Showing posts with label Naomi Novik. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Naomi Novik. Show all posts

Thursday, 18 September 2025

A DEADLY EDUCATION

A DEADLY EDUCATION art by Kelsey Eng

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
Book 1 in The Scholomance series
Narrated by Anisha Dadia
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobookAudiobook


Lesson One of the Scholomance: Learning has never been this deadly.

A Deadly Education is set at Scholomance, a school for the magically gifted where failure means certain death (for real) — until one girl, El, begins to unlock its many secrets.

There are no teachers, no holidays, and no friendships, save strategic ones. Survival is more important than any letter grade, for the school won’t allow its students to leave until they graduate… or die! The rules are deceptively simple: Don’t walk the halls alone. And beware of the monsters who lurk everywhere.

El is uniquely prepared for the school’s dangers. She may be without allies, but she possesses a dark power strong enough to level mountains and wipe out millions. It would be easy enough for El to defeat the monsters that prowl the school. The problem? Her powerful dark magic might also kill all the other students.
Source: Info in the "About A Deadly Education" was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50548197-a-deadly-education on 01/07/2022.


Buy Link(s):

  Audible Books


Maw-Mouth in the library
My Thoughts:
Usually I avoid school serieses. I've had enough of academies, etc., etc. But, this is Naomi Novik and for some reason I couldn't really get into the Temerarie series. I've given it a few tries. So this book got read instead. It also doesn't hurt that it has an audiobook version and I love audiobooks!

It took a bit of perseverance to get into this story at first. But once I'm in, I was swinging! But then again, this is Naomi Novik were talking about here, so, of course the book was a fun ride!

Anisha Dadia has a very British accent which fits Galadriel, "who lives just outside London". This is the first time I've heard her and I am already a fan!


Empirical Evaluation:

Story telling quality = 5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 5
Writing Style = 4.5
Ending = 4
World building = 5
Cover art = 4
Pace = (10 hrs and 59 mins listening time)
Plot = 3
Narration = 4.5


Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 cherries



Books In The Scholomance Series:

Book 1: A DEADLY EDUCATION Book 2: THE LAST GRADUATE Book 3: THE GOLDEN ENCLAVES


 
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.


The Narrator

About Anisha Dadia:
Actress. Writer. Voice Over Artiste. Comedienne and more.



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

Thursday, 19 June 2025

SPINNING SILVER


Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
Narrated by Katy Sobey
Genre: fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobookAudiobook


Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders, but her father's inability to collect his debts has left his family on the edge of poverty — until Miryem takes matters into her own hands. Hardening her heart, the young woman sets out to claim what is owed and soon gains a reputation for being able to turn silver into gold.

When an ill-advised boast draws the attention of the king of the Staryk — grim fey creatures who seem more ice than flesh — Miryem's fate, and that of two kingdoms, will be forever altered. Set an impossible challenge by the nameless king, Miryem unwittingly spins a web that draws in a peasant girl, Wanda, and the unhappy daughter of a local lord who plots to wed his child to the dashing young tsar.

But Tsar Mirnatius is not what he seems. And the secret he hides threatens to consume the lands of humans and Staryk alike. Torn between deadly choices, Miryem and her two unlikely allies embark on a desperate quest that will take them to the limits of sacrifice, power, and love.

Channeling the vibrant heart of myth and fairy tale, Spinning Silver weaves a multilayered, magical tapestry that readers will want to return to again and again.
Source: Info in the "About Spinning Silver" was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36896898-spinning-silver on 21/09/2022.


Buy Link(s):
  Audible Books




My Thoughts:
I've had this ebook in my kindle library for the longest time but haven't read it because the openning salvo was not very interesting, at all!

The story is told from multiple points of view. The thing is, the book does not tell you who. It leaves it to the reader to figure it out for themselves. Sometimes it takes me a while to figure out that I am reading from Wanda's point of view, for example. This made the going slow even with the convenience of the audiobook format.

I am not a fan of the emotional roller coaster. However, it is also the very thing that makes this book intricate and beautiful.

Katy Sobey reads with a singsong which is not a desirable trait in a narrator...


Quantitative Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 5
Story itself = 5
Writing Style = 5
Ending = 5
World building = 5
Cover art = 3.5
Pace = (16 hrs and 10 mins listening time)
Plot = 4.5
Narration = 4


Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 cherries


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.


The Narrator

About Katy Sobey:
Katy lives in Bristol and trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, where she was a finalist for the Carlton Hobbs Award and was chosen to perform at the Sam Wanamaker Festival at The Globe. Katy has worked extensively in regional touring theatre, appeared in numerous BBC Radio 4 dramas and episodes of Poetry Please, and recorded over 100 audiobooks. Katy was nominated for an Audie Award 2019 for 'The Tuscan Child' and was one of Audible UK's top rated narrators in 2016. Katy has a home studio for voice over work.



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

Sunday, 11 May 2025

TEMERAIRE


The Book

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


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):
  Audible Books


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:
Book 0.5: VICI Book 1: TEMERAIRE Book 1.5: FEAST OR FAMINE Book 2: THRONE OF JADE Book 3: BLACK POWDER WAR Book 4: EMPIRE OF IVORY Book 5: VICTORY OF EAGLES Book 6: TONGUES OF SERPENTS Book 7: CRUCIBLE OF GOLD Book 8: BLOOD OF TYRANTS Book 9: LEAGUE OF DRAGONS Novellas: GOLDEN AGE & OTHER STORIES


 
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.


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.



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