SAMURAI: THE THREE SONS

by Timothy Levester McCallum

Narrated by: Ross Pipkin

Production by: Timothy Levester McCallum

Sons Defend Their Honor!

This is an action-packed story of three brothers from America fighting as samurai to win an important battle in a larger war that was full of epic battles, duels, and fights. In fact, this tale consists mainly of fight scenes that are strung together by a pretty weak story. We know our main characters are fighting to win a war but not why they should win or their beliefs in their own efforts. Just that they have a strong sibling bond. All the other characters lacked any reason for me to care about them. Furthermore, it seems as if a lot of Samurai knowledge needs to already exists in the listener’s mind. While the addition of magic into the story makes for interesting duels it still felt shoe-horned in. I hope future books in this series will flesh out the world as much as they did for these brothers. If you are a big fan of Samurai, then this will be an entertaining experience. Otherwise, this might not be the listen for you. 

Ross Pipkin's narration starts off really rough. But as the book progresses, he finds his cadence. He performed his best work during the fighting scenes but felt lackluster the rest of the time. I hope in his next narration he won't hit the mic as much.

Editing and quality were on par with most books I have listened to.  The production on the other hand was not. The addition of random music from random genres (hip-hop, rock, Japanese) was unnecessary. Along with the chaotic insertion of Foley work I was taken out of the story every time.

Disclaimer: This Audiobook was provided free of charge by the author, narrator, and/or publisher in exchange for a non-bias, honest review.