Winter's Reach

The Revanche Cycle Volume 1

De: Craig Schaefer

Narrado por: Susannah Jones

Pope Benignus is dying, and the man who takes his throne will hold the reins of an empire.

Conspiracies swirl like shadows around Livia, the pope's daughter, who refuses to be anyone's pawn: chasing the whispers of a deadly coup, she vows to expose the truth and save her church from disaster. Livia has secrets of her own, though, and one wrong move could cost her life and her soul.

Felix is the scion of a dying merchant house, a man with just one chance to save his family and the woman he loves. His last hope lies in the snowbound hell of Winter's Reach, a former prison colony turned "free city" under a brutal tyrant's reign.

Livia and Felix have never crossed paths, but they've both been snared in a far greater web than they can imagine. They - along with a pair of veteran bounty hunters, an exiled politician, and a sadistic coven of witches - are cogs in one man's apocalyptic plan for revenge. A plan that, if it succeeds, will leave an entire nation in flames.

©2014, 2015 Demimonde Books (P)2015 Demimonde Books

Maybe better than Faust!

What did you love best about Winter's Reach?

The intensity and humanity of the characters.

What did you like best about this story?

It manages to strike an excellent balance between complexity and comprehensibilty. That's not an easy thing to do.

Which character – as performed by Susannah Jones – was your favorite?

Mari Renault or Livia Serafini maybe? Hard to say.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Winter is here.

Any additional comments?

Schafer has a reputation as an urban fantasy author and I was introduced to his work through the Daniel Faust books, but I think this series may actually be better. I should have gotten around to reading them sooner.

A solid story

What about Susannah Jones’s performance did you like?

Her voice was pleasant to listen to and was a backdrop the story, which is good as it makes the experience more about the story than about the narrator.

Any additional comments?

Note: This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com.

This book has a fairly large cast of characters, which makes it slightly difficult to listen to as an audiobook versus reading in print. Although I enjoy listening to audiobooks, I am very much a visual learner, so it took me a while before I was able to fully place each of the characters and remember from scene to scene who was who and how their stories were interconnected. (I probably should listed to the beginning again just to get the clarification once I got to know all the characters.) Therefore, I found that I really needed to concentrate on listening to the book to keep everything straight and follow along with the story, so you might want to keep that in mind depending on your own audiobook preferences (this obviously will matter less if you are reading the book in print--I don't think it's very confusing, so keeping the characters and details straight shouldn't be too much of a challenge).

The plot has a lot of politics involved, with different families plotting to gain power for their families or themselves as individuals. The church is also very much involved within the political scheme. A couple of characters do stand out from this plotting: Felix, whose actions are shaped by him wanting to save his family from downfall yet at the same time wanting to be with the woman he loves (and of whom his family does not approve); Amadeo, who serves the pope and seems to make choices that are much less self-serving than others--he truly seems to be the only really religious person in the mix; and Livia, the pope's daughter who finds a book that offers possibilities and danger.

The story is gritty. If you're looking for something happy and light, this is not the book for you. With the multiple points of view and the very real stakes the characters are playing for (not all of them make it out alive or unscathed), in many ways it resembles the Game of Thrones series. With lots of twists and turns, and especially toward the end as the many plot threads started to come together, it is a gripping story that keeps you on the edge of your seat. But if you find yourself fully invested in the story, you'd better have the next book (The Instruments of Control) available because all of the characters have been set up, ready for their action in the next book; very few story arcs are resolved (which is typical of this genre).

As for me, I enjoyed the book and am glad that I gave it a chance. And I will probably move forward with the series at some point, but for now I have a few other books that are calling to me that I'd like to read first. So since I am able to put this story and these characters aside for a while, as much as I liked the book, that means I'll give it 4/5 stars.

Fabulous!

Narration - Susannah Jones - Fabulous!
Really an exceptional job of narrating a really artistically complicated book. Tons of characters - Terrific male voices, Terrific variety of female voices. Just really an exceptional storyteller and wonderful to listen to.

The Story? Loved it! I wasn't initially captivated by this book. The book is a little complicated. In fact, I really started getting into it, and then went back and started the book over after listening to three chapters because by then, I'd realized I wasn't paying enough attention and I knew I'd missed some things. When I re-listened to those beginning chapters, I enjoyed them more because by then I realized there was more than one story going on here.

I really enjoy books that have parallel story lines and you're wondering what's going on until suddenly it all comes clear how all these different stories are related. Well, this one is different. it's almost like you're reading three different books. There are ties, but they are complicated. So, with that said, this is the kind of book that you have to pay attention to. There is a lot going on and a lot of characters but it's a really interesting story. Parts made me angry and sad - it's got a little romance, some magic, a lot of mystery and a lot of struggle. And, I think I have a bit of a book hangover now.

Can't wait for the next one to come out in audio, and I'll definitely listen to this one again!

I received a copy of this audiobook free of charge from audiobookblast in exchange for an unbiased review.

Great new series

This was an exciting read, full of intrigue, espionage and betrayal. It covers nearly everything a person will and will not do for love, power or revenge. The narrator did an excellent job bringing all the characters to life. Can't wait to listen to the next book in the series.

"This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com."

Everyone has an enemy, or one desiring their items

If you could sum up Winter's Reach in three words, what would they be?

conspiracies, dangerous, desires

What did you like best about this story?

The writing draws the visual world in a magnificent poetry, this caught my attention at the opening of the book. This is echoed throughout the book, usually at the beginning of a chapter.

Everyone has an enemy, or one desiring what another has. There is always someone after another or another's material possessions. The different plots in the city by different people start to cross paths and collide as each person works for their own results. It seems the strongest of will and cunning will survive.

As in epic fantasy fashion, I'm left anxious for what's to come. Craig has drawn the world and characters to bring them all to this moment. Some are in precarious places and don't know it. Others are heading into a wind storm and don't know it. Some are expecting to create the wind storm. Oh I want to hear more of this world to see what happens with them all! Will the make it?

Would you listen to another book narrated by Susannah Jones?

I would. Susannah is a gentle voice to listen to. She's done a lovely job with voicing the emotional rise and falls of the characters in the book and telling the tale of this world beaming with conspiracies. She doesn't do different voices for the many characters present, but she does pose different attitudes for each one. But she has told the story with heart. By the end of the book I felt I was sitting around a fire listening to an old tale, and wanting to hear more.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I would have loved to have been able to do this, but the 11 hours is hard to do. There are many details to the world and characters I would have loved to focus a whole day to hearing and noting.

Any additional comments?

All of these families are dangerous. They have desires and needs that they will do anything to get or keep in their favor. The lives of different groups of people heading in the same direction, though for different reasons. The political pull in the world is evident. Those with enough money and connections can make anything go their way. Everyone has their own motivators for their goals - love, guilt, lose - all the emotions pushing people to do more. The world not only has the evils of mans desires but also dangerous creatures and weather.

I did find myself curious about the Empire here. We didn't get much in way of past details of coming to power, nor the relationship the throne of the church has with the Empire's king. I'm hoping this history and current feel will come to light in future books.