A Forest of Vanity and Valour

The Levanthria Series, Book 1

By: A.P Beswick

Narrated by: Aaron Smith

An aggressive debt collector banished from the kingdom. Now his life depends on his ability to help the less fortunate....

Vireo Reinhold relishes collecting his monarch’s proper dues. Working hard to prolong and fund the king’s never-ending war, the self-centered official revels in the perks of luxury that come with his unorthodox role. But his world upends when he unearths an ancient spellbook that promises to unlock a shadowy, forgotten magic. Embroiled in a secret affair with a fellow noble’s wife, Vireo is mortified when he’s forced to commit an unthinkable act. Driven into exile, no longer able to coerce the vulnerable, and with the powerful tome in his enemy’s hands, the fallen agent’s only shot at survival hangs on his skills at saving others.

Can Vireo redeem himself as the people’s champion before they all fall to a sinister fate?

A Forest of Vanity and Valour is the dark first book in the Tales of Levanthria fantasy-retelling series. If you like fast-paced action, evil-to-good transformations, and classic stories with a twist, then you’ll love A.P Beswick’s ominous tale. Buy A Forest of Vanity and Valour to fight for what’s right today!

©2022 A.P Beswick (P)2022 A.P Beswick

Meh

By no means is it bad...it justbleaves you wanting more. Im not saying you want more like "I can't wait for the next book." I'm more saying you're looking for so much more character development, intrigue, personality, and it never comes.

Enjoyable but…

A nice re-imagining of the Robin Hood tale with a fantasy twist. Narrated well, and the story flows pretty good. I will say the first person aspect is a bit jarring, and sometimes breaks my immersion. Also there is a lot of telling rather than showing at times. Overall still good.

It’s quite unoriginal.

Was somewhat entertained in the beginning of the book. Then things turned to simply a retelling of Robin Hood. Creatures and magic have been added in for fun. At the end of the book, they hint at a “sword embedded in stone”. So, apparently, it’s King Arthur meets Robin Hood in the next book. I won’t know for sure, because there’s much more original work to listen to.

Enjoyed!

I enjoyed the readers pace and the accent brought life to the characters. Story was great as I love sword fights, magic and all that this involves. Ready for the next book in the series.

Depth of characters

Great listen!! Can’t wait for the rest of the series! Sets up a bold world just waiting to be explored!

better than I could have hoped for

first audio book ever. found myself trapped in the story ignoring phone calls as they were interrupting. my new favorite story. best version on a robin hood/ Merlin ish wizard tale, since the originals! instant classic deserves a movie right away

amazing twist on tales of stories already told

was amazing from start to finish only issue was it was shorter than I liked... I was left wanting more

Torture porn

I really struggled to finish this book and I did end up fast forwarding quite a few times to get past the parts I just didn't want to hear. The setting and world building were very interesting but the nearly constant focus on powerful people hurting everyone else was just too much. Terrible beatings, whippings, forced starvation and using the local population as experimental fodder for evil magic were constant throughout the book and the antagonists kept giving monologues about how the torture was necessary and made them feel good. I found it hard to stomach. The narrator was very good and I enjoyed the voices he gave the characters.

great story but to much back and forth

first off it is a great Robin hood story without using any of the names of Robin hood. the only issue I have is that the story cuts back and forth between Robin hood and king John (they use different names but these are the characters being portrayed) without you really knowing who's talking until a few lines are read. not sure if the author or the reader was to blame for the confusion but still was a bit annoying trying to figure that out.

awesome

loved this book. great story great characters. looking for to the rest of these books.