Great series, great book.

I've read all 4 books and I'm writing one review for them all with the hope to help you decide if it is worth listening them. My first impression is that it sound a lot like a tale (fairy tale if you wish). It is not such, but it does sound like one. It grabs you from the beginning, very original start. You might experience memories from your childhood while listening this book (the whole series actually), which was a great feeling for me and hopefully for you too. The author makes a wonderful job extending the story in a way that you don't get bored by useless character building. The character building happens while the story develops - the author takes a short chapters to show you something in the past and that's how it happens. Most of the times those short chapters in the past are accompanied with nice story, so even that is not boring.

The narrator - super, amazing job... I'm simply speech less. I can't imagine anyone better for this job. I'm big fan of R.C. Bray, but I think even he can't make that good narration of the book. I'd say he is half of the pleasure you get while listening the book. The main reason - he reads the book as a story-tale.

As for the story - you might think it is a sci-fi, then a fantasy.. then a mixture.. and the truth could be somewhere in between.. who knows :) But it is an original story and it is entertaining.

Now about each book:

The World Walker - 9 out of 10 - great beginning of the series.
The Unmaking Engine - 10 out of 10 - simply amazing, probably the best book of them all.
The Seventeenth Year - 7 out of 10 - now that's a problem. If you are pretty young, you will probably give it 10/10, but I'm nearly 40 and it did sound a lot like teenage action. Also too much love. Basically I think this was the weakest book of them all, but still interesting enough. You better don't skip it or you will regret :)
The Unnamed Way - 9 out of 10 - back in business again! All goodies are back again.. there's again a bit more love/romance then needed and a little flat end, but the end is just 1-2 chapters, while all the rest was very entertaining. The story prior the end was very interesting and the end itself was expected and nothing spectacular.

The author has a great potential. I see these are his first books. He has a great writing skills, very captivate style. I just wish he does a bit less distraction.. lets say 10-20% less would make his books even more interesting. But even with this I definitely put this author is my personal top 3 and I'm very keen on reading/listening more books by Ian W. Sainsbury !

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An excellent story

He managed to create a fourth novel in the series that is new and familiar at once. Some of our favorite characters return and will as some new favorites. We get to find out what Seb was up to those 17 years an it's not a repetitive rehash. It is all fresh adventures that connect perfectly with the previous stories. you will never guess the ending either. An excellent read or listen in this case.

1 person found this helpful

A (Mostly) Satisfying Ending to a Unique Series

Although I had some complaints with the very final few pages, I enjoyed this final installment to the World Walker series. Sainsbury continued his gift of writing a compelling "popcorn" style story that manages to stay on just the right side of predictable. He often ends up where you think he's going to end up, but he takes an interesting path in getting there. The best praise I have for this series is that in the end, I found myself wanting more. I appreciated the author's inclusion of an afterward that explained his rationale for ending the story the way he did. However, I still found it a little "hand-wavy". It relied on an aspect of Seb's powers that had not previously even been hinted at; which was mildly frustrating. But only mildly.

I agree that there was a substantial portion of this book that felt very different to what came before. It's not quite as big of a diversion as the entirety of book 3, but it is very different. However, I enjoyed that portion of this book. Sainsbury deftly created a completely alien world and managed to flesh it out and make you care about its inhabitants. But if you don't find yourself enjoying that portion, I'd imagine you're going to be left feeling frustrated. If you've made it this far through this series though, I have to think you enjoy Mr. Sainsbury's writing and are therefore likely to enjoy this particular detour. (Especially, if you stuck it out through book 3.)

The narration is top notch. Sometimes Mr. Boyce drops some unique pronunciations that kind of leave me scratching my head. An example is how he pronounces "controversy" in Chapter 35, with about 10m and 40ish seconds remaining in the Chapter. But I'm being a little pedantic. Overall he does a great job at making each character unique and immediately recognizable. Which is nice, because at this point Sainsbury has gotten away from repeating "Said Seb" and "Said Mee" twelve times per page. And that was my biggest complaint about book 1.

Wonderful story.

Thank you for the wonderful story. I have enjoyed the books in this series and I am looking forward to hearing more of your stories thank you. This story has all of the wonder for child and all of us that are children at heart thank you so much.

Awesome series

A well written series with quite a nice ending. loved all 4 books in the series. and the audio performance by Todd Boyce was impeccable.

Really well done! Loved the ending!

I did not think I was going to like this book as much as I did the first 3. I was so wrong. The care with which the author wrote the ending I might liken to how one cares for a precious and fragile thing. Nuanced in its understatement but it makes it that much more powerful.

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satisfying end to an enjoyable series

The narration was markedly improved this time around, with none of the odd pronunciation that plagued the other books in the series.

The ending was creative as well, I won't spoil for you but if you've ever read a sci-fi book you can probably predict it yourself, there's really only one way for it to end.

If you've read the other books, invest the credit. Its worth it.

Now, That’s How You End a Story!!

Fabulous conclusion, and I believe thes last two have been the best in the series... Some serious writing chops on display... The way the time and dimensional traveling sequences are handled adds serious flavor w/o confusing... Especially liked the whole chapter and unchapter thing;). Clay’s world, and Seb’s sojourn in same,couldn’t have been done better, and were universally engrossing;). We also get a lot more explanation of the WorldWalkers, their roles, and the expanding multiverse... Joanie’s particular skill, and its uniqueness add some delightfully twisty layers to the whole thing... Superb pacing, characters, and philosophical ponderings... Mind bending is the concept/question of which are “actual” worlds... Some of them? None of them? All of them? Who can say, all depends on the perspective;). Multiple resolutions and conclusions, and all are wonderfully done, and a handful are downright touching and thought provoking... Read This Series!!! 100% worth it, and sincerely hope to see some side/related stories in the future... This universe has way too much to offer;)

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An awesome finish to an amazing series.

Although it's the final book in the series, but Mr IWS left alot of open ended plot for more. Love it and wanting more, I miss all the characters already.

Highly disappointed

What disappointed you about The Unnamed Way?

This was ninety percent a boring tangent from the true storyline bookended with something attempting to make it part of the series.

Any additional comments?

If Sainsbury wanted to write a complexly different book, he should have.

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