The Hidden Masters of Marandur

Pillars of Reality, Book 2

De: Jack Campbell

Narrado por: MacLeod Andrews

When Master Mechanic Mari and Mage Alain took down the Dark Mechanics and Dark Mages at Dorcastle, they thought they’d covered their involvement well enough to divert their Guilds’ suspicions. The assassins sent after them by their Guilds, which had trained them from childhood, indicate otherwise. Armed with the knowledge that their respective Guilds are now trying to kill them, and knowing their strengths are greater together, they reunite.

Rumor has it the key to saving their world from the Guilds’ iron-fisted rule is in the dead city of Marandur. But before they can even attempt to traverse the empty wastelands and avoid the imperial guards surrounding Marandur, they’ll have to survive the Guilds’ agents, who are determined to capture them at any cost, and by any means necessary.

©2015 John G. Hemry (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Really!

I really like the story and the narrator does a great job...but. The female lead is a problem. Back in the 70's, when The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant was released the main character had reason to be self loathing, you know leprosy and all. The female lead in this series seems to think she is the worse person in the world. It seems everything is her fault or that's how she acts. It gets very tiring very fast.

Okay. I'm back. I'm into the third book in the series and it's just getting worse. I have however found a way the Jack could have fixed the problem with this female. Don't let her talk.

Back again. I like Jack Campbell and most of his work. I like his Pillars of Reality series. But I finally gave up on it. I think the female protagonist might be the worst character ever created by a good writer. Will someone just find her a child therapist that will convince her to just shut up.

Adventure, romance, fantasy, a bit of sci-fi

I wish this series was made into movies! This one would keep me awake on a long drive. Pretty clean to as far as sexually explicit language goes, but sensual enough to make you laugh.

Growing together

Opposing sides learn they are similar. Organizations taking action against their own members. Money over loyalty.

Still good, and still has a few too many cringy, YA moments.

If you happened upon my review of the first Audiobook in this series, you’ll probably remember that I am a fan of this series, but I also find the emo teen-handwringing to be a serious flaw.

This book continues all the good and the bad of the first book. The story is compelling, the plot is fast paced, MacLeod Andrews does a great job narrating,… and there’s a whole lot of repetitious melodrama that is delivered as subtly as a pie in the face.

So in order not to belabor the points that I made in my previous review, I’ll just say that if you liked the first book then you’ll probably like this one too. On the other hand, if you barely made it through the last audiobook and are hoping that Campbell found a competent story editor for this book then you will most likely be disappointed.

The story continues

We follow the main characters as they learn more and more about the prophecy about the freeing of the world of Demator from the great guilds. We follow as they learn more about themselves and show people there is a better way. We learn more about the past of the guilds, but the mystery is deeper than just this one book. It's interesting to see how much this book reflects the events of 2024 in the real world where so much has been hidden from the ‘commons’ and no one knows why.

What the heck Campbell/Hemry

I have loved this author since the Lost Fleet series... there were a few cringe worthy dialogue moments throughout the Fleet series out the mouths of his supposedly strong women characters but I chose to ignore. Then I read his Jag series and it got worse, now this one and all I can assume is that John went through one hell of a nasty divorce? Smart tough women (even if they are a teenager) all open their mouth and spit totally unsubstantiated jealous venom when dealing with men and matters of the heart. Or they spout illogical nonsense at inappropriate times- ideas no woman would think much less say.. almost like they are bi-polar or schizophrenic ?! Are they acting like what the author "assumes" women all act like? Their words are jarring to say the least and take away from the story. I am 3/4 of the way through this 2nd book and will definitely finish but ..... no more Campbell/Hemry for me. John stick to battles in space please and leave the battle of sexes to someone not so spiteful.