Review: Soundtrack to the End of the World

Soundtrack to the End of the World by Anthony J. Rapino
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A brilliant and unique take on a classic genre.

Soundtrack to the End of the World is a great story with a really interesting premise that makes it something unique and well worth reading. I’m going to try not to spoil it too much because part of the enjoyment of the book is in the unraveling of the mystery, but I have to say that it is very different from your typical zombie apocalypse novels. The separation from the traditional and predictable elements is smart and refreshing. If zombie apocalypse books aren’t your thing, you really should give this book a try. If the stories in that genre are your thing, then you REALLY have to give this book a try. I gave it a shot because I received the book for free, but after I finished it, I have no doubt I would have purchased it if I had known how good it was.

In addition to the interesting premise, Rapino just writes a damn good story. The characters had a nice depth to them, the plot development had a balanced pace, and there were plenty of twists and turns along the way that kept me engaged and interested. The ending left me with some unanswered questions, but I think the mystery was intended. As the book comes to a close, the audience and the characters are left with a shared uncanny sense of puzzlement over the events that occurred over the course of the narrative. You will be disappointed if you read the book thinking all the mysteries will be revealed at the end.

This is the second book I’ve listened to that was narrated by Eric Moore and he’s given a consistently great performance both times. He’s got some talent producing a wide range of voices for different characters, including both male and female characters that is convincing. His tone adds to the suspense and mystery to books like the Soundtrack to the End of the World. I’d recommend giving any book he narrates a try.

Thank you to Eric Moore, who provided me this book free of charge at my request.

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Review: Lost Colony

Lost Colony by A.L. White
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Lost Colony has a classic science fiction plot and all the story elements you could ask for in a SciFi adventure. However, the delivery of those elements is a bit lacking. The dialog all feels forced as if it's just there to explain things to the reader and push the story forward. Other than the captain and ship's doctor, the characters are mostly flat and undeveloped -- which is odd because several attempts were made to introduce bits of background for some of the other characters, but those teasers were never fleshed out or affected the storyline. It made for characters that were easy to mix up but the characters pretty much served interchangeable roles in the plot -- primarily as military grunts to be ordered around by the captain.

There are definitely parts of the story I really enjoyed, however the end of the book felt rushed and the plot started to unravel a bit at the end. There are a few plot holes at the end that perhaps the reader is supposed to fill in, but it leaves much of the story feeling incomplete. If this is a prequel novella for a larger series, it does serve its purpose for introducing a series, but as a stand-alone story, it's average and ends leaving you with many questions. It’s not a bad book, but it’s not a great one either.

The narration may have led to the average feelings I have for the book. It's not the worse narration I’ve ever heard by any means (I wasn’t tempted to just stop listening), but there was little there that I would have even called a “performance.” The narrator pretty much just read the story and though the main few characters had unique voices, most of the voices were so similar you wouldn’t be able to identify a character without their name being mentioned. The action scenes were the worst part of the narration, as the narrator never sounded excited, scared, happy, or expressed much of any emotion; everything was delivered with the same flat, even tone.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

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Review: Heart of a Dragon

Heart of a Dragon by David Niall Wilson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book felt like I had started in the middle of a series rather than the first book -- and maybe this is a spin-off series or something similar, but I couldn’t find any information on specifics. Anyway, this book is really odd. There’s a really interesting story and the world-building is quite fascinating. The lore of the world and the magic system are intriguing. However, the “main character,” Donovan DeChance, felt more like a back seat passenger to the main plot concerning two biker gangs and their arcane fueled turf war. His role could have easily been replaced with any other secondary character (or a combination of them) and the storyline would have pretty much remained the exact same from start to finish. And his character was flat and really interesting. He could have been killed off at any point in the book and I wouldn’t have felt anything at all.

The narration continued the oddness with Donovan. While the other characters felt alive and were given vivid and unique life through their voices, Donovan was monotone and spoke with almost no expression or emotion. I don’t understand the choice unless it was an attempt to capture the essence of being a “classy” wizard, but to me, the performance fell flat.

Overall, I liked the basic elements of the story, but not the overall implementation. In all fairness, I am not an urban fantasy fan but agreed to listen to and fairly review the novel. It may be that a listener really into the genre may be more forgiving of some missing details and odd characterization. In my opinion, the plot itself could easily have been a standalone novel, excluded DeChance, and been a pretty entertaining story set in a fascinating, fantasy world. However, the disjointed combination was confusing and hindered both the narrative and narration.

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