The Map of Bones

By: Francesca Haig

Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang

Length: 13 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Book two in the critically acclaimed The Fire Sermon trilogy - The Hunger Games meets Cormac McCarthy's The Road in this richly imagined postapocalyptic series by award-winning poet Francesca Haig.

Four hundred years in the future, the Earth has turned primitive following a nuclear fire that has laid waste to civilization and nature. Though the radiation fallout has ended, for some unknowable reason every person is born with a twin. Of each pair, one is an Alpha, physically perfect in every way, and the other an Omega, burdened with deformity, small or large. With the Council ruling an apartheid-like society, Omegas are branded and ostracized while the Alphas have gathered the world's sparse resources for themselves. Though proclaiming their superiority, for all their effort, Alphas cannot escape one harsh fact: Whenever one twin dies, so does the other.

Cass is a rare Omega, one burdened with psychic foresight. While her twin, Zach, gains power on the Alpha Council, she dares to dream the most dangerous dream of all: equality. For daring to envision a world in which Alphas and Omegas live side by side as equals, both the Council and the Resistance have her in their sights.

©2016 De Tores Ltd (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

A sequel You can't put down

What made the experience of listening to The Map of Bones the most enjoyable?

Having not listened to the previous book in over 6 months, I enjoyed the summary information in the beginning. Cass is a ego-centric character. As Zoe & Piper begin to evolve and the plot thinkers, you become hooked. The performance by Laura Fortgang was excellent, and pacing keeps you invested in the story.i could not put down the 2nd half of the novel!

What other book might you compare The Map of Bones to and why?

This series falls somewhere between the Hunger Games & the Divergent series. (Closer to Alegent & Insergemt for dentils and back story.

Which character – as performed by Lauren Fortgang – was your favorite?

Zoe is so complex, and modern.

Any additional comments?

Excellent series. The Amazon reviews are dull and inaccurate. The story is complex, but just as good as the Fire Sermon. Many of your questions from the first novel get answered. Can't wait for Mrs. Haig to publish the final installment.

Best narrator ever!!!

Lauren Fortgang is an exceptional narrator. She is truly talented in what she does. She has the ability to have so many different characters and just when you think she couldn't come up with a new voice she does. You really forget that it's just one narrator. Loved the story, can't wait for the third book!

liked it

This story was entertaining enough but some of the details were too detailed. Some of the temper tantrums and whining by the main character made me think she was a hopeless complainer and overly emotional. n

All in all, the story kept me entertained enough to finish it. And, if there is another book in the series I will listen to it, if only to see how it ends...

Better than the the Fire Sermon

... In both story and performance. I will admit I struggled through the first one with no intention of reading the second but after doing so I am glad that I did. The reader did much better in this book than she did in the first one but she is still not my favorite. I probably would avoid the audible version of a new series with the same reader. That being said she did pretty good this time with only the hint of the nasally whine from the first. It may be the book itself lending toward the reoccurring whiny monologue from the main character, who believe it or not is still my least favorite character in the book. The author did manage to flesh the characters out a bit more which was interesting. I like the idea of the story and I will probably read the third which I fear only can end with tragedy (although who knows maybe Haig can surprise me?)

Alpha and Omega, the saga continues

The Map of Bones is book 2 in the Fire Sermon trilogy by Francesca Haig. This is not a stand-alone book, you must read book 1, The Fire Sermon, first to understand what happened in the before and the fantastical effects it had on the future inhabitants of Earth, 400 years in the future. Many questions I had after book 1 were answered in book 2, which made me happy, but of course, it’s a trilogy, so book 2 brings about even more questions. So, if you haven’t read The Map of Bones yet, don’t read further into my review. I will try to limit any spoilers as much as I can.

The Map of Bones continues the story of Cass, a very rare Omega, one who can see what may happen in the future, although it’s not quite clear at times, and trying to figure it out is frustrating. Her twin Zach is an Alpha who has weaseled his way into power on the Alpha council and is intent on tanking Cass so that he can ensure a long and prosperous life, without worry that what happens to Cass will happen to him. We learn more about the characters Zoe and Piper and see them evolve throughout this book. I felt closer to Zoe as the book went along, more so than I did Cass in book 1.

The character development was good as was the additional world-building. We get to see more of their world and the sadness and heartache it brought out in me was amazing. I felt the full range of emotions, happiness for Cass and the friends she has made, hatred for the council and what they have done and are wanting to do, and sadness at the unnecessary loss of life. It’s rare for a story to bring out such strong emotions in me, so this is saying something. There are many twists, turns, and unexpected abrupt endings in The Map of Bones that I think many will thoroughly enjoy it.

The narrator, Lauren Fortgang is my top narrator, I will gravitate to books that are narrated by her, even when it’s not my normal genre; she just has a voice that changes with each character and drags me into the story. She doesn’t “read” the story, she becomes the story, and I often forget I’m listening to an audiobook, she keeps me engaged, wondering what is going to happen next.

Just a tip for those who said they had difficulty understanding Lauren at times because she puts the story into her voice so if the characters are whispering, she whispers too, if they are angry, her tone is too, which I find amazingly wonderful, listen using earbuds or headphones that have noise canceling capability, it’s SO much better when the outside world is removed and all you hear is the story, that’s when you can really meld with it.

My final recommendation is…. what the heck are you waiting for, listen to it already (or read it if you prefer), but hurry up, stop thinking, and just do it!

Great story, crummy voices

The story is compelling and really well written. The narrator is pleasant to listen to...until she does men’s voices. Good lord. It’s awful. It’s distracting enough to make me not want to keep listening.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book

if you plan to read this book I would suggest you read book one first pause. You will enjoy it much more after you've read the first one.

Exciting

Hanging out in Quarantine ..it’s been a great distraction ! Make sure you listen to all 3 books !

Loved the story / Struggled with the Narration

After the first book, I was very interested in the second. As for the story, it carried along quite well. I enjoyed it very much. The development was good and I felt it had a good balance of characters (the good, the bad, and the ugly). It included some surprise twists and turns and more than a couple jovial moments that actually strengthened the story.

HOWEVER, I was very frustrated with the narration. The volume was all over the map. Two primary reasons. First, the author had a consistent problem maintaining the volume level. So often, her sentences would trail off with the last few words being to soft to hear. After awhile, this became an annoying distraction. Second, there are times in the story where a character is whispering. Great. I get it. They are whispering. It's part of the story. However. the narrator should never whisper. Perhaps change the tone of your voice, but never whisper. Every time she whispered, I found that I had to rewind, turn up the volume to full, listen again, and then turn down the volume. I was surprised that they hadn't identified and addressed this before releasing.

THAT SAID... I felt the story was worth it. And, gratefully, this was MUCH improved in the third and final book (which was very good).

Recommendation? Go for it. The story is good enough to overcome the volume issue, which may not even bother some folks. I listen in my car, with lots of other noises around. Listening in a quite room may mitigate the issue entirely.

Decent book, doesn't reach potential

In this sequel to The Fire Sermon, Cass and Piper work to rebuild the resistance and stop the evil schemings of the council and her brother Zack.

For the most part this book is more of the same, keeps up a pretty good plot, and has some nice twists. There are also a few nice reveals regarding the people from before, and the people elsewhere. But Cass tends to get annoying as she only wants to do things her way and as soon as possible, rather than ever agreeing to group decisions. Zack has turned out to be a one-dimension villain with no depth or nuance, and questionable motivations. In fact, the big reveal of his ultimate goals makes little sense (nor is it really feasible with these people's grasp of technology). And he is just such an annoying character that I always wondering when Cass would take herself out to shut Zack up. Also slightly disappointing is a deux ex machina moment involving Zoe at the end. But overall its an entertaining story and makes you want to read the third book to see what happens to Zack. 

NOTE: I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.