The Edge of Reason

Edge, Book 1

By: Melinda Snodgrass

Narrated by: Roger Wayne

Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's Summary

Since the dawn of consciousness, a secret war has been fought between the forces of magic and religious fanaticism, and the cause of reason, understanding, and technology. On one side are the Old Ones, malign entities that feed on the suffering of mankind. On the other are the Lumina, an ancient order dedicated the liberation of the human spirit.

Officer Richard Oort of the Albuquerque Police Department is caught in the middle of this primal battle when he rescues a mysterious teenage girl from a trio of inhuman hunters. Recruited by the Lumina to serve as their latest paladin, Richard ends up fighting beside a handful of unlikely allies, including an adolescent sorceress, an enigmatic philanthropist, a sexy coroner, and a homeless god with multiple personalities.

The Old Ones and their mortal pawns are determined to destroy Richard - or subvert him to their cause. And they have all powers of magic and organized religion at their disposal. As the gates between the universes shred apart, it may be up to Richard to save humanity from the endless horror of a new Dark Age.

Provocative as The Golden Compass or the Illuminatus! trilogy, The Edge of Reason dramatizes the fundamental conflict behind the hot-button issues of today...and the future of the human race.

©2008 Melinda Snodgrass (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Was hoping for more

Melinda Snodgrass wrote one of my favorite STTNG episodes. So when I saw she had written a novel, I was keen to check it out. The story didn't grab me until about 2/3 of the way through. The book felt like it was adapted from a previous project as a possible television script, which was distracting. The story itself seemed more like "our good reasonable magic vs their bad primal magic" rather than "reason vs superstition".

The narrators voice was fine and he generally read the story okay. He did a decent job differentiating voices. But once in awhile he would mispronounce a word, which would throw me out of the story. Also, at least later in the book, there was inadequate space given between scene changes inside chapters leaving me confused as we where we were and who was in a scene to start with; this may have been an editing problem rather than a voice issue, but it did affect the performance.

I'm not sure if I will continue with the series or not. At the very least, I'm going to take a break and see if the story stays with me.

I'm in 💖 with this series, author & narrator!

Any additional comments?

Wow! You get a taste of the hell poor Richard had to go through with his Dad's friend but in book 3 but this book goes into details and I so want to beat Richards Dad and the jerks who hurt him!

Fantastic fantasy with action, a small crime mystery, a complete twist on religion and magic, and what's considered good and evil, and a fabulous narration. All the incrediants for a 5 star audiobook!

GO Ms. Melinda Snodgrass! Writing an awesome fantasy series with awesome characters, well except for Detective Snodgrass! Wait was that the jerk of a detective name?! Lol. I hated him, and loathed him in book 2! 😡

And Rihanna, nooooooooooo. 💔

Good story but actor not great

There were a number a words pronounced incorrectly. That drives me nuts and pulls me out of the story.

"Saris" is the plural of "sari", and shouldn't be pronounced "saw-riss".

"Poleaxed" - pole- axed, not puh-lee-ext.

There were numerous other incidences.

If there's a revised edition, fix the pronunciations! It's a problem.

Fantastic story, unfortunate narration

This is a great story. The characters are unique, believable, and likeable. It's a real page-turner at the end. I wished that the end *was* the end--but hey, it's a fantasy--magic, end-of-the-world doom and all--and they usually do come in a series, so what did I expect? I guess I'll be buying book 2 in the series.

The one bad aspect of this book--and it really was pretty bad--was the performance. I regret having to say this because I know how hard actors work to perform a book. But this person mispronounced so many words, continually throwing me out of the story, that I wished I had more time to read from an actual book. Additionally, he sometimes started a quote that must have been from one character in the voice of another. And you can't tell from listening where there's a break in a scene or a switch in POV, leading to some confusion, and again, throwing me out of the story.

If you'd like a gripping tale on the border between fantasy and SF, then this book is for you. Get it electronically or in paper, though, if you have a choice. As for me, I'll put up with the annoying performance to continue on to the second book.

An unusual take on a often used theme.

If you could sum up The Edge of Reason in three words, what would they be?

A brilliant book.

What did you like best about this story?

I enjoyed the structure of the story. Good v evil and God v The Devil has been done before many times but not quite like this. The characters were well portrayed and following their interactions was interesting.

What about Roger Wayne’s performance did you like?

I like Roger Wayne's narration of the book. He added to the depth of the characters and kept the story at the right pace. It was lovely to have just the book with no sound effects which are usually an unnecessary distraction from the story. Q

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, definitely I really didn't want to stop listening but was dreading reaching the end as I do with books I really enjoy.

Any additional comments?

I liked the alternative perspective of this book and the fact that it it not at all preachy unlike some other books I have listened to on a similar subject matter.