Repetitive in spots. Got better as it went on.

The first book was extremely repetitive but it did get better as it went on. Debating on following up with listening to book 4, not sure if it's worth the audible credit.

7 people found this helpful

The worst story I've ever heard

First, the good: Derek Perkins is a good narrator.
And that's it. There is no more good to be had. This is the most poorly written, overblown fantasy story I've been subjected to in 50 years of reading and listening. The dialogue is barely passable, the plot is essentially non-existent, the characters are flatter than ink on paper. Repetition abounds. It's all tell, even the showing.
I finished and felt like I had been through an absolutely awful beating. If this author were to hire an honest editor, remove 3/5ths of the words, and plump up the characters, it would be almost as good as reading the ingredients on a cereal box.

6 people found this helpful

blah

when. telling a story details can be awesome but they are over done every time. also dont need to know what could have happened every time. very dumbed down story

4 people found this helpful

Good story. Too preachy and too repetitive.

The story was nice. However, the moral bias of the author was bludgeoned into the listener. Over and over again.

4 people found this helpful

Could Use an Editor and a Thesaurus

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Some spoilers ahead, though not many. I'm actively trying to avoid that.

Derek Perkins went a long way to helping me make it through this story. I will definitely listen to him again.

The work, on the other hand, is very unrefined. A solid edit could probably cut a lot from this book and make it much more enjoyable, rather than feel like a task to finish.

What could David A. Wells have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Many terms were used and reused.
World of Time and Substance
He said to no one in particular
Sea of Infinite Possibility

The list goes on. Change this kind of repetition up or it really impacts the story.

Also, the characters, with one exception, were extremely flat. Very black and white, good and evil. I was able to tell whether someone would be with the hero or an unforgivable villain from just their job title. That doesn't make for a compelling story.

Which scene was your favorite?

Not a scene, per say. But the concept of magic in this novel was good. Given polish to the rest of the book, that concept could have even been great.

What character would you cut from The Sovereign of the Seven Isles Omnibus?

About 30% of the overall length. An editor could be used to trim down a lot of portions of this work without impacting the story. If you're familiar with the term "Chekhov's Gun", this book breaks that a lot. Taking out just those points would help the length.

Any additional comments?

Three last comments.

First, there was definite improvement by the third book. Still not great, but it earned the rating it's second star.

Second, the conservative notes are a little ham fisted. Every "petty" noble and bureaucrat is horrible. Central government is bad, an odd idea for a book about reestablishing a long dead monarchy. You can be a conservative author, but not every union member is a vile person. Not every noble is a slime bag. And red tape is not worse than torture.

Finally, the piece in the third book about how women use magic is a touch sexist. Women are too emotional to detach from their feelings? Was that needed?

I know my words might seem quite harsh, but I forced myself to listen to this entire work to write this. Then I took a couple weeks before I wrote this blurb. Trust me, some harsh criticism is needed here.

23 people found this helpful

Predictable, repetitive and full of clichés

I'm finding it hard to say anything positive about the Seven Isles. There doesn't seem to be a fantasy/D&D trope or cliché that wasn't used in this book. All characters are completely black and white, and don't deviate a bit from the expected stereotypes. The main character can even see with their mage-sight if people are good or evil (and there's rarely anything between the two extremes). There also seems to be little reason why people act as they do, except, well, because they're either good or evil.

Storyline is pretty linear, Alexander keeps running around doing things they need to do to advance their quest. There is plenty of action, but any tension feels ruined by how perfectly things always turn out. The hero of the story seems to only ever make mistakes, so he can thoughtfully reflect on how not-quite-perfect he still is. And naturally, the main characters will always be saved at the very last moment, often multiple times during the same fight and after an interposed explanation of how dire their situation is. If someone does get hurt in the course of a battle, hey, there's a magic potion or a salve that will heal them instantly. And the bad guys, unless they're supernatural and highly impervious to damage, they're all felled with a single blow from the weapon/projectile of choice.

This title does have a few redeeming qualities, though. The story keeps on (mostly) chugging along at a good pace. Magic system has some flavour, there were some actually interesting moments in the story and the narrator is very good.

tl;dr:
If you want to read a story of how a good hero defeats an evil wizard, triumphing in each challenge put before them, do get this book. If you're instead seeking for some depth in the characters or unexpected twists in the plot, turn the other way.

15 people found this helpful

Just Average

So let me start out by saying that I thought I would like this story better than I did. Its story starts out great but the more and more you get into the story the characters dont react in the most natural way. Something insane will happen and the characters are like okay that's was crazy then just move on like it never happened. It's hard to describe but it just seems off to me.
The narrator of the books does a good job and I enjoyed hes voice there just isn't much emotion as he reads so fight and very dramatic scenes sound just like two friends speaking together.

2 people found this helpful

Not worth your time

I don't quite negative reviews a lot. But man i did not like this book.
the narration is decent but not great
the story is predictable and uninteresting
the main character is an uninteresting plank
the romance is shallow and hard to believe.
the action scenes are so dull that i tended to stop listening.

2 people found this helpful

book isnt working properly

cannot select chapter or move around In the book, other wise book one was great just can't reach book 2 or 3

2 people found this helpful

Regret.

I regret buying. Plenty of content, but very basic writing skills. Won't finish the series.

14 people found this helpful