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Shadow of the Conqueror
- Chronicles of Everfall, Book 1
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer, Kate Reading
- Series: Chronicles of Everfall, Book 1
- Length: 18 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Action & Adventure
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Have you ever wondered how to create an immersive and believable fantasy world?
Author Shad Brooks gives us an in-depth look at his approach to the floating continents that populate Everfall.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Outstanding Fantasy
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Publisher's Summary
Who better to fight back the darkness of the world than the one responsible for most of it?
Daylen, once known as the Great Bastard, the Scourge of Nations, Dayless the Conqueror, has lived in hiding since his presumed death. Burdened by age and tremendous guilt, he thinks his life is coming to an end. Unbeknownst to him he’s about to embark on a journey towards redemption where his ruthless abilities might save the world. Many battles await with friends to be made and a past filled with countless crimes to confront, all the while trying to keep his true identity a secret.
Indeed, it might be too much if not for the fabled power awaiting him.
Everfall is a world of perpetual day where the continents float in an endless sky. If one jumps from the continent they will fall for many hours before returning to the same place from which they fell. Skyships rule the air powered by shining sunstone and industrial darkstone. A legendary order of knights bears mystical powers which they use to hunt out the dreaded shade, monsters that regular people turn into if trapped in darkness for the length of a fall.
It is a world of enchanted swords, merciless monsters, mystical knights, and hard magic, filled with tales of wonder and adventure.
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What listeners say about Shadow of the Conqueror
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- Amazon Customer
- 08-16-19
Excellent World, Shallow Characters
This book is fantastic in its world building. The magic system is phenomenal, as someone who has an engineering background and an interest in particle physics and quantum mechanics I found the magic system engrossing. The attention to detail and the technical aspects were interesting and I appreciated that the author did not dumb down the engineering aspects of the world. I am highly appreciative that the protagonist is an engineer and brought that direct perspective to understanding the world he lives in. The world has great potential and even the background story would be a fascinating book in and of itself.
I do however feel that the characters' backgrounds are rather shallow and I never felt what I believe the author wanted me to feel about the protagonist. The graphic and violent aspects of the story were not emotionally powerful and felt contrived. The fight scenes and the usage of the magic system was excellent, but the motivations of the characters were very muddled. The author tries too hard to tie up lose ends to the determent of the overall story. The conclusion left me wanting to pick up the characters and put them back in the middle of the book where the plot and story were stronger and more entertaining. The end was extremely contrived and did not feel natural, but more like the author saying, "I'm running out of ink, better wrap it up." The creatures of the world and the original driving force of the protagonist was a much more interesting narrative and I was more drawn to the protagonist's past than the story's present.
Overall, as an exercise in world building 9/10, character development 5/10, emotional depth 2/10.
31 people found this helpful
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Performance
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- Amazon Customer
- 07-18-19
Shad get a better Editor
I'm writing this on my phone so sorry in advance. I'm a fan of Shad's YouTube channel. I've read Brandon Sanderson's books and Robert Jordan's. There is so much influence in these and it really shows. The premise is very interesting but I honestly think if you want to make a world builder book with this much detail you need to spread it out. As others have pointed out there are big information dumps that don't seem to fit where they are placed. I would rather have the story show me how the world works like Sanderson or Jordan. The main character is very hard to self identify with because he talks about how much he regrets killing people and how his greatest punishment for his crime is living with the guilt. Then he goes and kills a bunch of criminals. The darker themes of the book (sex, rape, murder, and genocide) seem to be delivered awkwardly. The action scenes are done very well and are enjoyable.The narrators absolutely blow me away everytime I listen to them and they do an amazing job like always. Shad, I haven't read any of your other stuff so I'm not sure how this compares but this seems like a great attempt. I enjoyed the ride and was able to finish the book and have listened to much worse books. I did enjoy the book but I think it could use much more polish. I look forward to listening to anything you might write in the future. To anyone looking to purchase the book go ahead and support the author. It was a fun book and would enjoy reading more about the world.
82 people found this helpful
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Performance
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Story
- John Mecomber
- 07-27-19
Great first book
This tale of redemption has great world building and a fleshed out magic system. The story is good but after hearing the main character dump on himself continuously it starts to get a bi et old. There are also a lot of he said, she said, and characters says in this book so that gets old after listening after a while. The voice work is really jarring though when characters are voiced by the other reader after having been voiced by the other.
I would have thought the cast would have been divided in half since there were 2 readers here, but no. Whenever it is a male perspective Michael reads and when a female perspective then Kate reads. This leads to wildly different voices for a character.
Overall the book is a good listen and I recommend it but be prepared for some drag.
13 people found this helpful
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- Rick B
- 09-13-19
Good premise, but poorly written
While the idea behind the story is sound, the book could do with a good editor.
11 people found this helpful
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- Book reader/lover
- 07-27-19
world building told much and showed less
the storylines were overall good, the dialogue and exposition were sometimes awkward, overall is was an easy listen and I am looking forward to the next in the series. Kramer and Reading as always were great!
10 people found this helpful
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- SG
- 10-01-20
Difficult and Disappointing
[ Spoilers ]
I'm a long-time viewer of the author's YouTube videos on topics of history and historicity in popular culture. It disappoints me greatly, then, to have to give this book such a terrible review. I went in wanting to like this book, and it didn't take long to dash my hopes. The core concept is interesting and has untold potential, but drowns in the confusion of this book's tone, structure, and overall execution.
To start with, the prose is riddled with over-exposition. No single concept can go unmentioned without immediate explanation - not even when doing so is necessarily going to entail bringing a grinding halt to whatever is going on in a given scene. The result is a world that feels un-explorable, because the author leaves nothing to be explored. Instead it feels as though you are being taken through a museum exhibit, guide and everything. Nothing is left for the reader to wonder about or to discover. I understand that a certain level of heavy exposition is warranted by this book's world concept - it is a world in which many things differ fantastically from reality, in ways which become important to the plot and are thus crucial for the reader to grasp early - but the execution is still clumsy at best.
As for characters, the cast is relatively small and primarily revolves around the protagonist, Daylen. This makes sense, given that the concept of the character of Daylen is integral to the story itself, but as with the above the execution leaves a lot to be desired. Daylen himself becomes the root of what I can only describe as a severe tonal confusion. Daylen is a repentent monster, a rapist, a former genocidal dictator, living with nearly a century of guilt weighing on his conscience, but the book cannot stop itself from indulging in over-the-top action sequences that scream power fantasy. This is only spurred on as the story develops and Daylen becomes renowned as a hero, earning the love of one and all. All of his supposed crimes and his deeply immoral past are swiftly reduced to little else but self-pity. We are constantly TOLD that he is a terrible man, but seldom are we SHOWN it - put this together with something that reads like a YA/NA wish fulfillment action novel, and the weight that Daylen as a character study could have had simply vanishes. The best scenes, I found, were the ones where this was not the case. Scenes where Daylen is confronted in some way by his past, and must confront it back. In these scenes, I think the potential of the book shines through and shows what could have been, had the power fantasy aspect been thoroughly axed.
Then there's the matter of the book's female characters, and - by extension - its obsession with sex, rape and abuse. I am not really exaggerating in saying that nearly every female character in this book is in some way defined either by past sexual abuse, or by their sexual attraction to the protagonist. It got to the point that, in the third act, whenever a new female character was introduced I started warily anticipating the mention of sex, or rape, or how angry the protagonist is at himself when he gets an erection, and every time I was not wrong. I was already souring on the book by the time I had noticed this, and it certainly didn't help - I was tempted to give up finishing the book several times and probably would have, had the author been somebody else.
Structurally, the book is all over the place. There is very little in the ways of plot for the majority of the book. The story simply moves forward in a series of "but then" encounters, before the big ending climax is hastily put together to just coincide with the rest of the book. Adding to my annoyance was the fact that the group behind the big climactic threat - a group of political extremists who see our protagonist's past life as good, and wish to restore something that resembles his tyrannical rule - makes for an interesting antagonist, and should perhaps have been a more active part of the story. Having the protagonist face up to them made for a far better exploration of the core concept and its associated themes than simply meandering around and killing criminals and shadow demons did. The plot seems unable to decide what it wants to be, trying to be a thoughtful and deep examination of guilt, regret, and forgiveness - while also trying to be a swashbuckling, sword-swinging adventure with sky pirates and shadow monsters, and unfortunately it mostly fails to reconcile these two things.
Conceptually, the worldbuilding is praiseworthy. Setting aside the clumsy delivery of exposition, the book itself does paint a unique and interesting picture that doesn't resemble anything too genre-typical, to my mind. Not only are the concepts and ideas unique in many ways, but they are also intertwined and developed in thoughtful, competent ways. I really get the sense that this is where most of the author's work went, and it does show.
My only major issue with the worldbuilding comes when the book introduces the concept of "inner light" - a brightness inside each human that shines stronger or weaker depending on their conviction and sense of right and wrong. In practice, this concept becomes a crutch to easily write off all of the nameless people our heroes kill cold-bloodedly as irredeemable and deserving of death. This, to me, seems like it runs counter the entire point of the novel. Daylen is perhaps the most irredeemable person of all, and the book then asks the deeply intriguing question of whether such a man can be redeemed after all. It's a tad contradictory to then have that same man, together with his truly righteous and good companion, run around slaughtering several scores of people on the basis that they are irredeemable and deserve to die. Again, had the power fantasy aspect of the story been removed, there would be no need to have a mechanism for justifying so much killing in the first place, and so it seems like this too is a result of the book's confused tone.
I've had a strangely difficult time processing this; it was definitely not what I was expecting. Now, I have seen that the author is responding well to much of the criticism that has been made of this novel, and this does give me the hope that the second book in this series could improve things, but I can't say I'm particularly excited to read more.
For the audiobook, I'm not a fan of the narrators Kramer and Reading, but I'm not about to call them terrible either. I'm aware that they narrate a good deal of the author's own favourite novels, and so to him it was probably quite the dream choice. For what it's worth the book wears its Brandon Sanderson influence on its sleeve, making the choice of narrators an appropriate one for anybody who's a fan of Sanderson, or Robert Jordan.
I feel that this review is harsh, and I do have some harsh feelings about this novel. They are tempered, however, by the respect I have for the man that wrote it (his YouTube content is top of the line for the most part), and by the fact that the book is a debut novel - and an ambitious one at that. This isn't irredeemable, nor is the author void of potential. While I'm not excited to see more of this series, I might be more interested in whatever else he writes in the future.
9 people found this helpful
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- mkoester1999
- 09-17-19
good story, but a few major flaws
I have seen a lot of people give pretty harsh reviews for this book. However, I don't think all of it is justified. While I will agree that the writing could use some work - the book is exceptionally dialogue heavy and a lot of the writing feels clumsy - it has a lot of redeeming qualities. The character interaction is very good in my opinion, and you can see how the protagonist grows in character with the story. Also, while the protagonist is very skilled and powerful, he is very flawed in a way that makes him feel very real. He is a man who truly feels remorse for what he has done. overall, I would recommend this book and I look forward to Shad improving in his writing abilities in following books.
9 people found this helpful
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- Timothy Wigmore
- 09-25-19
Great book!
First book from this author I've ever read/listened to. Inventive and unique blend of magic and modern technology , interspersed with elements that I perceive from other universes. I can't wait for the next book. Also, ask always, Michael and Kate do an outstanding job of bringing the story to life
8 people found this helpful
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- O-C
- 03-29-20
One of the Best Books I've Ever Read!
This book is seriously amazing. Shadow of the Conqueror is one of the best redemption quests I have ever read and has a completely unique world and power system, complexly blending these factors into human society as it provides an fun and interesting world to explore. The number of little, natural quirks this author produces makes Everfall seem like a universe that is truly real in many ways, a feat that few authors can manage. Each character has so much depth to them that could each easily be the Main Character of their own story, and the dialog and interactions between characters are seamless and completely natural.
The main character has such a rich and fleshed out backstory that this book could easily be book one in a sequel series, and his personality and motivations are consistent and well thought out . His flaws are real, and his sins and evils are some of the most daring I've ever seen, leading me to often question whether or not I actually support him, despite my love for villain characters. Very rarely have I ever seen a main character that would be just as good if not better if they were a villain, and yet the way the Main Character understands his actions and copes with his trauma and hurt manages to make him one of the most undeniably heroic characters I've ever read of, and is someone who you can truly come to understand through the masterful writing. The author seamlessly proposes several in depth and complex moral issues throughout the story that really make you think, something quite rare in this day and age.
The narrations from both Micheal Kramer and Kate Reading are as always wonderful, and never do two characters sound the same. The emotions invested in each word and pacing of both narrators is truly spectacular, flowing perfectly with the rhythm of the story.
Everything in this wonderful story seems to flow together, and it leaves me sitting on the metaphorical edge of my seat as I eagerly wait to see how the story will play out, and if the main character can truly find redemption for his sins, both in my eyes and in the eyes of the characters within the book. I can not wait for the next book in this series, and wish with all my heart that our Main Character can stay true to the will of the Light throughout the trials that are sure to come.
7 people found this helpful
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- D.C
- 10-26-19
Amazing start to a series
I hesitated to spend a credit on this at first, Amazing fights, powers and characters.
5 people found this helpful
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- Richard B
- 07-19-19
Fantastic world building and coulorfull characters
Shad has proven himself to be a master world builder with his first published book! Even in such a fantastical world, shad has thought out every detail in a way that keeps it realistic and grounded. The various cultures and religions of the world make sense within the context of the setting and as a fan of his YouTube channel its awesome to see him put his "laws against medieval realism" to good use and show how realism, even in a fantasy world can make a setting far more believable. That same believability also applies to the characters. For example a character with new found magical powers acts in very much the same way I imagine many would.
I've given the story "4 stars" even though my enjoyment of the book so far I would rate at 5. This is because by giving 5 stars I feel like it would have to be on as good as other books I conider 5 stars such as LOTR or or Got. So why don't I think its as good as those? Well I'd like to give some constructive criticism here but it's something I can't really describe. It's something about the actual writing that just feels a little more sort of clumsy, not quite as perfect. It's not badly written or anything though and still incredibly enjoyable.
10 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 10-04-19
MEH
The idea is interesting, the world as well ( maybe a little too technical for my taste) but...
The farther the story the more and more problems are obvious, up to the point where I had to force myself to hear it to the end.
My first issue i have is:
There is no tension. Not at all. Not event once I thought the main character was in any danger, or that he won't achive what he wants.
My second issue is with some characters and their actions ( be aware of spoilers!):
The main guy very often acts childlish, not at all as a mature person ( IT wouldn't be a big problem, if not the fact that other characters view him as such). It's a minor thing but only one of many. The other would be that he seems overpowered and too Perfect in any possibile way...
The light guy - the one that accompanied our main character. After discovering dylan's true identity he decides to forgive him, let's say it somewhat fits his character. But i really doubt he would stay friendly towards him. Let's be honest here:The guy harmed milions of inocent people (murdered/raped etc.), including your own family! If you are a great person, you might in the end forgive the monster. IT would be very difficult to do so esspecialy taking under consideration your personal losses, but IT is possible. But I have difficulty believing you will become a friend with such a monster... I think, that even with forgivness, you would still persuit the justice.
The knight girl, the one the main guy raped ... In my mind, no matter what the rapiest does afterwards - he can save the whole Galaxy if he wants - he is still a monster, there would be no redeeming qualieties for him. Not in her eyes ( her jump after him to save him from spashing on the ground seemed unbeliveble to me.) She wouldn't do it. Not with trauma he costed her...
The other knight, the one that was her partner, was iritating and his jokes didn't land for me. His whole character was cringy and not in a good way.
The ending itself is unsatisfying, childlish and predictible.
The court starts serious but soon IT changes into a farse, when after countless examples of his evilness, one guy steps in and asks to make him a hero...
Imagine: People who lost their loved onese, their friends and neighbourse, had their hopes rised once hearing the one responsible for their lost was caught and will finally be brought to justice. ( Plenty of those People will travel days long distance to witness IT, so they can finally have peace... But nope, that's not the case.
The sentence seemed forced, especially once you hear how many people he wronged... "But no, he is doing good now, so I guess we will punish him by joining the Elite club"( of which members are respected worldwide)...
Poor, poor way of resolving this plot. And a pity, since IT was one of the most interesting things about this book.
The funny (not really) thing is, that this girl knight, I've mentioned earlier is the one that in the end is truly punished: can you imagine to be in her situation. Not only her rapiest escaped the justice, but now she Has to look at him on daily bases.
9 people found this helpful
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- RyanR
- 07-16-19
In the vein of Brandon Sanderson
This was an excellent, well thought out, well explored, & engaging book in all aspects. Character relations, Worldbuilding, magic systems, and an amazing final act where all these aspects culminated in a way similar to Brandon Sanderson’s finales. If you like Sanderson I think you’ll enjoy this too.
I greatly look forward to
The narrators are talented & perform as well as in the Wheel of Time and Stormlight Archive.
5 people found this helpful
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- M. Collins
- 07-25-19
I love shad but there was plenty work needing done
There were times where I was entirely wrapped up in the story but they weren't as numerous as the times I were thinking "what was the editor doing at this section)" there was so much explaining that I think our common sense was being questioned .
4 people found this helpful
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- Mr Stewart
- 05-24-20
Fantastical Read
The protagonist turns antagonist turns protagonist again approach is such a breath of fresh air. The nuanced approach to the main character is great, especially concerning the fact that good does not outweigh the bad and vice versa. Everyone has evil within them.
The Conqueror couldn’t be any more vile... yet more human at the same time.
Chemistry between characters are top notch.
The themes of redemption, forgiveness as well as the dangers of absolute power and how revolutions and good intentions can go wrong are very nice.
The power system is quite interesting, just a tad bit too much physics and maths for my liking hahaha.
And need I even mention the worldbuilding? I need to know more about this fantastical world, the Great Redemption Arc for The Great Bastard continues forward!
But what about the dragons??
3 people found this helpful
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- AudiobookDevotee
- 07-23-19
A thrilling story from an inexperienced author.
This book takes a little while to get going, make sure you give it at least 2 hours for it to really hit its stride. The protagonist's angst will quickly get tiresome but is rarely dwelt on. I get what the author was trying to do but the endless references to rape and past evil acts really drag after a while.
The story lacks a main antagonist to drive the plot and I think suffers for it. This may have been done as the author intends the book to be first of a series but nonetheless the lack of significant challenge and lack of a consistent villain for our hero to come up against makes the story seem somewhat like a prelude rather than a stand alone novel.
Bearing that in mind, I think it is a bit presumptuous to call a book, Book 1 of the X Series at first publication. You never saw "Harry Potter and Sorceror's Stone (Book 1 of the Harry Potter Series)" or "Fifty Shades of Grey (Book 1 of the 50 Shades Series)". The book could stand alone but you go into it with a feeling that it isn't meant to.
This fic's main problem is the dialogue. It sometimes comes across as clunky and unnatural although that could be the audio delivery. There are also quite a few comments/jokes about characters being gay that are immature and mildly homophobic (although that might be intentional in a fantasy setting).
Although they are the power couple of the fantasy audiobook world, I'm not a fan of Reading and Kramer as narrators. Her voice is quite jarring and his quite soporific. The chapters from the female lead's perspective were by far the minority. I'm not sure a second narrator was necessary especially as each character's voice sounded oddly different depending on the narrator.
The worldbuilding is great. The fantasy world constructed is unlike any other I have ever seen or read. It is completely original and we are introduced to the different aspects fairly easily. I have seen many reviews complaining about an excess of exposition but that wasn't something I noticed. This may be because I had the audio sped up to deal with Kramer but I wasn't aware of excess exposition at all.
Once you get caught up in the action it can be really enthralling as well. The mechanics of the realm are straightforward and the fights make sense (although deus-ex happens a bit). The main characters seem to logically follow the consequences of their actions (except for Deylan) but the excitement is consistent throughout.
Most of the characters are human enough and fairly likeable. The main characters are developed a bit throughout the story and seem to become less abrasive to each other with the passage of time. Deylan/Deyless's character makes the least sense going from wimp accepting guilt for things he didn't do to violent maniac impaling people to death. That was all a bit odd. The lightbringer's story and character actually became the most interesting for me which is odd with him being somewhat tertiary among the main characters.
Having said all of that there are two sorts of fics for me. The ones where I see the clock and say "Argh, I've only managed to get through 3 hours." or where I say "Wow, time flies. I can't believe that 3 hours whizzed by so quickly." This story is definitely one of the latter. Once you get caught up in it the story flies by quickly and it is quite compelling.
10 people found this helpful
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- J. B. Collins
- 07-13-21
I wanted to like it
An awful tale, badly told. I kept waiting for it to twist into a surprising tale, but it never did. The performances by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading were first rate, but the story was so flawed, I can't explain it without massive spoilers. Basically, an awful person gets incredible power then charges around killing everyone in the name of justice. They don't expect redemption, but I think we as readers are meant to hope they receive it. I can't even imagine who this book is aimed at. A shame because I wanted to like it.
2 people found this helpful
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- michael
- 04-16-21
Genuinly awful (cult of celebrity drives score)
I don't even know where to start. This book seemingly fails from start to end. The tone is wildly inconsistent. The world building is overly specific in areas, but with huge gaps in others. It's also told in massive exposition dumps.
Main character is extremely unlikable and a huge Mary-sue. This is enough to make me dislike a character, however the character seemingly lacks any actual convictions and actually seems to lack qualities the book suggests he has. What I mean by this is that the book suggests that he is a great tactical leader, but has him do extremely tactically stupid things. As for his convictions, he seemingly acts like the author needs him to. Oh, you need a psycho baddie backstory? No problem. He's a total psycho creep for no reason. Oh, you need a remorseful antihero? No problem. He's that for no reason. No motivation are explored that explains his actions. If he were meant to be one dimensional, then fine, but he's "supposedly" a deep character.
Connected to, but not limited to the MC are misunderstandings/oversimplified thinking with regards to mental behaviors. Shad seems to think that becoming a pedophile is simply the result of a character's moral arrow moving to far into the immoral spectrum. Almost as if his MC never had a pedophilic thought until he became EVIL dun dun dun. It's really stupid. Likewise, his female MC's PTSD seems very forced and obvious. It's just how Guts reacts basically, but somehow less subtle. It's also kind of uncomfortable that he uses the characters PTSD as a source of comedy, but that's another matter.
The messaging/themes in this book make no sense. People suggested that forgiveness was the theme, but the thing is. The only character really shown any forgiveness is the MC. It seems like a pretty lousy theme if it can only be applied to a singular character. A character by the way who brutally murders people who are objectively no worse than him, this leads me onto.
All bad guys are rapists. I swear Shad watched a Cinema Sins video and was the only person inspired to do exactly what the Narrator (can't remember his name) constantly groaned about. Virtually every villainous character is a rapist, an attempted rapist or someone tied to rape. Besides a perhaps a couple of ignorant stereotypes that were written "really well" and some heretics. I think all of them might actually have been rapists.
Honestly, I think I could go on until the cows go home. In short, the book was bad. It was likely the worst book that I have ever read. Maybe I have just only read higher caliber stuff, but I doubt it. If you haven't read it, just go in knowing that the cult of celebrity is very real and most readers probably like the guy too much to say that his book wasn't very good.
2 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 02-23-21
A poorly paced mess of telling and explaining.
Ok, spoiler free first.
The premise seemed and started really interesting with a quite different main character. But the story was told through tells, inner monologues that explained why/how/when for the audience rather than showing. The "worldbuilding" was so jammed down the throats in an unnatural and overwhelming way and took time from things that would have made the story interesting. This caused the book to have a poor pacing, forced plotlines and an ending that was so laughable and cringeinducingly predictable. The Magic system is somewhat loose beacuse it gets used as a deus ex machina constantly and would seemingly do whatever the main character wanted (more of that in spoilers).
I did enjoy the brief stories recounting Deyless life and the actions that lead to his exile and for having the balls to make a proper bastard out of the main characters with some taboo subjects.
Spoiler and more detailed review ahead.
Okay, the first time the book really started to lose me was when Deylen got rejuvunated and instead of it still being a, somewhat, highstakes situation he started to monologue and be overly calm about his predicament. When the whale from Hitchhickers guide to the galaxy starts falling through the sky and starts monologuing about the nature of life its played for laughs and the whale doesnt figure things out instantly unlike Deylan(Deylen?). That is a constant theme throughout this book. Everything has to stop so the author can explain how something works in excruciating and unnecessary detail and that comes at the expense of the story and plot.
There was too much of: "That was beacuse of...", "That is why..." and "That is how...". For exampel telling the mathematical equation of skyships to a character that was most certainly created just to tell the audience of how the author "solved" skyships working. A constant answering of questions the audience have not asked and in a unnatural tell rather than show and natural way.
There is also a disconnect between the supposed "brillance" of the maincharacter and the way he acts. Being proudful and brash might have been fitting but here he comes across as childish and really dumb in alot of situations. So when the character says im a master something you just roll your eyes beacuse of course he is. Master swordman, sure I can buy that but then he just starts becoming a master at everything so I was suprised that he wasnt a master cook when first meeting Aeric, hes probably a master knitter also.
The dialougue goes in circles sometimes but I will give you that atleast they talk, a little bit, to eachother in a somewhat real way. Not every line ended in a quip and forced levity that some other authors do. But the characters interact so little and the real interesting part of Lyra and Deylen was rushed and delegated to the last 4 hours of the book. How interesting the story would have been if they interacted more and the friendship beetween all the characters became deeper and then showing them who Deylen really were. But apparantly this was'nt interesting for the author, telling people of how and why people wore swords in an umbrella. The "friendship" between Aeric and Deylen dont feel real, cause Deylen is just an asshole constantly towards him and him being all "But Deylen knew he was right" doesnt make the relationship belivable.
And now the magic. This is not a hard magic system, its really, really soft. It felt like the way the author started was "Lets apply gamestats and attributes to this world". Alot of the lightbinding is being channeled into stats like strength, speed and mass(?). And this is okay at first, it feels somewhat loose but not overly silly as the author goes through immense pains to explain how powerjumping works for example. But this started to lose me when he channeled into some abstract concepts like fortitude and stamina. Okay, fine, whatever lets move on... wait nobody has EVER thought about lightbinding to their intellect? NOOOOONE has ever thought about that? But even this didnt lose me, cause with some mental gymnastics I could think "Well yeah it does impact the synapses of the brain so he might be able to calculate abit more so whatever". But the last straw that broke the camels back was when he channeled into "his swordskill". What? What do you even lightbind to there? That implies that you could lightbind into anything, no matter how abstract. "I cant paint at all but if I lightbind into my PAINTINGSKILL I would be able to create a masterpiece. And so Deylen did." Talk about killing any kind of tension the story might have had. This makes the magic being used as a crutch and is a constant deus ex machina which the main character more or less instantlt grasps.
Well I've rambled enough. In closing I would like to say that Im actually a viewer of Shad and I enjoy his content but I wont blow smoke and pretend that this is a good book. Get a proper editor and not a yes-sayer and maybe I would listen to the next book.
2 people found this helpful
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- Poon H
- 12-09-19
Exceptional story
Love the story and cant wait for the 2nd book. Everything about the magic system was well explained and the storuly are truely enjoyable to listen to.
2 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 07-16-19
Loved it
Great work Shad👌 Not perfect but still a good read. Hope to see more from this series.
4 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 07-31-19
Great Book
I loved the technical detail this went into when describing the mechanics of the world. and the mechanics of the stones and powers were very interesting and well thought out.
Can't wait for the next one!
2 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 07-29-19
A brilliant debut novel
Shad M Brooks combines the epic storylines of George R R Martin with the humour of Douglas Adams, this novel had me both amused and enthralled from Chapter 1.
2 people found this helpful
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- Huw
- 07-28-19
a great story with good historical knowledge
shad has done a great job. Great story, fun characters and an interesting world. Can't wait for more
2 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 07-27-19
Sky World Fantasy
Dayless the bastard, flying islands, shadow creatures, ten star narators, complex characters and anime fighting.
2 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 07-26-19
A bloody brilliant book!! I hope more is to come!
Absolutely one of the best fantasy books, great setting, brilliant attention to detail on weapons and their uses all around top tier book looking forward to more! keep em coming!
2 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 07-26-19
Well written and acted
The only issue I have with this is that the wain character feels overpowered, I'm interested to see how he is challenged as the series progresses.
I very much appreciated the concepts for the world and how much detail the book went into about them.
2 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 02-25-20
Good but flawed
I loved the world but everything to do with sex feels like it was written by a horny teenager. This takes me out of the story when the near 100 year old ex-despotic rapist emperor is described with the words "He's had sex, lots of sex".
1 person found this helpful
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- Harrison
- 09-22-19
well done, Shad!
This was my first foray into fantasy. I had fun! Interesting story with some deep themes. Cool fight sequences, too. I look forward to seeing where this series goes.
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- Diane D.
- 09-18-19
Amazing world building and character development.
I loved the entire book. The author is a master in Armed combat and as such does a fantastic job at describing choreography. The world was described with great detail and I felt i was there.
1 person found this helpful