susanvoss18

I am surely addicted, and this new addiction has a name – Gemma Files. The author spins together imagery that is breath-taking in both beauty and terror.

Chess’s character really grew in this second book. At the end of Book 1, I was cheering him on, but in this book his personality is unfolding piece by piece, against his better judgement. Ed has to address the fact that he cares deeply for Chess, while at the same time being attracted to the opposite sex. Asher Rook, Chess’s former lover, did a very BAD THING in the first book (left out because it is a spoiler), and he struggles with loosing his friendship with Chess over it. Overall, these characters are not static; they hurt, grow, and morph into new people, forced to it by the extraordinary times they find themselves in. Throw in a few new characters, like kick-ass Yancy, and some allegiance-switching side characters, and you have a hoof-pounding, ricochet of a ride.

Our narrator, Gordon MacKenzie, did a fantastic job once again. Book 1 would be a challenge for any experienced and gifted narrator. Book 2, with further accents and more characters plus voices for dead deities and other monstrosities, is beyond what I have here-to-fore heard done well. Applause for Gordon MacKenzie please! He really brings this series to life with the effort he puts into the accents, regional and otherwise. He also had more female characters this time to play – which he did well. I can even picture him in a skirt when he does Yancy’s voice. In addition, there was some singing, and I love it when a narrator goes all out and actually sings the lyrics, instead of reciting them like poetry.