Awakening Arte

The Eldest Throne, Book 1

By: Bernie Anés Paz

Narrated by: Michael David Axtell

Roun was born clanless, depriving him of a future in an empire where bloodlines and reputation mean everything. His only hope for escaping the life of an outcast lies in being awakened by the Eldest Throne and becoming a guardian of humanity.

But when his dream finally comes true, Roun finds himself stranded on the path to immortality with only a fragment of the spiritual powers he should have received. Roun, however, is used to making do with less — and will let neither rigorous training nor grotesque chimeras stand in the way of his ascension.

To find his own path, he will need to search for the answers hidden within. What he uncovers will forge him into a hero unlike any other — if it doesn’t leave him an abomination first.

This is a progression fantasy series inspired by cultivation/xianxia/wuxia novels, though it has far more western influences blended in than some of the other books in these subgenres.

©2021 Bernie Anés Paz (P)2021 Podium Audio

Bo, not bow.

Good book, but nothing outstanding. Kid gains unique power that can been seen as evil, organization test him to see if he is good or bad, and possible love interest. My only real complaint is the ease of confusion of bo vs bow. Audio doesn't do a good job making that distinction right away. Needed to use "Bo staff" instead of "bo".

very good

I enjoyed the book. I fell asleep and had to rewind it to were I last remembered. lol

Pleasantly surprised!

A different type of story and was well performed, it’s pretty fast paced ,looking forward to the next book!

OK

just OK, thats really all I got for this book. There is pretty much everything most good fantas/wuxia books have, but it is still ok. There is differences from other books as well like the awakening and changing into something more. It wasn't super exciting to me. I know there are secrets that have yet to be revealed and I like that part, but I found myself having to rewind a few times to understand what I just heard. The good thing is the side characters. I did enjoy them some what. They are interesting.
I just wasn't wowed.

Just couldn't quite get into it

the writing is good locally, but the story lacks compelling stakes and conflicts. in addition, the magic system feels very underspecified, which also limits stakes and tension.

Entirely too positive a story or I'm just jaded.

I struggle with this story because the character are too good of people and seem to lack any sort of hidden motivations or conflicts with them. (I don't actually understand the age range and the narrations is so all over the place with accents and tone I can't make sense of it) Normally its a nice thing to have such good people, but I keep waiting for the twist or reveal and people just remain one line, two dimensional character that are more to fill out the roster than stand out on their own. Except for Kuro, he seems like he is going places.

Also the author's physical description of characters and world building are so scatter shot, They'll mention a characters description once and never again in any format. Sometimes they won't mention what they look like at all, so I had a hard time remembering characters. I'm also confused on what kind of culture this is suppose to be, they seem to use words and terms from all parts of the world but doesn't seem to be any unity in it, we have things like kusari-gamas, guan daos, kukris, and targes all existing in the same area with no explanation.

Also note, this narrator keeps throwing accents out for characters and makes things even more confusing with the world.

The overall story and premise is decent though, and I can see the cultivation influences in it, thought they seem a bit lighter than I would expect.

On a more personal note, I can't agree with the author's aesthetic. A crab claw/tentacle combo? Nightmarian? Really? I could rant and rave about it but I'd be here a while.

Meh

The book starts off ok, you know going into it you are dealing with a child that is basically a orphan and its going to be a watch him grow type MC. The problem the MC is to naïve and does not realize he is a slave and a prisoner to this rando organization that doesn't give two poops about people. Next, after he is awakened, he becomes even more un-likeable with his "skills". This is a full on drop / dnf after that happened. .