Not a criticism exactly, just something worth knowing going in.

The Dragon’s Banker follows Sailor Kelstern, a merchant banker in a world on the verge of replacing the standard precious metal currencies with fiat money issued by the crown. While there are dragons, elves, dwarves, wizards, and all the usual fantasy trappings, much of the story is focused on business deals, trade routes, financial manoeuvring, taxes, audits, and the challenge of converting a dragon’s hoard into the new economy without losing too much of it along the way. It’s basically an empire-building story wrapped in a fantasy setting.

Sailor Kelstern is tasked with helping a dragon convert its mountain of metal wealth into this new paper money. When a dragon asks you to do something, well I guess you always have the option to decline and get a permanent tan. The idea was solid, and looking back now I am finished listening, I enjoyed the various schemes, trading companies, and business ventures come together. There is also a decent amount of competition and sabotage from cut-throat rivals trying to undermine the whole operation before it can get established.

The main problem for me though was that it all felt a little dry. As mentioned, I did go in expecting a lot more dragon. But I think part of issue I had with it was the narration.

I did not realise before purchasing that the audiobook was narrated by the author. I bought it based on my enjoyment of his other series, My Big Goblin Space Program, and didn’t actually listen to the preview. It is not a bad performance by any means, but I could not shake the feeling that the book would have benefited from a more experienced narrator. The various character voices tend to blend together, and the delivery never quite adds the extra energy needed to lift some of the drier material.

The included bonus story, Forego Quest, was a fun poke at fantasy tropes. It is completely unrelated to the Dragon’s Banker, and follows The Chosen One, capital letters fully deserved because he is literally the chosen hero for every prophecy, quest, and world-saving adventure imaginable. I wouldn’t say hilarious, but amusing enough, so it ended up being a fun little addition.

Overall, this is a perfectly solid fantasy novel with a unique economic focus. If the idea of trade routes, financial systems, and business strategy in a world of dragons sounds appealing, there is plenty to enjoy here. Just go in expecting more banking than dragoning.

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Scarred by fire and shaped by a preacher who mistook scripture for permission, Timothy grows into a man fluent in silence, survival, and violence done without witnesses. When the preacher falls and the West begins to whisper his name, Timothy rides into a land where faith is currency, mercy is rationed, and every road remembers blood.

Outlaw factions gather in the hills. Pinkerton agents follow trails that refuse to stay straight. Power consolidates quietly, guided by those who understand that belief—properly handled—commands loyalty more effectively than fear.

Timothy moves through it all unseen, listening more than he speaks, learning how violence organizes itself and how men justify what they are willing to do. He understands how close patience can stand to judgment before one replaces the other.

Dead Man’s Gospel is a psychological Western about belief weaponized, restraint mistaken for weakness, and the discipline required to survive a world that confuses faith with authority.

Some men seek absolution.
Others learn to live without it.

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The story starts around Wilder Crick, the least likable US presidential candidate imaginable in history, a man who seems to hate basically everyone while obsessing over the idea that reality itself is fake. To prove the point, he shoots himself in the face during a live presidential debate to prove it.

After that, Tom a reluctant reporter following Crick ends up dragged into Crick’s strange post-death orbit and becomes presidency itself, while the story starts spiralling through ideas about consciousness, ego death, pain, religion, quantum mechanics, and the nature of reality. There are also random philosophical tangents, strange future-history elements, discussions half pulled from Plato’s cave and half from somebody explaining the universe to you at 3am while absolutely blasted.

It’s not really clean or straightforward in any way, but it all kind of joins together as it goes. The book bounces around constantly, throwing disconnected ideas at you that later loop back together in ways that somehow feel weirdly inevitable. It has that absurdist logic where nothing makes sense right now, but twenty minutes later your brain quietly goes “oh… alright then.”

The whole thing gave me the feeling that the author was either incredibly smart, completely unhinged, or possibly both at once. A lot of the philosophy and physics discussions sailed directly over my head at times, though not in a smug “look how clever this is” way. More in a “I think this audiobook just unlocked a university lecture I was not prepared for” sort of way.

It feels less like a traditional novel and more like experiencing somebody else’s hallucinatory thought process in audiobook form. Like the literary equivalent of being cornered at a party by someone who starts explaining the meaning of existence and somehow keeps getting more convincing the longer they talk.

On the narration side, Brad Grochowski handles the chaos well. Nothing flashy production-wise, but solid enough that the performance never gets in the way of the increasingly strange material.

I am still not entirely sure I understood all of it, and this absolutely feels like one of those books that would reveal more on a second listen. But even when it drifted into total absurdity, I never really stopped being interested in where it was going.

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A young hero meets an untimely end in his final battle. He finds himself revived as a spirit, sent back to witness his own life’s last days once more.

Drafted into the military from a small remote village on the outskirts of the kingdom, armed with little more than a couple of swords and the life lessons his parents tried to instill in him before they passed, Rivo and his cousins are sent to venture across a kingdom on the verge of collapse to confront an unknown enemy with unnatural powers.

His journey ends with his tragic fall, a heroic sacrifice to save a kingdom in peril.

Through new eyes, Rivo watches his final moments unfold all over again: the friends he made, the battles he fought, and the secret love he never realized was there all along.

Join Rivo in the countdown to his last battle, a hero desperate to win back his life… and the heart of the one who loved him in silence.

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Richard ends up chasing this idea of an untouched island in a national park, very much off limits, very much the sort of place you are not supposed to be trying to turn into your personal paradise. And for a while, it does feel like that fantasy. Long days, fishing, lounging around, a kind of loose, aimless “we’ve found something special” energy.

Maybe it’s me being older now, but it felt more uncomfortable this time around. What used to read like escapism now feels more like entitlement wearing flip-flops. That whole “hidden paradise” idea starts to look less magical and more like people treating a real place like a backdrop they are entitled to occupy.

The group dynamics, the drifting relationships, the casual attitude to being there in the first place, it all starts to tilt from carefree into a bit off. Even the free-love, drop-out vibe reads differently with a bit of distance.

There is still an interesting tension underneath it all, that sense of paradise being fragile and self-destructive, but I found myself less sympathetic to the characters than I probably was on first read. It feels less like lost innocence and more like people confidently ignoring the consequences of their own choices.

On audiobook, I tried the Alfie Allen version first and it just didn’t land for me at all. Nothing personal, but it felt miscast for this kind of material. I switched over to Michael Page and that was a much better fit, more grounded, more natural pacing, and it let the atmosphere do its job without getting in the way.

Overall, it still works as a readable travel fantasy that slowly unravels into something darker. These days it feels less like escapism and more like a cautionary tale about people who think they’ve found paradise and immediately start putting up fences around it.

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Living in the Soul (with a Bear) is a luminous theological memoir that follows one man’s lifelong spiritual journey beyond doctrine, dogma, and fear. Raised a Christian but uneasy with institutional religion, Peter Harpley explores belief as something lived rather than declared—shaped by childhood vulnerability, profound moments of grace, and an enduring sense that God is present not in authority, but in love.

Blending personal narrative with accessible historical scholarship, the book re-examines Jesus through the eyes of modern historians, unpicking myth from meaning and uncovering a wisdom often obscured by centuries of doctrine. Along the way, Harpley confronts Christianity’s uncomfortable legacies—patriarchy, violence, and exclusion—while reclaiming lost voices such as Mary Magdalene and the mystical traditions sidelined by orthodoxy.

At the heart of the book is an image both tender and unsettling: a childhood bear named Scrappy, a symbol of innocence, protection, and divine love that accompanies the author into adulthood. Through solitude, failed relationships, and deep reflection, faith slowly clarifies—not into certainty, but into trust.

Honest, questioning, and quietly radical, Living in the Soul is written for seekers, doubters, and anyone who believes that God may be found not in answers, but in the soul itself.

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It started a little slow for me, but the pace does pick up, and I found myself enjoying the ride and finishing much faster than I thought. Aimed at the 9-to-12 age range, and with some kids around that, I am always on the lookout for something that might interest them. Anything to get them reading!

Anyways, Niil gets dragged into the middle of things after some debt collectors snatch him over money his father owes. The currency in this world is a magical metal called Enarii, which can be absorbed into your body and then shaped into anything; the only limit your control and imagination. It gets trades in vials, or portions thereof so is the default currency of the land.

Niil has a gift passed down from his mother where he can sense enarii at distance and summon it to him. Summon might be a heavy-handed word, more it reacts to his will more readily than others who usually can only manipulate it when in contact with it. A less honest person could use this skill to pickpocket at range, but not in a kids book, I think.

The pacing is on point for a kid’s book. Not overwhelming action but not slow either. A few mysteries and questions to be answered and discovered along the way woven though with a finale clearly sets up future books, which is exciting, but it also made this instalment feel slightly shorter than I wanted.

On the audiobook side, Laura Clifton gives the whole thing a very soft, breathy narration style that honestly works quite well for the target age group. There is a calm bedtime-story quality to her performance that fits the tone nicely. Possibly a little too nicely in my case. I caught myself on the edge of drifting off more than once listening late at night, though I suspect plenty of parents will consider that a bonus feature rather than a complaint!

Overall, this is a decent start to a fantasy series with imaginative magical feel. It captures the sense of wonder and adventure that makes middle-grade fantasy memorable while still offering enough depth for older readers and parents to enjoy.

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These Quick Takes slice each listen down to the essentials and whether I’d press play again, all in under 100 words. Read fast, judge faster, and pick the one that promises the exact level of chaos or calm you need right now.

Here are the quick takes.

Everwoven

Everwoven is a deeply personal memoir that looks at what comes after trauma rather than the events themselves. Through fragmented memories and conversations between past and present selves, it explores childhood neglect, abusive relationships, and the long process of trying to rebuild. It avoids neat conclusions or easy labels, instead sitting in the complexity of healing. Narrated by the author, it feels close and authentic. A confronting but thoughtful listen that will not be for everyone. Read the Review

Descending Thirds

Descending Thirds blends classical music, ambition, and a central love triangle into a drama that leans fully into emotion. Set against the pressure of elite piano competitions, it explores what gets sacrificed in the pursuit of greatness. The audiobook adds small musical touches that help ground the world, while Mary Jane Wells delivers a polished narration that suits the tone. At times it drifts into melodrama, but it kept me listening. A big, romantic story driven by ambition and complicated relationships. Read the Review

The Sound of Violet

A gentle, character-driven romance with a slightly different angle. Shawn, who is on the spectrum, struggles with dating until a misunderstanding leads him to Violet, a sex worker trying to leave her past behind. It leans into sincerity over drama, with a strong focus on connection and trust. The representation of Shawn works well, and the story stays mostly grounded, though the Christian themes become more prominent toward the end. Easy to listen to, even if the narration does not particularly stand out. Read the Review

The God Complex

A strange but engaging premise, seven billion people trapped in a 300-year last-person-standing competition. The mix of surreal events, dark humour, and slow-burn mystery keeps things interesting, especially as the story digs into what that kind of time does to people. Not quite as brutal as it sounds, but still plenty at stake. Luke Daniels is solid throughout. The ending took a moment to settle but ultimately felt like the right way to wrap it up. Read the Review

Jealous of the Clouds

A solid mix of suspense, mystery, and relationship drama. A ten-year-old murder resurfaces through a true crime podcast, slowly unravelling Ted’s relationship with his boyfriend Josh. The tension builds nicely as doubt and paranoia creep in, helped along by a steady drip of background through the podcast segments. David Allen Vargo is easy to listen to, and the light use of sound effects adds a bit of atmosphere. The ending didn’t fully land for me, but it kept me engaged throughout. Read the Review

Shoot the Dead

British gangsters, undead monsters, blood magic, and enough sharp banter to fill a Guy Ritchie film. Shoot the Dead is gloriously over-the-top horror-comedy with chainsaws, zombies, and crime capers colliding in all the best ways. Luke Thompson’s narration fits the hard-man London tone perfectly, carrying both the humour and violence with ease. Short, bloody, and very entertaining. Read the Review

A Parade of Horribles

Dungeon Crawler Carl remains one of the best audiobook experiences around, even if book eight feels more like a setup for the finale than a standalone peak. The race-focused middle drags a little compared to earlier entries, but the expanding lore, unhinged AI chaos, and emotional payoff in the back half absolutely deliver. Jeff Hays once again performs miracles on narration, sounding like an entire cast by himself. Read the Review

Freebies This Month

Tales of an Unserious Truthteller
Thirty awkward, funny, and painfully human stories about everyday disasters, strange encounters, and the chaos of ordinary life. – Audiobooks.com
https://theaudiobookreview.com/tales-of-an-unserious-truthteller/

The Son of Lubrerum
Revolutionary War history collides with dark fantasy and brutal family conflict in this violent, high-stakes sequel set in colonial Vermont. – Spotify
https://theaudiobookreview.com/the-son-of-lubrerum/

Rise: Birth of a Revolution
A gripping historical fantasy of revolution, betrayal, and survival as unlikely allies rise against a corrupt colonial power. – Audible US, Audible UK
https://theaudiobookreview.com/rise-birth-of-a-revolution/

The Brightonians
The Brightonians blends queer comedy, old secrets, chaotic friendships, and sharp humour across modern day and 1960s Brighton. – Audible US, Audible UK
https://theaudiobookreview.com/the-brightonians/

Lumen Cosmic
An imaginative mix of science and myth, this audiobook explores the solar system through philosophy, history, and ancient storytelling. – Audible US
https://theaudiobookreview.com/lumen-cosmic/

The Self-Driving You
A self-help audiobook exploring mindfulness, habits, and how attention can influence behaviour and daily patterns. – Audible US, Audible UK
https://theaudiobookreview.com/the-self-driving-you/

Bianca’s Cure
A historical drama set in Renaissance Florence, blending medicine, politics, and a forbidden romance within the Medici court. – Audible US, Audible UK
https://theaudiobookreview.com/biancas-cure/

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Book eight opens with a recap by Samantha which, look, I appreciate in theory because there is a lot going on in this series now. But Samantha works much better in smaller doses. Listening to her ramble through the recap was… an experience. Useful, yes. Pleasant? Debatable.

Once things properly kick off, Carl and Donut find themselves dealing with the tenth floor, which largely revolves around a series of races. On paper it sounds simple compared to the chaos of previous floors, but naturally this being Dungeon Crawler Carl, “simple” rapidly spirals into increasingly absurd death traps and dungeon nonsense.

The races themselves are entertaining enough, especially the escalating insanity of the vehicles and upgrades, but if I am being honest this is probably the first book in the series where parts felt a little slumpy for me. A lot of the story devoted to the races and while it absolutely serves a purpose in the broader story, I did occasionally catch myself thinking “okay, let’s move on to something else now.”

That said, the back end starts pulling together hard.

The AI continues its descent into complete unhinged madness, the broader lore surrounding the Primals and the system gets expanded significantly, and the growing sense that the entire universe may be heading toward catastrophe gives everything a steadily mounting tension underneath the silliness.

As always, Carl gets shoved into impossible situations where trying to save everyone usually means making things catastrophically worse for himself. Some side characters finally hit the end of the road, others continue growing in interesting ways, and a few long-running mysteries start slotting into place. There is a fairly hefty lore dump toward the end, but honestly the worldbuilding is compelling enough now that I was fully on board for it.

Very happy Biggs the Sluggalo is still around. What felt initially like a throwaway gag race, those violent ICP-loving slugs remain one of my favourite races and one of the funniest recurring bits in the whole series for me.

Even with some pacing issues through the race-heavy sections, this is still a fantastic audiobook series overall. I have relistened to these books more times than I can count, and while I suspect this particular instalment may not have the same replayability as some earlier entries, it feels very much like a major setup piece for whatever madness comes next.

And it really does feel like the endgame is approaching now.

Jeff Hays once again completely knocks the narration out of the park. The sheer range of voices, emotional delivery, comedic timing, song performances, and production quality remains absurdly good. Quietly glad they’ve dropped the guest narrators too. Sure, Carl’s dad was an obvious choice, and Travis Baldree was good… but honestly would have worked just as well with only Jeff at the mic.

Overall, maybe not my favourite entry in the series, but still wildly entertaining and packed with enough lore, chaos, and emotional payoff to keep me fully invested. If this is the runway toward the finale, I am absolutely strapped in.

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It opens with a bit of historical setup in 1920s Mexico archaeological dig involving conquistadors, blood magic, and the Skull of Azazel, which, as you might expect, is very much the sort of artefact people should leave buried. Naturally, nobody does.

We then jump forward to modern London, following Jack and Billy Thatcher, two career criminals working for local gangster Nathan James. After a deal goes sideways and a pile of bodies starts stacking up, the brothers find themselves accidentally stealing far more than drugs and cash. Turns out ancient cursed skulls come with complications. Mostly undead ones.

The tone lands somewhere between horror and full-on black comedy. There is plenty of gore and violence, but it is delivered with enough humour and swagger that it never feels overly grim. Very over-the-top at times too, in a good way. Chainsaw wielding maniacs, undead hitmen, blood magic, gangland shootouts. It knows exactly what kind of story it wants to be.

The dialogue is one of the strongest parts. Loads of sharp, quintessentially British banter throughout, with the Thatcher brothers especially bouncing off each other well. It has that Guy Ritchie style rhythm to a lot of the conversations, where even throwaway lines sound like they belong in a pub argument moments before somebody gets glassed.

There are quite a few moving parts underneath the chaos too. Detective inspectors Sarah and Leon investigating the murders, the shadowy “Monday Man” pulling strings behind the scenes, Malcolm as his unsettling undead enforcer, plus Nathan James trying to hold onto power while everything spirals around him. It all layers together nicely without becoming hard to follow.

Luke Thompson’s narration suits the material really well. He absolutely nails the hard-man London gangster voices, but also gives Billy a slightly more slippery, weaselly edge that helps distinguish the brothers. The performance carries the humour and menace equally well, which is important for this kind of balancing act.

At just under six hours it is on the shorter side, but doesn’t feel like it’s missing anything. The story moves quickly, rarely wasting time, and never really drags. I picked it up during one of Audible’s big sales for next to nothing, which made it even easier to enjoy.

Overall, Shoot the Dead is a very entertaining mix of gangsters, zombies, horror, and black comedy. Messy in the best sort of way, packed with fun dialogue and ridiculous violence, while still managing to tell an engaging story.

The story does stand alone, but there were obviously plans for a follow up. Don’t worry; it does wrap up nicely, but the epilogue does make it sound like there is more to come, but given it was produced in 2016, probably not happening.

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The structure is built around a series of events and challenges. Some are Q and A style run by former TV show hosts, others a bit more physical or surreal, but they all share one thing in common. Fail, and you are out. Permanently.

The events are always full Running Man levels of brutality, but many of them get close at times. There is a weird, slightly comic edge to a lot of it, which helps balance out the fact that, at its core, this is a slow elimination of the entire human race.

Everyone is effectively immortal while the competition is running, at least in the sense that they do not age or die naturally. Which leads to one of the more interesting ideas here. After 300 years, nobody is really who they used to be. Even the kids, who still look like kids, have lived entire lifetimes in that time. Some have changed completely. Others, somehow, have not moved on from old beliefs or biases at all.

That disconnect comes up a few times and adds a bit of weight beneath the more absurd surface.

There are also moments that lean fully into the ridiculous. One event in particular had strong “Futurama” and “Nasty in the Pasty” energy. If you know, you know.

The story shifts once Jonathan shows up. He has clearly been through this far longer than most and seems to understand more about what is going on. His connection to M becomes the main driver from that point, especially as the story starts edging closer to answers about the competition itself.

Luke Daniels handles the narration well. Easy to listen to, good range across characters, and nothing on the production side that stood out in a bad way.

The pacing ticks along nicely without ever feeling rushed, though it is less about constant action and more about the slow unraveling of what is actually happening.

The ending landed for me. I sat on it for a bit, but the more I thought about it, the more it felt like the right way to close things out. Not sure it could have gone another direction without losing something.

Overall, this is a strange mix of dark premise, dry humour, and long-term character wear built around a lightly absurd premise. Not particularly long, but there is enough under the surface to keep it interesting.

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