Hero

I’ll admit: I approached *Hero* skeptical that a 106-minute audiobook could deliver anything beyond a quick dopamine hit for Wings of Fire completists. Boy, was I wrong. Sutherland takes what could’ve been a throwaway origin story and turns it into a psychological pressure cooker. Cliff isn’t just unlikable at the start—he’s *actively* annoying, a spoiled prince who weaponizes charm to avoid responsibility. But the genius is in how the story forces you to root for him anyway, not because he earns it, but because you start to understand *why* he’s like this. The moment he’s forced to choose between his ego and his kingdom? Chills. McManus’ narration is the secret weapon here. She nails Cliff’s smarmy confidence, but the real magic is in the micro-pauses—the way her voice drops when he’s confronted with his own failures, or how she lets his bravado falter when he’s out of his depth. My only critique? The production’s sound mixing occasionally drowns out quieter emotional beats under the score (a minor but noticeable issue in the climactic scene). And while the pacing is mostly stellar, the resolution feels *slightly* rushed—like Sutherland had one more emotional beat to land but ran out of runway. Still, for an audiobook this short to leave me *angry* at a fictional dragon’s choices? That’s the mark of something special. If you’ve ever loved a flawed protagonist despite themselves, this is your next listen.