Review: Songs of the Dead

Songs of the Dead by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Narrated by Jack Ayres
Presented by Bolinda Audio

Sanderson's name does more heavy lifting than the exceptionally bland story.

Honestly, I got bored with this at about 30% and the rest was just such a drag. I definitely zoned out a ton, so keep that in mind.

The story follows rocker Jack Solomon as he is introduced into a strange new world of music-magic, light-magic, and a whole bunch of dead people and stuff. *shrugs*

I was actually hooked by the premise - it sounded like a unique idea, and Sanderson is pretty good at creating fascinating magic systems. But this was messy. Music AND light AND dead people ... and a gratuitous amount of musical name drops. Layer upon messy layer of new ideas, new magic, new weapons and new people, and so many info-dumps I'm amazed I took any of it in at all.

This does not read like something from the mind of Sanderson. This reads like a book written by an aging musician who wants to convey the power of music in a new and interesting form while mentally reliving his own glory days. But those who aren't as musically-inclined will likely be alienated by the sheer volume of references, and it makes the book feel a little bit obnoxious. Jack strikes me as the kind of guy that would name an obscure band and then shame you for never having heard of them. Sanderson may have helped develop the magic but this strikes me very much as the pet project of Peter Orullian.

I might have given this an extra star if I'd read a physical copy and therefore followed the action a little better, but it just didn't interest me at all. The narrator does a fantastic job nailing a bunch of different accents but still somehow makes a handful of characters sound the same.

Did not expect him to sing to me, though; that was wild. Especially after every single other 'song' was spoken like bad poetry.

Overall it was an underwhelming urban fantasy that came across as arrogant rather than fun. I think perhaps a physical copy would deliver a little better, but the narrator does well with what he has to work with. If you're a metal head or big on urban fantasy with a musical twist, this might be for you. But don't pick this up based on Sanderson's name alone or you might be disappointed like I was.

With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC

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