A review by seak
Heraclix & Pomp by Forrest Aguirre

4.0

There are some books that are just magical, that are written in such a way that you can't help but be drawn into a new world even if it's set against our own. Neil Gaiman writes this way and so does Susanna Clark in Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.

Forrest Aguirre, World Fantasy Award winner for his editorial work in the Leviathan 3 anthology, has created such a tale. The story of Heraclix and Pomp is magical before the magic even begins, or possibly just at the same time.

Because this is the story about a golem, who has been fabricated by a magician, and Pomp, a faery.

They go on a journey to find out what exactly Heraclix is made of ... in more ways than one. Being a golem, he's been formed from different parts of various bodies and some behave abnormally to say the least.

I knew I would enjoy this tale right away, however, my main problem actually has nothing to do with the writing or the story itself, it's the audio narration.

I almost put the book down because the narration was just plain hard to listen to. Brandon Massey's narration was dull and monotone, almost robotic even, with words over-pronounced so that each letter is sounded out. I don't like listening to audiobooks on faster speeds, because I like to appreciate the acting and the reading itself, but 1.75 speed actually made this much better to listen to. At least there was a reason for the robot-sounding voice.

As much as I wanted to love every moment of the book, I was so off-put by the narration that it made it really hard to enjoy the story. I didn't look forward to my car rides and sadly I don't have the time to go back and read, which I'm sure I will enjoy much more.

Despite these facts, I could still see the glimmer of lyrical beauty in the narrative. It's a great story and wonderfully written and my reduced rating is mainly a factor of the audio presentation.

3.5 out of 5 Stars (recommended, but not on audio)