The Seventeenth Year

The World Walker, Book 3

By: Ian W. Sainsbury

Narrated by: Todd Boyce

Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's Summary

What if every choice you ever made had the power to reshape reality?

Joni, the daughter of World Walker Seb Varden, has never met her father. And the world he left behind has become a dangerous place for the last generation of Manna users. Mee and John insist Seb will return, but what if they're wrong?

Could it be possible she has none of Seb Varden's powers? Or might her abilities reveal themselves as she leaves childhood behind? In her 17th year, Joni will be forced to leave those she loves, face a great evil, and finally learn the truth about her father.

©2017 Ian Sainsbury (P)2017 Audible, Ltd

This is awful. I toughed it out for 12 chapters.

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

This is awful. It is not interesting at all. after 12 chapters I gave up.

Would you ever listen to anything by Ian W. Sainsbury again?

No, It is that bad.

Not on par with prior two books

Sorry. Can't buy the story. Couldn't buy the evil villain. Too many deus ex machina solutions. I wish I'd stopped after the first two books.

A new beginning to an incredible story.

I enjoy this except of The World Walker. While this story is about Seb's daughter, Joni, it is still a thrilling ride that answers many questions and sets the stage for the next book. In this book Joni grows up becoming her own person supported by her mother, Mei and Uncle John; Sym is even there towards the end. I can't wait to hear about what comes next but I don't want to spoil anything for others so I will just say: I highly recommend this book and enjoyed the story contained within. It is a satisfying tale that keeps you engaged throughout and left wanting more!!

Too much time in the villains head.

What would have made The Seventeenth Year better?

The author spent too much time in the villains head. He's evil we get it, no need to drag it out. If Adam had some redeeming qualities that made you sympathize with him I could understand it. But as written the Adam point of view portions of the book were boring and predictable and made me want to quit listening a couple times.

What character would you cut from The Seventeenth Year?

I wouldn't cut any characters but I would have trimmed Adam's part.

Disappointing

I was really looking forward to this book, but I found it painful for at least the first half, and I was totally underwhelmed about the end. It's almost as if the author felt forced to throw something together and couldn't quite make it as interesting and well-developed as the previous books. It also went to the next level in some gory scenes that were a little bit much. (Sorry, I know a lot of work goes into writing a book and continuing a story :( )

It may be worth noting, I always thought Mia was an irritating character. If you liked her, then you may like this better than I did.

The weakest of them all, but still entertaining!

I've read all 4 books and I'm writing one review for them all with the hope to help you decide if it is worth listening them. My first impression is that it sound a lot like a tale (fairy tale if you wish). It is not such, but it does sound like one. It grabs you from the beginning, very original start. You might experience memories from your childhood while listening this book (the whole series actually), which was a great feeling for me and hopefully for you too. The author makes a wonderful job extending the story in a way that you don't get bored by useless character building. The character building happens while the story develops - the author takes a short chapters to show you something in the past and that's how it happens. Most of the times those short chapters in the past are accompanied with nice story, so even that is not boring.

The narrator - super, amazing job... I'm simply speech less. I can't imagine anyone better for this job. I'm big fan of R.C. Bray, but I think even he can't make that good narration of the book. I'd say he is half of the pleasure you get while listening the book. The main reason - he reads the book as a story-tale.

As for the story - you might think it is a sci-fi, then a fantasy.. then a mixture.. and the truth could be somewhere in between.. who knows :) But it is an original story and it is entertaining.

Now about each book:

The World Walker - 9 out of 10 - great beginning of the series.
The Unmaking Engine - 10 out of 10 - simply amazing, probably the best book of them all.
The Seventeenth Year - 7 out of 10 - now that's a problem. If you are pretty young, you will probably give it 10/10, but I'm nearly 40 and it did sound a lot like teenage action. Also too much love. Basically I think this was the weakest book of them all, but still interesting enough. You better don't skip it or you will regret :)
The Unnamed Way - 9 out of 10 - back in business again! All goodies are back again.. there's again a bit more love/romance then needed and a little flat end, but the end is just 1-2 chapters, while all the rest was very entertaining. The story prior the end was very interesting and the end itself was expected and nothing spectacular.

The author has a great potential. I see these are his first books. He has a great writing skills, very captivate style. I just wish he does a bit less distraction.. lets say 10-20% less would make his books even more interesting. But even with this I definitely put this author is my personal top 3 and I'm very keen on reading/listening more books by Ian W. Sainsbury !

Man, that was some tasty storytelling

Imo this is the best of the bunch... A tight, well paced, and intriguing sf/fantasy, coming of age type, thriller... The writing is impressive... Delightfully intricate plotting, and replotting, w/o confusing the storyline... The reset drives action, and emphasizes consequences... Little bit of ssocial commentary of a topical nature, lightly and perceptively done... Excellent characters and relationships... Great bad guy, and loved the way AI is proposed, and what that makes Sim... I was engrossed thoroughly, and awed by the storytelling skill displayed... Couldn't put it down...

Gets you from the beginning

Just wow! another great book in the series! Todd did an amazing job of showcasing Joan's friggin power. Even though she is Sebb's daughter, she doesn't seem to have his powers.

While Joan's is on the run by some crazed lunatic, she shows she can wield her powers.

The gimmick was a poor one.

Any additional comments?

There could have been so much that could have happened in this instalment. The gimmick simply ate up reading/listening time. The constant narrative recapping events to make sure the reader was still with the twists was a bit much. Then again the repeating of events to other characters over and over again so that the characters were up to date was yet another layer of retelling.

I think the gimmick could have been used more effectively. The potential capabilities that were simply left on the table and not explored hurt the plot and made the story much blander than previous instalments.

( It's hard not giving spoilers. )

Great Fiction

I fully enjoyed this book in every way. I love the characters I love the build up of the characters I wait till the end of the book to find out the answers to the questions of the book leaves. I’m looking forward to the next book hoping for final answers.

Disappointed

What disappointed you about The Seventeenth Year?

I was looking forward to seb vardens story not his daughter.

Any additional comments?

Even though its his daughter it's still a totaly new character. and its not continuing seb's story which i was looking forward to.

A gory but exciting next chapter

Definitely the best book in the series so far. I really enjoyed this listen. Just be aware that this book is a lot more graphically violent than the first two. I listen to it while I'm walking my dog and the faces and grimaces I must pull while walking him listening to this must be a picture! Looking forward to the next book!

Love this series

Enjoyed this one more than the second. off to listen to the fourth. Perfect easy listening.

run of the mill story, good for passing time

as with the previous books in this series of the performance can detract from the story but not overly so. I have read many stories and find myself thinking "oh that's just like in..." which makes the story feel like the author has mixed other books and media together to construct this story; it felt like Sim was based off of Lobsang from the long earth, and that Joanie's ability was straight out of Prince of Persia the sands of time. also Adam seemed to be a straight up rip off of agent 47 from the hitman series.

Don't bother

The first book was good, second was ok, this was trash. This book contradicts the first in so many ways, it's painful.

Author ran out of story half way through

A bit disappointing after the first two books. This one began with promise but about halfway through the plotline just seem to stop. Seems like there was not enough story so he just waffled for a long time without making any progress at all.

Didn't bother to start

Returned without even starting as I gave up with the first book in the series.

took quiet a while to get into this one

seemed like a bit of a tangent to start with. took a while to get into the new characters. it was like a bit of a reset on the previous stories partly familiar and part new.

Great

It's been a while since I read the first 2 "World Walker" books. However, when I picked this up I found myself slipping right back into this amazing world. About to start book 4 now.

More action and story unfolding, but something...

... holds it back. I like these books, but I think the prose is trying too hard. The action is good and easy to follow the fights and gore while being entertaining. Keeps you drawn in however and the story line is well connected. On to the final book then...