Seeking Sorrow

Guardians of Terath, Book 1

By: Zen DiPietro

Narrated by: Nikolai Porter

Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

An Earth-like world of high-tech humans faces the reality that their world is not as safe as they thought it was. Five people are thrown together to quietly get to the bottom of an unfathomable event that must stay quiet. If the population of Terath becomes aware of the truth, it will spark a civil war. That war would pit the majority of the population against the powerful minority with the ability to harness and manipulate mana. The resulting cataclysm would decimate the population and tear apart the foundation of society.

The five people chosen for this must reconsider everything they thought they knew about mana, even as they learn to trust one another's abilities. They must embrace everything they never wanted in order to prevent the devastation of their world. One of them will be forever changed. Love will be denied, badassery will be unleashed, and Terath will never be the same.

Even success comes at a price.

©2015 Soul Mate Publishing (P)2016 Zen DiPietro

Interesting sci-fi

I liked this book more than I initially thought I would. I first tried listening to the Audible Audio version with my husband, but the narrator spoke a little too slowly for my taste, and it was hard to get into. However, I restarted it and 1.5x speed and really got into it. I thought the story was good, and there was even a twist at the end that I really didn't expect. This is not my go-to genre (sci-fi), but it engaged me enough to want to read the next book in the series. If you are a sci-fi buff, I would recommend this book to you.

Seeking Sorrow: Guardians of Terath

What did you like best about Seeking Sorrow? What did you like least?

I liked the story, the world building and mostly the characters!

I love stories where a group of people need to learn to trust one another to achieve a common goal.

In Seeking Sorrow we had various characters with powers who went on a journey to solve a mystery.

After a slow start, the pace picks up and you are sucked into a different world.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

I'll start by saying Nikolai Porter has a great voice.

He narrated the story in a good way.

The only thing missing was a more personal connection with the characters.


The tone of the narration was the same for a narration of the journey, a characters emotion etc.

I didnt feel the excitement of the journey from the narration, I got it from the words.

Was Seeking Sorrow worth the listening time?

Yes. An enjoyable read to lovers of the genre.

Seeking Sorrow!

Seeking Sorrow by Zen takes us to a unique alternate world of Terath which is similar to ours but where some people have the ability to manipulate mana, a type of magic. The story and characters were well developed and very realistic.

After the entire city of Sorrow literally vanishes, five people are selected to secretly travel to investigate what has happened. While this story has a great plot, it's really the characters development on the quest that makes this story great. I liked how we get to know each of them while they joke, argue and build relationships between them during their journey. Some of my favorite characters were Arc, Kassimeigh and Izzy.

This is the first story I've listened to narrated by Nikolai Porter and he did a good job. He has a deep voice which is great for fantasy stories, however, sometimes I had a hard time distinguishing the different characters.

This a character rich fantasy story is perfect for any hardcore fantasy fan and I give it a 3.5 stars. I received this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting and original world

Any additional comments?

I was offered a copy of this book in audio format from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Imagine a world where the main form of energy is called mana, an energy which works in a similar way to electricity, powering vehicles and appliances. Imagine that part of the population has a genetic variation which permits them to control and even transform mana. Terath is this kind of world, where everybody lives in peace because there is no scarce of food nor commodities. But what happens when one day a city is completely destroyed by what seems a great amount of mana? the kind that only somebody with great capabilities of holding mana could accomplish. In trying to avoid a civil war, a small group of people are secretly sent to investigate this and try to find the culprit.

I like fantasy, but very often I avoid it because I have high standards. Many fantasy books do not live to my expectations, but 'Seeking Sorrow' is not one of them. The world built by Zen DiPietro is rich, with very well thought principles, a society, and even special words specific to a guild. And there are real badass girls in the story too, which contributes to make the story more interesting.

There is a love story in this book, but I really appreciate that it did not become one of the main topics. I do not need a romantic story, and in some cases I find it distracting from the real topics that should be touched, but when it is done in a very subtle way like here, I think it adds value to the story. I would describe the book as moderately slowly paced, and the romantic parts contribute to this, but it is also one of those books where you get immersed in a different culture, and you need some background that will inevitably slow the story.

Taking account that Terath is a very pacific world, we have been shown an atypic part of it, places where the civilization did not reach. I wonder how cities and normal life were. From what I have listened to, they have 'modern' appliances but very rustic (even medieval) weapons, due to the little conflict they find. Taking this into account, I have troubles to imagine how the live is in towns and cities, which level of technology this society has reached. I hope DiPietro elaborates on this subject in future books of the series.

There is a point in this book where everything falls into place and it is easy to know who destroyed Sorrow. I would not say that it was a predictable story, but it would have been better to find it as a surprise.

One of the things that took me longer to get used to was the narration. Nikolai Porter has a clear voice and he makes decent character voices, but the narration was so 'aseptic' that sometimes I had the impression that I was listening to a Text to Speech App. I tend to prefer when narrators put their personal touch when narrating, and I had troubles to find that here.

I really enjoyed this book, and I think DiPietro has created an original and interesting world. I hope the rest of the books will be soon available in audible.

Definite winner!!

Would you consider the audio edition of Seeking Sorrow to be better than the print version?

The audio version is top-notch and I enjoyed the reader. I haven't read the printed version, so can't compare.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Kassameigh -- she was way cool and aloof, to start with, but "warmed" to the others and seamlessly became a part of the whole.

Which character – as performed by Nikolai Porter – was your favorite?

Arc -- he was the smooth, often irreverent, member of the group, who ended up being much deeper than everyone thought.

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

No

Any additional comments?

Loved the book and the characters. Although this is part of a larger series based on Terath, it is written as stand-alone; meaning it is actually written as a novel with a beginning, development of the story, and an end which wraps up the important stuff. Zen also leaves a few things unanswered, so that you are dying to read the next book. She also concentrates (and develops) all five main characters equally, so that you feel a part of each one's life instead of one main character with comic sidekicks. If you like the SF/Fantasy genre, this one is for you. Can't wait to get part 2.