Competitive Advantage

Nora Hazard Series, Book 2

By: Blaise Corvin

Narrated by: Emily Beresford

Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

Nobody likes an escort mission. Nobody.

Unfortunately for Nora, she'll be stuck travelling with Jessica, an American gamer, and Christopher, a Filipino man with a mysterious past. Somehow, the former Jackals gang leader must keep the two Terrans alive while heading south for Enheduanna's new, insane mission.

Nora will have no time to prepare, or even to stay in Soron to enjoy her unexpected celebrity status. Instead, she will need to leave for Tolstey after healing from injuries sustained in battle, wounded while protecting Soron.

Despite what some may say about her now, Nora knows she is no hero. People expecting too much from her will probably be disappointed. But with the help of some new weapons and greater orb-Bonded power, surviving her new, suicidal quest might be merely improbable, not impossible.

One thing is for sure: Regardless of what happens - whether fulfilling her mission or learning to trust again - Nora will do things her own way, on her own terms.

Contains mature themes.

©2018 Blaise Corvin (P)2018 Tantor

BadA** female MC in the world of Delvers

I have been wanting to get to this book for a while, but for some reason I did Asgard Awakening first and then never was able to get back to it. So, my deepest apologies to Blaise Corvin for taking so long, I was trying to be fair, but then I look at some people that output a lot of books and I do get to them quickly. So again. Apologies. Anyway, this is the second novel in the Nora Hazard series, and if you know Corvin you know he says he doesn’t write fast, but he is well worth the wait. Ludus is an amazing place to visit, even if it doesn’t star Jason and Henry, and he proves this with Nora.
Speaking of Whom, I have to say that Nora is actually one of the better built characters that you will find. I don’t mean she’s built like a brick house, but rather her character is believably defined and grows in a sensible manner. For example, Nora lived on the streets and so had a mindset that dealt with her surviving from one moment to the next. This instinct has both benefitted her and been a drawback as she developed. For example, it made her a great fighter who wasn’t worried about what was going to happen AFTER the fight, but rather what was going to happen DURING the fight. The drawback was the same thing. I don’t believe that she really thought all that far ahead in book one. She was basically stuck in the moment, mourning her friend for most of the book and struggling to survive one encounter after another.
In this book we see her shed this mentality. Partially because of her powers, but also because of the way her powers have allowed her to change. She has what one might call photographic reflexes, if you are a Marvel fan, in which you can learn to do something just by watching someone else do it. So kung fu, archery, gymnastics, even drawing are within her perview. This makes her much more dangerous than just another sword hand. Secondly, she has hypervigilance, which allows her to speed up her consciousness so that things appear far slower than they are, which is another boon when in battle. So, her powers develop along with her character. She no longer feels like a street rat who got lucky, but rather someone who is about to grasp her destiny by the shorthairs and pull it along in the direction she wants it to go. I honestly don’t know if PewPew is a nod to Willmarth or not, but it is awesome nonetheless. Finally, Nora says some very powerful and poignant last words, not as in I’m dying last words, but as in the last thing she says, at the end.
The book has amazing pacing, believable dialogue, great action scenes, and some downright auspicious world building that really helps to flesh out the world of Ludus and its inhabitants. Corvin was one of my gateway LITRPG drugs. He’s a total red pill if ever there was one, because the once you’ve swallowed the little red bugger you find yourself in a world that you won’t want to leave. Five Delvers books are simply not enough. One more Nora to go? Only reason I want this trilogy completed is so that we can get back to the gang at Delvers, but I would be happy to get more Nora in the future. If you are getting this book I have to ask why? You are only hurting yourself.
As for the narration portion I have to say that Emily Beresford nails it. She is a total pro, and really gave life to the novel. I have to say that I find her voice were pleasant and soothing to listen to, but she knows how to elevate a menacing moment or interject actual danger into an action scene. She can get plain mean when she needs to or as menacing as a rabid vampire bat is to a naked man in room full of razor blades. She’s versatile.
My final score is 8.4 stars. This is a great book that is really building to something special, and I don’t really see anything wrong here. Side characters like Jessica were fun and the direction of the tale is on course for epic level story telling. Go get it now.

this series is getting better

I'm really starting to enjoy the main character and I think Blaise is hitting his stride with this new series, I'm very impressed with how things are moving along and I'm very much looking forward to the next book in the series

Emily does her job voicing the characters very well, there is room for improvement on the production side, but not much on the actual voices...

awesome!

I love this series. If you liked any of the other books in this universe you won't be disappointed. A main character with guts that gets thrown to the wolfs results in a lot of awesome action scenes.

would recommend

awesomeness Blaise Corvin keep it comming waiting on more Delivers LLC But this will hold me over

another one

another great addition to the delvers universe I cant wait to see nora meet up with the A team.

Simply wonderful

Great flow, but I kinda wish Nora fought the Sand Worm a bit more. Otherwise, no complaints. I look forward to hearing book 3 once it hits Audible.

this was good

My kindle review of the book "Quality gamelit, incredibly visceral.
Queen of the deathflag though, and that predictability bleeds throughout, but it never detracts from the story.
In fact the tale is accentuated by it; every time you're happy for Nora, it comes with that bitter "when's the rug moving" thought."
Only difference with the audio is the voices a well done, very distinct for women and at least a different cadence for the men.
Well done.

Excellent second entry for Nora

As always, Corvin tells a very enjoyable story, but honestly, the first two books could have been combined together into a single novel. Both stories felt too short. Even so, it is nice to see some character development and any trip back to Ludos is an enjoyable one. Keep up the good work.

Like the story, but not the narration

Loved how the story has progressed. Jessica is probably my favorite character now on Ludus. My only gripe is in the beginning, the narrators voice felt very choppy and a bit awkward in tone inflections. This is only with the Narration, not the dialogue. I feel like it got better as the book progressed, but a couple of time I completely missed what they said.

Still, I enjoyed the book and hope to see how this links with the main story.

loved

the only thing i could really complain about is the main character's battle cry being her just shouting her last name rapidly gets a bit cheesy for my taste