The Drawing of 9

By: Lynndsie T Hamilton

Narrated by: Jean Maldonado

Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

On the eve of his 18th birthday, Will's world is shattered as he discovers the truth about his identity. Descended from a bloodline so feared that even the immortals believed it wiped from existence, Will is thrust into a whirlwind of mystery, power, and danger. As he grapples with questions about his lineage, his true father, and the depths of his own abilities, Will must navigate a treacherous landscape where nothing is as it seems.

But his journey is far from solitary. Joined by allies both unexpected and untrustworthy, Will uncovers a world divided into nine territories, each ruled by a different immortal bloodline. These bloodlines, representing the nine personality types, hold immense power and influence over the fate of humanity. As Will delves deeper into this complex society, he realizes that the strange occurrences in his life, from haunting nightmares to inexplicable powers, are not mere coincidences but signs of his true heritage.

Haunted by the memory of his sister's death, which he blames himself for, Will must confront his own demons while navigating a world where immortals manipulate humanity like puppets on a string. Every decision he makes, every action he takes, will shape the fate of the world and determine whether he fulfills the prophecy of the immortals or becomes its undoing.

BOOK'S WORLD HISTORY:

In "The Drawing of 9," the world is based on the enneagram and ancient alien theory, with nine territories ruled by nine different immortal bloodlines. Each bloodline is associated with a personality type, represented by a unique color, symbol, power, ability, strength, and weakness. Listeners will find themselves drawn into a richly imagined world inspired by different cultures, mythology, and symbols from around the globe, ensuring that everyone can identify with a character, bloodline, or territory.

©2012 Lynndsie T Clausen (P)2024 Lynndsie T Clausen

wanted more

There is another review that says there is going to be a second book. I hope so because there is a lot left unfinished. The most interesting part if the book about the main characters family was left unfinished.

Loved this book!

This was a great story I didn't want to end! Please keep the story going as I know there is more to tell.

The potential to be great is in there

For the first 1/3rd or so of this book I was probably aiming for it to be a 2/5 but it grew and overall it grew on me. In the end it is not a great book but it has the makngs of it. If/when a sequel comes I would be interested in it because it felt like it was starting to hit its stride towards the end.

The setting of the book is a world that is hard to pin down. Its not typical fantasy, of dragons and knights, but there are elements of the genre in there. It feels in some way post-apocalyptic, in that there is a medieval feel to it but there are vehicles and electricity and 'modern' elements. But it doesn't really present itself as being after an apocalyptic event. We find out late in the book something fairly major happened 1000's of year ago but it's not something I would consider an apocalypse. Its an interesting and intriguing mix.

There are a few things with the world that don't make sense if this is a realy place, rather than "they just seem cool to put in the story" elements.The world is divided into nine territories. Okay, that can make sense. But they dont have names only numbers. Why? I'm not totally sure. The only other book I can think of with something like htis is Hunger Games, but that had a central government that imposed the numbers on them. There is no central government here. You would think that they would develop names over time rather than just numbers (who decided who gets to be #1 anyway?). The fact they are numbers didnt make sense to me. Also the leader of #6 is named The Wolf. I don't recall another name being given. Apparently Wolf is a clan/family name but even if it is, you would think there would be another name for him. Maybe his name is George Wolf. Who knows? Apparently no one in the book does.

We, as readers, a dropped into the story somewhat in the middle. Our hero, Will, is on a journey to #6 to kill The Wolf to protect the 9 regions. The Wolf is trying to take over all 9 and is subjugating the population. While this does drive the story in some ways its a red herring as there are much greater mysteries going on. These mysteries and the revelations from them towards the end of the book are what makes me say there is potential here. I don't want to say too much due to spoilers but I like where the book ended and the direction it provides for future books.

The narration, by Jean Maldonado, is good. Not outstanding but definitely listenable and engaging. He differentiates between the characters and the narration, so that they dont get tangled. It sounds a simple thing, but I'm amazed at how often I've listened to books that don't. I would be happy to listen to other work he does.

I tried...

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

This was really an outline of a book, maybe two books. It needed color, description, not once was someone's face actually described. I really went into this trying to like it. It was written for someone that already knew what everything looks like in their imagination, namely the writer's.

What could Lynndsie T Hamilton have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

The story lacks the detail needed to paint you a picture of the surroundings. I spent the entire book lost to the backdrop; was it in a desert, a post-apocalyptic city, a traditional Japanese countryside? I don't know. There's advanced technology, but there's magic of sorts, ghost-like characters, prophecy, none of which seems to fit or are well explained to why they exist. There were times I didn't know if I was inside a mountain cave or outside in a garden. The details were vague and it was like visiting a museum at night with only a narrow beam flashlight. I could see what I was looking at but everything around it faded to black. The characters were equally confusing, their place in the story was superficial and I had no emotional connection to them, not even to the main character who just seemed to be a shell with no real depth. When the main character's friend dies, it's more of an emotionless footnote. Things were described in one-word adjectives, not explained in any detail that provided color or depth. The book itself was written for someone already familiar with the landscape.

What aspect of Jean Maldonado’s performance would you have changed?

Technically, there were some problems but overall I was able to follow along. There were several times when lines were re-read, either an error in narration or a duplication made in editing. Additionally, there were words mispronounced which should have been caught in editing. The narrator has a very unique accent, a dash of Miami beach with Arizona soft consonants, definitely a Spanish speaker. These are not negatives at all. My only suggestion would be in pronunciation, hard to explain but I guess closest to sounding out the 't' in mountains. It was a little distracting but he did a good job in narration overall. Sometimes while listening, I thought that the narrator was trying to hide or suppress his accent to make his voice more neutral.

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

While not really having a place in the book, the story about the main character's family situation that appeared as a flashback in the first half of the book was probably the best part of the book. Write a book about that. Paint me a picture of emotions about that and I will read it!