/lit/ - Literature

Tried Sabriel, because one of you guys mentioned it a few threads back.
It was cute. I liked it. It was focused and didn't drag. A much appreciated thing, after reading 4 of Sanderson's massive tombs in a row. There was easy setups that had nice payoffs later. The book didn't bog you down with unnecessary information. It had no problem with just skipping boring parts and getting to the interesting stuff. Again, I appreciate the book not wasting my time, because so much fantasy spends time explaining concepts that it can never adequately pay off later. The structure felt like classic storytelling that you get back in the 80s or 90s. Both good and bad. The bad being the obligatory romance they just had to stuff in there. The romance happened far too swiftly. That much felt super forced.

The magic in the world felt different than anything else I've read so far. So that really helped me overlook a lot of the other cliches the book relied on. New ideas with likeable characters and good pacing can make me overlook a lot of things.

The Audiobook is read by Tim Curry. Who I was never very familiar with. He's always been just some old celebrity in my eyes. And kind of a meme one. But his performance is actually A tier. The guy really gets into character and gives dialogue emotion. They honestly couldn't have had a better man read the dialogue of a snarky cat familiar. It fit so well.
In comparison, the last book I read, The Shadow of the Gods, is narrated by Colin Mace. Who isn't bad really. But he has a very limited range. He can do a cold stern voice, and a whispery voice, but that's it. He completely fucks up the jovial banter, because he whispers over it. He always starts a passage stern, and ends it whispery, no matter the context. So I have to work harder to adjust the tone of the dialogue in my head.
But Tim Curry has the full range. You hear a smile in his voice when characters are happy. You hear anguish in his voice when characters are sad. You hear fear and strength, mania and solemnity, and all things.

So while the book isn't going to blow you away with its depth and complexity. It does have qualities that other fantasy authors can certainly learn a thing or two from. Structure and presentation go a loooong way.