With a Golden Sword by Rachel Aaron / Bach Narrator: Naomi Rose-Mock
Series: DFZ Changeling #2
Published by Self-Published on September 25, 2023
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Length: 9 hours, 15 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased
Goodreads
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Standing up to Victor was only the beginning.
Three weeks ago, Lola put her soul on the line to save her sister and stop an abusive blood mage from making himself a god. But while she managed to derail the worst of Victor’s plans, the rest of the world still sees her old master as the hero. To make matters worse, the Nightmare King Alberich has entirely escaped his prison and is now leading the Wild Hunt on a rampage of fear and chaos across the skies of Europe.
With Alberich playing the villain, it’s only a matter of time before Victor convinces all of humanity that his abusive magic is their only hope. Lola’s not about to let him get his dirty hands on that kind of power. But while she’s free to fight him, Simon and the Black Rider are still trapped under the blood mage’s boot. Lola will have to break them both out before she can take Victor down, but her former master’s plans are far from finished. He’s playing a game none of them can predict for a prize no one yet understands, and once all of his pieces are in place, the future of the world will hang on the edge of a golden sword.
With a Golden Sword picks up right where By a Silver Thread left off, and while the beginning felt a bit slow, the ending totally makes up for it. The excitement builds up towards the end, which leaves me eager to jump straight into the final book, To the Bloody End.
Victor, the blood mage, and the Nightmare King of Faerie are the villains of this story. To be honest, their rambling made them feel kind of cliché, which bogged things down at times.
On the character side, I really appreciated Lola’s growth in confidence. It’s a nice progression, though I wasn’t a fan of the love triangle between her, Simon, and the Black Rider. It felt like it took away from her development and distracted from the main plot. I loved seeing Julius, Justin Heartstriker, and Marci Novalli.
Even though this book felt like a middle installment with some slower sections, I still had a great time with it. The ending really hooked me, and I’m looking forward to seeing how everything wraps up in To the Bloody End. That said, I hope this isn’t the last time we visit the DFZ. I’d love to see another spinoff in this world, especially with the Heartstriker dragons.
Narration:
I had a good time with the narration of this story. While I have never listened to Naomi Rose-Mock before this series, I’ve really enjoyed her performance. I think she does a great job with the character voices and the emotional tone that she sets. I look forward to listening to the last book in this trilogy. And I hope that I come across her in a future audiobook.
Listen to a clip: HERE
About Rachel Aaron / Bach
Hello, my name is Rachel Aaron, and I write the Heartstriker books, a new Urban Fantasy series about misfit dragons, starting with Nice Dragons Finish Last. I also wrote The Legend of Eli Monpress fantasy series for Orbit Books about a wizard thief and the poor bastards who have to try and stop him. PLUS I’m also the author of the new, rolicking fun Science Fiction romance Fortune’s Pawn under the name Rachel Bach. Confused yet? I know I am!
I was born in Atlanta, but I currently live a lovely, nerdy, bookish life in Athens, GA with my lightspeed son, perpetually understanding husband, and fat dog. Besides my own books, the internet knows me best for writing very fast. The best way to get to know me is probably to read my blog or follow me on Twitter or Facebook.
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I started listening to audiobooks when a new book in a series was coming out and I wanted to get a refresher, but didn’t have time to read all the books (I think it was Anita Blake). I fell in love. I stayed with strictly re-reading books that I’d already read for a long time. I eventually tried an audiobook for something that I hadn’t read first and was hooked there too. Now, I listen to audio for both re-reads and first time. I have some series that I’ve given up reading and only listen. I try to get any many books/audiobooks from the library to help save on my budget. Books on CD and the newer digital downloads from the library really allow me to listen more. I then purchase my favorites (because who can wait in line for your favorite book??) and less mainstream books from Audible or some other online retailer.
Friend me at Goodreads.
- 🎧 Black River Orchard by Chuck Wendig @ChuckWendig @xesands @brit_pressley @SeanPatrickHop @CindyKay_VO @KalaniQueypo @GabraZackman @VictorColomeVO @PRHAudio #LoveAudiobooks @AudiobookMel - November 22, 2024
- 🎧 Nemesis by Jeremy Robinson @JRobinsonAuthor #RCBray #PodiumAudio #LoveAudiobooks @AudiobookMel - November 8, 2024
- 🎧 With a Golden Sword by Rachel Aaron @Rachel_Aaron #NaomiRose-Mock #LoveAudiobooks @AudiobookMel - October 25, 2024
This really sounds great. Putting this one in my wishlist for later. Thanks for letting us know about this one.
I didn’t like this series as much as the Heartstriker Series. But it had some really cool concepts in it. Still hard to beat a series with Dragons. 😛
Someday!!