar and the magic enabling spirits or faeries known as Spren who dwell there is really mesmerizing. A long read, but a great value for your credit!

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