Audiobook Review: The Skull Throne by Peter V. Brett and Crafty Things...

Series: Demon Cycle #4
Narrated by: Pete Bradbury
Unabridged
25 hrs. 14 min.
Publisher: Recorded Books
Published: 3/31/15
Source: LibraryThing Early Reviewers

The Skull Throne of Krasia stands empty. 

Built from the skulls of fallen generals and demon princes, it is a seat of honor and ancient, powerful magic, keeping the demon corelings at bay. From atop the throne, Ahmann Jardir was meant to conquer the known world, forging its isolated peoples into a unified army to rise up and end the demon war once and for all. 

But Arlen Bales, the Warded Man, stood against this course, challenging Jardir to a duel he could not in honor refuse. Rather than risk defeat, Arlen cast them both from a precipice, leaving the world without a savior, and opening a struggle for succession that threatens to tear the Free Cities of Thesa apart. 

In the south, Inevera, Jardir’s first wife, must find a way to keep their sons from killing each other and plunging their people into civil war as they strive for glory enough to make a claim on the throne. 

In the north, Leesha Paper and Rojer Inn struggle to forge an alliance between the duchies of Angiers and Miln against the Krasians before it is too late. 

Caught in the crossfire is the duchy of Lakton—rich and unprotected, ripe for conquest.
All the while, the corelings have been growing stronger, and without Arlen and Jardir there may be none strong enough to stop them. Only Renna Bales may know more about the fate of the missing men, but she, too, has disappeared. . .

My thoughts:

25 hrs. Yes, 25 hours and 20 disks with this book. Like the other books I wondered if it would have been better to actually make this into a few books. Ones where other characters get to shine and we get to know them better. We do this here but it is in the middle of what we want to know. In fact there are at least 4 separate stories here and you could even distill that down further.

As I was frustrated with the last book, my frustration didn't end here. I thought I would be getting more Arlen, Jardir, and Renna's adventure. I did but not much of it. Or it felt like it wasn't much. I can tell you that my frustrations were put off by the audiobook. The narration by Pete Bradbury was excellent and kept my interest through the frustration. My only complaint with the audio is that there were too many lengthy pauses. In other words, the pauses were just a bit too long. Other than that (and granted it probably wasn't the narrator but the director's fault), I would recommend this narrator to anyone. He really kept me in the book for the whole duration.

The book seemed to be a solid 3 for me for almost all of it. I was never sold on Leesha's new romance but I did love Rojer's storyline. I did like going back to know more of the secondary characters but still, I would have liked it in it's own separate book. The end, however, changed all of that for me. A character died that would have kept me in the book and when we FINALLY got back to Arlen, Jardir and Renna... the book ends. No cliffie since you fell off that cliff and then realized it was the end of the road. Only kind of ending I hate more than a cliffie (although you can technically call it that, but you know there is a cliff hanger not just a feeling of... "wait a minute!" *sigh*). So, I give this book 2 1/2 stars. The audio was interesting but I'm not sure if I will continue this one. And this comes from someone who wants to know the storyline where the book ended.

I thought I'd try something a bit different. Since I said in this post that I like to craft when I listen to audiobooks. I made these bags when I was crafting to this audio.

The Butterfly Sling by Emmaline Patterns (and I started another one)

Reusable Grocery Bag by Two Pretty Poppets

Happy listening and crafting! :D