Magic Corrupts, Magic Conquers

Warrior of the Divine Sword, Book 2

By: A.J. Locke

Narrated by: Zuzu Robinson

Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

What if the world changed overnight . . . and it was all because of you?

All Pennrae wanted to do was to help. Now she's found herself in a world that's been instantaneously transformed by magic . . . that she brought back. She's gone from a simple karate instructor to an instant celebrity—and she hates it. Fortunately, she has her friends, her beloved magic companion, and one ridiculously hot boyfriend.

But a sudden, unprompted attack in broad daylight is about to make Penn's life even more complicated. An ancient forest guardian known as a Kiabi—a warrior of magic and almost impossible to defeat—has marked Penn to die. The attack at first seems incidental and unprovoked . . . until she discovers the true cause. Her. Penn may have saved the world, but her actions have set a chain of events in motion. In one brief moment, something dark, terrible, and older than time itself found an opportunity to escape, to free itself from the guardians and mark Pennrae as its enemy. Now the world and everyone she loves face a gruesome fate unless Penn can unleash the full force of her Divine magic . . .

Contains mature themes.

©2023 A. J. Locke (P)2023 Tantor

Good Book, Terrible Narrator

Both books are a fun and enjoyable listen with decent action and the kind of romance you’d expect. That being said, I don’t know if it’s an issue with the publisher, but like book 1, despite getting a different one, the narrator is horrible. And suffers from the same problems reviews expressed there. If I wasn’t able to actually look them up I might be convinced it was read by A.I. but the worst part is I’ve heard A.I reading more expressive.

It just sounds robotic with awkward pauses. And feels like the narrator is hiding in a room late at night and so she can’t raise her voice at all when characters should be screaming. A character could be having the worst day of their life and yet have the tone of someone having coffee.

There are moments, usually when the narrator is reading dialogue of a different character, where the amazing potential of the narrator peeks through. But as soon as it’s there it’s gone again.

To conclude I was hardly able to finish the audio version because of that. I’d recommend getting just the book version and hope that in future books the author can get a narrator who will be able to truly make the emotions in
her work shine.