Slightly predictable but worth the listen

An interesting and gory look at the world of the fey in modern times. Never dull but some of the story arcs were obvious from the start. I wasn’t crazy about the performer’s voicing for different characters , especially the females.

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Gripping

The thing I like about Fantacy is that everything is fair game, you do t know what to expect and this novel certainly put you on the tip of your toes.

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An Interesting Take on Myth and Legend

This was a well written book, and the series only gets better from here. With an interesting viewpoint on some of the world's oldest tales, this series left me wanting more.

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Dumb main characters

I increased the reading speed to 2.5x just to reach chapter 12 before throwing in the towel. It reads like those horror movies were everyone makes increasingly stupid decisions and you keep yelling “WHY!”. It’s funny in a movie that last all of 2 hours however, not so much in a book. I think the premise was interesting, but the execution was dirt. The main female character is next level dumb. I mean Christ she admits that her actions are ill conceived and then does them anyways. I can’t forgive dumb adult MC’s especially when their stupidity is used as a plot device. Damn James Rollins, I only started listening to this because his name was on the cover with a positive review.

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Variably-Successful Introduction

The first eight chapters in this book are genuinely *tedious*. I almost gave up on it a couple of times.. unable to concentrate on the story and finding myself letting it drone on in the background while thinking about other things. To be honest, the pacing never really improves much.. but once Tim Lebbon is able to get deeper into his story, he gets the opportunity to demonstrate his strengths: clever SciFi/Fantasy ideas (a secretive underground blackmarket for mythical creatures and their body parts thrives while the Fae fight back in this case); and mind's-eye vivid description with a gritty/gory/visceral intent.
Once we finally get to that stage, the book is pretty good - evolving into something like an R-rated 'Grimm's Fairy Tale': silly but loaded with dark themes (matured further with graphic violence, sexual content, and frequent F-bombs). I am hopeful that future installments in the 'Relics' trilogy - no longer requiring the establishing background - will get right to the good stuff.

Reader Esther Wane is definitely imperfect (exhibiting a moderately annoying timbre and persistent sibilance, for example).. but her performance is likewise hit & miss. Her dicton/enunciation is spot-on, her understanding of the author's tone is pitch-perfect, and her voice-acting is commendable. In toto, Wane provides "adequate" narration.

As the first Book in the series, 'Relics' merits a relatively disappointing 4.5 stars out of 10.  Your Credit could probably be spent better elsewhere, but there is enough promise to convince me to personally continue. On to Book Two..

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