The Hidden City

The House War, Book 1

By: Michelle West

Narrated by: Eva Wilhelm

Length: 27 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

At last, the story fantasy fans have been waiting for!

The incredible story that fans of The Sun Sword series have been waiting to listen to - the battle for control of House Terafin.

Orphaned and left to fend for herself in the slums of Averalaan, Jewel Markess - Jay to her friends - meets an unlikely savior in Rath, a man who prowls the ruins of the undercity in search of artifacts and treasure. Nursing Jay back to health is an unusual act for a man who renounced his own family long ago, and the situation becomes stranger still when Jay begins to form a den of other rescued children in Rath’s home. But worse perils lurk beneath the slums: The demons that once nearly destroyed the Essalieyan Empire are stirring again, and soon Rath and Jay will find themselves targets of these deadly and ruthless beings.

©2007 Michelle Sagara (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

An unexpected gem.

Would you listen to The Hidden City again? Why?

A story like this is worth listening to again. The cast of characters is petty big and the mystery they weave is revealed slowly with lots of twists and turns.

What other book might you compare The Hidden City to and why?

I found this book similar to Kristen Britain's Green Rider. An excellent story with believable characters that you care very much about.

What does Eva Wilhelm bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The characters are richly presented. Through her narration I developed an emotional attachment to all of them.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

She reveals the difficult and challenging lives that these young children have endured. The author takes her characters through a number of "gut wrenching" situations that leave you emotionally drained.

Deep, dark, lovely

I had read this book once before, although not the series, and was very happy to see it on audible. I was drawn in immediately to the story and the characters, The author does a good job making you care about her characters, and the narrator does a good job portraying them. Then narrator did seem to get a little monotonous at times, but I'm not sure if that was entirely her fault, or the fault of the narration itself. The story was long and twisted, and if you aren't already familiar with this world that the author is creating, you needed some description and explanation. This series is a prequel to the Sun Sword series by the same author, but unfortunately it's not on audible. I am looking forward to listening to the rest of the House Wars series.

Excellent series

Excellent series, perfect narrator, and epic story. On my 4th reread/ listen. The characters are the best.

Edit! Edit! Edit!

Great concepts. Fascinating world. Worthy and engaging characters. All hidden by useless verbiage tossed in like Styrofoam peanuts in a crate of fragile glassware.

What I wouldn't give for an abridged version!!!

This is a good story, with fantastic characters, and well-narrated. Just way too long to get through. Sooooooo many unnecessary details.

tedious

Needs editing for the overlong story and a narrator who can do more differences in voices. I thought it could be better so I trudged through, but such a struggle I ultimately would not recommend it.

could use a good editor

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I would edit this book down until it was about half the length. It is a decent story but the writer seems to be beating the reader over the head with every concept. The ideas are repeated, revised, regurgitated, and reanimated like a boring but insistent school teacher.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Edit at least four hours of regurgitated concepts out of it. At times I think the writer forgets that the reader has been reading the book and starts to write it over and over again.

What didn’t you like about Eva Wilhelm’s performance?

Her reading improves as the story progresses but at first its like someone reading a phone book.

Could you see The Hidden City being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

I wouldn't care who the stars were, I've wasted enough of my life with this story already.

Any additional comments?

No.

I’m comfortable giving 5 stars for both writer & narrator with 5 1/2 hours left

Often, when a book really has an impact on me, I praise both the author & narrator, and this is most definitely he case here.

This story, while sharing many elements of other fantasy stories, is unique , at least with regard to my past reading.

And as I will definitely be reading/ listening to the next book in Ms West’s series, assume I’ve lavished praise upon her talents with character, story, world building & most definitely, mood. I feel this place, and these people, and while it’s obvious we’ve only just scratched the surface of the depths for some characters , I am deeply invested in these people. I can’t believe I’d never heard of Michelle Wes before, but am deeply grateful to have encountered her now. Like Kristen Britain & Elizabeth Moon earlier this year (for me ,personally) , she has come out of nowhere & firmly grabbed a new fan.

But I also feel a strong compulsion to sing the praises of Eva Wilhelm, another first encounter for me. She is superb in her many roles as narrator in The Hidden City, & acts as one of the strongest supporting arguments for why I’ve chosen to listen to audiobooks rather than just read the text these days.

Not only does she cover so very many voices of differing ages and class, but in her own subtle & straightforward way, she imbues this story with such a sense of ….I can’t find the correct word. Power? Yes. Density? Yes. Feeling? Also yes. She just conveys so much, so very very much, without over-reaching or seeming to “act” at all. Ms Wilhelm, I apologize for not having the proper words to tell you just how much your narrative has gotten to me, but I will definitely seek out your work in future.

Series is 12 Books - Missing Middle 6 Books

The oddity of this series is that it was written/released out of order. My understanding is the 1st three books start the plot. A 2nd group of six books (not on Audible) called The Sun Sword (under the name Michelle Sagara) sit between the 1st three books and the last three books of House War. There's no impact at all in the 1st three books as there's no reference to events that technically happen in the future. It is a little problematic in the last three books as references to the plot in the Sun Sword series as somewhat frequent.

Another oddity of the writing is that as the books proceed, no standard narrator or point of view device is used. The same chapter can switch between the viewpoints of different characters for the same events. There are a few irritating tendencies like the overuse of phases like "perfect bow," but overall the series has been enjoyable.

So many authors these days create a collection of one dis-likable character after another. This series is dominated by mostly positive character development that feels more realistic... i.e. no society could survive in worlds dominated by even "heros" who are somewhat craven - much less so many people with less than zero humanity in them.

That said, the plots in each of the books are relatively compact - i.e. not a lot of "action" happens. There are lots of situations and conversations and discussions with occasional activity/action thrown in. For the most part, this is not a negative. In a few instances, repeated sections focused on the mental recriminations or doubts of characters do get a little repetitive.

Well Done

I have read all of this authors works under her other pen name. Michelle Sagara and truly enjoyed them. These books definitely feel similar but are unique as well. This was a very well done first book in a series and o can't wait to read the rest.