Author David Neth returns to form in the third novel of his Under the Moon witching series, delivering perhaps the best of the three.
With the ever-reliable Nathan Weiland narrating again, the adventure kicks off with a good recap of the story so far before launching immediately into the action.
Book 1, The Full Moon, began the series with a tale of two witching sisters before the baffling second novel, The Harvest Moon, tore through main characters faster than a slasher film, leaving me with the incorrect impression that Under the Moon was an anthology series.
Generations on now, The Blood Moon follows Chris and Josh Harper, two witching brothers and nephews to Kathy, presumably one of the sisters from the original novel.
The ill-conceived villain, Toxanna, takes a back seat for The Blood Moon, although her presence is often felt, which is the best way to present such a caricature. When she does appear, it’s usually brief and bearable with her scenes often shared by her toxic crew: Will, Devon and Axon.
The story focusses on a set group of characters again, which also includes inexperienced witch Holly and her overly-protective father, Simon. It works well, allowing us to emotionally invest in the plight of each one, whether it be in their fight against evil or their more personal fight for independence and romance. It’s that ability to connect with characters that makes a book so much more effective.
Weiland’s narration works best in this audiobook because the central characters are primarily male. Through no fault of his own, the predominantly female cast of characters in the previous books would have been more suited to a female reader instead of a falsetto-voiced male narrator. His diction is clear and it is quickly obvious which character is speaking, although Neth’s text doesn’t provide any of level emotional depth, as usual. Neth is a good storyteller overall, but needs to work on deepening his characters with genuine emotion.
As the final volume in the Under the Moon trilogy, The Blood Moon ties things up nicely while remaining a stand-alone story that can be listened to without the previous tomes.
The Blood Moon was released in November 2015. It runs for approximately 6 hours and 35 minutes and is self-published through audible.
Reviewed by Rod Lewis
Twitter: @StrtegicRetweet
Rating out of 10: 8
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