Review: Banebringer

Banebringer by Carol A. Park
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Banebringer was a surprise. An extremely pleasant one. I took a chance on a new author and I’m not often wow’d by most of the newcomers I try out. The story has an interesting premise full of fictional mythology involving altered humans known as banebringers. Banebringers are the source of magic, but also the source of horrible creatures known as bloodbanes which rise when a banebringer dies. Because of this, banebringers are hated and feared; much of the book’s plot involves social issues from our own world, such as prejudice, discrimination, and political hypocrisy. It’s very well done and the social justice undertones do nothing to diminish the plot or enjoyment of the story.

Along with its unique premise, Banebringer also delivers solid storytelling and compelling, deeply flawed characters. Both of the primary characters in the story are antiheroes whose actions are driven by the pains of their past traumas. They wage a constant battle between their desire to forgiven for their sins and the fear of the vulnerability that letting go of their rancor and self-loathing would bring. Their distress is almost tangible at times. The characters are not unrealistic paragons of good and the “realness” of the presentation of their wounded psyche brought the point of view portrayal into dark and uncomfortable places. Banebringer is not a pleasantly light and happy tale and that is one of the reasons I loved it.

I suppose at its very core you could call this a love story. Or at least a love adjacent story. Ok, fine, it’s more of a story of lust, hate, and very painful sexual tension. I’ve never been so close to screaming “just screw and get it over with!” at imaginary characters from a book before -- but that should show just how real and authentic the characters sometimes felt.

Banbringer was performed by Eric Bryan Moore, a new-to-me narrator that brought the story and characters to life with vivid and engrossing execution. Moore produced unique voices for an entire cast of male and female characters but his best work was portraying the two primary characters, complete with their self-hatred, tortured psyches, and tension-filled interactions. Park and Moore have definitely been added to my respective lists of authors and narrators to look out for. A special thanks to Eric Moore who provided me a copy of the audiobook -- I was happy to write this voluntary review.


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