Book Review: Mortedant’s Peril (The Trials of Irody Hasp 1) by RJ Barker



5/5 stars. RJ Barker is one of my favorite writers and I am always excited when he has a new book releasing. In this case, I was extra surprised to receive the ARC of the audiobook, narrated by Joe Eyre, from NetGalley. This novel focuses on Irody Hasp, a lowly Mortedant in the city of Elbay, who stumbles upon a deeper mystery than he ever imagined as a result of reading the last thoughts of a dead man in the slums of the city. As always, Barker weaves a, literal and figurative, magical tale with wonderful characters – particularly Irody, his apprentice Mirial, and his bodyguard Whisper, and builds an intriguing city and world for the reader to explore. This story reminds me, in some ways, of Richard Swan’s Empire of the Wolf and Sir Konrad Vonvalt, though not as horrific in tone.


Joe Eyre does a wonderful job with the narration, and his voice work was particularly good. I could feel the tension and the desperation of our characters through Eyre’s reading of the story, and I particularly enjoyed his voices for Whisper and Niofa, the satyr overseer of the city.


I cannot recommend this book, or any book by RJ Barker, highly enough, and the audiobook adds significantly to the experience of the novel. I highly anticipate the next story in this new series and look forward to continuing my exploration of Elbay and the exploits of Irody, Whisper, and Mirial.


Highly highly recommended!!

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