- Title:
- Son of the Black Sword
- Author:
- Larry Correia
- Release:
- October 27, 2015
- Format:
- Audiobook
- Narrator:
- Tim Gerard Reynolds
- Series:
- Saga of the Forgotten Warrior #1
To start off with; Son of the Black Sword is the first book in a series, and not one that can be listened to as a neatly wrapped up experience. It features a few main characters, with a central protagonist. However, unlike many other books, it doesn’t suffer the failing of centering the universe around the least interesting person in it.
Ashok Vadal is easily the most interesting character in the book, and while he does overshadow the other characters, they’re no less interesing in their own right. They’re all well-written, and well rounded in a way that makes them believable as people. Which is to say, unlike many other books, they don’t cease to exist the moment they’re not on the page. They all have their own motivations and lives that sometimes cross paths with one another, and every now and then, we as the reader/listener get to peek in on them.
The author did an excellent job of creating an interesting world full of compelling lore, without making it feel like an endless exposition dump. As with the characters, “you” the reader are drip fed bits of lore and history through dialogue and in some cases, learn alongside the characters in a way that feels natural.
Overall, I found it to be a compelling and interesting novel that I’ve enjoyed listening to here and there when I needed something to listen to and relax, and I’m eager to continue on with the rest of the books in the series.
The narration is alright overall, I couldn’t stand how the narrator kept saying “hhhhhwh” for ‘wh’ sounds. I don’t know what it is with people and adding the fucking H before the W. But not only that, hwhile he did a good job of emoting and scene setting, his character range was a little lackluster. It was difficult to tell characters apart from one another throughout the story, due to them barely sounding different from one another, and also sounding like his scene-setting voice.