While the audio narration was good, and likely the main reason I finished this novel the story felt a little convoluted. Mainly because there are too many things happening, in my opinion. I felt like every-time I started to get immersed or understood what was happening, everything changed. Overall the story concept was decent, but the execution was just not what it could've or should've been. By the end I still had questions and not enough closure. This book was a 2.75 / 5 for me.

Enjoyable audio to a lackluster story. The beginning of the story immediately pulled me in with the hints of a worldbuilding around a society similar, but different, than our own. As well as a likeable main character who wants to prove her career advancements are due to her own merits and not her parentage. The dialogue felt strained at times and the audiobook format made it harder to ignore as opposed to written text. But there is a possibility it's intentionally part of that world and it simply went over my head. I enjoyed the political plot points but was less drawn in by the militaristic side of the story. Overall I was left with amazing concepts that I wish had been better executed. I get the sense Andrew Harvey knew the story he wanted to tell and was meticulous in his worldbuilding and concept. However, in my personal opinion, his writing style made it hard to press on through parts of the story. The psychology of the characters is well planned out but something about them falls flat and makes it harder for me to care about them and relate to them the way I feel I should given what I've learned about them through the story. Maybe this was meant to be a movie instead of a book. I think aspects may benefit from visual storytelling.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this in return for an honest review. This was a solid story. I found it to be difficult to listen to however. It was not the narrator but the story was slow. I did like the extra sound effects that were added. i feel like it helped with the story.

ARC audiobook provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“Nightfall” is an alternate history, science fiction novel that follows the Clemhorns, a prominent family in the Cross-Temporal Empire. Nearly one hundred years ago, the first trans-temporal portal was developed, leading to the creation of the Cross-Temporal Empire, consisting of fifty-four parallel, alternate Earths. All is not well within the Empire, however. Political conflicts between the Conservatives and the Progressives have been escalating, driven further by the death of the Empire’s First Leader, Manek. The Clemhorns’ patriarch nominates himself as a replacement, but he faces a challenge across political lines. The Clemhorn family, including the patriarch’s grandchildren, Conrad, Arnold, Donald, and Ivy, find themselves drawn into the struggle for the future of the Empire from differing perspectives. One thing is certain: war is imminent and no one is safe.

I hate giving negative reviews, but I found that this book simply failed on all the points that make an interesting novel. The only good thing about this book was the premise, which could have led to an interesting, action-packed, adventurous sci-fi story. Unfortunately, the story just fell flat. The story arc was weak and disjointed. The story failed to adequately describe the history that led to the present Empire, which seemed important given the current conflict. The world-building was lacking, resulting in a lifeless environment without any real significance. Although I knew this was the first in the series and I expected a potential cliffhanger ending, I felt the story just dropped off at the end on a less-than-interesting note.

Approximately the first 30% of the book was useless conjecture between the Clemhorn family and the people around them, which added absolutely nothing to the book and mostly had no bearing on the rest of the story. Despite the potential of this first section of the book to at least develop the characters, it failed to do so. The characters were one-dimensional, uninteresting, and not really likeable. Maybe that’s unfair. The characters weren’t so much unlikeable as they were so boring that I felt completely ambivalent toward them. Because of this, I didn’t really care what happened to them. I wasn’t invested in the characters and their stories.

After slogging through the first 30% of the book, some action starts to occur. It begins in little spurts that are quickly passed over with the story abruptly moving on. Even as larger conflict begins to occur after about the 60% mark, it is still just glossed over and monotonous. The story just drags on, full of awkward dialogue and flat prose. The author’s writing style failed to engage me as a reader and felt rather juvenile. I was so bored and frustrated with this book that I just repeatedly wanted to give up on it and put myself out of my misery. I stuck through the whole book, however, so I could give a full review. The result? I desperately wish I could get the eight hours back that it took to make my way through this book. It was a complete waste of my time.

My copy of this book was an audiobook, so I must also comment on the narration. Quite simply: it was absolutely terrible. Most of the narration sounds like it was recorded in a metal box, resulting in tinny sound and an echoing quality. At varying points, it sounded like the narrators either got too close or too far from the microphone, leading to weird variations in which characters were suddenly too close or far away. The narrators themselves did a poor job as well. The voices often had awful accents that made dialogue awkward and annoying. The recitation was mostly flat, monotonous, and boring. The narration failed to add anything to the story.

Overall, I was absolutely disappointed with this book. At the very most, I might recommend this book to young adult readers who have never read a sci-fi book. Even that is a stretch. I know I’m in the minority with my review, but I honestly just couldn’t find anything redeeming in this book. It had an interesting premise with poor execution. My recommendation? Skip this book.