Almost uninterrupted fighting

It felt like the whole book was one endless sword fight, which was described with one cliché after another. Blades were not slaked and so on.
The steam punk insect-people world was interesting, but I enjoyed A T's sci-fi books better.

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Completely hooked

It's not often I feel compelled to write a review, however, this book (and series so far) deserves it. What started as an easy listen while I painted became so distracting I was so engrossed it was hard to be doing anything else while I listened. The reader, Ben, does a superb reading. Each character it seems is instantly recognisable by voice. He does a great job of helping build the large scope of the world with each accent and variation.

The story itself is thrilling, and has a hook that just keeps pulling, which made me want to read more and more until it was over, and I was left wanting. After finishing books one and two I ordered the full series, something I've never done before now as I know how long series can become monotonous and sour. After reading through some reviews however I think I've definitely made the right choice.

Overall I can't fault this book on anything, even if the full series is not for you, I highly recommend giving this a read (or listen) as it opens the door to a very interesting and unique world.

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Surprisingly engaging.

Starts as pretty run-of-the-mill high fantasy but it did grow on me over time. It grew on me despite it being nothing new. My main criticism is that there is a lot of combat: excessively so. I suspect Adrian dungeonmastered excessive games of D&D in his youth. I am still going to give the sequel a go as I suspect he is still finding his feet in the swords-and-sorcery genre and the weak points in this novel speak more to the editing rather than the writing.
Narration was excellent which also flattered the novel.

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Slow Going

I really struggled to rate this one, hovering between 3 and 4 stars.

The ideas behind this book and cast are exceptional and on paper made it a must read.

Insect type humans, in a steam punk fantasy universe, in an invasion setting? sign me up!

The narration is also superb.

However, I found large parts of the actual content to be really slow going and dare I say, sometimes boring.

I had to rewind numerous times where I had zoned out and missed what was going on.

This said, the story was engaging enough that I wanted to keep listening. wanted to uncover more of this brilliantly crafted world.

I will be giving the second book a go for sure.

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Great start to a series

Can not get enough of this narrator. Very talented and brings the story alive. Look forward to the next one

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Pleasantly surprised…

I struggled for the first hour or two, so many names and ideas I couldn’t assimilate it all. That said it was worth sticking with, can’t wait to listen to the next one.

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did not finish

I love the sci-fi books I've read by the author and I like fantasy, so I had high hopes. However, this one just did not grab me. The characters felt flat and their back stories not really believable (talented fencers and students off making some big impact in the world etc.). in any case, it just didn't hold my interest long enough to find out if things get better or if there are good explanations for the things that bugged me, like "what were a bunch of kids from uni doing off in a warzone, and how did they convince people to follow their plan?

A bit of googling indicated that the later books do improve on the first, but not by a huge amount. Life is too short to get invested in a long series of books that maybe get quite good at some point.

For fantasy with weird bug people, China Mieville does a much better job.

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Excellent narration and story

Really enjoyed this book. Excellent story. Adrian has got me.... already on 5th book... I totally recommend.

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Overlong but great

This was a really compelling book but not a thriller in the couldn't-put-it-down sense. The plot was a bit too slow and too frustrating for that but it was still great to read. The world was fantastically built and you got a real sense for the various nations and their geography.

The nations and their ideologies were interesting too as were the characters therein. I felt like the main characters were great but I didn't really believe in the cause they were fighting/dying for. Why try to save people that would rather doom themselves?

The magical aspects of this were well thought out too and are explained immersively.

I just wish the plot was a bit tighter and felt like more of a whole narrative arc than a first volume in a larger story. The narration was superb.

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Decent start

Decent start to what I hope is an epic tale. Narration was excellent bringing the characters to life.

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