Tag Archives: audiobook

Stone Cold Bastards

Book Review of Stone Cold Bastards by, Jake Bible

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I received an audible copy of Jake Bible‘s Stone Cold Bastards for review.

Description from Goodreads:
Only a rag-tag team of gargoyles stands between humanity and extinction.

Hell has released its ravening horde of demons, leaving most of humanity a puke-spewing, head-spinning mess of possession.

Humanity’s last hope? A team of misfit gargoyles—including a cigar chomping, hard-ass grotesque—come alive and ready for battle during the End of Days. They guard the last cathedral-turned-sanctuary atop a bald knoll in the North Carolina mountains.

Gargoyle protection grudgingly extends to any human who can make it inside the Sanctuary, but the power of the stonecutter blood magic, which protects the sanctuary, may not be enough when a rogue grotesque and his badly-wounded ward arrive.

All the hounds of hell are on their heels. The last Sanctuary is about to fall.

Review:
I rather enjoyed this. I had a few complaints, namely that the human bodies in this book appeared to have a consistency somewhere between a ripe tomato and play-doe. I don’t generally have a problem with gore in a novel, but there was a lot in this book. And where it didn’t bother me on its own, the fact that grotesques (gargoyles…notably not gargoyles, but gargoyles for the linguistically challenged) seemed able to produce it in a manner that seemed to disregard physics and tensile, bodily durability grated on my nerves. I got seriously sick of heads getting ripped off, spines yanked out, skulls popped, etc. Not because of the gore factor, but because it was too clean, easy and pervasive.

Secondly, I didn’t think humans were represented well or realistically. They were all either weak to their flesh and causing devastation or cowering in a corner. They were almost all essentially characterless. Given the circumstance, I would expect a little more human resilience.

Beyond those complaints, I loved grumpy Morty and the rest of the sanctuary crew. I liked the idea of the demon apocalypse and the ending.

All in all, not a book that is going to make the favorites list, but not one I regret listening to either. Hays did a fine job narrating it.

Sensation

Book Review of Sensation (Kid Sensation #1), by Kevin Hardman

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I received an Audible credit for a copy of Sensation, by Kevin Hardman.

Description from Goodreads:
Like millions of other kids, Jim grew up wanting to be a superhero. Unlike most of his contemporaries, however, Jim actually had the goods: a plethora of super powers that would have been the envy of any meta on the planet. But when his tryout with the Alpha League – the world’s premiere group of supers – goes disastrously wrong, Jim basically becomes an outcast. 

Two years later, Jim is still bitter about what happened to him. However, he soon finds himself the centerpiece in an odd turn of events that gives him a second chance at his dream. But nothing is as easy as it sounds, as Jim soon discovers. Among other things, he’s made an enemy of a prospective super teammate, he’s being stalked by an unknown pursuer, and a shadowy cabal bent on world domination has identified him as the only obstacle to their plans. 

It’s a lot for one super to handle, even with a smorgasbord of abilities. But if saving the world were easy, everyone would do it…

Review.
Amusing, but about as substantive as the comics it is obviously modeled on. This isn’t wholly bad. There is a lot of humor here and obviously a large world has been envisioned, though we’re only given small glimpses of it. But the plot itself it fairly thin and predictable and I didn’t sense much growth in the characters. The main character, Jim, is a little too perfect to be believed and seems far too mature for 16.

Despite generally good writing, there is a lengthy and largely unneeded flashback that disrupts the flow of the story. The narrator, Mikael Naramore did a fine job too. I liked his reading, but not so much his attempts at accents. All in all, it wasn’t a total disappointment. I really think teens will enjoy the heck out of it. But I found it a so-so read (listen).

Vagabond Circus Series Boxed Set

Book Review of Vagabond Circus Boxed Set, by Sarah Noffke

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Sarah Noffke was giving away Audible credits for the Vagabond Circus box set, including Suspended, Paralyzed and Released, and I ended up with one of them.

Description from Goodreads:
When a stranger joins the cast of Vagabond Circus—a circus that is run by Dream Travelers and features real magic—mysterious events start happening. The once orderly grounds of the circus become riddled with hidden threats. And the ringmaster realizes not only are his circus and its magic at risk, but also his very life. 

Vagabond Circus caters to the skeptics. Without skeptics, it would close its doors. This is because Vagabond Circus runs for two reasons and only two reasons: first and foremost to provide the lost and lonely Dream Travelers a place to be illustrious. And secondly, to show the nonbelievers that there’s still magic in the world. If they believe, then they care, and if they care, then they don’t destroy. They stop the small abuse that day-by-day breaks down humanity’s spirit. If Vagabond Circus makes one skeptic believe in magic, then they halt the cycle, just a little bit. They allow a little more love into this world. That’s Dr. Dave Raydon’s mission. And that’s why this ringmaster recruits. That’s why he directs. That’s why he puts on a show that makes people question their beliefs. He wants the world to believe in magic once again. 

Review:
Overall, I enjoyed this series and thought that the narrator, Steve Barnes did a good job on the audio version. I liked some of his voices better than others. I loved Finley’s, for example, but hated Charles’. But it all averaged out. Here are my brief thoughts on the story, written as I completing each book.

Suspended
Pretty good so far, I say ‘so far’ because it’s obviously just part one of the trilogy. It ends on a cliffhanger. But so far I like the plot, the magic system, and the characters. (Though I spent a lot of the book thinking Finley was a total jerk-face.) There is a bit of insta-love, which is annoying. But I kind of see opportunities for it to be explained in the future. We’ll see. I’ll hold of final judgment until I finish the series; all of which I have, since I’m actually listening to the Vagabond Circus Boxed Set.

I do have to admit though that I’ve been really annoyed by the short chapters. Maybe that wouldn’t bother me so much if I wasn’t listening to an audio instead of reading it, but it feels like the narrator is always having to interrupt the story to note, “Chapter 64,” etc.

Paralyzed
Very much a middle book in a trilogy where the books don’t stand alone. But, taking the series as a whole, it’s still fairly enjoyable. The villain has finally been revealed and the primary couple is finally admitting to loving one another.

Released
I generally enjoyed it. I was seriously disappointed that the author seemed to go back on all the diversity she’d included in the series by having the sole queer character (as well as only black main character) die and the only other woman of color that I recall be horrid and also dying. I don’t think you get accolades for including diverse characters (which I was all geared up to give) if you just kill them off.

I also thought that, given that the circus was full of powerful, skilled people, the ending was overly drawn out. But it was still pretty good.

Overall, I enjoyed this series and thought that the narrator (Steve Barnes) did a good job on the audio version. I liked some of his voices better than others. I loved Finley’s but hated Charles’. But it all averaged out. Here are my brief thoughts on completing each book.