The Night of the Swarm (The Chathrand Voyage #4) DNF@7%

23619b6d39aad8420a89395f4e4621d9This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.com & Bookstooge’s Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission.

 

 

 

Title: The Night of the Swarm

Series: The Chathrand Voyage

Author: Robert Redick

Rating: 1 of 5 Stars

Genre: SFF

Pages: DNF

Format: Kindle digital edition

 

My Thoughts:

I have not been a fan of this series but I did want to know how things ended.

However, at the 7% mark, Ott [a character who is a spy master and has helped set up the events for the whole series] takes down one of the few non-hateable characters, has his henchmen hold him down with a pillow over his face. Ott proceeds to slice up the other character with non-lethal but very painful cuts AND then proceeds to piss all over the guy, in front of the command structure [and everyone there] on the ship.

I don’t want that kind of filth in my entertainment.

The River of Shadows (The Chathrand Voyage #3)

0800b35b37fd0125807fa9db9759b3eeThis review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot. wordpress.leafmarks.com & Bookstooge’s Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission.

 

 

 

 

Title: The River of Shadows

Series: The Chathrand Voyage

Author: Robert Redick

Rating: 2 of 5 Stars

Genre: SFF

Pages: 593

Format: Kindle

 

Synopsis:

The crew of the Chathrand are pretty much captured, lots of things happen, Arunis pretty much wins even while being killed.

 

My Thoughts:

You know what? I like the overall story. But I can’t stand the palpable despair and hopelessness that permeates every action, every thought of every character.

It seems like they are racing ahead of a tsunami, once step ahead of being completely swept away.

I am not a fan of hopelessness.

The Ruling Sea (The Chathrand Voyage #2)

 781e7d8a5d215330e6994dcf96cb0e21This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot. wordpress.leafmarks.com & Bookstooge’s Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission.

 

 

 

Title: The Ruling Sea
Series: The Chathrand Voyage
Author: Robert Redick
Rating: 3  of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 641
Format: Kindle

 

Synopsis:

The Wolf group make the final sacrifice to stop the marriage and the false prophecy.

Only to fail beyond belief.

Now they must continue the battle, on the Chathrand. The Chathrand is on a voyage but their destination won’t be quite what anybody planned.

 

My Thoughts:

This was sad and depressing and not in a good way. The Wolf group fall from one barely contained catastrophe into another. They don’t have chance to get ahead, to plan, to figure out just what is going on. They are strictly reactive.

This was like watching someone being pushed down a long staircase and then applauding because they didn’t break their neck.

I thought about stopping this book, this series. However, I am going to try the next book but will be ready to DNF it quick as a wink

The Red Wolf Conspiracy (The Chathrand Voyage #1)

azure_f6c05a7859e1dbf705e3c96285b6bf86This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot. wordpress.leafmarks.com & Bookstooge’s Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission.

Title: The Red Wolf Conspiracy

Series: The Chathrand Voyage

Author: Robert Redick

Rating: 3.5 of 5 Battle Axes

Genre: SFF

Pages: 466

Format: Kindle

 

Synopsis:

The greatest ship still in existence, The Chathrand, is making a historic voyage. It is carrying an Ambassador’s Daughter who will be wed to a Prince, hence signalling the beginning of a long peace between two Mighty Empires.

But Empires are rife with corruption and full of the corruptible.

This is not a voyage of Peace, for both Empires are planning treachery. This is not a voyage of Peace, for others are planning to use it to bring back some of the mightiest and evilest power ever known to Man.

 

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this. That was a surprise because I had thought this was going to be about anthropomorphized cats [Chathrand just sounds Cat’y to me and when you’ve read as much SFF as I have, sometimes words have a “ring” to them that lead you to believe something about them] and it was very evident from the start that that was not the case. So my expectations were dashed from page 1.

This was an adventure story filled with magic, Awakened animals, the Littles and derring-do. It was great.

However, I found that not a single main character was good enough for me to want to care about. If any of them had died and the plot had proceeded, I would have been just fine with that. It wasn’t that they were horrible people, not by any means but they never caught me by the nethers and held on.  You know how sometimes you just connect with some people? And then there are the times that you don’t? I’ve had times where everything seemed perfect with somebody else but that spark wasn’t there and things just kind of wound down. That’s how it was with these main characters.

To be honest though, I don’t expect to connect to characters in every book I read. It is nice when it happens, but I do have my Man Card to think about and sometimes some good old fashioned violence and action are much more necessary. Such was this book.

I am looking forward to reading this completed [HURRAY!] series.