Audio Book Review: Dissension

Dissension

By:  K.A. Salidas

Publish Date:  February 11, 2014, Audiobook January 13, 2015

Format:  Audiobook - 4 hrs 17 mins
Narrated By:  Meghan Kelly

Genre:  Paranormal

Series:  1st in Chronicles of the Uprising series

Impression:  Forced to fight or die, one vampire is determined to survive, and escape.

Synopsis:
The great cataclysm wiped almost all life from the face of planet Earth, but tiny pockets of survivors crawled from the ashes, with only one thought: survival, at any cost.

But not all survivors were human.

In the dark, militant society that has risen in the aftermath, vampires, once thought to be mythical, have been assimilated and enslaved. Used for blood sport their lives are allowed to continue only for the entertainment of the masses. Reviled as savages, they are destined to serve out their immortal lives in the arena, as gladiators.

And there is no greater gladiator than Mira: undefeated, uncompromising...and seemingly unbreakable. When an escape attempt leads Mira into the path of Lucian Stavros, the city’s Regent, her destiny is changed forever.

Lucian, raised in a culture which both reviles and celebrates the savagery and inhumanity of vampires, finds Mira as intriguing as she is brash. An impulsive decision - to become Mira’s patron – changes more than just Lucian’s perception about vampire kind. The course of his life is altered in ways he could never have predicted – a life that is suddenly as expendable as hers.

Can Mira prove to Lucian that all is not as it seems? Can Lucian escape centuries of lies, bloodshed, and propaganda to see the truth? Or will the supreme power of the human overlords destroy them both?

First Sentence:
Everyone joked about the end of the world, but when it finally happened, no one was laughing.

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Audible


My Thoughts and Summary:
*This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com, at my request.

Vampires are now slaves to humans, even after all the help they extended to humans a hundred years ago when the world ended. Now, Mira lives the life of fighting or die for the amusement of humans like other vampires. All she wants is to see the outside again, after thirty years of living in a cell or fighting for her life. When she tries another attempt to escape, she runs into a human male who talks to her and treats her as an equal. She wonders why the Regent of the city is being so kind to her.

Oh. I really liked how Meghan read the prologue. I like the sound of Meghan's story telling voice, how she draws and pauses draws me to the story. And she acts out the dialog with yelling, attitude, and slight voice differences. Meghan inflicts emotion of fear, anger, and much more into the voices she creates. The shaking of fear, the rumble of anger, and yells when a character calls for it. I must say, I thought the personality, emotions, and attitude were well portrayed for the characters by Meghan. There is, however, one sentence that is repeated later in the book.

Taking the slave of gladiators, twisting it with vampires kept penned up to fight, and you have the world we are in. The darkness of the abuse and usage of the vampires is evident. But so well done keeping me listening and wanting to see what would happen, what Mira would do next.

There is a lot of history reviewed in the prologue, quickly setting the stage for us. Well picked and placed words to bring a heavy meaning to the world. Humanity has a flaw - they are harsh in striving to be the top of the living chain. But, as much as Mira hates what she sees around her in the humans and how they treat others, she might find there are ones that are different from this.

We don't have a lot of characters, which works for me. The ones that are present are valuable. Mira is a vampire forced into the life of a gladiator, kill or be killed, for the amusement of humans. She is determined to survive and escape. She knows she will one day, even after failed attempts already. We have the Regent who only knows the false stories and tales of vampires. He's curious and wants to know the truth of her kind, and about her. He's an interesting character to balance Mira. I do like him. I did enjoy Mira's friend, and cell neighbor, George. He plays the game with the human patrons and human handlers. He doesn't bite when the handlers are taunting him. He also does as needed to keep patrons calling on him, so he's out and supplied with fresh blood. But he's straight forward with Mira as well. He tries to flirt with Mira, to raise her spirits when she's mad or needing help.

A story of survival, interesting setting, fighting, and thinking characters makes for a wonderful new series here. There is a blend of Urban Fantasy, the vampires, with the setting of a post-apocalypse world. This is the series that K.A. Salidas should hit it big with. I'm impressed with the world and characters she's created here. Salidas's use of senses in writing drew me in, and I believed the events happening.

The book ends with completing the story on Mira wanting to escape, one of her main drives through the book. Yet the ending leaves me wanting the next book, desiring it. There are things to do yet, we know that, but the writing has me wanting to listen/read on and on. I couldn't get enough of it! And not in a bad way, I just loved the voice of the story.

I'm hooked!

(There are 5 books out and a Prequel novella.)