Today’s Mini Review is from Caz – a quick look at this entry in Nazri Noor’s Arcane Hearts series. Enjoy!
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Narrated by Zachary Johnson
Might and magic, fist and flame, to send evil back from where it came.
Jackson Pryde and Xander Wright delve into the mountain halls of the dvergar, the dwarven people of Norse myth known for their mining and metalwork. Seeking jewels and ore, they make a deadly discovery instead: a cluster of Chrysanthemysts. How did they grow underground? Where are they from? And who sent them?
The masters of the Black Market’s guilds grudgingly unite to stop the fatal flowers at their source. But digging deeper only reveals another conundrum: a legendary gemstone known as the Heart of Oberon. The fae haven’t walked the earth in forever. Why has the Heart resurfaced now?
And why is the gemstone whispering?
This third book in Nazri Noor’s inventive Arcane Hearts series finds Jackson and Xander once again encountering the mysterious and deadly chrysanthemist as suspicions start to grow that the Fae may be making plans to once again enter the human world. Jackson and Xander undertake to find out what happened to a dozen of the dvergar who vanished without trace some years earlier, Jackson discovers the truth of his own latent power, and continues on his quest to rebuild the Halls of Making and Guild of Artificers. When an exploration of the ruins reveals the existence of a second, heretofore unknown, ‘black box’ AI, he realises he’s getting closer to discovering the source of the explosion that destroyed the Halls and killed his parents.
An Iron Fist is another fast-paced, action-packed instalment in this imaginative and entertaining fantasy series. Jackson and Xander are immensely likeable characters who make a great team, and I’m enjoying how settled their relationship is becoming; they so obviously care deeply for each other and the way they protect and support each other is lovely.
The worldbuilding is, again, excellent, done with a light-touch but never inconsistent, and the author has created a terrific ensemble cast; Lore, Jackson’s AI, familiar (and surrogate family) is getting to do more, watching Nico be all smitten with Reza is cute and I was pleased to see Reza becoming a bit less priggish.
Zachary Johnson delivers another excellent performance here, well-paced with clear vocal characterisations and differentiation throughout. He brings his knack for accents to bear when voicing the dvergar, and expertly fleshes out all the cast members, finding voices and styles of delivery that fit each personality. The story is told entirely in Jackson’s PoV – he’s an intriguing mix of confidence and vulnerability – and Mr. Johnson captures those facets of his character perfectly, giving his inner monologues just the right touch of snark and self-deprecation, and the depth of the love and affection between Jackson and Xander comes though strongly.
The events of An Iron Fist relate directly to what has gone before, so I wouldn’t advise listening to this as a standalone, but the Arcane Hearts series is a lot of fun so it’s worth starting at the beginning with A Touch of Fever.
Caz
Buy An Iron Fist by Nazri Noor on Amazon
this is such a fun series! I’m looking forward to trying more of Nazri Noor’s books once I catch up with this series.
Same – he’s got four other fantasy series, all in audio, although not all are romance – but they do sound fun.