Reviews

Let's just kick this review off by saying that this was one of the most incredible audiobook experiences of my life. Andrea Parsneau is absolutely killing it here. I think the only other narrator, I know of, that even compares to her performance would be Steven Pacey and I would say just in terms of emotional delivery / conveying emotions Andrea has him beat. She is also amazing at doing distinct voices and also really knows how to build tension.

But let's kick it back a notch and start by saying what this book is about. Gravesong is a side story of The Wandering Inn. It is going to be a Trilogy and covers the backstory of an important Earther that if I remember correctly first shows up in volume 7 of the main series.

Cara O'Sullivan is from Ireland (the accent is beautifully done by Andrea), she is a young, aspiring actress and is very much used to working hard / grinding for every opportunity. She is transported into the medieval Fantasy RPG world of The Wandering Inn and more importantly onto a continent that is very much defined by its hierarchical, monarchical structure. This conflict of her own beliefs vs. the world she landed in is one of the main conflicts of this book.

Cara is also a Singer which becomes her defining feature in this world with her just bringing glimpses of light and happiness to a pretty dark region of this world where people are mostly reclusive and scared. Some of the most emotional delivieres come in the form of song performance by Cara which again are beautifully orchestratred by Andrea.

There is also a fair amount of horror in this book with undead forces being a constant threat to the people in this region of Innworld.

I cannot think of an audiobook that had more of an emotional impact than this. I laughed, I cried, I got scared / I got goosebumps. With its "only" 20 hours of runtime, this book kind of has everything. I would even go as far in saying that this is the best starting point of getting into The Wandering Inn.
Yeah, you won't see the characters from this novel again for a long time but I think it is way more representative of what the series is about and especially of what it feels like than the first volume of the main series.