The Family Pride

The Zero Enigma, Book 6

De: Christopher G. Nuttall

Narrado por: Saskia Maarleveld

Six years ago, in the aftermath of the House War that nearly tore Shallot apart, Akin Rubén and Caitlyn Aguirre were betrothed in a bid to keep their rival families from returning to war.

Now, with both of them on the brink of maturity, that marriage is starting to loom. The moment of choice, when they must decide to go through with the wedding or risk their families resuming their rivalry, is fast approaching.

And yet, all is not well in House Rubén. Akin, the presumed Heir Primus, has many enemies; relatives who will do anything rather than see him succeed his father and link their families to their former rivals. Powerful factions are gathering, ready to oppose the match by any means necessary. Secrets from the past are being dug up and turned into weapons, just waiting to be launched. In desperation, Lord Rubén - Akin’s father - forces his son to enter the Challenge; a contest that will either prove his right to inherit or utterly destroy him.

But the Challenge is not quite what it seems....

©2020 Christopher G. Nuttall (P)2020 Podium Audio

Female voice for a male centric character

I found the story to be close to the quality of previous stories, such as Schooled in Magic and Zero, even the non-magical character driven ones. But I kept hearing a female narrator when the male character was talking and it was a little annoying. Would be better with a male narrator on this book.

While this is a side story it's a good one

While this is a side story it's a good one that sets us up for what is to happen in the next story in the series Showing us the strength and weaknesses of the governing systems and setting things up so we understand just how serious things are getting for the poor and downtrodden as well as the effects on those who are allowed to stand near the seats of power but have no power themselves and making us know that there will be a reckoning and showing us potential players in that situation

Great book in a great series.

This is a great series that I think should get moved to the big screen.

Follows Akin in his final year - best part yet!!

Book 6 in the series returns to the Family Ruben, but this time the other twin, Akin. We have travelled forward roughly 6yrs in time at the start of this book, so it is the final year of their time at Jude’s. At the start of this book, we are brought up to speed on all of the events in a very clever conversation between Akin and his Father, Lord Ruben, and at the same time, we are also given the basic summary for the book. Akin will be made Head Boy for his final year, regardless of if wants to be or not.
But this is not Akin has other problems going forward this year. His betrothal to Caitlyn Aguirre will come when he and Caitlyn both reach adulthood, something that will happen when they both graduate and is fast approaching. Whilst Caitlyn’s position is safe relatively speaking due to her position as the only Zero, Akin’s position in his family as the Heir Primus is not so safe. Numerous enemies have gathered over the years, since the end of the House War, all ready to oppose his position as Heir Primus and their upcoming wedding. As a result, Akin’s Father forces him to enter the Challenge, a contest held at Jude’s. The Challenge is meant to be a test to show that young challengers understand how politics and family dynamics operate, business acumen, so that the winner, can go onto greater things. The event can be played individually, but is far better when played with a team. However, one must be careful that you only use people who don’t breach the rules of their patronages.
Akin quickly learns that his final year at Jude’s is going to be complicated, and intense, as he has to share the Head Job with none other than Alana Aguirre. Things have changed over 6yrs though, and their relationship has grown, with Alana having matured into a clever, intelligent and powerful young woman.
We are introduced to several new characters in this book, Francis, Akin’s cousin, who is the head of sports for Upper Classman, and basically Akin’s righthand man. There is Akin’s younger cousin by 2yrs, Penny, who is a rather superior young woman, who having just reaching Upper Classman, believe it is her role to torture the Junior Classman.
As Akin searches for teammates for his Challenge team, he chooses two girls in their year. The first is Louise, a common born girl who has a chip on her shoulder and whilst highly intelligent, everyone dislikes her as she is constantly berating them about how terrible the Aristocracy are. The second is Selena, once a very powerful student, but recently has become rather slow in her magic, and is now considered a bit of a dullard, although still a lovely girl.
As we follow Akin through this story, we meet a multitude of other characters that I won’t spoil (although I will give a shoutout to Adam Mortiner, a common born student who takes on the Challenge as well, and is the focus of Book 7), but are all equally brilliant. Nuttall creates a stunning array of characters in this series, be they student, teacher, family or just filler (as in someone in a shop), all are exceptionally well crafted, with so much depth and detail, each one adding something to the story and leaving a lasting impression on you. The wonderful thing about this series, is that you come across characters (such as Adam Mortimer), and a book later they are a major character with this incredible story and background.
As with all of these books, this series has just the most enchanting and engaging world building. You get lost in these breathtaking backdrops, and exquisite descriptions that Nuttall brings to life with creative ease. There is so much depth and complexity to each of these stories, they are beautifully told and just a joy to read.
This series just keeps getting better with every book, there is this complex story that keeps unfolding, each book a new chapter in an over-arching story that Nuttall has obviously put a lot of thought into. It is wonderful that each book is not just a flow-on as such, but a different view from a new character’s perspective, giving us insight into the overall view of the entire story, not just a central character. It makes the story so much more engaging and intriguing. The great thing about this book, is that because it is 6yrs later, and from Akin’s perspective, we also get the perspective of so many of the other characters we have read as well (such as Caitlyn, Isabella etc). This is easily one of my favourite stories in the series so far, and I find that Akin is one of my favourite characters, if nothing else, just because of his humility.
This is an outstanding series, and as I have said, this was an exceptional part in it – one not to be missed!!
Saskia Maarleveld has such a beautiful voice, you can listen to it endlessly without tiring of it, it is just so easy to listen to. She does a stunning range of both Male and Female voices, and within each of the genders, she is able to create a range of character voices so that you can clearly tell who is talking without having to be told.
On top of this Maarleveld captures the emotional state of her characters with perfection, so that you can clearly understand how the characters feel at the time they are speaking, whether than be angry, sad, happy, elated, shocked, frightened, etc. Maarleveld really uses this to bring the story to life, adding a whole extra dimension to her storytelling.
Saskia Maarleveld is one of the truly exceptional Narrators, and she is just a pleasure to listen to, this is an absolute must listen to as it is so good as an audiobook!!

Utterly engrossing series...and a great part of it

Another great entry in the Zero Enigma series, which is my favourite by the author. The perspective from Akin made it especially appealing. Very well-plotted, and excellent character development. The afterword by the author was intriguing. The interludes with Isabella and Cat were great moments, and the way in which he included Alana--spot on!

Upon re-reading, I have raised my rating to five stars. It's really an utterly engrossing series.

Another excellent book by Christopher Nuttall

Any book by Christopher Nuttall is awesome. this one had all the makings of a classic. The protagonist has to make his way through a field of landmines both social and physical making mistakes and correcting for them trying to find people who he can trust and sort out the people he can't. by acting honorably and doing the right thing using ingenuity, intellect and tenacity our heroes are finally able to win the day.

Good to see a different point of view

I'm enjoying this series partly because it shows the world from a series of interlocking character points of view, which lets me see the world and the characters from different viewpoints. This one was a male point of view, with Kay's betrothed being forced into leadership positions he doesn't want and struggling to make those positions work.

Not as good

I have grown to really love this author’s books. This series is pretty good, not as good as schooled in magic but still his writing is solid. This story however was really boring to me. The character has very little personality, I feel like it’s basically Harry Potter preparing for his first quidditch match but without a more important plot play out out beside it. The plot is kinda lost because the characters are so forgettable. I will continue on with the series because I have faith in Christopher G Nuttall but yeah this book is not representative of the author’s ability.

Feckless protagonist

Akin, our hero, really has nothing going for him. He doesn't seem to like people and can hardly engage in conversation: it's painful to listen to. Given everything in life, he wallows in self-pity.

This is our author's fault; there is no joy in the worlds he creates and his characters seem exasperated beyond belief at everyone surrounding them, so every conversation is laced with hostility and tension. While friends exist, they don't engage in friendly conversation and it's hard to see why they like each other. Frankly, his books leave me feeling a bit depressed.