Takes Time to Get Through

This book was recommended by a member of my book club. I started out trying to read the book itself without the audio. It dragged too much for me and my attention wandered. So, I switched to this version and found it flowed better though time still felt like it was grinding away.

There are two solid pluses about the book itself: 1) story concept and 2) Istvan. The plot was engaging enough to induce wonderment about what would happen next. Somewhat at the center of the intrigue was Istvan. He was a much more fascinating character and it seemed as though the author took her time to really flesh him out (no pun intended). Istvan had a depth to him that was sorely lacking in the other characters, even Edmond, his best friend and the main focus of the plot.

For the audio version, William Hope definitely does the book a great service with his performance, which enhanced my overall rating of the audiobook. Very solid vocalizations and tone. his 5 star narration bumped my overall rating from a 3 to a 4.

My main issue with the book, and why I give it a 3 for story, is that there is too much expository repetition. The author continually throws the pace off by getting fixated upon the same descriptive details instead of advancing the plot with more explanation or emotional character development (for all but Istvan and some for Edmond). There was never any sense of conceit, more like the author had difficulty in coming up with some new way to phrase descriptions or a lack of what to do in place of them.

Overall, the book is a decent first offering from a new author with interesting ideas, but faulty follow-through.

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3 people found this helpful

Stands above so many science fiction and fantasy .

I have read many books since grade school 50-55 yrs ago. I get pretty frustrated with unoriginal books. I feel like I keep saying this current book I might be reading is like so many others. first few vampire books interesting. First alien invasion riveting and hard to put down. But now it seems really hard to find a new author that I have not already read most of his her books.

I listened to this book on audible. The narrator has done a fantastic job. The action never seems to quit in this book, never a dull moment. The plot moves along very quickly, but the author manages to build into the story a fascinating world where magic has caused chaos and also is being used to put things as back to normal as possible. The chaos caused by magic is one of the really fun parts of this book. She is a very gifted author packing so much in each sentence, that i was afraid i might miss one of the clues into the world this story takes place, or some neat information about the Time Thief, his side kick who is the best ghost i have met in any book so far, or even about the purple and white striped tiger. To me one of the strongest parts of the book that I liked the most is that there turn out to be no good or bad people, ghosts, tigers or other creatures involved in recent wars except for some ill defined players and one warlock\witch?

Despite the fast pace of the action , this narrator is able to keep the pace going to fit the story. he does well with all the different voices. I listened and felt completely pulled into in the story. What more could I ask for? Well, turns out I could ask for a stellar portrayal of my favorite character the ghost.. This narrator does a superb job! The. ghost goes through every emotion during the course of his adventures with the Time Thief. He is such a compassionate, caring creature at one point, then due to his base nature in need of violence, needing to experience others pain, anger, angst, but never warm fuzzy emotions. And then his self recrimination can quickly turn into quiet reflection into the motivations, pressures that may have lead to another individual doing something that may have harmed another. it is through his eyes and heart that we learn so much about the current characters and previous ones involved in battles or other harmful behavior. He is a gem of a character. This narrator was perfect and i think i will be remembering lines in various languages for some time.

I will read or listen to any book written by this author. And hope we will find this narrator and author working on a sequel to this book in the future.

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1 person found this helpful

Surreal

Not like many books I’ve listened to lately a nice change
I enjoyed this one

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confusing

jumped around and needed a lot more explanation for it to make sence. The players powers were not explained as to how they worked.

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