Publisher: Tor Books | Audible Studios
Release Date: August 16, 2016
Format: Audio MP3
Pages: Hardcover: 304 pages | Audio Length: Approx 8.2 hours
Narrator: Mary Robinette Kowal
Source: Audible
Genre: Fantasy, Historical Fiction
Review Date: November 9, 2016
Rating: 3 bookmarks
Synopsis: Ginger Stuyvesant, an American heiress living in London during World War I, is engaged to Captain Benjamin Harford, an intelligence officer. Ginger is a medium for the Spirit Corps, a special Spiritualist force.
Each soldier heading for the front is conditioned to report to the mediums of the Spirit Corps when they die so the Corps can pass instant information about troop movements to military intelligence.
Ginger and her fellow mediums contribute a great deal to the war efforts, so long as they pass the information through appropriate channels. While Ben is away at the front, Ginger discovers the presence of a traitor. Without the presence of her fiance to validate her findings, the top brass thinks she's just imagining things. Even worse, it is clear that the Spirit Corps is now being directly targeted by the German war effort. Left to her own devices, Ginger has to find out how the Germans are targeting the Spirit Corps and stop them. This is a difficult and dangerous task for a woman of that era, but this time both the spirit and the flesh are willing…
Disclaimer: This audiobook was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Release Date: August 16, 2016
Format: Audio MP3
Pages: Hardcover: 304 pages | Audio Length: Approx 8.2 hours
Narrator: Mary Robinette Kowal
Source: Audible
Genre: Fantasy, Historical Fiction
Review Date: November 9, 2016
Rating: 3 bookmarks
Synopsis: Ginger Stuyvesant, an American heiress living in London during World War I, is engaged to Captain Benjamin Harford, an intelligence officer. Ginger is a medium for the Spirit Corps, a special Spiritualist force.
Each soldier heading for the front is conditioned to report to the mediums of the Spirit Corps when they die so the Corps can pass instant information about troop movements to military intelligence.
Ginger and her fellow mediums contribute a great deal to the war efforts, so long as they pass the information through appropriate channels. While Ben is away at the front, Ginger discovers the presence of a traitor. Without the presence of her fiance to validate her findings, the top brass thinks she's just imagining things. Even worse, it is clear that the Spirit Corps is now being directly targeted by the German war effort. Left to her own devices, Ginger has to find out how the Germans are targeting the Spirit Corps and stop them. This is a difficult and dangerous task for a woman of that era, but this time both the spirit and the flesh are willing…
Disclaimer: This audiobook was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
One of the cool things about this title was the melding of fantasy with historical fiction with a dash of romance. The world of mediums and ghost melded into The Great War (World War I) makes for a very unique story. The paranormal parts of the story are about a group known as Spirit Corps. The Spirit Corps is made up of seven people that are aware that ghost are real and they have a job to do when someone dies. Two mediums who can see the dead and are at risk because their souls are not fully attached to their bodies, four unsighted who help keep the medium from leaving their bodies completely and one person to see that the reports taken from the deceased are sent on to proper place. One of these mediums in the group is American Ginger Stuyvesant.
Ginger is a likable character. I liked that while Ginger is an American heiress, that really doesn't take hold in any significant way. She's about getting to the bottom of what happened to her fiance and exposing the traitor. She's strong, she's intelligent, and she's in love. All things that I appreciate in a good heroine. Her fiance Ben is working with her to expose the traitor. I generally liked his character. He's pretty typical of the time. He's a British intelligence officer and he's got unfinished business...
The world-building is great, I could visiualize the front line, and other areas through out the story. Strong world-building is always a great asset to any story and Kowal nailed that. I also wish there were more empahsis on the Spirit Corps. I would have loved to know the history there. The who, what, when, where, and why of how it all began. On another note, I appreciate that Kowal addresses many social issues, such as the systemic sexism and racism that was rampant during this era.
I enjoyed that the author, Mary Robinette Kowal, did a great job narrating her own title. This is one of the rare cases where it completely works with a fiction title. I believe it's because Mary Robinette Kowal is an experienced narrator. She's not an author trying to be a narrator. She did a great job with all of the voices and I felt that her narration added value to the experience. I knew that I was experiencing the story as the author intended as she's presenting it herself.
While over all I liked the characters, the story, and the narrator, I found that the series of events were told at a pretty slow pace. It was notabley slower than my preference. The audiobook was only a little over 8 hours, but it took me over a week to complete it just because I kept getting destracted and wanted to listen to other audiobooks. Personally, I love when I'm able to start an audiobook and I want to listen to it every spare minute of my day until the end. Sadly, this title didn't achieve that level of excitement for me.
This was a unique and creative take on a historical piece and I liked it. If you're a fan of Kowal's writing or narrating, I encourage you to check it out. If you enjoy historical fiction with a paraormal twist, this is worth a read.
Did you read or listen to Ghost Walkers? How did you like it?
Happy Reading & Listening,
~Tamara
The world-building is great, I could visiualize the front line, and other areas through out the story. Strong world-building is always a great asset to any story and Kowal nailed that. I also wish there were more empahsis on the Spirit Corps. I would have loved to know the history there. The who, what, when, where, and why of how it all began. On another note, I appreciate that Kowal addresses many social issues, such as the systemic sexism and racism that was rampant during this era.
I enjoyed that the author, Mary Robinette Kowal, did a great job narrating her own title. This is one of the rare cases where it completely works with a fiction title. I believe it's because Mary Robinette Kowal is an experienced narrator. She's not an author trying to be a narrator. She did a great job with all of the voices and I felt that her narration added value to the experience. I knew that I was experiencing the story as the author intended as she's presenting it herself.
While over all I liked the characters, the story, and the narrator, I found that the series of events were told at a pretty slow pace. It was notabley slower than my preference. The audiobook was only a little over 8 hours, but it took me over a week to complete it just because I kept getting destracted and wanted to listen to other audiobooks. Personally, I love when I'm able to start an audiobook and I want to listen to it every spare minute of my day until the end. Sadly, this title didn't achieve that level of excitement for me.
This was a unique and creative take on a historical piece and I liked it. If you're a fan of Kowal's writing or narrating, I encourage you to check it out. If you enjoy historical fiction with a paraormal twist, this is worth a read.
Did you read or listen to Ghost Walkers? How did you like it?
Happy Reading & Listening,
~Tamara
