A great free book

overall a pretty good book, I download This Book for a long drive and was not disappointed, would recommend for a younger audience.

the book has a great narrator, an interesting story, and a need for a sequel!

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Predictable

Lots of men and boys doing heroic things
A few women, all of them evil.
I found myself siding with the old witch

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1 person found this helpful

Great story with amazing narration

Once I got into the story and started to know the characters, which did not take long, I could not stop listening. Peter Kenny does an amazing job narrating this novel. There are a few pretentious individuals leaving negative reviews and down voting however this is a great novel with an engaging story and great narration.

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Brilliant author

On the surface level, it seems like every other fantasy novel of its type; however, there is a great deal of complexity and nuance that's masterfully woven into the storytelling. The author is incredibly skilled - I used to work at a museum and for research purposes I read many, many texts from the ancient world (such as The Epic of Gilgamesh, the Code of Hammurabi, and The Book of the Dead). The "excerpts" from in-universe religious texts placed throughout the novel felt incredibly real and utilizes a distinctly separate writing style from the rest of the book. It is an honest, more realistic coming-of-age story where the main character grapples with themes of actual substance and depth while facing problems without easy, formulaic solutions. An engaged and thoughtful reader will be richly rewarded by this unique story.

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1 person found this helpful

Plodding.. then Incomprehensively Breakneck

By Chapter 30 of this book, I was *screaming* (in my head) at author Justin Travis Call: "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, GET OUT OF THE SCHOOL!!"
Fortunately, Call appears to listen - eventually embarking on a creditable - if largely unoriginal - story about a teenaged boy with magical potential, a mysterious past, and a prophesied dark future venturing into the world to uncover the true state of Magic (not what he's been taught). The characters are interesting, the description is vivid, the fantasy world (albeit insufficiently developed) is intriguing, and the action scenes are reasonably well-choreographed.
On the other hand, the pacing is so execrable that it's hard to approve of the book. The protagonist's remarkably "ho-hum" struggles with bullies, mean headmasters, girls, and contradictory homelife advice dominate fully ⅓ of the book for some reason. When the action DOES start, the fights, killings, betrayals, and discoveries happen without relent.. so rapidly that it's hard to discern what - exactly - is happening with 'Annev'.

Doubtless the "adequate" rating I give the book is partly due to distinctly average narration from Peter Kenny, too. His diction, reading rate, cadence, and tone are professional enough.. but he exhibits occasionally quite weak voice-acting (hard to understand accents) and a natural sibilance that Blackstone Publishing sound engineers struggle to soften.

In toto, this 6.5/10-star offering is worth a download if you're patient with hour after hour of in-class competitions & tests followed by a rushed jumble of violently exposed revelations.. and can get 'Master Of Sorrows' as part of the 'Plus' initiative - but paying a Credit for it would be hard to defend.

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1 person found this helpful

Promising start to a new series

There are already plenty of other reviews that I can see going really in-depth with their reviews, so I will just say that this sets up a really promising series. I enjoyed this one on its own, but the way that it ends and how those relationships are moving are excellent. The magic system definitely feelings epic but also like we are only scratching the surface (I'm going to expect a Wheel of Time kind of power creep up here). And the role the Silent Gods play seems pretty interesting. Started the second Audiobook already!

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1 person found this helpful

A solid 4 star

this is a little in-direct compliment but...one thing that stands out for me was the lack of "oh, fer fks sake" moments. There was no "she killed my parents, my best friend and blew up my favorite ice cream shop, but I still love her!" kind of writing that creeps into books. anywhoooo, a solid 4.

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Interesting unique story

Rather enjoyed the story characters and plot enough to continue the joinery with book two.

The narration that Peter gives is expressive and clear however his volume control almost gives a sense of it being told by captain Kirk. he regularly goes from a whisper to a shout in the same sentence, which depending on how and where you are listening can leave you struggling to hear what is being said to discomfort from shouting.

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2 people found this helpful

Pretty Good

I liked the writing and the world but found myself pretty frustrated at times with the main character. They have an extremely bad case of young and stupid.They are given reason after reason and chance after chance get out of an untenable life and just adamantly march ahead in to self destruction instead. Basically the author had to do some back-flips to force the story where they wanted it to go. In any case I look forward to the next book with the "tragic backstory" portion out of the way.

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5 people found this helpful

Very enjoyable

I find myself cheering for the main character and cursing his enemies. The depth of the story is great and unfolds perfectly. The narrator is a perfect choice for this story and I can't stop listening. The adventure hooks are perfectly written. Highly recommend.

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1 person found this helpful