Audiobook Review: Sanctuary by Ilona Andrews

 

Sanctuary (Roman's Chronicles #1) by Ilona Andrews

Publication Date: July 30th 2024 by NYLA

Pages: 152

Audio Book Length: 4hrs 27min

Narrator: Chris Brinkley

Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★★½

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Roman is grumpy, back from a task assigned by his Slavic god, Chernobog, still not complete, but he has the Koliada, the Winter Festival off. All he wants is to rest, sip eggnog and eat cookies, but things change when a teenage boy and his puppy (cue heart eyes!) shows up on his property and asks for sanctuary.

 

You’d think Roman, a Dark Volhv serving an evil god wouldn’t be a big-hearted softy, but “evil” in this story isn’t defined in the traditional sense. Soon after taking the boy in, a band of mercenaries show up determined to take the boy and the dog, but they have another thing coming if they think Roman’s just going to give him up. It was fun to see them underestimate Roman and his rag-tag bunch of strange and lethal creatures, adorable in their own odd way!

 

I’m a big fan of Ilona Andrews! It was fun to have Roman fleshed out, as I’ve liked him in the Kate Daniels series. Sanctuary was a fun, fast read, action-packed and infused with Andrews’ signature humor! Things wrapped up, but there were paths left open and I’m eager for more stories! A possible romance a-brewing? I’m all in!

 

I listened to the audio version with Chris Brinkley, a narrator I’ve enjoyed in the past, performing. His pronunciation of what seemed to be to me, difficult words (gods, mythology, etc.) was smooth and well done! I thoroughly enjoyed his performance! I listened at my usual 1.5x normal speed.

4.5 Stars

Book Description:

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Ilona Andrews comes a novella featuring Roman, our favorite Volhv wizard in the always intriguing, colorful, volatile Kate Daniels world.

It’s not easy serving Chernobog, the God of Destruction, Darkness and Death…especially during the holidays; and especially when you’re out of eggnog and one of your pesky, freeloading mythic creatures has eaten your last cookie.

Roman would like nothing more than to be left alone, but when a wounded boy stumbles into his yard and begs for sanctuary, Roman takes him in. Now elite mercenaries are camped out on his property, combat mages are dousing the house with fire, and strange priests are unleashing arcane magic. They thought Roman was easy pickings, just a hermit in the woods, but they chose the wrong dark priest to annoy. For while Roman might be patient, he is the Black Volhv, filled with the love of his terrible god. For his adversaries, it's a fight to the death, but for him, it's just another day in the neighborhood.