Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Another great, atmospheric, other-worldly Gormenghast book. It is a continuation of the story threads in the first book and as I suspect no-one will read this book without reading the first, I feel I can review this book by saying that if you enjoyed the strange characters, the dry, black humour and the evil machinations of Vol. 1 then you will definitely enjoy this book as it is as brilliant as the first outing. Excellently narrated.

I really enjoyed this book. It is a well-crafted adventure story on a par with Wyndhams classic "Day of the Triffids". The story moves along at a great pace and the characters are well-developed and interesting. Another post-apocalyptic classic from Wyndham that as narrator, Robert Powell does real justice to.

I would agree with the other reviewers - I would say in it's defence that when you stick with it, it does get easier and the story does pan out eventually to a very good one. I think it is the skill of the writer to keep things clear and the listener/reader engaged. Unfortunately, this one is a struggle at this level for at least the first half.

People who have listened to a lot of the Orson Scott Card books will be familiar with the narrator - Scott Brick. Scott can admittedly overdo the emotion sometimes. In relating a pretty innocuous piece of text, he can sound like he is trying to relay it whilst a vice is slowly being tightened around his head.

In the end, I enjoyed this book, with it's interesting characters and plot. The only concern I have, is how much will I remember of it all by the time installment 2 arrives?

This was borderline three/four-star and I have given it the benefit of the doubt!