Here are November’s TBR challenge prompts “once upon a time”and Kaz (flying solo this month) enjoyed an outrageous audio fantasy romp. What book did you take off your TBR pile this month? And what did you think about it? Inquiring minds want to know!
heart struck by lightning Written by TJ Clune
Narration: Michael Leslie
Naturally, the prompt is “once upon a time” Although my head was full of fairy tales, I decided to pick a random book for my November TBR challenge. Because I didn’t think there was a book that would fit perfectly.But then, as I was scrolling through his Audible library looking for the next song to listen to, I found T.J. Clune’s A light shined on my heart It caught my eye. I bought it quite a while ago, but haven’t listened to it yet. I had a vague recollection that the story involved a wizard and a kidnapped prince, a dragon and a giant, and it sounded like a fairy tale enough to me.
But it’s nothing like a traditional fairy tale. Sure, it uses many of the tropes associated with the genre, such as the hero’s journey, perilous adventures, handsome knights, and exciting love stories, but it’s basically pretty outrageous. In a good way. The narration by Michael Leslie is perfect. A true go-big-or-go-home variety, he threw himself into it wholeheartedly, voicing the various characters to great effect (with one annoying exception). ), for laughs if necessary, but with consequences. Also about the emotional content of the quieter and more intense moments.
Once upon a time, in the Kingdom of Verania, there was a lively boy who was born in the slums of Rocks City.
This crazy boy is Sam. He is now 20 years old, known as Sam of the Wilds, and is an apprentice to the king’s wizard Morgan of Shadows. Born to loving parents, Sam was happy, albeit poor, but when, at the age of 11, he encountered some older boys stealing from an old woman, his instincts I chased after it. He turned them to stone. Such events naturally drew Sam to the attention of the king’s wizard, and Sam and his family ended up living in the palace for Sam to become his apprentice. Every king has his own wizard. And Sam eventually becomes a wizard to Prince Justin, the king’s son and heir. It’s a shame that Justin is a little troublesome.
When Sam is 14 years old, he is sent to the Darkwood, where all kinds of evil magic reigns, and he is told to bring something back. “Totally unexpected”. Well, that’s exactly what he did when he rescued a hornless unicorn and a nine-foot-tall half-giant who had been caged, half-starved, and beaten to keep them together during a traveling entertainment. . Gary, a hornless gay unicorn, is a screaming queen who eats saucy food for breakfast. Tiggy is a lover who loves her friends dearly and is willing and ready to crush anyone who threatens them.
When Sam is 15 years old, he falls in love with Ryan Foxheart, aka Night Delicious Face, a new knight in the king’s service. Ryan is dreamy, beautiful, and everything a knight should be. And Sam is so scared of what he’s feeling that he runs in the opposite direction whenever Ryan approaches. But it’s not because he’s afraid of rejection, no, not at all (Ha!) – That’s because he has priorities (capitalized, so it’s true!), and those priorities mean he doesn’t have time for a boyfriend.
Five years later, Sam is a favorite at court, and the king considers him his second son, but his wise-mouthed, impulsive behavior, and pathological tendency to get caught are why he is often rejected. can drive patient leaders into a wall. By the dark wizards he begins his monologue (Sam) dislike Monologue) before he finds a way to escape. In fact, this is how we first meet him – he and Gary are captured by the evil wizard Lartin of Darkleaf. Tiggy barged in during the monologue – and, uh, that didn’t end well for Lartin.
That’s just the beginning of trouble for Sam and his friends. And when Prince Justin is kidnapped by a dragon, he gets into even more trouble. When Sam receives news that Justin has asked Ryan to marry him, and he has been accepted, Sam decides to go to work, ostensibly to spend time with Randall, the most powerful wizard in the land, but also to try to get back on his feet. I had decided to leave home for a while. His heartbreak. However, things change completely when Justin is kidnapped. The King asks Sam if he and Ryan can rescue Justin and bring him home, but Sam can’t say no. Sam, Gary of course, Tiggy, and Ryan set off on an adventure.
Sam is a great narrator. He is kind, caring, loyal to a fault, kind-hearted, somewhat naive, and often hysterically funny. He hardly stops talking, and everything he thinks pours out of his mouth in a stream of thoughts and observations. However, he is an incredibly lovable person with a latent weakness that he would never like to admit. He hides his heart and puts the happiness of others before his own, building a cocky, sarcastic outer shell to hide his emotions. He is inherently good even if he is not perfect. He’s flawed, he makes mistakes, and he’ll probably be the most powerful wizard of all time, but he’s kind of an underdog, and it’s hard not to like him.
From the first time Sam and Ryan (literally) met on the page, it’s clear that Ryan is just as obsessed with Sam as Sam is, and that Sam is completely clueless (other people and his dog are) ) to find out that Ryan is in love with him! ) Their slow romance is not the main focus of the story, but it is an important part. As the two grow closer, there’s plenty of not-so-subtle flirting and Olympic-level impatience, and the frustration and heartache of not being together jumps off the page.
“But believe me, it was always you…I promise, when I see the stars, they’re there. there is nothing I want more than you. ”
The downside is that this book is too long. He recorded just under 20 hours of audio. – and it feels like the author once (several times) all too often forgets about his own imagination and how much fun he is having with all the sordid dialogue. When this happens, it gets in the way of plot progression and is really frustrating. An example that comes to mind early on is that he takes about 20 minutes to get to the point and convey the relevant information he needs to convey, but after about 5 minutes he wants to stop and move on. Masu.
Michael Leslie gives a wonderfully entertaining performance, giving all the characters unique and appropriate voices and great humor and emotional connection. His comic timing is perfect and his portrayal of the main characters is spot-on, supremely hilarious as Gary, endearing as Tiggy, sexy as Ryan, and achingly funny as Sam. The only weak point in the whole performance is the portrayal of Kevin, who enters the story in the last third or so, but Mr. Leslie for some reason decides to adopt a Scottish accent. I wish he didn’t do that, because that would be awful – worse than Mike Myers. Shrek! – And it quickly reached a “nails on a chalkboard” level for me. That’s my only criticism of the narration, but other than that it’s great and fits very well with the weird, bold, larger-than-life nature of the story and characters.
heart struck by lightning It manages to be a light comic fantasy while being funny, sweet, gross and weird, and a loving parody of the genre at the same time. There’s a lot of swearing, sexual puns, and cheeky put-downs, but the characters are likeable and there’s a real sense of love and care between Sam and Morgan, Sam and his parents, Sam and the King, and of course, between them. there is. , Sam, Gary, and Tiggy are clearly going to die for each other – and the author packs quite an emotional punch at certain points. The song really comes to life on audio, thanks to Michael Lesley’s wonderfully vibrant performance, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a bucketful of light-hearted adventures filled with magic, love, and cheeky fun.
Grade: Narration – B+; Story – B Sensuality: Warm
Running time: 19 hours 49 minutes
~ Kaz Owens