TEMERAIRE

The Book

Temeraire by Naomi Novik
Book 1 in the Temeraire series
Narrated by Simon Vance
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook

About Temeraire:

Aerial combat brings a thrilling new dimension to the Napoleonic Wars as valiant warriors rise to Britain's defense by taking to the skies . . . not aboard aircraft but atop the mighty backs of fighting dragons.

When HMS Reliant captures a French frigate and seizes its precious cargo, an unhatched dragon egg, fate sweeps Capt. Will Laurence from his seafaring life into an uncertain future –– and an unexpected kinship with a most extraordinary creature. Thrust into the rarified world of the Aerial Corps as master of the dragon Temeraire, he will face a crash course in the daring tactics of airborne battle. For as France's own dragon-borne forces rally to breach British soil in Bonaparte's boldest gambit, Laurence and Temeraire must soar into their own baptism of fire.

Source: Info in the "About Temeraire" was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/891592.Temeraire on 27/08/2022.

Buy Link(s):

 

My Thoughts:

I am an old fan of this author and that is the main reason that this book got bought and read. Because I was looking for more of the Uprooted reading goodness! But, I don't know... maybe I was in a reading funk... or something... this book took a whole lot longer to read/listen to, even with the convenience of the audiobook format... The story telling quality just seems to be not on par with Uprooted...

There wasn't much of a plot really. This book being the first book in the series, is mainly an introduction to the world of Temeraire, establish the characters, fights to give it dramatic flair and that is it mainly. However, I bawled my eyes out in the middle of the night of the death of a beloved character that the author killed in chapter 12! I wanted to throttle the life out of Rankin!! And that,... shows us the quality of the story telling quality of this author. The ability to spin moonbeams and rainbows essentially out of nothing...

Now, Simon Vance is an old veteran of a narrator and it shows! And oh, he does autocratic British accent really well!!

Quantitative Evaluation:

Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 4.5
Writing Style = 4.5
Ending = 3.5
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 4.5
Pace = (10 hrs and 8 mins listening time)
Plot = 3.5
Narration = 5

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries

Books In The Temeraire Series:

 

Meet The Author

About Naomi Novik:

An avid reader of fantasy literature since age six, when she first made her way through The Lord of the Rings, Naomi Novik is also a history buff with a particular interest in the Napoleonic era and a fondness for the work of Patrick O’Brian and Jane Austen. She studied English literature at Brown University, and did graduate work in computer science at Columbia University before leaving to participate in the design and development of the computer game Neverwinter Nights: Shadow of Undrentide. Over the course of a brief winter sojourn spent working on the game in Edmonton, Canada (accompanied by a truly alarming coat that now lives brooding in the depths of her closet), she realized she preferred writing to programming, and on returning to New York, decided to try her hand at novels.

Naomi lives in New York City with her husband and six computers.

www.naominovik.com | twitter | facebook | instagram | pinterest | tumblr | audible | amazon | goodreads

The Narrator

About Simon Vance:

Simon Vance is a stage, TV, and film actor who has narrated more than 200 audiobooks for which he has won multiple AudioFile Earphone Awards and Audie nominations. He has also been selected as an AudioFile Golden Voice. Formerly a BBC Radio newsreader in London, he now resides in Northern California.

simonvance.com | twitter | facebook | imdb | wikipedia | goodreads

FTC Disclosure:
The ebook and audiobook were bought with private funds.
No money received for this review.

WOLF KILLER

Wolf Killer by Craig Zerf
Book 3 in the Project Bloodborn series
Narrated by Matt Waldron
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook

Synopsis:

The synopsis of the first book, Wolf Man:

Brenner is not a werewolf...

He is the result of a secret US Army experiment. The creation of a government controlled Super Soldier.

And no one asked if he wanted to take part.

So, he escaped. And for the last fifty years has been living in the backroads and the small unknown towns of America. Never aging. Searching for a cure. At the same time avoiding the dark ops experts who are looking for him.

But just because he can become a seven foot, four hundred pound killing machine, it doesn't mean that Brenner is bad. In fact, he sticks to a strict code.

And like the High Plains drifters of old, anyone who crosses the Wolfman's code is sure to suffer.

They took his humanity ... and now it's time for payback.

Synopsis of Wolf Killer:

The story of Brenner and Griff continues in this book. A couple of old army buddies. Vietnam veterans. One old and one young. One human, one wolf. Together they fight evil. The bad guys this time is a conglomerate of international oil tycoons doing what baddies do. Hurting innocent people. An academic genius and his daughter are on the run. And as if that is not bad enough, that government military group who experimented on Ded is still chasing him and catching up!

The synopsis of the first book was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36178703-wolf-man on 14/06/2021. The synopsis of the current book, Wolf Killer, is provided by me.

Buy Link(s):

 

My Thoughts:

Shortest book in the series thus far, at 195 pages.

So, in this book our heroes are now travelling together. We are also given a little glimpse into Griff's family life. A sister and sole family. And the fact that being a hero is a thankless job, in between fighting the bad guys.

I looovve Cloe's sassiness for a nine-year-old!!! Specially the panic in Griff's eyes at the thought of having to take care of a kid! Yes, I'm a sucker for bad-ass characters losing it when it comes to children. (he he he) And then I cried when PFC Lenny Kozlowski died! So this book made me laugh and made me cry...

I reckon that this book is titled "Wolf Killer" is because this is the turning point for Sergeant Solomon Hopewell... Just guessing, because the titles of the books in this series does not necessarily relate to the book itself.

Still a violent read, not recommended for young readers.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 4.5
Writing Style = 4.5
Ending = 4
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 4
Pace = 4
Plot = 4
Narration = 4.5

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries

Books In Project Bloodborn Series:

Meet The Author

About Craig Zerf:

Craig Zerf is a full-time writer who has been awarded the Golganooza Gold medal for Fantasy as well as being voted 'Best Read' by radio BBC United Kingdom.

His novels have been translated into French, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish and German.

Craig has lived in America, Africa and Europe and now resides in England with his wife and two imaginary cats.

His books have reached the number one Best Seller spot in both the United Kingdom and Germany and he reckons that writing is about the most fun that you can have without actually blowing things up!

czerf.wordpress.com | twitter | facebook | instagram | pinterest | amazon | goodreads

FTC Disclosure:
The ebook and audiobook were bought with private funds.
No money received for this review.