The Kraken King

Iron Seas, Book 4

By: Meljean Brook

Narrated by: Alison Larkin

Length: 20 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's Summary

A former smuggler and thief, Ariq--better known as the Kraken King--doesn't know what to make of the clever, mysterious woman he rescues from an airship besieged by marauders. Unsure if she's a spy or a pawn in someone else's game, Ariq isn't about to let her out of his sight until he finds out.

After escaping her fourth kidnapping attempt in a year, Zenobia Fox has learned to guard her identity vigilantly. While her brother ,Archimedes, is notorious for his exploits, Zenobia has had no adventures to call her own--besides the stories she writes. But when she jumps at the chance to escape to the wilds of Australia and acquire research for her next story, Zenobia quickly discovers that the voyage will be far more adventurous than any fiction she could put to paper.

©2014 Meljean Brook (P)2015 Tantor

Critic Reviews

" The Kraken King is action packed from beginning to end as Brook ensures there is literally never a dull moment." ( RT Book Reviews)

Write yourself out of this one Zenobia Fox.

Another hit for the Iron Seas series. As per the series there is lots of adventure, fantasy, and romance. Ariq and Zenobia make for a steamy couple. I love the steampunk aspect of this series, it is quite imaginative. I went back and reread the other four books in this series because it had been a while since I read them and I was glad I did. The first three books were by a different narrator than the last two. While I didn't mind Alison Larkin as the narrator, I did think that Faye Adele did a better job. Mind you that I don't usually get to annoyed by the narrator as long as the author rocks. I'm hoping there will be more to this series. Start with the prequel Here There Be Monsters if you are interested in this series.

Very sad

I waited forever to get this book in audio. I have all the other Iron Seas in audio. I'm very sad to say, while the story was on par with the others in the series, I really didn't like the reader. She uses a very *baby-like* voice for Zenobia. For me it really didn't fit the character at all. I don't think Alison Larkin would be wrong for another type of character or book but for this book I feel strongly this was a bad pairing.

Wasn't what I was expecting

I didn't know when I picked this up that it's not the first in the series, which does explain why the author casually mentions more interesting stories than this one. Went looking for an epic steampunk adventure, ended up with a poorly written erotica novel with a grandmotherly voiced narrator who can't seem to stick to a single voice for any character.

Very well done

Really good book in a really good series. I've enjoyed every book in this series and this was one of the very best. Brook does a great job with this world and the characters in it. So glad Zenobia got a book of her own. It was wonderful to see her find her way.

Unforgettable!

I hardly ever leave reviews, but I had to comment on how incredible this novel was. I was unsure about it in the beginning bc I had seen other reviews saying that the book fell flat. This story is miles and away my FAVORITE out of the series. I would go as far to say that it’s only of the top 3 best audiobooks I’ve ever listened to. The characters were intriguing and lovable. The plot had me engaged and excited. The relationship grew naturally and endearingly. It felt real and raw, like I was a part of the story. I can understand some people’s aversion to the narrator, but it didn’t bother me at all! My only issue was how different characters from past books sounded, but they only played a small part. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book if you liked the first two at all (even if you didn’t like them, listen to this one!)

Krakan King

Excellent book, Intriguing! I would recommend this book to anyone that liked an adventure. The whole series is wonderful.

Wonderful book, great narration

The Kraken King was a fantastic adventure and an even better romance. Meljean Brooks’s Iron Seas series has some first rate steampunk world-building, and the Kraken King is my new second favorite of the series (after the Iron Duke). Zenobia and Arik were well-developed characters, and their adventures kept me biting my nails in nervous suspense.

Great read

Love this series and this addition did not disappoint. Wish Meljean Brook would write another.

Annoying narrator and over long repetitive plot

I read the kindle version a few years ago and recently listened to the audiobook. The book was originally published as an 8 part serial which might have accounted for the incredibly annoying and repetitive mutual lusting by hero and heroine, especially on the part of the heroine. How many times do I have to listen to the heroine fantasizing about hero’s muscles? Apparently 52 times. His lips? 25 times. His mouth? 63 times. How many times do I have to be reminded of the heroine’s craving for adventure? (79 times). Hero is the proverbial muscle bound rebel war hero (more brawn than brains) who blows hot and cold, and the heroine, the tropey unattractive, sex starved “never been kissed virgin” and “poor little rich girl”, craving love and intimacy (even though she believes the hero thinks her an “ugly ghost”). The heroine starts out promising but soon devolves into a damsel in distress. For someone who has been kidnapped four times and goes to the trouble of hiring bodyguards, surely she would have made some attempt to learn survival skills? But no, she is almost kidnapped a 5th time when she leaves her bodyguards behind and ventures alone into a dangerous foreign territory and has to be rescued by the hero.

The world building is interesting ... if only the author took the time to trim down all the unnecessary and sappy romance parts. This book published in 2014 appears to be the last the author wrote. No wonder, judging by the haphazard way this book was put together.

The book might have rated higher if they had used a different narrator, like Steve West or Nicholas Boulton. Larkin suffers from problems that nag narrators with light female voices: how to differentiate female from male voices and from the narrator's voice? In Larkin's case, she uses a sickly sweet, breathy, singsong voice for the heroine which reinforces one’s estimation of the heroine as a naive nitwit. Additionally, she over dramatizes in the way some of the performers on BBC are seen to do, which gets progressively more annoying as one trudges through the interminable 20 hrs of narration even at 1.5x the normal speed.

Loved the first 3, this one I couldn't finish

I loved the first 3 books in this series including one I read on audio, but getting through this audiobook was torture. I DNF'ed at 60%. The plot is confusing and so much hinges on Zenobia's attachment to these letters from her brother, it's just hard to believe. Also I am not investing 20 hours into the audiobook. Why so long? And lord save me from more deflowering scenes, I just can't.