Divided Allegiance audiobook review
Apr. 22nd, 2011 09:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearThe audiobooks are coming and going thick and fast at the moment, now that I'm walking more than 20 miles per week - a glorious and simple lifestyle change that has improved my commute, my mental health, and my general fitness more than I could possibly have imagined (and all just by avoiding the Victoria Line at rush hour!).
Anyway, next up was Divided Allegiance by Elizabeth Moon, the sequel to Sheepfarmer's Daughter.
Where the first in the series was a mercenary company novel, the second was a D&D adventure! I'd read it before but had absolutely no recollection at all of the first half, which saw Paksenarrion branching out on her own after leaving the mercenary company for ethical reasons. She teamed up with a half-elven mage (classic warrior/mage pairing) for a journey over the mountains. They explored some ruins, encountered both monsters and traps, as well as a lurking evil that had to be destroyed before they could claim its treasure. I was almost counting up the XP as they went along!
It was all quite fun, but unfortunate that the mage character was incredibly annoying, so much so that I was actually glad when he got killed by his own stupidity on the way out of the ruins.
The story carried on in the D&D vein for a while longer, with Paks arriving in a small town, where the council promptly hired her (having approached her in the tavern) to find and clear out some bandits that had been terrorising the local trade route.
The second half switched tack a bit, with Paks starting her paladin training, but having to leave after an unpleasant encounter with an evil cult, which ultimately left her unable to bear arms any longer.
Anyway, next up was Divided Allegiance by Elizabeth Moon, the sequel to Sheepfarmer's Daughter.
Where the first in the series was a mercenary company novel, the second was a D&D adventure! I'd read it before but had absolutely no recollection at all of the first half, which saw Paksenarrion branching out on her own after leaving the mercenary company for ethical reasons. She teamed up with a half-elven mage (classic warrior/mage pairing) for a journey over the mountains. They explored some ruins, encountered both monsters and traps, as well as a lurking evil that had to be destroyed before they could claim its treasure. I was almost counting up the XP as they went along!
It was all quite fun, but unfortunate that the mage character was incredibly annoying, so much so that I was actually glad when he got killed by his own stupidity on the way out of the ruins.
The story carried on in the D&D vein for a while longer, with Paks arriving in a small town, where the council promptly hired her (having approached her in the tavern) to find and clear out some bandits that had been terrorising the local trade route.
The second half switched tack a bit, with Paks starting her paladin training, but having to leave after an unpleasant encounter with an evil cult, which ultimately left her unable to bear arms any longer.
As is traditional with the second volume in a trilogy, it all ended rather on a downer, but I really liked the style of the concluding section, which tracked Paks' progress through letters sent to the head of the paladin training centre from people she met on her subsequent journeys.
I'm really looking forward to listening to the third in the series - Oath of Gold - since the writing and narration are both really good.
