Prior to this novel, Trevor H. Cooley took five novels to tell his “Bowl of Souls” story. I really enjoyed those five novels, but I was also glad it was over because although the novels were great, it felt like the story was never going to end. Now I could read/listen to a hundred novels about the “Bowl of Souls” if the author has that many to tell, but I can’t have one story take up all one hundred novels. When writers keep stretching one story across novel, after novel, after novel, after novel, I begin to feel like they don’t care about their audience as people and fans. I start to feel like they just see their audience as an object of manipulation. A means to an end, with that end being a wallet holding the cash to purchase another book.
Now Mr. Cooley has written “Tara Woodblade,” the first book in his Jharro Grove saga. The Jharro Grove saga seems to be a continuation of his “Bowl of Souls” storyline. Okay, I can definitely live with a new saga written in the “Bowl of Souls” world. The problem for me was that “Tara Woodblade” felt as if Mr. Cooley is running out of gas. Not every book in a series is going to be a grand slam home run or even a single run, home run, but “Tara Woodblade,” is just a single, period.
The first four books of the “Bowl of Souls” series made me chomp at the bit waiting for the next book. “Tara Woodblade” has had the opposite affect on me. The new characters feel like they were created from templates of the old characters from the first five books. They even sound the same. Part of the reason I feel that way must also be blamed on narrator Andrew Tell. The incredible job he did in the first five novels just feels ordinary now because he uses the same voices for new characters that he used for the “Bowl of Souls” characters. I found that off putting, especially with the first set of books so fresh in my mind.
Overall, “Tara Woodblade” is not a bad novel. Trevor H. Cooley is too good of an author for that. “Tara Woodblade” is simply not a great novel. Maybe that’s not a fair critique, but Mr. Cooley set his bar very high with the first set of books. I would still get the next novel in this new series. The author’s past works definitely grants him at least a one book grace with me, but things will have to get much better, quick fast and in a hurry for me to stick it out past the next novel.
Finally, this audio book was provided by the narrator at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audio Book Blast.