The March of Magnus

The Spark City Cycle, Book 2

By: Robert J. Power

Narrated by: Euan Morton

Length: 26 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's Summary

He's lethal with a sword. She's deadly with her bow. But will it be enough in the coming war?

Erroh must return to Spark City to warn of the approaching army. Growing ever stronger, the reluctant warrior and his fierce companion must elude bandits and soldiers in a mad dash against time. 

Across the map his father, Magnus, rallies his troops to march for the first time in two decades as he seeks to avenge his son, presumed dead. But with unrest and injustice exploding within Spark City, and their foes marching towards its gates, they may already be too late.

©2020 Robert J. Power (P)2021 Podium Audio

I'll get through it because I'm invested now.

Where to begin... I don't want to spoil anything either. Let's put it like this, it's definitely not as good as the first one. Anyone who thinks that, needs a brain scan.
There were great parts and a lot of terrible parts, mediocre ones and bad ones. It is still very noticable sometimes that the narration is stitched together, I can live with it but it pulls me out of the story when it happens. In general, a lot of parts feel like a slog to get through, a lot of characters are also "supremely" dislikeable (and not in a good way). There's this kind of anti-male thread throughout the book as well. I realise this is a different world with different sensibilities but some things just do not make sense. Wynn and Liliam, for example. Not only was that inordinately boring but extremely unfair to Wynn and completely blown out of proportion.
There was definitely a similar kind of vibe in the first book but it was acknowledged as unfair by multiple characters and therefor dealt with. While here, Wynn gets the living hell beat out of him and he "deserves it"? For being a bit of a dick? Come on.
When Erroh received a similar kind of beating in the first book, he was justifiably pissed off.
Not too big of a matter, though it keeps coming back throughout the book and since it doesn't make sense, it sort of diminishes better parts.

Did I enjoy it?
Yes. And no. On the whole, I would say it's worth the buy because I do still love the world and most characters in it.

Narration.
Despite what I said earlier about audio being stitched together, Euan Morton is still a great choice. Though I found his performance somewhat lacking when compared to the first book. The audio also seemed like it was lower quality and Morton sounded somewhat ill throughout.

All in all,
I completed this book in 3 days time. Felt less involved. Was annoyed by incomprehensible decisions by characters and generally annoying characters. Still the Spark City cycle, still worth it. Will listen again when book 3 comes out.

I expect better in book 3. Thank you for the hard work.

Fantastic Book

The story was amazing! I always find that some of the best books will make the audience invested in the characters and this did just that. There were times where I was holding my breath to see what was going to happen next!

Overall a great read!

Let me just say I loved the first book and was excited for the second and it did not disappoint. My only complaint about the second book is that it’s not as good as the first book in the series. Personally I think book 2 jumps around way too much when it comes to characters and the timeline. I don’t mind world building but when I find myself moving location and time and characters almost every single chapter it makes it hard to remain engaged. I think it needs to focus most on Erroh and Leah and stay there for most of the book like in book 1. Still a fantastic read tho

Book without joy or happiness

Maybe it's just the narrator, but even scenes that ought to be happy are imbued with a sense of despair and impending doom. So many of the main characters spend almost all the time agonizing about their romantic relationships, one minute extolling their love and the next moment screaming and hitting each other, or engaging in other sorts of emotional cruelty.

And, oh, the plot drags on and on. When I had 9 hours left on this book, I'd had enough. I just didn't care about any of the characters and the overall mood of the book had me dreading continuing.

better than the one before.

First book was pretty good second is even better if not the best.
best book so far this year. I look forward to the next book in this series as well as more 📚 from this author.

Just write the story.

I really wanted to like this book. I made it all the way to the end. But it wasn’t easy. I know it must be very hard to write a novel so I don’t want to throw shade on Mr. Power. I will give him a piece of advice from a lifetime of reading great books, though. Just write the story. Don’t fill space with triplet phrasing, conflicting internal dialogue, and repetitive language about violence, alpha, etc. just write the story. If it’s a good story, it’ll hold up. Only include words that establish settings and advance the plot. The rest just detracts from the experience and feels like page filler.

Too much background info

Such a struggle to enjoy. Too much introspection and reflection, too much back ground information, when getting back to story I forgot what was going on with characters. Voice actor was fine, says coffee really weird.

Literally couldn't get through it.

I've finished over 150 fantasy books on audible. This is the first one that was so bad I couldn't finish it.

Love the characters

Truly enjoyed the storyline and telling. The layered character relationships. Can’t wait for next installment. Am sad it’s over!

most depressing book ever

bleak, depressing. I was hoping for more after the 1st one. do not recommend it