Alina Starkov has always been of little importance. She was raised in an orphanage with her best friend Mal, and the two of them joined the army together: Alina as a mapmaker and Mal as a tracker. But where he has always been amazing (he can find anything even when it appears to most as if there are no tracks), she has always been someone who appeared merely average, nothing special. At least until their entire group was almost killed in the Fold. (An area of total darkness that tears the country of Ravka in two.) It is almost impossible to cross the Fold without attracting the attention of creatures that live within the darkness. The Greshia possess abilities that help them fight against these creatures, and sometimes they succeed, sometimes less so. And when Mal and Alina are sure to be killed within the Fold, abilities that Alina didn’t know she possessed awaken. She is a sun summoner, and her light can chase the darkness away, hurting the creatures of darkness trapped in the Fold. But Alina is an untrained Gresia, and has no control over power she didn’t know she had. How can one girl become the savior of the entire world?
I listened to the audiobook edition of this book after having watched the two seasons available on Netflix. There is no season three and season two, while it ties up the story begun in season one very nicely, also leaves you hanging on what was meant to happen in season three, So I bought the audiobook through audible to listen to while I exercise. The story in book one (this book) is very similar to the Netflix season one episodes with only very few changes to the story. (I would guess those changes were made in the video production for added visual effect that you wouldn’t really see from the book, and adds to some of the horror of what happens to Alina and Mal on their journey.
In the audiobook version, the voices of each character are very distinct from each other. The narrator did a fantastic job narrating this book. And while I knew what was going to happen from having watched the Netflix version, I still very much enjoyed listening to this book. There were some slight differences in the book from the show, and I think I preferred the book version, though as I mentioned above, I can very much understand why those changes were made in the Netflix series.
Overall, this is a story that I would gladly recommend for anyone who enjoys fantasy, magic abilities, pre-industrial war stories, friends to lovers stories, romantic problems, and found family. All in all, there is a little of something for almost anyone in this book, so I would definitely suggest giving it a try, whether you chose to read it yourself, listen to the audiobook version, or even just watch the series on Netflix. (Though with no season three planned, you’ll likely need to read book 3 to find out what happens after the dramatic cliffhanger at the end of season two.)
https://amzn.to/3MWHu9y (Amazon link)
https://books2read.com/u/b56jAO (Books2Read link to other vendors)
Amazon requires me to state that I have an Amazon Associates account that I use to generate the links to the books on their website. Purchasing something after following those links will earn a few pennies for me off the sale, though as of yet I have not earned anything from my Amazon Associate links.
No comments:
Post a Comment