“Birth of a Dynasty” First Impressions “No Spoilers”

[SFFBC, Ancillary Mod]

Come talk about your initial, general impressions!

Please save all discussion of particulars, details from the story, character choices, plot questions, etc. for the full spoilers thread.

Content warnings for those who want them: (view spoiler)[ Death of a child, death of a parent, slavery, domestic abuse, genocide, war, violence, bullying, gore, body horror (hide spoiler)]

User-submitted content warnings on Storygraph:
https://beta.thestorygraph.com/books/...

(More about CWs here.)

[Nicol]

I just started it and now at CH 14. I am loving it. I knew nothing about it, didn’t even read the synopsis. It drew me in from the beginning. I love fantasy but not always a huge fan of any genre about royals and political struggles but I am intrigued by both MCs so far.

[Sarah, The Unsettled]

I started today on audio and I am also loving it. The dynamic between two of these early characters is so fun. It has a classic fantasy feel with its own unique flavor.

I also love the way the story is being told. Excited to keep going in.

[Michael]

Started listening to the audio book yesterday, and it really pulls you in fairly quickly. It feels like it could be shaping up to be an enjoyable read.

[Becky]

I started this yesterday for my nightly walk listen... and I'm just not a fan of Adenrele Ojo as an audiobook reader. I always want to try her, because I'm sure that one day something will work for me, but I usually end up focusing more on WHY she's reading something the way she is than WHAT she's reading. So I am switching to the ebook.

But in this case, maybe it's the book, too. I'm 20% in, and... it's fine? It reads very young to me, like YA or even teen. Very direct. Very little nuance or subtlety. Everything has to be explained outright, and even when it's not, like with the old man and Khalil, it's extremely obvious to the point of being kind of irritating. The fact that there's violence and such makes it "adult" I guess, but the writing doesn't seem like it to me.

Anyway, this could be just my impression due to the fact that I'm reading both BOTMs at the same time right now, and they are night and day different when it comes to style. Maybe this one will grow on me though.

Fun aside - I borrowed both the ebook and the audiobook from Hoopla, and the chapter headers in the audio are different from the ebook version, and have misspellings. Example: Book: "Zikora: Winneba" / Audio: "Zikora Nnamani, Onebe". Just thought that was weird. Wonder if AI had something to do with it?

[Becky]

OK I ended up listening to more of the audiobook at a doctor's appointment and it has grown on me a bit. I will probably continue, just because it's easier to multitask with audio, and I have two other eyeball (or at least partial) eyeball reads. I'm nearly halfway done now.