- Title:
- Fires That Forge
- Author:
- R. J. Hanson
- Release:
- March 22, 2021
- Format:
- Audiobook
- Narrator:
- Terry F. Self
- Series:
- Lords of Order and Chaos, Book 1.
- Bloodlines Reforged Saga, series 2.
This book had its hooks in me early on. A Sherlock Holmesesque murder mystery set in a fleshed-out medieval fantasy world. That’s something I didn’t know existed and now I wish I had more.
There’s way too much “(character name) said” nonsense going on, but it’s not as bad as another book I reviewed recently. I’d name it, but I can’t remember names to save my life. And oh boy does this book love to throw names around.
While the prologue and first chapter are some brilliantly done exposition, I was lost. I tend not to read as much fantasy as I like, due to the fondness of fantasy authors to throw around names, titles, ranks, positions, bla bla bla, and whatever else that’s not relevant for 3 more books.
It does a bit of skipping around timeline-wise, which annoys the hell out of me and confuses me. I’ve mentioned it before in other reviews. I’m often multitasking while listening to audiobook reviews and if I have no indication that an event takes place in the past, or even if I do, I don’t pay attention to chapter headers. The name of a chapter or its number is completely irrelevant to me. Chapter numbers are a waste of my time and the name of a chapter is only relevant if you’ve already read the book and know its meaning. So I’m already ignoring them and any motto , saying, part number or extra bit of dialogue is likely going to be ignored as well.
The narrator is top-notch, one of the better narrators I’ve heard. At the time of writing this, I’ve not only grown tired of fantasy novels but narrators who say made-up words like “acrosst”. So having a well-spoken narrator and an interesting fantasy novel to listen to has been a real treat. As I often mention in my audiobook reviews, I listen at 2.55X speed or 1.75x minimum. The narrator speeds up during intense action scenes which I appreciate. But if you listen to increased speeds, it might be difficult to follow. So take this as a warning.
This story uses the (UK?) weight measurement of “stones”, which makes sense from a fantasy novel standpoint. As somebody not familiar with that form of weight measurement, I was lost. The author also uses the “feet” measurement for height and the narrator says “erbs” instead of herbs. So those aspects made it feel a little janky like it didn’t know which region it wanted to be from.
I realize this review likely sounds a little mixed. I often bitch the most about things I enjoy, for whatever reason. This book did its job. It introduced me to the world, sunk its claws into me and got me hooked, and left me wanting more. I enjoyed this book very much and if you like murder mysteries and or medieval fantasy worlds, then this book is probably for you.
NOTE: This copy was provided to me free of charge as a digital review copy. The opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone, I was not paid or requested to give this book a certain rating, suggestion, or approval.