Robin’s Audiobooks for March – April 2020 #2020AudiobookChallenge @MLSIMMONS ‏ @KIMBACAFFEINATE #LoveAudiobooks

Posted May 24, 2020 by Robin in Book Review / 8 Comments

Robin's Audiobooks for March - April 2020

Robin’s Audiobooks for March – April 2020 #2020AudiobookChallenge @MLSIMMONS ‏ @KIMBACAFFEINATE #LoveAudiobooksThe Queen;s Bargain by Anne Bishop
Narrator: Gary Littman
Series: Black Jewels #10
Published by Penguin Audio on March 10, 2020
Genres: Fantasy
Length: 14 hours, 32 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased
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three-flames
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After a youthful mistake, Lord Dillon’s reputation is in tatters,
leaving him vulnerable to aristo girls looking for a bit of fun. To
restore his reputation and honor, he needs a handfast—a one-year contract of marriage. He sets his sights on Jillian, a young Eyrien witch from Ebon Rih, who he believes has only a flimsy connection to the noble society that spurned him. Unfortunately for Dillon, he is unaware of Jillian’s true connections until he finds himself facing Lucivar Yaslana, the volatile Warlord Prince of Ebon Rih.

Meanwhile, Surreal SaDiablo’s marriage is crumbling. Daemon Sadi, the Warlord Prince of Dhemlan, recognizes there is something wrong between him and Surreal, but he doesn’t realize that his attempt to suppress his own nature in order to spare his wife is causing his mind to splinter. To save Daemon, and the Realm of Kaeleer if he breaks, help must be sought from someone who no longer exists in any of the Realms—the only
Queen powerful enough to control Daemon Sadi. The Queen known as Witch.

As Jillian rides the winds of first love with Dillon, Daemon and Surreal struggle to survive the wounds of a marriage turned stormy—and Lucivar has to find a way to keep everyone in his family safe…even from each other.

Even though this series is sorta going in a new direction, I was so happy to be in this world again.  The Queen’s Bargain is a solid entry point if you want to jump into the series and not read all the prior books.

Witch lived her life and is now dead, but she isn’t gone.  She is still the voice in the wind and Daemon Sadi is going to need that voice more than ever as his power is growing and he might be fracturing.  Lucivar has his hands full with Jillian’s first love and Surreal is going to find out if she is woman enough and has courage enough to deal with the man she married.

While not as strong as some of the other books, and me having mixed feelings that Jaenelle has passed from this world, it is still a very interesting story and I think it is setting up for the next generation when Daemon’s daughter will do some miraculous things with the kindred again.

Narration:

John Sharian voiced the 9 books prior to this one that Gary Littman narrated.  It was a little bit of a struggle to get used to the new narrator and I can’t say I liked him more or less, he just wasn’t the voices for me.  Still he did an solid job overall.

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Robin’s Audiobooks for March – April 2020 #2020AudiobookChallenge @MLSIMMONS ‏ @KIMBACAFFEINATE #LoveAudiobooksThe Light of All That Falls Narrator: Michael Kramer
Published by Podium Audio on December 10, 2019
Genres: Fantasy
Length: 30 hours, 39 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased
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half-flame
One StarOne StarOne StarOne StarHalf a Star

The Boundary is whole once again, but it may be too late.
Banes now stalk Andarra, while in Ilin Illan, the political machinations of a generation come to a head as Wirr's newfound ability forces his family's old enemies into action.

Imprisoned and alone in a strange land, Davian is pitted against the remaining Venerate as they work tirelessly to undo Asha's sacrifice - even as he struggles with what he has learned about the friend he chose to set free.

Finally, Caeden is confronted with the reality of the plan he laid centuries ago - heartbroken at how it began, and devastated by how it must end.

What a great conclusion to an Epic Fantasy series.  I’m so impressed with James Islington and how he finished up his debut series.  There is danger around every corner and so many things happened that I couldn’t guess.  I loved that we got to see the origins of a few characters and how they lived their lives.  All our main characters have a big part to play and will be challenged to the extreme.

There were still surprises to be had and a few pretty big reveals.  To shut out the force trying to control them all some very large sacrifices will be made.

Narration:

Michael Kramer is great at epic fantasies and narrates fantastically yet again.  I listened at my usual 1.5x speed.

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Robin’s Audiobooks for March – April 2020 #2020AudiobookChallenge @MLSIMMONS ‏ @KIMBACAFFEINATE #LoveAudiobooksImaginary Numbers by Seanan McGuire
Narrator: Emily Bauer
Series: Incryptid #9
Published by Audible on February 25, 2020
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Length: 12 hours, 32 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased
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one-half-flames
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Sarah Zellaby has always been in an interesting position. Adopted into the Price family at a young age, she’s never been able to escape the biological reality of her origins: she’s a cuckoo, a telepathic ambush predator closer akin to a parasitic wasp than a human being. Friend, cousin, mathematician; it’s never been enough to dispel the fear that one day, nature will win out over nurture, and everything will change.

Maybe that time has finally come.

After spending the last several years recuperating in Ohio with her adoptive parents, Sarah is ready to return to the world–and most importantly, to her cousin Artie, with whom she has been head-over-heels in love since childhood. But there are cuckoos everywhere, and when the question of her own survival is weighed against the survival of her family, Sarah’s choices all add up to one inescapable conclusion.

This is war. Cuckoo vs. Price, human vs. cryptid…and not all of them are going to walk away.

Imaginary Numbers is set in one of my favorite UF worlds.  It is a place where huminesque cryptids walk the earth, some pretending to be humans and a family of Crypto-zoologists that study, track and help them.  This is the story of a wasp-like being that looks pretty human.  She was raised by the Price family and is now well enough to venture back out into the world.  Except it seems she has run into some of the others of her kind and they are up to something.  Sarah will have to decide, save the world or join her species and their plans to leave it behind.

Narration:

Emily Bauer narrated the entire Incyptid series and does a great job.  I was able to listen to it at my usual 1.5x speed.

Listen to a clip: HERE


Robin’s Audiobooks for March – April 2020 #2020AudiobookChallenge @MLSIMMONS ‏ @KIMBACAFFEINATE #LoveAudiobooksCome Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire
Series: Wayward Children #5
Published by MacMillan on January 7, 2020
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy
Length: 3 hours, 52 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased
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one-flame
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When Jack left Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children, she was carrying the body of her deliciously deranged sister - whom she had recently murdered in a fit of righteous justice - back to their home on the Moors.

But death in their adopted world isn't always as permanent as it is here, and when Jack is herself carried back into the school, it becomes clear that something has happened to her. Something terrible. Something of which only the maddest of scientists could conceive. Something only her friends are equipped to help her overcome.

Eleanor West's "No Quests" rule is about to be broken.

This is the 5th book of the Wayward Children series, an incredibly imaginative collection of novellas taking readers to varied and strange lands that are nothing like our own.  In Come Tumbling Down, we re-visit a strange and different place where good and evil live in a precarious balance and it feels like a black and white monster movie in some respects.   There are vampires and mad scientists and just because you died doesn’t mean you can’t live.

While not my favorite of the collection, it is always fun to see what kind of adventure the Wayward children will take us on.

Narration:

I like Seanan Mcguire. I’ve read many of her books but she is a great writer and an okay narrator. I know she did the other Jack and Jill book but I don’t think that it is a coincidence that those were the two books I didn’t connect as well with or like as much. Most of her character voices seemed the same and there just wasn’t enough variation or intonation to really deliver so many of the great lines that were in Come Tumbling Down. I really wish she would have found a different narrator of the book.  I was able to listen to this at my normal 1.5x speed.

Listen to a clip: HERE

 


Robin’s Audiobooks for March – April 2020 #2020AudiobookChallenge @MLSIMMONS ‏ @KIMBACAFFEINATE #LoveAudiobooksBood Bound by Patricia Briggs
Narrator: Lorelei King
Series: Mercy Thompson #2
Published by Penguin Audio on October 1, 2009
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Length: 10 hours, 2 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased
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one-flame
One StarOne StarOne Star

When Mercy agrees to help out friend Stefan (a bloodsucker from the local vampire clan in the Tri-Cities area of Washington State), she has no idea that she is about to inadvertently come face-to-face with an otherworldly creature that epitomizes pure evil. After barely surviving her encounter with sorcerer Cory Littleton, Mercy -- with the help of a small group of supernatural friends -- vows to track down the mysterious Littleton before he can butcher more innocent people. Her mission is twofold: Not only will she stop a mass murderer from killing again but she will also (hopefully) protect the invaluable secrecy of the vampires who live in the Tri-Cities area. But can a shape-shifting mechanic with a thing for Volkswagen cars defeat a monstrosity powered by spirits from the depths of Hell?

I joined the Books of My Heart read along but fell a little behind.  I read Blood Bound some years ago and apparently forgot everything about it. Vampire in league with a demon, you think I would have remembered something. Oh well. This was a solid read and I noticed a lot of repitition this time, just in case you didn’t remember stuff from the first book but other than that a very nice read.

Narration:

Lorelei King narrates all of the Mercy Thompson books and does a great job voicing the series.  I did have to slow the speed from my normal 1.5x to 1.25x for everything to be at a good pacing for me.

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Robin’s Audiobooks for March – April 2020 #2020AudiobookChallenge @MLSIMMONS ‏ @KIMBACAFFEINATE #LoveAudiobooksIron Kissed by Patricia Briggs
Narrator: Lorelei King
Series: Mercy Thompson #3
Published by Penguin Audio on November 1, 2009
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Length: 9 hours, 11 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased
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one-flame
One StarOne StarOne StarOne StarHalf a Star

When her former boss and mentor is arrested for murder and left to rot behind bars by his own kind, it's up to shapeshifting car mechanic Mercy Thompson to clear his name, whether he wants her to or not. And she'll have to choose between the two werewolves in her life-whether she wants to or not

Again part of the read along.  I did better at remembering the details of this one, Iron Kissed is by far one of the more emotional books of the series because of what Mercy endures during it.  I did like the Fae connections and focusing on them for Iron Kissed.

Narration:

Lorelei King narrates all of the Mercy Thompson books and does a great job voicing the series.  I did have to slow the speed from my normal 1.5x to 1.25x for everything to be at a good pacing for me.

Listen to a clip:


Robin’s Audiobooks for March – April 2020 #2020AudiobookChallenge @MLSIMMONS ‏ @KIMBACAFFEINATE #LoveAudiobooksWalk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson
Narrator: Erin Mallon
Published by HarperAudio on September 20, 2015
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy
Length: 10 hours, 53 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased
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one-flame
One StarOne StarOne StarOne StarHalf a Star

Lee Westfall has a strong, loving family. She has a home she loves and a loyal steed. She has a best friend—who might want to be something more.

She also has a secret.

Lee can sense gold in the world around her. Veins deep in the earth. Small nuggets in a stream. Even gold dust caught underneath a fingernail. She has kept her family safe and able to buy provisions, even through the harshest winters. But what would someone do to control a girl with that kind of power? A person might murder for it.

When everything Lee holds dear is ripped away, she flees west to California—where gold has just been discovered. Perhaps this will be the one place a magical girl can be herself. If she survives the journey.

Did you ever play Oregon Trail as a kid?  I totally did and so I felt nostalgic about so many scenes in Walk the Earth a Stranger.  We follow Leah on her journey from Georgia to California for the gold rush.  To keep herself safe, she must pretend to be a boy as she runs away from the uncle who would use her gift for feeling gold in the ground for his own means.   There are dangers all around and not all of them are from just the trail itself.

Rae Carson is one of my favorite YA authors and I feel like she is completely underrated.  I’ve now completed two series by her and both were really well written with great character development.

Narration:

Erin Mallon fit the voice of Leah very well.  She normally does romance novels but I felt like she was the perfect choice for how the story needed to be performed.  It is like a love story with history.  I was able to listen at my normal 1.5x speed.

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Robin’s Audiobooks for March – April 2020 #2020AudiobookChallenge @MLSIMMONS ‏ @KIMBACAFFEINATE #LoveAudiobooksBone Crossed by Patricia Briggs
Narrator: Lorelei King
Series: Mercy Thompson #4
Published by Penguin Audio on February 5, 2009
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Length: 9 hours, 7 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased
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one-flame
One StarOne StarOne StarOne Star

n a world where "witches, vampires, werewolves, and shape-shifters live beside ordinary people" (Booklist), it takes a very unusual woman to call it home. By day, Mercy Thompson is a car mechanic in Eastern Washington. By night, she explores her preternatural side. As a shape-shifter with some unusual talents, Mercy's found herself maintaining a tenuous harmony between the human and the not-so- human on more than one occasion. This time she may get more than she bargained for.

Bone Crossed I almost read on time for the read along.  Again it was a re-read for me but I had forgotten everything about the story except for the relationship stuff between Adam and Mercy.  We can tell what I was originally in the series for.

Still the bad guy was bad, ghosts are a little scary, vampires suck, Stefan is okay though, Mercy needs to protect everyone, Adam has a temper (that we never, ever see), the Pack doesn’t like Mercy being a part of them and Mercy’s milkshake brings all the boys to the yard even though she tells us all the time how un-special she is.

Narration:

Lorelai King – Awesome as always and a 1.25x reading speed for me.

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Robin’s Audiobooks for March – April 2020 #2020AudiobookChallenge @MLSIMMONS ‏ @KIMBACAFFEINATE #LoveAudiobooksAll Systems Red by Martha Wells
Narrator: Kevin Free
Series: Murderbot Diaries #1
Published by Recorded Books on October 30, 2017
Genres: Science Fiction
Length: 3 hours, 17 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased
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zero-flames
One StarOne StarOne StarOne Star

In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.

But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.

On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid — a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.

But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.

Another reread for me because Network Effect was going to come out and I wanted a refresher on all the details going into it.

This wasn’t one of my normal reads.  For one there is absolutely no kissing in this book, two the main character is a cyborg calling itself Murderbot and three did I mention the no kissing or possibility of kissing in this book.  Still I absolutely fell IN LOVE with Murderbot.  They are a rogue unit pretending not to be rogue and protecting a group of humans on a planet survey.  Who knew there would be so much danger and things that wanted to eat Murderbot’s humans.  They are not okay with that.

Narration:

Kevin R. Free – you are Murderbot.  I laughed at all the inner monolog you performed, fantastic job.  I listened at 1.5x speed.

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Robin’s Audiobooks for March – April 2020 #2020AudiobookChallenge @MLSIMMONS ‏ @KIMBACAFFEINATE #LoveAudiobooksThe Girl of Fire and Thorns Series: Fire and Thorns #1
Published by HarperAudio on July 24, 2012
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy
Length: 12 hours, 10 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased
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one-flame
One StarOne StarOne StarOne Star

Elisa is the chosen one.

But she is also the younger of two princesses. The one who has never done anything remarkable, and can't see how she ever will.

Now, on her 16th birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs her to be the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.

And he's not the only one who seeks her. Savage enemies, seething with dark magic, are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people's savior, and he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.

Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn't die young.

Most of the chosen do.

I’m doing another reread of a series since there is a new book out set years after the events of this series.  Rae Carson did a fantastic job making me love a little fat princess who looked like a stuffed sausage on her wedding day to a complete stranger.  She has a destiny, chosen by god (which is why she has a jewel in her belly like a troll doll), she just has no idea what it is.

Elisa will transform from a pampered soft princess into the leader of a rebellion and possibly just save the kingdom she was married into.

I loved this series.  Normally the chosen by god thing wouldn’t work for me as I don’t really like to mix religion into my reading.  However, the world that Rae Carson builds and the transformation  Elisa goes through is so fantastic and I think that it is a wonderful story for anyone who maybe doesn’t want another heroine who is perfect and beautiful.

One of the most underrated YA series out there.

Narration:

Jennifer Ikeda was Elisa for me.  She made me care for the little fat girl with a fantastic mind and really connect with her.  I listened to the series at my normal 1.5x speed.

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Robin’s Audiobooks for March – April 2020 #2020AudiobookChallenge @MLSIMMONS ‏ @KIMBACAFFEINATE #LoveAudiobooksArtificial Condition by Martha Wells
Narrator: Kevin Free
Series: Murderbot Diaries #2
Published by Recorded Books on May 18, 2018
Genres: Science Fiction
Length: 3 hours, 21 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased
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zero-flames
One StarOne StarOne StarOne StarOne Star

It has a dark past – one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself “Murderbot”. But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more.

Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don’t want to know what the “A” stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue.

What it discovers will forever change the way it thinks…

Murderbot meets ART (Asshole Research Transport) and they start a AImance, I don’t know if that is a thing but it should be.  I ship them (which is funny because ART is a ship).  Really this story is about my favorite media loving rogue cyborg who is travelling the universe looking for some answers to why they would have gone rogue and killed about fifty people.  There will be some conspiracies to uncover and a few more stupid humans to save from themselves along the way.  Good thing that there is media serials or else Murderbot would never make it through this journey without killing more of the humans themselves.

Narration:

Still Kevin R. Free narrating fantastically.  I listened at 1.5x speed.

Listen to a clip:


Robin’s Audiobooks for March – April 2020 #2020AudiobookChallenge @MLSIMMONS ‏ @KIMBACAFFEINATE #LoveAudiobooksRogue Protocol by Martha Wells
Narrator: Kevin Free
Series: Murderbot Diaries #3
Published by Recorded Books on August 7, 2018
Length: 3 hours, 46 minutes
Source: Purchased
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zero-flames
One StarOne StarOne StarOne Star

Who knew being a heartless killing machine would present so many moral dilemmas?

Sci-fi’s favorite antisocial A.I. is back on a mission. The case against the too-big-to-fail GrayCris Corporation is floundering, and more importantly, authorities are beginning to ask more questions about where Dr. Mensah's SecUnit is.

And Murderbot would rather those questions went away. For good.

Murderbot is on the trail of a hunch that the company that tried to kill his humans in book one has some other secrets to uncover.  If Murderbot wants to help the crew that freed him from ‘the company’ they will need to travel far and check out another planet abandoned and removed from most records.  Murderbot is also going to learn a few lessons about people and how some treat their bots better than he thought possible.

Narration:

Still Kevin R. Free narrating fantastically.  I listened at 1.5x speed.

Listen to a clip:


 

Robin
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Posted May 24, 2020 by Robin in Book Review / 8 Comments


8 responses to “Robin’s Audiobooks for March – April 2020

    • The first book in the series might have had some small issues but I really enjoyed the overall series and the conclusion. Really well done epic fantasy series. I hope you get a chance to try it.

      Yeah, come tumbling down was just missing…something.

      Robin recently posted: Alpha Night by Nalini Singh