Kushiel's Mercy

I have read all the books in this series, and yes, it helps to know the background of the characters, but it is a good story on its own as well. This author tends to sort of set the stage in the first book, further complicate the plot in the second book, and then bring it all to a grand and satifying conclusion in the third book, which this is. The first book featuring Imriel(Kushiel's Scion) is now out on Audible, but not the second, so hopefully that will soon change. I must admit that I listened to this production three times because I enjoyed Simon Vance's narration so much - he does a particularly excellent job here. I would like to see all of this series on Audible.

It is not easy to listen to a novel after working for 13 hours but I somehow managed! This is the last of Phedre and Imriel's stories. I am saddened but Carey certainly ended the series with a bang. I just couldn't stop till the end.
Imriel and Sidone were brilliant. There were answers to some people's whereabouts from the previous novels. (Sorry, not trying to be vague but don't want to give anything away.)
Much stronger feelings than before and their consequences. As Imriel and Sidone said in the novel "It is not wise to meddle with D'Angelines in matters of love". Hah!
Hope Carey writes more about this family and soon.
From here I am off to Naamah's Kiss and Naamah's Curse.
It is truly difficult to know which book is first so here it is: Kushiel's Dart, Kushiel's Chosen, Kushiel's Avatar, Kushiel's Scion, Kushiel's Justice, and Kushiel's Mercy.

I thought this narrator did a fine job. The many non-English names and words sounded about the same as rendered by the narrator of the first trilogy. The queen was a bit harsh but ok, and I adjusted to the somewhat older voice for Imriel by imagining him telling his memoirs rather than imagining the narration was 'real time'. After a few chapters it was fine. I've only listened to this third book so far (I've read them), and it's possible it's the best of the 3. I thought the narrator did an especially effective and subtle differentiation between the two 'personalities' of Imriel - it really enhanced my enjoyment of the story and gave it more depth and drama. The only character that sounded totally wrong to me was Mavros, but I could live with it. All together a fine listen.

In Chapter 3, on page 24, during Queen Ysandre's speech, a paragraph is skipped and the next paragraph is read twice, but the whispersynch stays aligned. For those without the text, the two paragraphs are as follows:

There was a genuine ache behind her words, and I did not think she took any pleasure in the fierce nods of agreement from those assembled on the left of the hall. I'd had my differences with Ysandre, but I'd never doubted she loved Terre d'Ange.

"Blessed Elua cared naught for crowns and thrones," she said quietly. "Those words, I'm told, were spoken by Melisande Sharizai."

I would recommend this book and all the others in the series. They take place in a completely different world and they are brought to life in your mind. I keep wishing that a movie or TV series could give us the kind of visual that the minds eye brings up. The stories and the plots or storylines that Ms. Carey gives us are so very engrossing. I was trying to figure how the plot would go and so I hurried to finish each book but when I was done I wanted it to go on.

Nhama series

I liked his performance but he seemed to make too many men sound like they were older than they should be.

No. I wanted to spread it out over a few days.

Can't honestly answer that. I'm blind and don't read printed books.

I enjoy Simon Vance a great deal. He has a wonderful voice, and he is good at crating different sounding characters. No one character stainds out, but the overall reading was great.

I tend to pick books that are long, 15-20 hours or more. So... no.

I have enjoyed all of this series.

Maybe I'm a freak. I can't stop in the middle of a series any more than I can stop in the middle of a book, so I read this one. It's the last in the set, which is one of the best things I can say for it.
If you aren't like me and can stop, I highly recommend it. The plot is boring, nothing you wouldn't guess as you move through it. It is, in fact, simply more of the same. I don't know how much of the whining little Princling you can take, but I pretty much reached my fill at the end of Justice. The only Mercy here is that its over. He will never whine again.

I simply could not get into this audiobook. I read the other reviews, most of which are very positive. But this is not my cup of tea. It moves SLOWLY. I love long audiobooks with lots of detail - but I expect the details to mean something to the story. In this audiobook it went on and on and on.