Children of Titan Series: Books 1-4 by Rhett C. BrunoMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
A while back I reviewed Titanborn, the first book in the Children of Titan series. The book was an excellent hook into a new series and since then I’ve managed to consume every book in the series, including one of the prequel novella, The Collector. I’ve just noticed that a second novella has dropped, so I’ll have to go get it and update this review later. For now, this review covers Titanborn, Titan's Son, Titan's Rise, Titan's Fury, Titan's Legacy, and The Collector.
After an outstanding first novel, the Children of Titan series continues to be mind-blowingly good. The first four books create a very nice narrative with a single story arc, though much of it remains hidden and is only slowly doled out to the reader as the storyline progresses. Titan’s Son all takes place at the same time as Titanborn. Rather than focusing on Malcolm Graves, it tells the same events from the perspective of Kale Drayton, the mysterious figure in Titanborn who seemed to have a close connection with the Children of Titan. Getting the story from the other side gives so much more insight into the events of the Children’s rebellion, including what part Cora, Rylah, and Aria played during the uprising. I’m normally against split books, but this one is really, really well written.
Titan's Rise and Titan's Fury pick up after the events at the end of the first two split books and rather than focusing on one perspective like the first two books, they both rotate chapter POV characters, primarily Malcolm Graves and Kale Drayton. Throughout these books, Malcolm Graves quickly became one of my all-time favorite characters. His snark, general smartassery, and this old-dog-can-still-bite attitude make him memorable and always fun to read. Throughout the series, the plot was written extremely well and though hints and foreshadowing were dropped here and there, there were always surprises and turns I didn’t expect. It really highlights just how well the Children use subterfuge and misdirection to accomplish their goals and manipulate the rest of the solar system.
The first four books neatly wrapped up the Children of Titan story, so Titan's Legacy was a very welcome surprise. Saying much about the plot could spoil the series but it was the perfect ending for the series. For maximum enjoyment, read or listen to The Collector before getting into Titan's Legacy, as Legacy wraps everything in the series up nicely and ends it in a way that is perfectly fitting to Malcolm Graves’ character.
R.C. Bray provides another excellent performance in all the audiobook versions of the Children of Titan novels (and novella). He was a perfect choice for Malcolm Graves and I don’t know any narrator could have voiced the character better. My only gripe with the narration was that when the POV characters started rotating in Rise and Fury, sometimes there wasn’t enough of a difference between the voices of Malcome and Kale to tell the difference between the two. Keep in mind, it was only a very, very minor annoyance and even with it, it is some of the best narration you’ll hear from any audiobook.
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