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A review by jenbsbooks
The Lost Sentinel by Suzanne Rogerson
3.0
3.5 stars. I liked this, but I was also ready to be done, and I'm not sure I'll continue on with the series. I read tons of fantasy and books with unique settings, but here I struggled just a bit to understand Kalaya, and there were SO many characters. Each chapter seemed to shift focus from one set of characters to another (all third person but definitely getting into separate POVs). I was listening to the audiobook (which I received for free in exchange for an honest review) and these shifts were quite confusing, because there was NO pause or any indication of a scene shift. The text is available in Kindle Unlimited, so I checked out the Kindle copy to just peek and review when I got a little lost with the narration. I noticed in the text, there was a **** to give readers a visual that the storyline was shifting. The audio needed something there. Just a longer pause, or perhaps a small sound effect.
Because ... holy sound effects! And um, no, just no. They didn't work here and the audiobook would have been much better without them (that's my opinion anyway). I could just picture the narrator and a sound editor with a keyboard of sounds "Gavin heard a baby cry" (narration stops for a moment and we hear the baby cry), "the sounds of gulls overhead ...." insert sounds of gulls and so on ... water lapping, horse hooves clomping, swords clashing, cries of terror. I'd start to relax into the narration and the suddenly SOUNDS would startle me so. My mind would be saying "please, please, let the sounds be over". The narrator was really good, I loved his accent. I hated the sounds.
Lots of fantasy books like this with a created kingdom and lands have seemed to include a map (which wouldn't have helped with the audiobook version, but I checked the Kindle copy, but no map). I would have liked that here, to better understand Kalaya and the different locations mentioned.
There seemed to be three main storylines - Tei is the main character, the story starts with her and her storyline dominates. Garrick and Rike are with her most of the time. Then there is Brogen, he and the "assembly" and farmers/masked riders storylines. Then there is Farrell, outside of Kalaya, trying to find the island (but it's hidden by magic, by the Sentinel).
I liked the characters, and was interested in where the story was going. I was sad when some characters didn't make it out unscathed ... I peeked at the blurbs for the next books in the series. The trilogy is included in Kindle Unlimited. We'll see if it makes it onto my "to read" list.
Because ... holy sound effects! And um, no, just no. They didn't work here and the audiobook would have been much better without them (that's my opinion anyway). I could just picture the narrator and a sound editor with a keyboard of sounds "Gavin heard a baby cry" (narration stops for a moment and we hear the baby cry), "the sounds of gulls overhead ...." insert sounds of gulls and so on ... water lapping, horse hooves clomping, swords clashing, cries of terror. I'd start to relax into the narration and the suddenly SOUNDS would startle me so. My mind would be saying "please, please, let the sounds be over". The narrator was really good, I loved his accent. I hated the sounds.
Lots of fantasy books like this with a created kingdom and lands have seemed to include a map (which wouldn't have helped with the audiobook version, but I checked the Kindle copy, but no map). I would have liked that here, to better understand Kalaya and the different locations mentioned.
There seemed to be three main storylines - Tei is the main character, the story starts with her and her storyline dominates. Garrick and Rike are with her most of the time. Then there is Brogen, he and the "assembly" and farmers/masked riders storylines. Then there is Farrell, outside of Kalaya, trying to find the island (but it's hidden by magic, by the Sentinel).
I liked the characters, and was interested in where the story was going. I was sad when some characters didn't make it out unscathed ... I peeked at the blurbs for the next books in the series. The trilogy is included in Kindle Unlimited. We'll see if it makes it onto my "to read" list.