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Lachlan Kendall

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Good Start to the Series

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
3 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 07-14-18

I listened to The Dragon Hunter and the Mage in audiobook format, and overall I’d say it was a pretty good book. I did have a few issues with it, but positives first, the world was very well built, the plot well written, and overall quite enjoyable. Magic is usable by people with “the talent” to do basically anything. As far as I’m aware the potential of magic is basically limitless, except that they need to ingest a substance called Rudium which is made from dragon blood and is also illegal. It also appears to be insanely difficult to practice magic without gruesomely killing yourself in some way.

The plot was a bit of a weird one for me. The second half of the book was really well written, however, the first half was very slow and it took me quite a while to actually get into it. The real inciting incident didn’t occur until somewhere near 30% through the book, and even then it took a little while for things to start happening. At around halfway through the book really hits its strides and things really start to get interesting.

The characters were overall pretty well done, however, I did find a few of the less major characters to be a little bit bland. For example, the emperor seemed to have no real agenda and just liked to piss everyone around him off. The main characters, Aric and Faden, were mostly well written with a few weird moments, however, their motivations were evident, and character development well done.

The author also appears to not like using swear words. I found it frustrating that most swear words were replaced with “heck” instead of actual swear words. That’s really just a personal pet peeve, I found it particularly annoying when it was out of character and the tough guy dragon hunter was using “heck” instead of the actual swear words you’d expect them to use.

Overall, The Dragon Hunter and The Mage was quite a good book, but not quite in line with my own personal tastes.

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4 people found this helpful

Good Start to the Series

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 07-14-18

I listened to Toric’s Dagger as an audiobook. It has two narrators for each of the main characters, one male and one female, which provided a unique listening experience.

Toric’s Dagger was an interesting book, and I really loved the worldbuilding throughout the book. There are some very cool pieces of history around the dagger and the religious and historical importance of it. There are also introductions to very different cultures and how they work.

The two main characters, Belwynn and Soren, had a really interesting relationship with some awesome abilities. The magic system that Soren used had consequences which can be seen frequently when he overdoes himself, however, it is often the saving move which gets them out of a multitude of issues. The rest of the main cast is large, and as such a lot of their motivations aren’t developed as much as I’d like.

The plot flowed well for most of the book with a few red herrings and events linking back to things that happened earlier. I did have a bit of issue with where the book ended, however. In my opinion, it ended right in the middle of the climax without a real ending to wind the tension down. I wasn’t a massive fan of this because it detracts from the feeling of the novel being its own story, and makes it feel more like it’s just trying to wind up to the rest of the series.

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3 people found this helpful

Amazing audiobook Lots of Action & good characters

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 06-30-18

The Path of Flames was another book I listened to in audio format. It was one of those books where I did everything I could to find things to do while listening to the book. I'd place the audiobook as above average, it didn't stand out as one of those books best consumed in audio but was overall done quite well and I had no issues with the narration.

In terms of the actual content, I'd have to say The Path of Flames was done exceptionally well. For my tastes, it was the perfect balance of action and character focus with some really good worldbuilding thrown in too. The first few chapters indicated that the story was going to be very action heavy and I was quite happy to find that wasn't the case. I also think that Phil's writing is very easy to binge and I could easily pick up the rest of the series and keep reading.

There a few different point of view characters and as a general rule, I really enjoyed each of the main characters. Kethe, the lady who wants to go against the grain and be a knight;  Asho, the ex-slave turned squire and then knight standing far above his designated station, and others like this. They each have their own inspirations and motivations, which are all really well portrayed throughout the story. I found the characters to be very realistic and really enjoyed reading about them.

The plot was also very well done and left me wanting to read more of the series. It doesn't wrap up a lot of plot points; however, it did still work as its own story. Bits and pieces of information that seem to be important to the overarching series are strewn throughout the novel, and just make me all the more eager to continue.

On the worldbuilding level, there's some very interesting magic which has stigmas and beliefs attached to it. The religion of the book is also very intriguing but I'm not fully sure how to describe it here. The world, magic, and religion aren't fully explained yet, but I imagine there's still a lot to come in future books. There's also a point of view character, Tharric, who isn't human -- and through him, we see a very different cultural system and its thoughts and opinions on the humans.

Overall, the pacing was quite fast and the prose easy to read. This made the book very easy to binge, and I imagine I'd have finished it even quicker if I was reading a print version. I haven't yet started the rest of the series, I can't decide if I want it in audiobook, ebook, or perhaps I might splurge a bit and buy physical copies. The Path of Flames was one of those books that was perfect for me. Once I'm through my upcoming new releases and review requests I will undoubtedly be continuing this series.

Audience

This book is best for people who enjoy:

Epic Fantasy
Fast Paced books
Multi POV
Long Series
Non human POVs
Female POVs
Lots of Action
Deep Characters

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