Bone Shop

A Marla Mason Novel

By: T. A. Pratt

Narrated by: Jessica Almasy

Length: 7 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's Summary

Marla Mason is the chief sorcerer of Felport, a woman who's tangled with gods and monsters and come out on top (if a bit damaged in the process). But she wasn't always a formidable engine of brute force and pragmatism; she started out alone, in a strange city, without allies or any more power than the average teenage runaway on the street. Marla was always willing to do anything necessary to survive, and it didn't take long for her to stumble into a world of magic, danger... and even the occasional moment of grace.

Bone Shop tells the story of Marla's evolution from runaway to sorcerer's apprentice to mercenary magician and beyond. Fans of the urban fantasy series from Bantam Spectra that began with Blood Engines will find surprising secrets revealed about Marla's past, and new listeners can get to know the character from the very beginning.

Spellbound? Listen to all of our Marla Mason titles.

©2009 T.A. Pratt (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Revealing background into Marla's history

I'm glad I listened to this book first as the prequel to the other Marla Mason novels, even though it was written after Spell Games and before Broken Mirrors. It gives some much needed background of Marla's history. Knowing this gives insight into why she acts the way she does. I also wonder if she will ever recover her memories that were erased, with a spell she asked to be cast, in future novels (which I haven't finished yet). Marla is quite human in her psychology and therefore she is flawed. It is nice to have a main character that isn't perfect, nor are any of the other characters, though some are better than others. I hadn't listened to Jessica Almasy as a narrator before, and at first I wasn't sure I liked her, but as the reading continued, I found myself relating very well to her reading of the book. I look forward to listening to the rest of the Marla Mason novels.

Top-Shelf Marla (and Pratt)!

I'd read some of the other Marla Mason books, but this is the first one I'd listened to. I might just have download the rest of them because I couldn't stop listening to this. Pratt's characters are simultaneously wicked and delightful. I lost count of how many times I laughed out listening to this. This is in no small part due to Jessica Almasy's fantastic reading. She sounds exactly like the wicked witch you're sharing a beer with should.

The storyline is definitely more of a serial than the other Mason novels I'd read, with the main plotline being Marla's introduction to magic, and her rise to power among the witches and wizards of Felport. The serialized style only adds to the overall charm of the story and characters. Marla makes you laugh, breaks your heart, punches some monsters, and then does it all over again.

In short, it's seven hours of pure entertainment. I loved every minute of it, and am looking forward to hanging out with Marla for another round.

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Would you try another book from T. A. Pratt and/or Jessica Almasy?

Marla is an interesting character, but the book had no real plot or purpose and I felt no sympathy or affinity to her. I'll probably give the 2nd book a shot to see if it picks up now that she has established her characters.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

I like the sorcery, and the fact that it was something Marla had to work hard to learn.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

She puts an odd inflection on things that do not need it and pauses to much between words.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Perhaps this will set up the series so that the other books can move smoothly.

Good did not encourage me to finish the series

If you could sum up Bone Shop in three words, what would they be?

MOre action required

Would you be willing to try another book from T. A. Pratt? Why or why not?

Yes, I felt like he could write better stuff

Have you listened to any of Jessica Almasy’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Not sure, she was great though really expressive voice

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No, fairly simple book easy to follow. seems like more of a girl book.

Hoping to be convinced...

I'm honestly in 2 minds......the book was a good read and i enjoyed it, but not to the point where I felt the need to rush to the "store" to get the next in the series. Don't get me wrong, it was a good read, but nothing fantastic enough to make me want to lose sleep in getting the next one.
I have read some of the reviews on the next series, and they're quite good.....so I'm still in two minds as to whether or not to spend a credit on the next one......just not entirely convinced it'll be worth it........

An interesting story

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

This was an interesting start to a series. This book was actually written in the middle of the series and is like the secret history of the main character. As such, I think that some of the world background got glossed over and there were some akward manuverings to make things fit. But it was still an interesting story and I am more than willing to actually listen to the rest of the series. It's kind of nice to see characters that have such twisted moral and no regret angst over them.

Would you be willing to try another book from T. A. Pratt? Why or why not?

Yes. I liked a lot of the world but it lacked detail. Since this was a prolgue to his series though, written in the middle of the series, that might be understandable.

What about Jessica Almasy’s performance did you like?

I thought she did a very good job giving the character's that teenage sarcastic ring without making you hate them.

A great Marla prequel

As usual, this book is peopled with great characters, presided over by great flawed wonderful Marla. The world is a character in itself: hard, gritty and true; the author's conception of magic and its requirements both colorful and unique. We get to see Marla claw her way up from squalor to a kind of greatness, rising and falling on the way.

The Cape

All of the Marla Mason books are novels on their own, one dose not run on from the other which I found hard I like an on going story but I got over it ,this is a sort of prequel you find out how Marla became Marla, how she got her cape and how she and her best friend Rando came about ,it made me laugh out loud and I was fascinated to see how she was forged into the sarcastic hero she is.

Jessica Almasy

Jessica is one of the best audio voice actors I've heard. Her capability to perform female and even male voices surpasses most everyone else I've heard. The story is not my liking mostly, but nonetheless interesting. Though Jessica just has a way of bringing anything to life. Good job, Jessica!

Great book well written and very enjoyable.

This book would be good just on its own but add Jessica Almasy as narrativer and it becomes a great book.

Stands out

Great entertainment. Seemingly yet another urban fantasy, but it feels different to most. More or less as good as Iron Druid and obviously not as good as Dresden Filed, but it definitely does stand out from the girly and romantic ones. One of the reasons is that it was a kickstarter project and no marketing or editing pro were there to tell Pratt how many sex scenes the market wants, etc.