Chainworld

By: Matt Langley, Paul Ebbs

Narrated by: Derek Perkins

Shryke is running for his life.
But how do you escape an enemy who can follow you everywhere and everywhen?

Shryke knows you can't, yet still he runs. There are horrors buried deep in his memory that have been locked away from him by some secret magic. All he knows is that he is the Quantum Assassin, and he stands alone against the end of everything - the lone warrior in a war he can’t hope to win.

The God-Queen’s hunger for destruction will only be sated by the end of Chainworld, a series of impossible constructs held together by science so advanced, the inhabitants mistake it for magic. Shryke and those he meets along the way must complete his memory so he can stand against her; otherwise, the Chainworld will be shattered and life as they know it will cease to be.

Get Book One in this stunning science fantasy adventure that will challenge what you know about reality!

©2019 Aethon Books (P)2019 Audible, Inc.

Can’t wait for next book

I received a free review code in exchange for an honest review. That said I would gladly pay for this book after hearing it. Can’t wait to see where it goes

Remember when you first watched The Matrix?

This review is 100% spoiler-free because spoilers are the worst.

Overall: Pretty good
Performance: It's great
Story: Pretty good

Remember that feeling when you first watched The Matrix?
Chainworld is a bit like that -- a mix of "WHOA that was cool" and also "I don't understand what just happened".
But unlike The Matrix, I don't think this book has the depth to become clearer (and thus better) with repeat visits.
Overall it's very exciting and action-packed, but the plot and the world-building feel sparse in a way that may or may not be filled in subsequent book(s).

The quantum space-time mechanic is both interesting and well-done, and the sheer coolness/wow factor was enough to keep me interested and excited until the end.
However, having finished the book I still don't really understand the what, let alone the how or why, of several important plot points, and I don't think re-listening would help.

A lot of information is withheld from the reader, and the book ends up feeling like the abridged edition of what could have been an awesome, multi-book epic.
Perhaps the next book(s) in the series will address this deficiency, but because of the structure of this book's plot arc I have difficulty seeing how that could happen in a satisfying way.

Nevertheless, Chainworld is an exciting and fun listen with some very unique elements.
If you aren't a demanding reader and don't mind unanswered questions, give this one a whirl and you'll have a blast.
Otherwise you may want to re-evaluate after more book(s) in the series have come out.

Please note that this book has a lot of graphic violence; if that is something that you are concerned about, be advised.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Overall Well done

When Listing to this book all the main characters and even some of the side characters you are about to get get all three components of a story, you were about to get the emotions that each character was feeling when doing things against their will or fighting for something, you were about to get a sense of the surroundings because it was described well, and you were about to get the peoples inner thoughts to see what they are thinking. With all the detail and characters there was a few times that I felt lost but was able to catch up later on. Cant wait for more of this series and see what improvements are going to happen.

For the Narrating it was well done and enjoyed the pace and voice. It was easy to understand and had good emotions at the points when is needed cant wait to hear more from him.


* I did get this book free from Audio Book Boom*

This will be one of the Top 10 Books of the Year

Chainworld is a Science Fiction Fantasy novel that is well beyond the scope of Epic, it is a story of such astonishing proportions that when you do reach the end (and you will be racing through pages to reach the end, as the story is totally enthralling from the first to the last page), when you do reach the end, you will sit back and just go WOW!
Whilst I have not actually delved into many books of this type in the genre (I am a fan of Peter Newman, and this fell into the realms of the Legends of the Duskwalkers and The Vagrant Trilogies, all of which are exceptional), this was of a quality that was awe-inspiring.
The world-building in this novel is some of the most detailed, creative and intricate work I have ever read in a Sci-Fi or Fantasy book, and was done with such a fine touch, that it was weaved amongst the story so that we learnt about it whilst reading the book, so as to not be weighed down with pages and pages of heavy descriptions. Some parts make you stop and think which is always amusing, others are rather brutal (this is not a YA novel), and others are not only beautiful, but extraordinary in their detail.
The main character, Shryke is one of the most interesting characters I have read this year, with a multitude of personality traits gathered over 35000yrs, making him both an elite and brutal killer, but at the same time, a caring human being will to sacrifice themselves for the life of another. The contrast in personality, his warring emotions, and his battle to complete his mission are at the centre of this story and make for a stunning storyline.
The other main character (the story is split into two halves as such), is Barl, a young boy, whisked from his village and taken to a place he has no understanding of, told he has abilities he does not understand, and a destiny that makes no sense to him. Rather than fall into a withering heap on the floor like most of us would, Barl faces the challenges before him, and is faced with an incredible journey through this unbelievable world.
There are several other characters in the story, each of them with such depth, such power, that you feel like you know each of them by the end of the book. Summer, Galdar, Lucillian, the members of Galdar’s church. Then there are the creatures that the authors have created. The God-Queen is perhaps one of the best, terrifying characters I have read of this year (for this type of genre – sorry, I don’t read horror – I was a cop for 11yrs, saw enough there). Even with comparisons to my Mother, this thing is still one of the scariest things I know of.
Chainworld sets a new level for the genre of Sci-Fi Fantasy, once you read this, you will forever be holding books up against it. If you love Sci-Fi, Fantasy, or a combo of both, you must do yourself a favour and read this, you will not be disappointed as it is going to be one of the Top 10 books of the year for the genre.
Having not heard anything by Derek Perkins before, I was interested to hear his work, and was amazed at the incredible quality of his Narration. He has a stunning array of voices, male and female, and is one of the few male Narrators that has a really feminine female voice but can still create a strong male voice. His speech was excellent, providing clear and concise sentences all the way through, with no errors, and good pronunciation of words. On top of this he did wonderful voice effects, anger, fear, happiness etc in the characters voices to give you a feeling of ‘living’ out the story as it played through. There are some very powerful scenes in this story, and Perkins really gives the listener the full emotion of those scenes, he does a brilliant job at Narration.
I would easily recommend listening to this rather than reading it as the Narration was so exceptional.

A Chain with a Twist and a Few Links Missing

Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for honest review, so here goes.

Chainworld is a unique take on both Science Fiction and Fantasy, so much so that it takes the bold step to categorize itself as Science Fantasy. The authors have done a decent job of creating a world the reflects the title through unique scenery, time travel, and a magical system rooted in science.

Unfortunately, the book tries to do too much. The antagonist and conflict aren't introduced until three quarters of the way through the book in a throw away sentence when Shryke conveniently has his memories "unblocked." Seemingly, the authors have spent far too much time focusing on the world they have created and setting up the "twist" about who Shryke is, that they have forgotten about the developing the characters and the conflict. In the end, I knew who the characters were, but I had no idea as to why I was supposed to like them.

I wanted to give this book two stars, but I went three solely due to the performance of the narrator, Derek Perkins. However, even though I didn't enjoy it, the world the authors have created could still be the one for you.

Pretty decent for my first science fantasy

I received this book for free at my request and have provided this voluntary review.

I listened to the audiobook of this book and was pleasantly surprised, especially considering this was the first time I have ever read anything under the science fantasy genre. That took a bit to get used to.

Overall, the book wasn't bad and I enjoyed myself. The chapters would go back and forth between Shryke/Galdar and Barl, which irritated me to no end (in a good way!) because I would get so invested in what was happening right then with those characters. The characters were developing really well, too.

I always worry when male authors create a pivotal female character because a lot of times they can be handled very poorly and turn into a characterization of what they could have been. However, I thought these authors did an excellent job with both Galdar and Summer. I think there is still a lot of potential for the authors to grow Galdar, though I wanted more from her as her arc progressed and her internal struggles were laid out. Summer was pretty badass, but again, I would have liked to have seen more action scenes from her.

The Chainworld idea itself was a little hard to grasp at first, especially when the authors started throwing in the science fiction elements. It came together a little bit more as the story went on.

The narrator was fairly good as well and handled the various characters very well.

Multiverse, Sci-fi, Fantasy

Langley and Ebbs have created a world where multiple genres intersect in a gritty world where only the strong survive. Nothing is free in Chainworld and often the cost is incredibly expensive.

Perkins delivers a nuanced performance that was a perfect fit for the violent story giving each character their own voice and uniqueness.

if you enjoy genre bending stories with over the top graphic action this book could be for you.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review

Well written, ok start to a series

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.
Chainworld was an ok book that could have been great with more world building and character background. I thought the writing was well done there just wasn’t much story to it. There were also two completely separate storylines for Shryke and Baal that didn’t seem to have any crossover for most of the book.
I did find the world somewhat interesting but it could have used a lot more description. I’m still not quite sure what the “chainworld” actually is. The villain and the idea of the God Queen killing the same person across different realities and times is another interesting aspect of this book. It was really well written and I see potential in the series. As a first book this was a decent start but to determine if it’s actually good or not I need to see where the series goes.
Derek Perkins may have been the best part about this book. His narration was spot on.

Needs more world building

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

TLDR; Great book, but needs more world building/character development.

This should have been an ending point, not sure it works as well as a starting point. You have very little context for the world and characters, and with a book that jumps through time and characters, you need to get that done early and well. Going through it I felt a bit lost from time to time. That didn't stop me from enjoying it, the action scenes are great and the overall concept of the book has a lot of interesting aspects to it.

Overall, I think this would have been a better ending than a beginning, but it was good enough I can overlook that, and I'm looking forward to the next one in the series.

*** Spoiler ***

My biggest gripe here is this book should have been the culmination of at least two other books. One book about Shryke the other about Ball (Vall?). I understand the choice that was made here, but a book introducing each character separately and then this one would have given a chance for the "twist" at the end to really hit home, whereas done like this it seemed pretty obvious from the very beginning.

***End Spoiler***

Really digging this story

I’m not a great reviewer, either I like something or I don’t. Not a whole lot of gray area for me. Thankfully I liked this book. Narrator does a great job and I am looking forward to the next one. I usually listen to strict sci-fi, very little fantasy. This is a nice blending of the two genres.