Ludus Lady lashes out!

I make no exaggeration in stating that Delvers LLC is one of my favorite series, and that I was miffed when I learned that the master craftsman, Blaise Corvin had decided to shoehorn this series in between the next Delvers book. Still, I trust that Corvis is going to craft a tale that will make me happy in the end, and so I got the first Nora Hazard book.
First of all, I can see that Corvin has finally crafted a character that he can appreciate. Nora is a streetwise, tough as nail, knife fighter. Anyone who knows Corvin will recognize his penchant for blades, and Nora is his valkyerie warrior maiden made flesh. The only umbrage that I had anywhere in thebook came from the overly emotional reaction that Nora experiences from a loss early in the book. It really colors everything that she does, and only when she frees herself from its constraints that she fully embraces her destiny and potential. Of course, that is something that every character in every book has to face, but she is just overly whiney about it. That, however, is a minor detail. I have to point it out, otherwise I'm not doing my job as a reviewer properly.

On the upside, the book has a ton of fantastic stuff going on including magic knives, superpowers, naughty drakes, and evil villains. Corvin can most assuredly cast out a vivid battle scene, one full of blades, fire and death. He also manages to bring in one or three faces from Delvers for us to clap at when they appear. Nora is a complex and riveting character whom you will automatically empathize with and want to succeed. The woman's story is one of tragedy and loss, but with an unrelenting perseverance that pushes her forward. Her attitude and grit will keep you listening as the story goes. The final show down between the White Shadow . . .no. . .White Darkness . . .um, Eggshell and Nora is epic, and it shows that ingenuity and the ability to keep going can be unbeatable at times.

Emily Beresford does an incredible job narrating, right now she is in my top three for lady narrators and with good reason. She fuels every step that Nora takes with emotion and gravitas. You bleed right along with her, your eyes water when she cries (if you are nancy boy wimp, that is. I had dust in my eyes). You can feel the heat from her rage, and the strength in her resolve. Beresford knows how to pace a story, and speeds up ans slows down naturally. She really makes storytelling seem effortless.

I will say that I am not a fan of the cover, Nora hiding from pursuers is NOT what I would have put front and center for my story. There are a lot of fight scenes that would have served far better here than this. I joke that the yuse a shot of her backside because Nora is not supposed to be too pretty, but the truth is, a kicking up dust battle scene would have rocked out here better than her peering through the foliage.

Corvin most certainly stepped out of his comfort zone to pen this amazing book, and he nails it like he was hanging a Picasso. This is an excellent addition to the world of Ludus, and really serves as a prequel to Jason and Henry arriving. If you have enjoyed Delvers you will love Nora Hazard. If you like strong independant female leads you will love Nora, if you are fan of action, adventure, magic, knife fights, sword fights, monsters, hidden dungeons, intelligent weapons, crazy priestesses, and Dolos Orbs then this is not something you will want to miss!!!

If this review helped, please press the YES below. Thank you immensely!!!

52 people found this helpful

Hmmm...

Good story, but there were a lot of grammar errors that pulled me out of the listen. The beginning is also very exposition heavy. It bothers me that the story just stops with no conclusion.No objectives accomplished etc. I enjoyed the Delvers series more. Narrator is average. I don't hate her, but nothing about the performance was amazing.

5 people found this helpful

Meh.

I wanted to experience more of the world of Ludus after swimming through the Delvers LLC trilogy. This book provides a interesting new perspective, but the MC made it hard for me to really get into the story. Her personality was strange, at times she was level headed and liked to cut straight to the point. But at other points she was picking fun at her Orb for no reason, snapping at someone who was just trying to help, or punch a dude just for chuckling.

All in all, the story has a interesting concept. But Nora, the MC, ruined it for me.

5 people found this helpful

Kind of like a freight train. A real big one.

Nora Hazard is not the type of hero most people expect. She is not a beautiful, much beloved friend of the people. She’s a wolf pack leader with much compassion for her pack, even the psychos. The rest of the world, however, is on its own.

When confronted with a most despicable evil, Nora is changed from her narrow, not-my-problem worldview to become an inescapable force of avenging judgement. .

10 people found this helpful

Nora Hazard's journey is a one woman riot!

Strong female lead? triple check
Character Development? Its in the Delver's Universe on Ludus, so yeah that's a central theme
Witty Dialogue? I loved her way of thinking. This novel has less banter than Delvers, but we get to spend the whole time in Nora's head. She goes through so much mental growth, its practically dialogue listening to it.

1 person found this helpful

Return to Ludis

This novel has the best 1st chapter I listened to of all time. this encompasses thousands of audio books over three decades. I'm not going to lie and say it's the best book of all time but if you're into strong characters a good story with lots of action drama suspense character arcs humor all woven together and told by an amazing voice actress this book for you.

The second selling point I want to go into is that I don't consider this to be a lit RPG book. I hate the medium because large sections of the book involves leveling up, stat distributions, and other story mechanics that turn an otherwise solid fantasy novel into a dense boring strategy guide. I almost gave up on the first Dekvers book for these reason but am glad I stuck it out. All that here but Corvin has crafted the story in such a way it's actually fun and entertaining to see Nora level up and pick her powers.

I've actually listened to the entire series and am reviewing as a girl so the best selling point I have is that I can promise you the quality actually improves over time. This is a very special series about the very special character and if you give it a try I honestly feel you will love it to.

1 person found this helpful

Narrator is awful

I couldn't get very far into this one, the narrator is awful and distracts from the story.

3 people found this helpful

One massive info dump

Four hours in and it's safe to say there is no story here. All of this has been is one massive info dump from beginning to end. Blaise Corvin hit it out of the Park with Delvers and totally fumbled with Nora. This was one of the most boring characters I have ever listened to and the narrator is a poor choice as well. I will be happy to purchase another Delvers book but I'm passing on Nora.

5 people found this helpful

More than worth the credit. (Or money)

I love the Delvers series. It really is one of the best this genre has to offer. Which is saying a lot. The originality is outstanding. So I was honestly worried about this series for 2 reasons.
1. Different main character. Same world. I was worried it wouldn't stand up against the other series. It does. In spades.
2. The Narrator. I love Jeff Hays and had no clue about Emily. And thankfully... She killed it. In a good way.
In my opinion Mr. Corvin has completely delivered. This book is really good. Wonderful world building, cool magic/power system, and of course deep characters. Read Delvers. Read Nora Hazard. I absolutely enjoyed this book from beginning to end. Can't wait for book 2.

All hail Lord Dolos the almighty and king of our hearts and minds. Stupid terrans. bwahahahahaha

7 people found this helpful

Alright

This is a alright addition to the series. Nora tends to complain a lot then go straight into looking down on people then flipping right back into feeling weak and regretful. She also actively tends to start being really combative with people she meets then claims they weren't nice to begin with so they deserve it. She is also being kinda speed leveled in her skills and abilities compared to the other important characters in the series. There's also a lot of others applauding her of being quick witted and intelligent directly followed by something happening and her going "uuuuuuh....." then stupidity ensuing. Seeing as I kinda made it to this side story after the Delvers series and Engineering Ludus book with Zack, I can tolerate her a bit more knowing some more stuff about her but still, she's annoying at the start.