Steamforged (Steamborn Volume 2) by Eric Asher : Audiobook Review

There are old wounds in the forgotten places of the world, and some are soaked in blood.

Jacob and his allies flee into the Deadlands after the fall of Ancora. Charles, the enigmatic smith, hopes to find answers in the desert city of Bollwerk that could prevent a war.

Their enemies are many, and here Jacob will learn the cost of life in the Deadlands.

As someone who has developed a slight addiction to listening to audiobooks over the last few years I don’t think I can properly describe just how excited I was to see Steamborn was available on Audible a few months ago, or how quickly that feeling was replaced with a crushing disappointment and denial at the fact that I would have to wait months for the next book in the series to be available there. Happily I can say that the audiobook was more than worth the wait. While I enjoyed Steamforged and thought it was a good book, I thought the audiobook was absolutely fantastic and I already don’t know how I’ll manage the way for the final book in the trilogy.

While you would that that after more than a year of rereading this series that I would be tired of it by now you would be wrong in every sense of the word. The Steamborn series is by far the best post-apocalyptic or Steampunk series I’ve had the pleasure to read and I think I could honestly say I enjoy it more with ever reread. In my original review of Steamforged I can remember saying that I thought the book was a little bit disappointing when compared to the first but looking back now I have no idea what the hell I was talking about I found Steamforged to be better in every possible way.

Alice, Jacob, and Charles are all amazing characters I really enjoyed watching them grow and evolve as people over the course of this book. I still think the evolving relationship between Alice and Jacob and the student/mentor relationship between Jacob and Charles are a large part of what I love about this series. Eric Asher also manages to really expand upon the world we only got a brief introduction to in Steamborn. I found every little bit of information we learn about the history of the world and the events that lead up to this trilogy to be fascinating.

This is only the second or third time that I’ve reviewed the same book more than once, but like Steamborn I think the audiobook for Steamforged really deserves a review of its own. I still think Saskia Maarleveld has to be one of the best narrators I’ve heard in a long time who somehow manages to make what is already a great series even better. It’s been months since I listened to Steamborn but I had no problem at all identifying every character by their voice alone and I’m more than a little impressed by the fact that I can find no difference in their voices between the two books. I especially enjoy how she makes you feel every emotion that Jacob and his friends do, I think it really adds something to the series and I can’t wait to hear her narrate the last book in the series.

This is one book that is definitely worth reading more than once and I don’t think I could recommend the series enough. You won’t regret reading this series no matter what format you purchase it in!