Red Sister (Book of the Ancestor #1)

An excellent offering from Mark Lawrence, one in which he departs from the brooding grimdark tone of the broken empire setting in favor of a lighter (though still dark) coming-of-age story about a young girl, Nona, with extraordinary abilities that she doesn\’t understand. The writing is consistently excellent, capturing the world of Abeth with wit and often colorful strokes of language. The middle section of the book drags slightly, but is punctuated with spurts of action to support the emotional character development that goes on between the girls. If anything, I enjoyed the book even more because of the middle third\’s more relaxed pace and emphasis on the daily lives of the young novices contrasts nicely with quick beginning and dramatic ending of the story. As for the narrator, don\’t listen to the people who say she ruined the book. The narration fits perfectly in tone and delivery. Each main character has a distinct voice and mannerisms. The narrator\’s performance of Nona deserved much praise, and I adored her Irish accent. As anyone who listens to a lot of fantasy audiobooks can tell you, the generic male British narrator gets old, and Heather O\’Neil\’s colorful performance enhances the text and makes it vastly more memorable. Overall, I would highly recommend this audiobook. Engaging and well-performed, the story of the Sweet Mercy Convent will stick with you long after the final line is delivered. 9/10

Red Sister is a fun read, not too dark but certainly not PG either. The setting is rather unique, I\’m definitely intrigued and can\’t wait to see where it goes. I don\’t like to give too much away about plot but I will mention one thing that I appreciated. Our hero is no Mary Sue. She is nonetheless deadly and rather awesome. Lawrence did a great job of finding that balance. I was really impressed with Heather O\’Neil as a narrator. Along with a nice reading voice she used distinct but believable voices for each character. I really hope to hear much more of her work!

Ill start by saying Ive read a literal ton of books and I almost never leave reviews. I loved the hell out of this book! Well, I love all of his books, but still! I think this was by far the best writing he\’s done yet and I can\’t wait to see what unfolds in the next ones. It\’s reminiscent of both Blood Song and Name of the Wind, but only in that it\’s a framed narrative and the warrior-monk coming of age bit. It\’s still very much it\’s own story with a very unique world whose people seem to have a rich history. Subtly post-apocalyptic, concise yet poetic prose, and an interesting yet mysterious (even to the reader who\’s in her head) main character; this book is a winner. 100%

I usually don\’t leave a review but this book was just so awful that I had to say something. The story is so incredibly boring that I forced myself to keep listening. It opens and ends OK but the majority of it is a huge letdown. We spend 80% of the book hearing about Nona\’s training which is very repetitive. Great narration but an awful book.

This book had such good reviews that I picked it up during the Black Friday sale. Unfortunately, I found the majority of the book quite dull and hard to get through. The only part of the book that I really got into was maybe the last two hours. Even still, the death of characters didn’t resonate with me at all. I wasn’t sad, just ready to move on. Some reviews I read put this on par with the Kingkiller Chronicles. Having completed the book, I find the comparison to be offensive. This isn’t even in the same arena. Other reviews said that the all female cast might have made men a bit out of touch with the characters, but I disagree. I’m a woman and I felt out of touch with the characters. I think it is just the writing. I’m looking forward to getting to a new book that will, hopefully, leave me feeling much more satisfied with my experience. Finishing a book should never feel like a chore, but this one was for me. I’m glad other enjoyed it; however, that love does not transcend to all readers. If you buy it, I hope you enjoy it. I won’t be terribly surprised if you don’t though.

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