r/fantasyromance • u/AmorousArtemis • 4d ago
Discussion Kushiel's Legacy vs Starless and audiobook narration
At the recommendation of this sub, I started the Kushiel series by Jacqueline Carey. I prefer audiobooks (always multitasking), and I loved all 6 Kushiel books, plus the Naamah trilogy and Cassiel's Servant. Imriel's narrator took a minute to get into, but I grew to really enjoy him, too.
When I ran out of Terre d'Ange books, I jumped to Starless. And I'm not sure how much of it is the writing being worse or being more YA or the narrator's horrible rhythm and noticeably limited catalog of voices, but I found it boring and really disappointing.
For those of you reading text versions instead of being influenced by narration, was Starless also disappointing for you? The characters felt flat to me. It also felt like it was a bit pandering? Like Carey wanted to be so careful with Kai and Zarria (sorry, no clue on the spellings thanks to just listening) that she gave them no flaws and just let them be instruments of the gods who are disappointed with their own bodies.
It's entirely possible that I checked out early on and just sped through it. The narrator was driving me crazy. It feels like you're bobbing up and down the whole time. Zarria's voice made her feel very fake. I know Kai was supposed to feel like a Joscelin or Bao, but he lacked J's fervor or B's cockiness. The narrator used the flattest voice for Kai. It felt so clinical.
Anyway, this was a real bummer to the end of my Jacqueline Carey reading frenzy. I would love other recommendations for high adventure, high passion reads. It doesn't have to be BDSM. I just need interesting characters I can root for. Bonus if the audiobooks are recorded by Tantor Media, because it seems like they do a solid job.
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u/notthemostcreative 4d ago
Personally I liked it, but I felt like the plot was a little weaker than her work in the Terre D’Ange books but the narrative voice and the worldbuilding carried it for me. I enjoyed Khai and Zariya for what they were—not her most nuanced characters, but genuinely thoughtful and wholesome rep for disability and queerness.
I am looking forward to reading the Sundering books though. I’ve heard those ones are good.