Lord Orwell is a lot of things: thief, liar, drunk, and all around horrible father, but Sebastian knows he's no murderer. In order to prove it, Sebastian has to keep the prince alive long enough to discover the truth—a task made considerably harder because the idiot prince prefers wooing Sebastian over securing his own survival. On top of everything, Sebastian needs to save the day without revealing his magical powers and the real reason he hides his appearance.
Sebastian had no intention of playing the hero, but whoever is stirring up shit in his country will pay for destroying his quiet life.
Narrator: Cornell Collins
Listening Length: Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
This audio version was brilliantly put together by narrator Cornell Collins. I found this to be a 5 star audio. His range of voices was top notch, and individual. I loved the pitch and clarity of each character. It really was a joy to listen to. I’m pretty sure this version enhanced the story and gave it layer of awesome.
Sebastian was a lovely character to get to know. His curse made this intriguing and entertaining both. His sarcastic wit and take no shit persona spoke directly to my heart. I understood his ‘I am an Island’ attitude. His family is completely dysfunctional but completely loyal, and I loved the parallel, from what I know, is the standard family dynamic (or maybe it’s just my family dynamic?!). His cantankerous relationship with his parents was both believable and understandable. From my experience, what parents try to avoid discussing with their kids is usually the missing piece that robs the kid of truly understanding the depth of devotion their parents have for them, and puts parents clearly in the “they fucked up my life” camp.
The adventure story was fun. There wasn’t a great mystery (it was a little mystery, but not overly complex), so it was easy to follow the direction of the plot. There was enough action in this story to carry it through, and the drama enhanced the relationship building between Sebastian and Prince Torren.
Prince Torren was adorable in his pursuit of Sebastian’s hand. It was pure and direct. He was going to get his man, no matter what, and it was fun to see the almost stalker level of romance he laid at Sebastian’s feet. Sebastian, of course was completely dubious of the whole thing, and had no intentions of encouraging the Prince, but of course his interactions with the Prince never seemed to pan out the way he planned it in his head. Every interaction carried his sarcasm, discouragement, and rebuff to the Prince, but Prince Torren would not be deterred.
I loved the fantasy element of this story. Medieval Sorcery, magic, deception, curses, and enchantments. It was clean in its world building, with familiar elements, slightly twisted, to ensure an easy grasp of the world building.
Most of the supporting cast of characters had clear personalities and were not carbon copies of each other. There were a lot of supporting cast so it’s impressive to see that there was a clearly defined personality for the majority of them.
I just have to praise the cover of this novel. Beautiful cover! And what’s even better, is that I would totally judge this book by it’s cover, and thankfully I would have been right.
There were some flaws but overall I was too busy enjoying the heck out of the characters, their constant ribbing of each other, and laughing at their reactions to each other to care about the minor issues.
A solid high fantasy read if ever I have read one. Comforting in it’s consistency; humourous and entertaining. My enjoyment of this was only slightly marred by the fact that there is not an entire series waiting for me to gobble up, once I finished this book.
Check out on Dreamspinner Press and Goodreads!
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