Reviewed by Larissa
TITLE: City of Blood
SERIES: The Godstone Saga, Book 6
AUTHOR: Jocelynn Drake
NARRATOR: Kale Williams
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 9 hours and 47 minutes
RELEASE DATE: August 18, 2022
BLURB:
The Final Confrontation
Caelan is done being a pawn of the gods.
He’s been herded and molded by the liars and manipulators.
He’s put the lives of his family in danger again and again.
And he is done.
It’s time to face the mad Goddess of the Hunt in the last place any of them want to go—the Ordas.
If they’re lucky, the special assistance he’s called in will arrive in time.
But no matter what, Caelan will protect his family…at any cost.
City of Blood is the sixth and final book of the Godstone Saga series and is not a stand-alone. The fantasy with a modern twist contains danger, secrets, broken gods, desperate kisses, dragons, possessive boyfriends, magic, lots of delicious angst, and one last round of a deadly game.
REVIEW:
City of Blood is the sixth and final book in Jocelynn Drake’s The Godstone Saga, which contains a continuing storyline told across the six series books that must be read in order. It is a thoughtful, well-rounded, superbly executed conclusion to this engrossing series that, for the most part, leaves things in a satisfying place. By this point, we already know that the characters in this saga are rich, complex, relatable, endearing men that are the heroes of this rollercoaster ride of an adventure that is finally coming to a close, but also feel very much like our friends. As such, there are a few aspects I wish we got more of, but that’s because I’m greedy for Caelan, Drayce, Rayne, Eno, and the other members of this found family, not because it’s necessary to the completion of Drake’s complex story arc.
Describing the culminating entry in a prolific series is a tricky business. I actually intended to start this review with a tongue-in-cheek comment that what follows is the book review equivalent of the TV show Seinfeld: a review about nothing. This oxymoronical thought crossed my mind because I realized that there’s nothing I wanted to share about the plot of City of Blood, or how the engrossing The Godstone Saga six-book story arc resolves itself in this final entry in the series. That’s a purposeful decision on my part because I don’t think I can share much that’s meaningful without giving things away – something I’m assiduously avoiding because you will best experience this excellent conclusion by coming into the story fresh.
However, I jettisoned that approach because I realized that my attempt to be clever would belie an important truth about the City of Blood audiobook: While my review may reveal nothing, or at least nothing about what happens, how it happens, or why it happens, the review is not about nothing. In fact, there’s a whole lot of something in the City of Blood audiobook, and that something has a name and deserves a ton of attention. It’s Kale Williams’ vocal performance.
Williams proves time and time again to be an intuitive, engaged, emotionally connected narrator who doesn’t simply recite lines. He acts out the story through his innate, prodigious skill and by leveraging all of the well-honed tools in his vocal toolbox. We get it all here – a myriad of timbres for the different characters with speech cadences that make each character distinct and identifiable. Williams throws himself into the portrayal of these men, and he continues to consistently portray them just as he has in the five books before. Williams’ faithfulness to the characters and his vocal delivery capturing the essence and individuality of each of Caelan, Drayce, Rayne, and Eno never falters notwithstanding the breadth of the series’ story arc and the sheer number of hours and minutes Williams has spent inhabiting these characters over the course of it.
There are so many wonderful things to tout about Williams’ vocal performances. However, what stands out the most here in City of Blood, a story based on fantasy, is that while the improbable and impossible unfold before our eyes in realms and scenarios detached from our reality, Williams’ effortless delivery coaxes us into the story. He makes it completely accessible without any effort on our part to engage with the characters or their stories. It may be fantastical, but Williams makes it feel real, and that’s the hallmark of an outstanding vocal actor.
I highly recommend City of Blood, but you should indulge in this entire captivating The Godstone Saga series in audiobook. Drake’s imagination and superb writing plus Williams’ astute interpretation of the story and highly skilled narration equals an audiobook series you do not want to miss.
RATING: 
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