The Winds of Khalakovo

The Lays of Anuskaya, Book 1

By: Bradley P. Beaulieu

Narrated by: Ray Chase

Among inhospitable and unforgiving seas stands Khalakovo, a mountainous archipelago of seven islands, its prominent eyrie stretching a thousand feet into the sky. Serviced by windships bearing goods and dignitaries, Khalakovo's eyrie stands at the crossroads of world trade. But all is not well in Khalakovo. Conflict has erupted between the ruling Landed, the indigenous Aramahn, and the fanatical Maharraht, and a wasting disease has grown rampant over the past decade. Now, Khalakovo is to play host to the Nine Dukes, a meeting which will weigh heavily upon Khalakovo's future.

When an elemental spirit attacks an incoming windship, murdering the Grand Duke and his retinue, Prince Nikandr, heir to the scepter of Khalakovo, is tasked with finding the child prodigy believed to be behind the summoning. However, Nikandr discovers that the boy is an autistic savant who may hold the key to lifting the blight that has been sweeping the islands.

Can the Dukes, thirsty for revenge, be held at bay? Can Khalakovo be saved? The elusive answer drifts upon the Winds of Khalakovo.

©2011 Audible Frontiers (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Slow start but good ending

I honestly lost interest about two Hours in, but I was heading to bed and figured I would follow sleep to it. But then it got interesting and I stayed up half the night

The story has potential

I enjoyed the story but found the narration too unemotional to really be able to connect well to the characters.

Typical of the Genre

I really wanted to like this novel. Several reviewers praised the imaginative setting and the use of several cultures ...Russian, ?Turkish? and Middle Eastern...as the origins of the main characters. Sounded intriguing. Culture clashes, however, have been done to death...espeicially the Eurocentric mind vs. the Oriental mind. And that is what this is, seems to me. First, we have your feudal, ruthless, oppressive Russo/Kharakovan nobility who seem to have little talent except for killing and repression who, somehow, have gotten the upper hand over the highly talented, amazingly spiritual, quite artistic and highly oppressed, long suffering, usually peaceful Middle Eastern/Turkish/Jewish/Araman. And they all live on islands of some sort, that exist in maybe an ocean but the atmosphere is ?ether? but it is somehow breathable. Oh, and the only Karakovans with special talents are, of course, the women, who submerse themselves in ice cold baths and breathe through reeds and "control" the ?ether? so that the men can sail around in it. Hard for me to visualize that part. And, of course, every word of every character throughout this work is gilded with major importance, somehow having to do with the doom coming from some spirit world through magic created by, who else, a sect of Araman terrorists who don't care who they kill...no one even dares to say anything normal or crack a joke...and every word is delivered with high drama. Interestingly, these turbaned Araman can magically create huge creatures made of dirt and rocks ( ringers for Jewish golems?) who wreak death and destruction to the enemies of those with turbans. To the author's credit, he handles plots fairly well and his characters seem humanly motivated, some of the time, which is why I gave it a 2nd star.
But, although small parts of this novel are imaginative, most of it is trite and boring, and seems taken, piecemeal, from the crap that has been reported on tv for the last 30 years, as world news. I keep looking for good fantasy and get mostly disappointed. Unfortunately, there is only one Joe Abercrombie. and few fantasy writers who fall in the "major novelist class"...like Tolkien, Rowley or George RR. . Mr. Beaulieu's writing is typical of the genre. He runs with the pack, not ahead of it. I will cut Mr. Chase a break as far as narrators go. I don't believe any narrator could do much to with voice to improve this novel. And of course, this is the first book of another series. Can't wait.

Needs a Playbook

I enjoyed the book, new and interesting ideas, but I felt I needed a playbook to keep the various monsters, spirits, and factions sorted. The narrator uses his mystical voice s bit to his detriment as I had to crank up volume somewhat for clarity.

Not For Me

I don't know, maybe it's me, but I think it was a combination of the story and the narrator, I just couldn't connect. The story may ultimately come about, but the sing song narration just pushes me away. I've given it 6 hours of my life and it was a disappointment. I gave up and am moving on to bigger and better things. Sorry!