Darklands
The Rhenwars Saga, Book 2
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Narrated by:
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Simon Wright
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By:
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M.L. Spencer
About this listen
Compelled to obey the dark god he pledged his soul to, Darien finds himself tasked with delivering the people of the Black Lands from under the curse of darkness which shrouds the skies. With the enemy mage Azár, Darien sets out across a barren landscape to assume his place as the leader of a people who despise him.
As he journeys deeper into the shadowed waste, Darien is confronted with difficult truths that force him to question every loyalty he has ever held. For there, in the brutal proving grounds of the north, Darien will be inexorably forged into the most dangerous adversary the Rhen has ever faced.
Darklands is the second installment in the darkly epic fantasy series The Rhenwars Saga. If you like morally gray heroes and mind-boggling plot twists, then you’ll love Spencer’s award-winning series.
©2017 ML Spencer (P)2019 ML SpencerListeners also enjoyed...
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In The King's Guard, watch him prove himself - and uncover a secret that he must keep forever. In The Shadow Cats, discover how Elisa's rivalry with her older sister looks from Alodia's point of view, and why Alodia agrees to marry her sister off to King Alejandro. And in The Shattered Mountain, learn how Mara survived her village's destruction before she became Elisa's best friend and handmaiden.
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Very intense
- By Bruce on 03-22-18
By: Rae Carson
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Season of Wonder
- The Remnants, Book 1
- By: Lisa T. Bergren
- Narrated by: Jorjeana Marie
- Length: 13 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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After years of training in stealth and warfare, Andriana and her Knight protector, Ronan, are finally ready to answer the Call and begin the life they were designed for. But as they embark with the other Remnants on the first of their assignments, they quickly discover that the world beyond the protected Valley is more dangerous than they imagined.
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Next
- By Louise Thurman on 02-23-23
By: Lisa T. Bergren
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Green Rider
- By: Kristen Britain
- Narrated by: Ellen Archer
- Length: 16 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Karigan G’ladheon, running away from school, is traveling through a deep forest when a galloping horse pounds up to her, its rider impaled by two black-shafted arrows. With his dying breath, he tells her he is a Green Rider, one of the magical messengers of the King. Before he dies, he makes Karigan swear to deliver the message he’s carrying, and gives her his green coat, with the symbolic brooch of his office.
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What a fantastic discovery!
- By GLENNO on 11-27-14
By: Kristen Britain
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Phoenix Unbound
- The Fallen Empire Series, Book 1
- By: Grace Draven
- Narrated by: Katharine Lee McEwan
- Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Every year, each village is required to send a young woman to the Empire's capital - her fate to be burned alive for the entertainment of the masses. For the last five years, one small village's tithe has been the same woman. Gilene's sacrifice protects all the other young women of her village, and her secret to staying alive lies with the magic only she possesses. But this year is different. Azarion, the Empire's most famous gladiator, has somehow seen through her illusion - and is set on blackmailing Gilene into using her abilities to help him escape his life of slavery.
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Nothing special. Highly predictable
- By J. C. Schmidt on 10-10-18
By: Grace Draven
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Forbidden
- Arotas Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Amy Miles
- Narrated by: Jessica Almasy
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Roseline Enescue didn't ask to become an immortal, to have all of the guests at her wedding slaughtered, or to be forced into marriage with a man whose lust for blood would one day ignite the vampire legend. Willing to risk everything for a chance at a normal life, Roseline escapes to America. But her transition into the human world isn't easy. Mortal men flock after her while cutthroat girls plot her demise. Yet she remains relatively unfazed until she meets Gabriel Marston.
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Not recommended
- By Sarah on 11-08-15
By: Amy Miles
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Tower of the Forgotten
- The Tainted Cabal Prequel Novella
- By: Mitchell Hogan
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 2 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Niklaus, master swordsman, has not aged a day since being chosen by his mercurial goddess. A slave to her will, he moves from one cryptic mission to the next in the hope of ascending to become her equal. But even a man who has lived for centuries can sometimes find himself out of his depth. When Niklaus is sent to kill a sorcerer of the Tainted Cabal, overconfidence leads to a fatal mistake, and neither experience nor skill with a blade can prevail against the forces unleashed against him.
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What's Next?
- By James on 06-04-17
By: Mitchell Hogan
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The Wretched of Muirwood
- Legends of Muirwood, Book 1
- By: Jeff Wheeler
- Narrated by: Kate Rudd
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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In the ancient and mystical land of Muirwood, Lia has known only a life of servitude. Labeled a “wretched”, an outcast unwanted and unworthy of respect, Lia is forbidden to realize her dream to read or write. All but doomed, her days are spent toiling away as a kitchen slave under the charge of the Aldermaston, the Abbey’s watchful overseer. But when an injured squire named Colvin is abandoned at the kitchen’s doorstep, an opportunity arises.
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Faith-based fantasy series
- By Skipper on 11-16-16
By: Jeff Wheeler
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In Shade and Shadow
- By: Barb Hendee, J. C. Hendee
- Narrated by: Tanya Eby
- Length: 14 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Wynn Hygeorht arrives at the Guild of Sagecraft, bearing texts supposedly penned by vampires. Seized by the Guild's scholars without Wynn's consent, several pages disappear - and two sages are found murdered. Convinced the Noble Dead are responsible for the killings, Wynn embarks on a quest to uncover the secrets of the texts....
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much more YA Than other books in the series
- By Jessica on 02-08-17
By: Barb Hendee, and others
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The Storm Siren Trilogy
- Storm Siren, Siren's Fury, Siren's Song
- By: Mary Weber
- Narrated by: Sarah Zimmerman, Christine Stevens
- Length: 30 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Storm Sire: As a slave in the war-weary kingdom of Faelen, seventeen-year-old Nym isn’t merely devoid of rights, her Elemental kind are only born male and always killed at birth—meaning, she shouldn’t even exist. Siren's Fury: Nym risked her life to save Faelen, her homeland, from a losing war, only to discover that the shapeshifter Draewulf has stolen everything she holds dear. Siren's Song: Nym and Draewulf prepare to face off in a battle destined to destroy more lives than it saves.
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The destination is not worth the journey
- By Amazon Customer on 01-25-24
By: Mary Weber
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Shadow of the Exile
- By: Mitchell Hogan
- Narrated by: Neil Hellegers
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Outcast and exiled, the demon Tarrik Nal-Valim has long been forgotten by the world of humans. At least, so he thinks. But when he is summoned as a last resort by a desperate sorcerer, it seems as though his past has caught up with him. The sorcerer is Serenity “Ren” Branwen, the daughter of Tarrik’s former master - and friend. Though she seems cold, driven, and ruthless, Tarrik can tell Ren has her back against a wall, and he is compelled by ferocious powers to obey her.
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Entertaining
- By @tone0189 on 10-22-18
By: Mitchell Hogan
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Night of Knives
- Novels of the Malazan Empire, Book 1
- By: Ian C. Esslemont
- Narrated by: John Banks
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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The small island of Malaz and its city gave the great empire its name, but now it is little more than a sleepy, backwater port. Tonight, however, things are different. Tonight the city is on edge, a hive of hurried, sometimes violent activity; its citizens bustle about, barring doors, shuttering windows, avoiding any stranger's stare. Because tonight there is to be a convergence, the once-in-a-generation appearance of a Shadow Moon - an occasion that threatens the good people of Malaz with demon hounds and other, darker things....
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Worth the wait
- By Aran on 06-20-16
By: Ian C. Esslemont
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The Black Witch
- The Black Witch Chronicles, Book 1
- By: Laurie Forest
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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A Great Winged One will soon arise and cast his fearsome shadow upon the land. And just as Night slays Day, and Day slays Night, so also shall another Black Witch rise to meet him, her powers vast beyond imagining. So foretells the greatest prophecy of the Gardnerian mages. Carnissa Gardner, the last prophesied Black Witch, drove back the enemy forces and saved her people during the Realm War. Now a new evil is on the horizon, and her granddaughter, Elloren, is believed to be Carnissa's heir—but utterly devoid of power in a society that prizes magical ability above nearly all else.
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The controversy should make you want to read this book!
- By Raquel on 10-28-17
By: Laurie Forest
What listeners say about Darklands
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- C.T.
- 06-05-19
Amazing work
DARKLANDS is the third novel in the Rhenwars series that is sort of an inversion of the Wheel of Time. The story begins with the protagonists doing their absolute best to fight the various forces of darkness as well as prevent the end of the world as their methods become more extreme, only for them to gradually come to sympathize with the so-called evil doers as their understanding of the universe expands.
in the previous novels, we've had protagonists Branden and Darien break out all the stops in order to prevent underworld god Xerys' forces from overrunning the world. However, Branden's brother Quin and now Darien were both forced to swear unbreakable oaths to serve the hellish deity that have forced them onto the other side. Transformed into, essentially, Ringwraiths, they have been given the task of leading the people of the Darklands from their life in the eternal night.
Rather than find a bunch of Satan-worshiping evil doers, they find an advanced culture which is always living hand-to-mouth due to the fact they have been forced to live in a desert with no sunlight. They can only survive due to the presence of magic and wish to escape their hellish domiciles. Darien's sympathy soon swells, especially as he discovered he's murdered legions of people who just wanted to secure a better life for their descendants.
Dairen's former lover, Meiran, is troubled by this development because she has a one-dimensional view of the conflict as one between good versus evil. She's very much Wrong Genre SavvyTM in that she thinks she's in a Tolkien-esque story where the evil doers are one side where the good guys are on the ther but it's actually a grimdark tale by an author much more interested in questions those assumptions.
In fact, the "good" guys have always been incredibly hypocritical and self-righteous in the Rhenwars books. With the invasion of the world on the horizon, the lesser kingdoms and religious orders are more interested in letting their defenders bleed themselves out rather than offering an ounce of support. The fact the mages have been reduced to almost nothing is a sign the other factions can strip them of their authority as well as power to influence them.
There's romance in this novel but it's an interesting take on the whole "destined lovers" which we normally see in fantasy. Darien sacrificed everything, including his soul, for Meiran and she's disgusted by what he's become. Naia deeply loves Darien despite what he's become but he honestly just sees her as a friend. Quin's lover has been dead and gone for a thousand years but he still holds a torch for her. It's all nice, dark, and well-written which subverts a lot of common cliche.
The only problem I have with Darklands is that it ends on a cliffhanger and it is the first book which doesn't give a definitive conclusion to its storyline. I was quite fond of the fact the stories were "one and done" beforehand.
9/10
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- Mary Karowski
- 05-16-19
Think Robert Jordan’s wheel of time but darker
I made a mistake. That mistake was not getting the first book. Listening to this left me entering the story in the middle of so many storylines and character developments that while I enjoyed it, I was left knowing that I was missing much of what brought them to this point and made these changes and decisions so important to what happens. GET THE FIRST BOOK. Then get this one. Be aware that it is dark. It is not your feel good fantasy story. Be ready for that. That being said, get the first one listen to it and then settle in and enjoy this one. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator or publisher
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- Kevin Potter
- 03-22-19
The series keeps getting better!
As with the previous two, the audiobook narrator is skilled, but leaves something to be desired. Particularly when it comes to pronunciation. Quite a few words just sound... odd.
Now, I'm thrilled to report that we're finally seeing a few things come together (or have a full explanation) that have been unclear to me prior to this one.
In fairness, that lack of clarity might be my own fault (I listen while driving and doing other things that sometimes require my attention, so inevitably I miss things from time to time), but this one definitely answers those questions.
I love the development of the people of the Black Lands, and the whole idea of the Black Lands in the first place!
More than that, though, I absolutely love that we get to spend some more time with Quin! He is without doubt my favorite character in the series. I think that's partially because so far he has had the widest arc with the most room for growth, but also because people keep confusing him for a man with ideals or honor and the shenanigans that result are utterly fantastic!
That being said, in this one we get to spend some more time with a few other characters that get a whole lot more development, and several of them are really growing on me. I'm really starting to like Darian and Kyle, and the women as well (apologies, I have no conception of how to spell their names, so I'm not going to try).
There are some truly tragic, heart-wrenching moments in this one that are really drawing me further into the world and these characters' stories in particular. I am a little disappointed with some of them, as there are things not turning out so well for these wonderful characters that were totally avoidable if they'd just suck it up and deal!
As always, this review is completely spoiler-free, so I won't go into details on any of that. Suffice it to say, this book had me tearing up a bit at some points, and had me wanting to throw something at certain characters at others! And in contrast, there were other moments that had me busting up laughing!
The fact that I can have all those responses in this one book is utterly fantastic!
Similarly, let's talk about the romantic entanglements for a moment. I have a tendency to avoid books where romance is a major part of the plot because, well, frankly those sub-plots are usually very poorly written, in my experience. (very few things have the ability to annoy me as quickly as "These people met and there was tension." then we skip a week or two, and suddenly we're hearing about their heartfelt expressions of undying love and adoration. UGH! I need to know how and why those feelings developed if you want me to believe it)
So far, in this series there has only been one romance that didn't feel genuine, and was because (drum-roll please) **gasp** it wasn't genuine. But all that is explained in the book it takes place in. And apart from that one, the romances that happen in these books actually feel real! And even the tragic ones (which, let's be honest, is most of them!) are wonderfully presented and evoke some real feelings when reading them.
Especially in this book! Oh my gosh, talk about ripping my heart out!
M. L. Spencer, you are a horrible human being!
Thank you so much for everything you've written!
Now, while I do have some ideas at this point as to where the story is actually heading in this series, I'm reasonably certain that I'm going to end up being wrong (which is one of the things I love about these books)! And I can't wait until the next two books are released in audio so I can see where this is all going and how it's going to play out.
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- Robert
- 04-04-19
Too dark for my taste
It's in the title, Darklands, for me the story is too dark. Don't get me wrong, it was a good story but not to my taste
"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."
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- MelHay
- 11-25-19
Return to the Rhen, with a different view
*I was given this free review copy of this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
Simon returns to voice the second book. Yes! I've found he fit Darien and the other characters for me in voice and accent. I do enjoy listening to him vocalize the story here.
Two years since the Well of Tears was opened and closed. And the Well is opened again, to help a people raise to the place they should be.
We get the story from a few different POV's, which is great as there are things happening around The Rhen at the same time. We see all the actions and events unfold. One of the characters we get to spend time in their head is Meiran. Hmm. I liked her. Wanted to like her more. But she shows a prejudice that rubs me wrong. She doesn't want to believe what Darien or Quinlan have to say, because they are demons. She doesn't want to be open to what could be possible with a nation of people either. She feels as though she is a hypocrite in what her power focus is and what she won't do, heal. I like that she's written this way. She has seen different things than Darien has seen, and that affects her differently.
We get a view of a different part of the world compared to the first book. And of the people that were seen as the enemy in the first book. There is more to the world and story than what people believe or know. We get to see that.
We see how the actions taken in the first book leave relationships and the consequences that need to be faced. It's interesting seeing the Well of Tears opened for what was thought to be the enemy in the first book. This "enemy" has been suffering for a thousand years with the curse created in the prologue story.
I was surprised to see Darien and a few others return in this book after the ending of the first book. I was thrilled to see Darien back though. There are moments in the book that I wasn't 100% sure as to why something was happening. This could be because it's audio and I missed it, or maybe not clarified yet. I'm not sure which one.
We learn of why the Well of Tears was created in the first place. There is a new danger for all things made of magic, and that includes the mages. Darien also gets placed with the people he saw as an enemy due to the way he was raised. Darien sees how the others live, and has to defend and help them.
I'm ready to journey with our characters to see what the outcome is with the magic and the people in the darklands.
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- James
- 11-30-21
Naive and silly story
This story is difficult to listen to because of how ridiculous the characters are.
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