Warlight by Michael Ondaatje

Amy   

historical fiction

I became aware of Michael Ondaatje's Warlight when the narrator of the audiobook, Steve West (aka my favorite ear candy), posted that this audiobook made the list of Audiofile Magazine's Top Five 2018 Fiction Audiobooks. 

Sadly, this book didn’t do it for me.  It’s the story of a young man who was abandoned by his parents (and, later, his sister), raised by strangers, and became obsessed with figuring out his mother’s actions while she had been away. His life was not content. He was largely alone. The story was depressing. There was no big mystery or overall story arc. Rather, it was more like a series of short stories about individuals in Nathaniel’s and/or his mother’s life. The stories were out of order as the novel jumped around to various different time periods.  The big reveal at the end was not a surprise.  And it didn’t even answer Nathaniel’s questions about his mother. 

Steve’s narration was amazing, as always.  I thought his voice acting was superb and I credit Steve with getting me through the novel. The story itself was directionless.  There were interesting sections but the overall novel never went anywhere. While a few of the characters were quirky enough to make an impression, none of them were particularly likable.