Blood Engines

A Marla Mason Novel

By: T. A. Pratt

Narrated by: Jessica Almasy, T. A. Pratt (Introduction)

Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Meet Marla Mason - smart, saucy, slightly wicked witch of the East Coast....

Sorcerer Marla Mason, small-time guardian of the city of Felport, has a big problem. A rival is preparing a powerful spell that could end Marla's life - and, even worse, wreck her city. Marla's only chance of survival is to boost her powers with the Cornerstone, a magical artifact hidden somewhere in San Francisco. But when she arrives there, Marla finds that the quest isn't going to be quite as cut-and-dried as she expected...and that some of the people she needs to talk to are dead.

It seems that San Francisco's top sorcerers are having troubles of their own - a mysterious assailant has the city's magical community in a panic, and the local talent is being (gruesomely) picked off one by one.With her partner-in-crime, Rondeau, Marla is soon racing against time through San Francisco's alien streets, dodging poisonous frogs, murderous hummingbirds, cannibals, and a nasty vibe from the local witchery, who suspect that Marla herself may be behind the recent murders. And if Marla doesn't figure out who is killing the city's finest in time, she'll be in danger of becoming a magical statistic herself.

BONUS AUDIO: Includes an exclusive introduction written and read by author T.A. Pratt.

©2007 T.A. Pratt (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Great fun!

This is excellent story packed with wit and character. Ms. Almasy's narration is spirited and fits the story and characters well.
Highly recommended.

Good but feels like a second book

The author tells the listener that he hadn't planned on writing other books in this series, and in this book it shows. Don't get me wrong, its worth the credit, lots of imagination and action. But I really wished the author had re-written some of this book before it made it to Audible. Still enjoyable

Imaginative and action-packed

A very pleasant discovery, this novel has a fairly basic plot -- mostly just the main character and her sidekick chasing all over San Francisco looking for a magical object and a mad sorcerer. However, the magic -- attacks by frogs and hummingbirds, oracles in sewers, a goddess of possibilities -- are original and beautifully imagined. The heroine is very ruthless, not your typical goody-two-shoes that people find "sympathetic," and perhaps the author hits that note a few times too many, but I found it refreshing. I'll be checking out the sequel.

alright

i found myself spacing and need to rewind at times. I attribute that to lulls of certain unneeded descriptions or repeating of information.
overall the story was good and certain characters were very interesting. I wish I knew if rondo got the window seat at the end or not. I don't really like the main character marla. I like the other characters that pop up more.
the voice acting was wonderful and some voices it was hard to believe she was the one voicing them. I feel it was the story that made me space at times than her voice acting. at some points however it seemed like she was suffering to keep rondos and Bowman's voice sounding like other times where you would recognize by how they spoke who they were and had to wait till they said who was talking to tell.
in the end I will listen to the 2nd book for the side characters.

Complex woman...

If you could sum up Blood Engines in three words, what would they be?

Kick Butt Sorcerer!

What was one of the most memorable moments of Blood Engines?

Well the x-rated party was pretty crazy!

Which character – as performed by Jessica Almasy and T. A. Pratt (Introduction) – was your favorite?

Rondeau obviously!

Any additional comments?

Marla is a very complex character. In any given chapter you find yourself loving, admiring, hating, or being disappointed in her. Her heart is in the right place, for the most part, though. Her love for her city is inspiring. And she can do some cool tricks!

The Title Explains It All

I usually do not write reviews, but I just thought I'd give it a shot this time. The book is a great read/listen. I listened at work and found it entertaining, made the day flow by quicker. Some audio books can take a while for me to understand where the story is going, this one I picked up what was happening right away. The reason for writing this review is that enjoyed the book and wanted to see which is the next in the series. It took a little investigating because they are not numbered, so I went to T.A. Pratt's site. The order goes as follows.

In Blood Engines
In Poison Sleep
In Dead Reign
In Spell Games

I hope that helps some people who enjoyed the first book and would like to follow the series, and not make the mistake of downloading the books not in series sequence.

Awesome story

I loved the story but the narrator could have made the characters have a little more depth.

Great find

I didn't care for book 0 of this series, but Blood Engines was much better. Solid writing, which unfortunately is kind of scarce in the fantasy genre. Solid plot, although the bdsm party scene got a little gratuitous. Excellent narration. I haven't figured out if I actually like Marla yet but I think she's written that way. Will be buying the next in the series.

AWFUL Choice for a Narrator!

I purchased this book during the $4.95 sale because I had looked at it in print, and it seemed like something I would like. Well, I'm certainly glad I didn't waste a credit or full price on it because in spite of a good story, the narrator spoils it. I Googled Jessica Almasy just to be sure that she wasn't really a 12 year old before I criticized her for sounding like one. Although the information on her is sparse, she is clearly an adult who is simply cursed with forever sounding like a pre-adolescent.

The main character is a strong, adult woman. I cannot begin to fathom how Almasy, with her little-girl voice, was selected to read these novels. (Unfortunately, she reads the entire series; I will not be listening to any more!) She reads competently enough. Her pacing and phrasing are decent, and she pronounces words correctly, but she cannot handle these characters. If her ability to voice Marla is doubtful, her ability to voice male characters is farcical. All male voices sound alike: vaguely constipated versions of Marla.

As for the story and the writing, I've enjoyed them as much as possible with the handicap of Almasy's reading. I think I will enjoy reading the other novels in the series to myself much more than I have enjoyed listening to this one. If I could divide the star ratings up, I'd give the narration 1 star just because it is SO inappropriate, and the novel itself 4 stars.

Wow!

This is a great book! The universe this author has created is varied, interesting and dangerous, and so are the characters. While some of the topics referred to are perhaps not appropriate for children, my teenager (who usually sneers at my audio books or asks if I can turn them off) was so hooked by this book he'd ask me to pause it when he left the room, and bugged me about looking for possible sequels.