Mini Audiobook Reviews: Trollslayer, Devils Unto Dust, Wraiths & Ruin

Posted by Jessi (Geo) on February 18, 2022 | 0 Comments


Mini Audiobook Reviews: Trollslayer, Devils Unto Dust, Wraiths & RuinTrollslayer by William King
Series: Gotrek & Felix #1
Published by The Black Library (4.3.2003)
Genres: Adult, High Fantasy
Format: Audiobook, 320 pages
Length: 9 hours, 55 minutes
Narrator: Jonathan Keeble
Source: I own it


2.5 Stars

After fleeing the authorities in the Imperial city of Altdorf, Felix Jaeger swears a drunken oath to dour dwarf Gotrek Gurnisson to record his death saga. In the cold light of day, Felix's worst fears are confirmed as he learns that Gotrek is a Trollslayer - a dwarf doomed to seek out a heroic death in battle to atone for an unknown personal disgrace. Their travels throw them into a string of extraordinary adventures as Felix tries to survive his companion's destiny.

Read it because
A surly, doom-seeking dwarf and a young human poet with no experience of the world… Who'd have thought they'd become the greatest heroic duo in the history of the Warhammer World? And it all begins here.

My thoughts

This one was okay, not great. I don’t remember much about it, to be honest, because I was severely bored throughout the entire story. However, narration by Jonathan Keeble was absolutely fantastic and kept me going. Spot on voices for each character and brought the story to life! I’ll probably seek out more works by this narrator. He saved the book for me, because I probably would have DNFed if I’d physically read it. The world was interesting but the characters were suuuper bland. I just didn’t care about any of them, or what was happening.

Overall Assessment

Plot: 3/5
Premise: 4/5
Writing style: 3/5
Originality: 3.5/5
Characters: 2/5
World-building: 4/5
Pace: 2/5
Feels: 1/5
Narration: 5/5
Cover: 3/5
Overall rating: 2.5/5

Mini Audiobook Reviews: Trollslayer, Devils Unto Dust, Wraiths & RuinDevils Unto Dust by Emma Berquist
Published by Greenwillow (4.10.2018)
Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Format: Audiobook, 488 pages
Length: 9 hours, 59 minutes
Narrator: Devon Sorvari
Source: I own it


3 Stars

Willie has always survived. No matter what life in Glory, Texas, has thrown at her. The sickness that swept through the state and turned most living creatures into terrifying shakes. Her own mother succumbing to the disease. Her father disappearing into saloons and gambling and liquor. Willie survives. And she'll make sure her younger brothers and sister do, too.

Then her good-for-nothing father steals a fortune from one of the most merciless shake hunters in town, and Willie is on the hook for his debt. With two young hunters as guide, Willie sets out across the desert to find him, and make him pay up.

But the desert holds many dangers—and the shakes are only a few of them. This is no place for the weak.

My thoughts

Even though this is a futuristic post-apocalyptic story, it felt a lot like a western. I love the idea of sci-fi westerns, but they tend to be hit or miss for me. This one was good, not great. It reminded me a bit too much of Dustborn, which I read not too long ago, so that book overshadowed this one by a lot. I did enjoy this one while reading, don’t get me wrong, but it just wasn’t memorable. It’s one of those books where you’re invested while reading and then never really think about the book again when you finish.

My main gripe with this story is that I couldn’t connect to it at all. I didn’t really care about any of the characters, which is not good because this is a very character driven novel. There wasn’t a whole lot of action or plot driving the story.

The second gripe that I had was that I was extremely disappointed in the ending. View Spoiler »

Overall Assessment

Plot: 3/5
Premise: 4/5
Writing style: 3.5/5
Originality: 3.5/5
Characters: 2.5/5
World-building: 4/5
Pace: 2/5
Feels: 1/5
Narration: 4/5
Cover: 4/5
Overall rating: 3/5

Mini Audiobook Reviews: Trollslayer, Devils Unto Dust, Wraiths & RuinA Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown
Series: A Song of Wraiths and Ruin
Published by Balzer + Bray (6.2.2020)
Genres: Young Adult, High Fantasy
Format: Audiobook, 466 pages
Length: 12 hours, 4 minutes
Source: Library


2 Stars

For Malik, the Solstasia festival is a chance to escape his war-stricken home and start a new life with his sisters in the prosperous desert city of Ziran. But when a vengeful spirit abducts Malik’s younger sister, Nadia, as payment into the city, Malik strikes a fatal deal—kill Karina, Crown Princess of Ziran, for Nadia’s freedom.

But Karina has deadly aspirations of her own. Her mother, the Sultana, has been assassinated; her court threatens mutiny; and Solstasia looms like a knife over her neck. Grief-stricken, Karina decides to resurrect her mother through ancient magic . . . requiring the beating heart of a king. And she knows just how to obtain one: by offering her hand in marriage to the victor of the Solstasia competition.

When Malik rigs his way into the contest, they are set on a course to destroy each other. But as attraction flares between them and ancient evils stir, will they be able to see their tasks to the death?

My thoughts

I’m going to be honest, I had forgotten that I even read this. And I’m talking to the point that I was actually second guessing that I had, indeed, read the darn thing. I literally remembered nothing about this book – I had to go read a recap to refresh my memory!

Nothing about this book really stood out to me. Not the world, the characters, nor the narration. Even the title is generic. I’m pretty sure I was bored through the entire story. Which is a shame, because I was really looking forward to this book – the hype is UNREAL and I feel like everyone but me loved it *sighs*

Baa, baa, black sheep.

Overall Assessment

Plot: 3/5
Premise: 4/5
Writing style: 3/5
Originality: 2/5
Characters: 2/5
World-building: 3/5
Pace: 2/5
Feels: 1/5
Narration: 3/5
Cover: 4.5/5
Overall rating: 2/5

Jessi (Geo)

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