A Warrior's Burden

Saga of the Known Lands, Book 1

By: Jacob Peppers

Narrated by: Ben Farrow

Where he walks, death follows.

He was once known as Prince Bernard, ruler of his people and the man who led them in the Fey War against creatures out of myth and legend, beings out of nightmare. A man renowned for his strength, a man feared by his own people as much as his enemies. But there are other names for him, too. Kingslayer. Oathbreaker. Traitor. The Crimson Prince.

And they are all true.

Now, he is simply Cutter, a man who arrived at the village of Brighton, a small place on the outskirts of the Known Lands, where men and women brave the harsh temperatures and freezing winds to survive. A man who brought with him a past full of regrets and an infant child, one he swore to protect. For 15 years, he watched over the child, hidden away in the desolate wilderness. But a man cannot run from his past — not forever. Sooner or later, it catches him. Always, it catches him.

Death comes to Brighton, led by a brother he betrayed and the troops of a kingdom he betrayed. Death comes to Brighton — and it is he who brought it. With an entire kingdom against him, with the Fey stirring restlessly in the Black wood, eager for revenge, a lone warrior, once a prince, will be forced to take up his axe once more to protect the youth. To keep his promise. It is heavy that axe, that promise, but he carries it, as he must. It is the price of his sins.

It is a warrior’s burden.

A Warrior's Burden is the first book in Saga of the Known Lands, a new series by best-selling author Jacob Peppers. It is a grimdark epic fantasy tale of creatures out of myth and legend, magic, battles, and warriors pitted against each other in a deadly struggle to survive.

©2021 Jacob Peppers (P)2021 Podium Audio

great story

At first it seems to ruminate about the MC's murderous history but by the end of the story, you'll be happy you continued with it.

Excellent Grimdark Fantasy, I highly recommend this!

That book was just freakin fun to read, it just clicked for me.

This is what I want to read when I buy a fantasy book.
I don’t want to listen to a love story.
Give me scarred, bloody, and guilty all day.

Very pleased with this credit spent. Very pleased! Well done JP!

Great grimdark listen

A good start, hopefully the story stays interesting and plan to continue the seties.

takes a little bit to get into it...

took me a bit to get into it, it can be a bit repetitive/confusing at first. but the end is very good and exciting yet not overly done. highly recommend if you give it the time

Slow start

great story - loved it.
I hate that you make me write a cernumber if qords

Surprised at how good it gets

Slow at first but by the end, you don’t want it to stop. This is a must read.

Inconsistent and Repetitive

Only made it through the first few chapters before getting annoyed at how inconsistent the characters already are. In one thought, they think one thing, then their very next action goes counter. The writing is also too repetitive with too many ways of conveying the same ideas without adding anything new.

Trying Too Hard

I will start by saying that the writing in this book is not actually bad. The word choice can be provocative and someone like me enjoys frequent swearing in fantasy, especially grimdark fantasy. This book is very much set on convincing you that it is a grimdark fantasy, however. That may sound encouraging, but it becomes very annoying very quickly. The lead character, Cutter, is constantly berating himself for being a bad person, or a traitor, or a murderer or monster. In fact, the narrator will often spend undue amounts of time on each "hero" character (save priest) characterizing them as moping sad-sacks who hate themselves. When you find out the extent of what Cutter has actually done to deserve all of this self loathing, it is incredibly underwhelming.

In addition, the misfortune and misery porn is at such an excess that NONE of the main characters could possibly be mistaken for likeable. The main character is cast as a heartless deadbeat dad and murderer/traitor to the crown all book. The party's mage is characterized as a fat drunk with no prospects, and despite being an integral part to the story, is often mocked for wearing tight pants and being overweight. He is constantly quipping, and does not appear to be a real person in the slightest save that he is horny and fat.

Maive, who they would have you buy as a savvy female assassin, is also constantly berating herself (as is the style in this story) is introduced as I'm hiding. The problem is that she- get this- IS IN DISGUISE AS A BEATEN HOUSEWIFE. SHE IS CONSCENTING TO BE BEATEN CONSTANTLY AS PART OF HER DISGUISE. I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP. When the mage arrives to tell her Cutter and his son are being hunted, she suddenly decides she can kick ass again and literally ball-busts her husband. It's insane in a bad way.

Which brings me back to Cutter, because his son is ridiculous. He is a kid, I understand, but he's abnormally stupid. There is a point where Cutter has just advised the fairy wood is dangerous and fae creatures will deceive and kill him given a chance, and the kid immediately falls into their clutches despite this very clear warning. All of these elements combine to make a horrible story experience. It is dark, but slogging and dreary. It is like wading through mud and muck up to your neck. There are times where this story is supposed to come up for air, where characters are supposed to experience a minor triumph, but if they do it is always in service of either making them feel bad about themselves (good lord save me) or humiliating the mage character.

The narration was fine. He used fine voice and characterization. I have no complaints about that, but the content of the story severely damaged the rating I chose to give it. The characters do not learn or grow. Everyone is miserable and a bad person. The villain's motivations are horrendous and unrelatable despite the author's attempts at sympathy for the devil. If I didn't enjoy the author's literal style of writing, this would have gotten a fat goose-egg from me. I won't be reading the after credits novella or any subsequent stories. This series is snakebit.

half way

what a struggle to listen to. grimdark should be ignorant inept whiney dark with a tsunami sized splash of predictable repetitive self justification.

After All……

Having a hard time even finishing this audiobook… After all, you can only use the phrase after all so many times after all.. not a bad story and not the worst narrator. But not a good combo at all..
After all……