City Of Light

by Darren Deegan, Stevie Marie (Narrator)

Young adult fantasy adventure based on the author's love of Celtic mythology. Ideal for readers who love Taran Matharu, and Sarah J. Maas. The story follows a young woman, Selene, who, along with her band of thieves, collides with a mysterious immortal race. Together they work to subvert a plot that would see the kingdom enslaved.

In the bustling city of Eitane, where wealth and opportunity await all those who seek it, Selene sets out with the Thieves Guild on a daring heist. Good or bad, they do not know, but together they believe they can achieve anything. That is, until one of them is taken. In the quest to track the kidnappers, Selene and her chosen family of thieves, realise their hunt leads down a far more treacherous path. A path which leads Selene to discover something about herself that she could not imagine. Darkness is cast over the kingdom of Emeer. An ancient evil approaches. With venerable alliances forsaken, the lands are no longer safe.
Can fate draw together an unlikely group of heroes to save the kingdom?

Genres: Audiobook, Fantasy

277 pages, Audible Audio

Published March 17, 2023

About the author

Born and raised in the heart of Dublin, where I fell in love with the written word as it kept me in doors and out of the trouble that went on all around me.

My grandfather was a great writer, and I while I would love to say he lovingly nurtured a talent he saw in me, it would be nothing more than a romanticised memory. My grandfather set me to writing to get me out of his hair so he could continue his own writing in peace (yes, I was that annoying as a child).

Whatever the case, he did set me on this path, and from a young age, I've crafted stories from a hundred words to novels. The vast majority of which have been fantasy, as it has always captured my overactive imagination.

I've now left the inner city for the King's county, where I raise ducks, grow organic veg, and live with my partner and two beautiful daughters.

Reviews

[Abigail Mohn · Rating 2 out of 5]

*This book was given to me by Voracious Readers Only in exchange for an honest review*

~1.5 stars, rounding up to two after further thought

Probably 75% of the problems with this book could have been solved with an at least semi-competent editor. The run-on sentences and grammar/punctuation errors drove me crazy within the first ten pages. I am by no means an expert editor whatsoever, but I found myself just wanting to go into the document and edit it.

The plot was pretty cookie-cutter fantasy, along with the characters, but I felt like it probably would have been a 2.5/3 star read if it weren’t for the grammatical errors. It definitely picked up in the last half, one of the reasons why I was actually able to finish it, and I will admit some of the fight scenes were entertaining. It suffered from a minor case of man-writing-woman disease as well, with some descriptions of female characters that made me laugh out loud.

And not that it doesn’t have potential- it has a lot of potential, which was one of the reasons why it was so disappointing. I just feel like one good editor could have brought the quality of this book up tenfold, but right now the unprofessionalism distracted from whatever merit the story itself had.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was sent to me by Voracious Readers Only

Perfect for fans of booktok YA fantasy novels such as The Grishaverse and novels by SJM

This book follows Selene an orphan girl who’s parents died when she was very young. She was forced to accept a life in the streets struggling to survive. She was then found by Gareth, her now boyfriend, who works in the thieves gild and was later taken in by her family friend, Molly. He trained her to protect herself and she now works with the thieves gild.

When children start going missing as well as one of her friends, this gang of thieves is determined to find them as the royal guards do nothing to save these children.

This is a fantastic fantasy novel with epic fights, magic and also show the importance of your friends helping you to survive.

[Sarah Condron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved City of Light. It's a well written, fast paced fantasy novel full of action and intrigue. From the outset I felt engaged with the main characters and felt myself rooting for them as the story progressed. There are elements of Celtic mythology interwoven throughout the story which I found interesting as I'm Irish and have forgotten some of the stories I learned as a kid. I'm really looking forward to the next in the series as I feel like this is only the beginning of a great saga.

[Kristjan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Performance: **

Loosely based on Irish Myth and Legend, the City of Light tells a story from two PoV; a young girl on the wrong side of the tracks and a government stooge that allows the reader to “check-in” with the rulers of the city. The narration/performance was fair if somewhat choppy. The narrator struggled a lot with male character voices and the fits and starts tempo highlighted an odd emphasis now and again. Still, she managed to avoid the breathy wonder voice and up tick lilt at the end of each sentence that drives me nuts … so over all I could still enjoy the experience. The story itself was mostly teen drama … taking nearly half the book before it actually got interesting with some action (it took that long to get to the main plot hook of a heist gone wrong). There is an undercurrent of kidnapped children that was barely explained in the second half encounters and of course there are several anticipated reveals with few surprises. Over all that makes it an average fantasy for me with a sub-par narration.

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

#CityOfLight #TheZinSeries #FreeAudiobookCodes

[Susan May · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another new author I found in my library. I definately would like to see more from this series. A well written story that has peeked my interest.
We meet a young woman, Selene from the busy city of Eitane. Selene has no family and along with her friends are trying to execute a robbery with The Thieves Guild during the parade on the kings birthday. They are also excellent fighters and skilled thieves. There has been a recent string of children being kidnapped in the city and when one of the group is taken, they vow to get him back. As they search they keep having interactions with some sort of mysterious race. Selene knows they aren't normal because of words spoken in a scuffle with one of them. As they search for answrs and missing children, Selene is cornered by the mysterious men and they intend to take her. She is saved by a strange woman and then Selene learns about her past, the reasons for the kidnapping and the magic that she herself holds within.
Simply an intriguing read.

[S · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook version and it was an interesting listen. I enjoyed the story and the hope that Selene will see a brighter future in the next book. The time set in this story would probably be similar to the medieval times in Europe. The story was intriguing and I was interested enough to want to add the others to a list. There is minor language and a bit of sexual content but nothing is explicit so a teen would probably not understand much of it unless they had personal experience. Stevie Marie's use of different accents in her voice made the characters come to life in a way that I could visualize a cockney or hilt to the different people.

[Shell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for a honest review

I really enjoyed this one, there was plenty of action, the characters were well developed and intriguing, I was hook from the first page to the last

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Selene and her band of thieves try to save the land. Magic, strange immortals and danger to keep you intrigued. Awesome story made better by the Narrator.

[Amber K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting characters and storyline that had plenty of action. Overall I liked the story but did not care for the narration on this audiobook.