Morningside Fall

By: Jay Posey

Narrated by: Luke Daniels

Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's Summary

Second in the Tales of the Duskwalker series.

The lone gunman Three is gone. Wren is the new governor of the devastated settlement of Morningside, but there is turmoil in the city. When his life is put in danger, Wren is forced to flee Morningside until he and his retinue can determine who can be trusted.

They arrive at a border outpost to find it has been infested with Weir in greater numbers than anyone has ever seen. These lost, dangerous creatures are harbouring a terrible secret - one that will have consequences not just for Wren and his comrades but for the future of what remains of the world. New threats need new heroes....

©2014 Jay Posey (P)2015 Audible, Ltd

Critic Reviews

“Gritty action-packed drama so hi-res and real you’ll believe you got something in your eye.” (Matt Forbeck, author of Amortals and Dangerous Games)

Not as good as "Three" but I liked it.

Worth the time and the credit. Well written and the narrator is top notch!! Wish there was a replacement protagonist/hero for Three but by committee seemed to work for this book. I'm glad I listened to it. Can't wait for the third book!!

11 of 11 people found this review helpful

solid all around. I can't wait until the next one!

was an awesome book and the narrator was absolutely awesome! Jay Posey and Luke Daniels rock!

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

The characters hold this book together

I am OCD about reading books in order….so I picked up Three to listen to first before starting this Morningside Fall, and I’m still reeling a bit from it, Three was an awesome listen……This second installment….not sure if it because I started it right after the first book and the loss of Three is still so fresh in my mind…but story wise this book was just not as good as the first one. While I really liked Wren in the first book, in this one he was just okay….maybe it is the whole second book syndrome that so many series have……The story seemed to drag quite a bit but did pick up towards the last couple of hours. The characters of Morningside Fall are really what bring this book together and keep you reading/listening…..the world building is great and we find out more about the threat of the Weir….there is not much more I can say without getting spoilery. The story was not bad,it just did not have that “something” that the first book had that had me at the edge of my seat waiting to find out what happened next I’m taking a short break from this so I don’t burn out and will then be jumping into the third book.

As always, Luke Daniels did an amazing job on the narration….he is one of my favorite narrators (in the top 5 for favorite male narrators) and the reason I wanted to try this series…..so narration on this is a solid 5 stars.

So go and listen….while not as great as the first book, it is still good and the narration is fabulous…

Audiobook purchased for review by ABR.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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16 of 22 people found this review helpful

The middle book blues...

Morningside Fall, Book 2 of the Legends of the Duskwalker series, is like the second book of many other trilogies. It acts as a bridge from the first book to the last and resolves little on its own. In this case Jay Posey also chooses not to do much world building, which was also lacking in the first book, and instead chooses to introduce a bunch of new characters to the storyline. Most of these new characters have military training which results in there being a lot of tactical squad based combat throughout which makes this book feel more like a military Sci-Fi novel than anything else. Although these characters all start out with rather similar military-esque personalities, they do eventually differentiate themselves and grow on you thus rightfully earning their place in the story.

After the events at the end of the first book, Wren and Cass find themselves in leadership roles in the city of Morningside, where things go from bad to worse rather quickly. Wren is thrust into the role of Governor after the death of his father and his attempts to rule with compassion are rather misplaced in this apocalyptic future. As is common for such stories, doing the right thing isn't always the right thing to do and Wren's moral decisions cause all kinds of problems. Problems that fracture his power base and eventually put him and Cass back on the run.

The main issue with the story returning to Wren and Cass on the run is that Three was the titular character in the first book and it was his presence that really made 'being on the run' quite interesting. Instead, this story feels like a lesser version of the one presented in the first book and it doesn't come together until an antagonist of substance is eventually established. This sets up the finale nicely but it isn't enough to elevate this book to the same level as book one. Luckily, the final book manages to expertly combine the mystery offered by Three's persona in the first book with the military precision offered in this one to deliver a compelling conclusion to the series. So this book is worth it only if you plan to finish off the series by picking up Dawnbreaker.

Luke Daniels does an excellent job narrating military Sci-Fi novels so he is a great fit as the narrator of this one.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Ill read the third

Wasnt as good as book one. Love Luke and look for books that he has narrated but alot of the voices sounded the same for book two. Seems like all the men have a country accent or sound like the same voice for the character Three. But I will still buy the third book and hope the ending is better,

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

When blue-eyed demons swarm

First, if you haven't listened to Book 1, "3", you may want to consider doing that first since there are a number of back-references to "3" in Book 2 that won't make a lot of sense otherwise. You'll not regret the time taken to read it first since it is an excellent book also.

While "Morningside Fall" is a continuation of the "3", it doesn't suffer the let-down of sameness that often occurs in such series continuations. First, the author takes great effort to create new and different characters, many having unique and interesting back stories. The adventure itself has a vague feel of Bilbo's "There and Back Again" to it, however, it plays out in ways very different and more chilling during the trek. Also, the bodyguard characters turn out to be more like a finely trained military squad and the writing for their battle involvements is on par with some of the best military SciFi novels I've read.

Note: One area that I found uninteresting was the whole section involving the the High Council. I felt not enough time was spent on the members to make them very interesting nor very frightening. It came off more like a literary device used to prevent Wren's access to the machine.

Oh, and btw, don't even think about messing with Gamble!

All-in-all, a most delightful book.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

not as good a read as Three

drags some, some surprise twists various readers would put life into the story instead of one trying to change his voice.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Lack of a strong lead character. .

Luke Daniels performance was excellent as always.
I could not identify with any of the characters
Especially the boy.
I enjoyed the opening with the blind man but he did not reappear until the ending.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

hard to say...

overall I enjoyed the book. not as good as the first one. In the first book I was emotionally attached to three. In this book I didn't feel emotionally attached to anyone. happy to see Wren starting to step up. hope to see more of that in book three

I wanted to like this one, but RU kidding me???

Quick summary: Angst, worry, stress, depression, self-pity, and a small child crying for Mama. Oh yeah, and let's not forget Mama's righteous indignation and posturing. I really like Luke Daniels' other work, but he was the wrong narrator for this book. He made the 10 year protagonist (Whren) sound like a 5 year old whining for 'MaMa!'. Could not finish the book, and I tried several times.

Life after Three?

I didn't think there could be - for me, he was the foundations upon which the first book was built, but Wren and Cass truly came into their own in this sequel.

The author clearly has learnt from the game of thrones formula - build up a few characters throughout the story, kill a couple of your favorites along the way and tease you about the fate of the rest, goading you into buying the next in the series.

It's working.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Couldn't stop listening to it<br />

I miss 3 but the characters in it are so well done I found myself really enjoying the book and have the next one ready to go!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Gripping

I have thoroughly enjoyed the first two books in this trilogy. Gripping story, full of suspense and great characters. Just about to start the third one in the morning on my long car journey to work.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

love it

love the continuation off first story . told very well by luke he is great at changing voices for each character and putting feeling into the story.
feel sad that next one is the last story but agwin cant wait for it.
LOVE LOVE LOVE THESE BOOKS strong charecters be livable characters and fantastic story

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

great stuff

good book, great characters unexpected consequences! really well read I enjoyed it greatly and will now listen to next!