More Cons then Pros - Needs Abrigding

I loved the first book in this series but saw even there it had flaws – the biggest being the author’s tendency to ramble and give useless information. Usually authors correct their flaws in the second book, but for this author, those flaws got worse. Maybe it was the pressure to write a book that was as long or longer than the first book so he was afraid to cut down on the word count. Regardless, like other reviews have said, I think this book is in DESPERATE need of editing. WARNING: SPOILERS.

THINGS I LIKED:
• The new character Hilda
• The side-character that is Tom’s new warlock (good side-character, no further focus needed)
• The buildup of Tizzy as the puppetmaster to everything
• The Exedor/Council of Mages conflict side-story
• Everything about the Oorstemothians: the allerative language of their lawyers/officials and their society where you have to sign a waiver to get a drink (Friggin hilarious!)
• The first shaman to contact Tom has a nice side story
• The Lillith/Rod conspiracy
• The Tom/Telarius interactions
• Telarius’s sword Ruiden turning into a golemn, Ruiden’s personality, and everyone’s reactions to him
• Tom as a character is finally given a long-form purpose

THINGS THAT MADE ME ANGRY:
• Most of the characters from the first book are completely useless in this book and are given shoehorned-in side-stories to stay relevant. This is especially shameful for Rupert since he was such a focus in the first book and he is hardly mentioned in this one.
• Too many references - especially near the end . Reliance on reference material as actual plot material is shameful. (Examples: One of the orcs is using a lightsaber in the final battle; character use a Stargate to bring in reinforcements)
• The foray into sci-fi; changes the idea of multiple “plains of existence” to it being a multi-verse.
• Tom’s character changes: (1) He didn’t seem like the convention-attending, dungeons-and-dragons-playing type in the first book, but in this book he is and has an inordinate amount of knowledge of nerd culture. (2) No more internal monologues or philosophical thought.
• Giving random things acronyms (Forces of Evil is FOE – wtf?)
• The amount of onomatopoeia in the final battle
• The uselessness of the ENTIRE Nimbus/Grove arc
• Repeating information we already know many, many, many times for the sake of seeing character reactions
• The nebulous nature of Bess’s character
• The book cover makes one think that the Rod/Oorstemothian invasion of the Abyss will happen in this book when it does not
• The orcs were difficult to relate to and hard to root for (It would have been nice to see more of the prejudice they face and their bad luck since the fall of Orcus as well as their more honorable characteristics. As is, it seems their reputation as violent brigands who don’t have any desire to be respected by the rest of society is very well deserved)
• The uselessness of Samael (I LOVED this character, but ultimately he could have been cut out of this book with no consequences. I would have liked to see him interacting with Lillith so we could see the strife and internal conflict happening within the Courts, which would have emphasized the increased pressure on Lillith to maintain control, but that did not happen.)
• My biggest complaint: Too many side characters and showing interactions between them (Examples: the other shaman besides the first little guy; the interactions between the Rod officials – even when Hilda is there; the Grove meeting and every character connected to it)


In conclusion: This book suffers from rambling and would have been much better if the content had been cut by about half. I would not buy this book if I knew what I knew now. If you feel you must buy it, use a credit – don’t buy at full price. Listen to on 2X-3X speed for all scenes not involving Tom, Hilda, or the Council of Mages. I won’t be getting the third book because I think the things I don’t like about this series will get worse in the third book.

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9 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

we need book 3!

Love the series, was a bit sceptic the first 10 minutes but rest was gold the narration is great even with a few slips of a characters voice. But other then that it was all butter.

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5 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

All buildup no payoff. Intense need of editing.

The first fourth of this book is almost entirely made of reaction shots. The main character Tom did something thought to be impossible at the end of the first book, so now the audience gets to see reaction shots. This is great from maybe 2 POV's, but quite literally every character has a minimum of one chapter with the buildup to them finding out what Tom did and then their panic'd reaction. When you have 7 different factions in different places you have to pick who is most worthy of the reaction shot. The author, however decided that everyone got a piece of the pie, and hence we the reader get bloated with 7 pieces of identical story shoved down our throats. Its miserable.

So after that maddening lack of editing, I assume the book will pick up and have the same fun interactions between discriminatory humans and indignant demons. We get a tiny bit of this with Telarius, but its all foundational buildup for some potential payoff next book. Other than the Telarius-Tom interactions there are absolutely no interactions between people with fundamentally different beliefs - the sort of conflicts that build tension, allow for character growth, and serve as an underlying problems to be challenged and overcome in the climax. Instead our only tension was derived not from a proactive protagonist seeking to change the world, but by a passive protagonist being forced into events because he had nothing better to do or was forced to. Even the ending "climax" had no tension, stakes, or meaning. A bunch of guys just want to destroy the nation Tom is building. They're all people we've never seen before and never will again. They apparently all function in the exact same way and pose no real threat. They can cleave Tom in half and he doesn't seem to notice, however he changes the weather and they're all completely useless due to ENTROPY.

The only positive thing we have going for us is hints as to Tizzy being low-key incredible and some potentially decent nationbuilding.

Thoughts on purchase: Don't buy unless you're sure you're going to buy book three. If so, chug through the book on 2-3x speed. If the POV is a human or enemy demon consider skipping the section entirely. You wont miss anything.

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3 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Slow filler

Bags and bags of new gods, new territories and filler detail. This is stuff a writer should write but never publish - the background that would inform the narrative. Nothing has happened in first six hours. Now there is a battle - hoping the book has finally started.

Narration drags in rather monotone fashion. Instead of looking forward to hearing more, have to turn it off and do something else just to shut him up.

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2 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

spectacular

awsome continuation of the story. I love the performancand cannot wait for the next book.

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1 personne a trouvé cela utile

yeah i bought the next one

What would have made The Heavenly Host better?

nothing this book had so many back stories and new characters that it took away from the main story.

Would you be willing to try another one of Stephen Bel Davies’s performances?

hes a fine narrator this just wasn't a good book for his type of voice

Any additional comments?

yep I wasted a credit

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1 personne a trouvé cela utile

Can't wait for the next in series.

New and amaxing twist on a fantasy storyline. Great story and hilarious. Narration was top notch.

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1 personne a trouvé cela utile

Addictive!

I truly love this series! Got the first one on a whim, and was wowed by it. Itched till I got the next one, and now I have finished that, I lament that the third is not yet done!!
So to the universe I offer up my pleas, BRING OUT THE THIRD BOOK!!
This story while split into 3 volumes/books, is one continuous story so far, and a wonderful epic fantasy, that grabs you, makes you laugh, chuckle, and nod along.

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1 personne a trouvé cela utile

Fun from first to last!

I love this story. this book is super fun to listen to from the beginning to end. just take my word and read it you won't be disappointed

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1 personne a trouvé cela utile

Even better than the first.

Fun new world, interesting characters and adventures. A twist on the classic good vs evil adventure. A truly fun read.

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