Steamsworn by Eric R. Asher : Audiobook Review

The world dies in war only to be reborn. It is the way of things, and always will be.

Forged in the Deadlands crucible, and armed with the knowledge of their true enemy, Jacob, Alice, and their allies bring the fight back to Ancora. They’ll liberate their homeland, or die trying.

The wounds cut deep in their darkest hour, but in the end, vengeance will light their path.

It’s been a little over a year now since I first stumbled across this series and I still find myself surprised at just how good they were and how sad I was to complete the last book in the trilogy. So I don’t think I can properly describe just how much I’ve been looking forward to Steamsworn releasing as an audiobook. Now, usually when I listen to an audiobook I don’t enjoy it as much as I did actually reading the book but Steamsworn is one of those books where I actually enjoyed the audiobook more, which I didn’t think was possible with this book.

There’s honestly so much I loved about Steamsworn that it’s been surprisingly difficult for me to decide on just what I enjoyed about it the most. One of the things to really stand out though is how much detail Eric Asher managed to put into every character, no matter how minor they may be and how well he manages to balance the story. One of my biggest complaints about almost any steampunk book is how much character and plot development is usually rushed in favor of focusing more on explanations of the world and technology.

With Steamsworn I think Eric Asher does a great job of balancing all three of things together and explaining everything through action rather than a bunch of long-winded explanations full of technical jargon from one of the characters. I think ti really makes Steamsworn stand out in the genre as a book that’s complex and yet still easy to follow.

I also really want to talk a bit about the one thing that I think makes this one of the best audiobooks I’ve listened to in a long time and that is the narration of Saskia Maarleveld. I honestly don’t think I can name another narrator who can pack so much emotion into everything she reads that you want to laugh, cry, or scream along with the characters throughout the entire book. I’m also surprised by just how consistent she has managed to be over the course of the trilogy, I could easily pick out every character from their voice alone since she never falters with her voices and accents. I can only hope I get a chance to listen to more of the books she narrates in the future.

This one one of those books and series that I recommend to just about everyone I know because I think it’s just that good. It’s definitely one of the best steampunk books I’ve read and it’s one of my strongest hopes that Eric Asher will return to this world again one day. I would love to see what happens next with all the characters.

I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.