Commentary/review

The Book of the Ancestor trilogy is set in the same universe as the Book of The Ice series by Mark Lawrence, only about 100 years later.

This series is in several ways more coherent and satisfying than the Book of the Ice. It is also shorter. One of the oddities of Mark Lawrence’s writing are lengthy descriptions of battles. They tend to dominate the books in a similar way that explosive, decorative fights sometimes dominate Japanese anime. However, this oddity is mercifully almost absent from the Book of the Ancestor trilogy.

This trilogy presents characters which are more integral if compared to some other writings by that author. The plot develops at a fast pace, yet the speed does not harm the integrity of any of the characters, nor does it affect any awaiting mystery or other effects of surprise. The trilogy is inclusive for the LGBTQ+ community and fairly represents skills, wisdom and ambition of women. As usual with Mark Lawrence’s creations, the story is provided with a neat closure. This may be the best work by Mark Lawrence I have read until this review.

The performance by Helen Duff I cannot praise enough. Her style of narration is so mature, elegant and pleasant to behold that she adds a layer of luxury to the performance. She makes the characters come alive, grow and develop. She is very easy to listen to. Her impressions are consistent and creative. She keeps the right pace and entirely concentrates on the plot.

A highly recommendable fantasy trilogy.

The golden principle of trilogy audiobook covers, as we know, is an almost complete mismatch. This production is true to that principle. It provides two types of font and the grand total of three styles of images. Only the third part contains quoted praises and none of the covers shows an entirely balanced, attractive image. The first cover is by far the prettiest one but only the third one is clear about the fantasy content of the books. This confusing collection is slightly disappointing, given how good the audiobooks are.

Cover Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash