Crystal King

Riland Throne, Book 1

By: John Olsen

Narrated by: Andrew L. Barnes

Gavin Stoutheart’s father, the baron, is missing, along with Gavin’s brother, the heir. Gavin must step up to lead his people as they flee before an invading army. His only hope is that a combination of prohibited animal magic and his knack for strategy will keep them safe as they make their way through a fractured kingdom with an army on their tail.

©2017 John M. Olsen (P)2018 Immortal Works

a fantastic epic tale

unique magic, epic battles, concise prose. likable, brave characters, evil bad guys. This was a fantastic read. I will be moving on to book 2!

Definitely a great book with intrigue and problem solving

This book drives into the minutia of helping refugees and militia while keeping it exciting and adding magic. It is worth the listen. I loved it.

Epic Coming-Of-Age Fantasy

John Olsen has created a fascinating world populated with interesting characters and unusual magic in this story. I enjoyed and was entertained by the varied twists and turns and surprising paths depicted in this tale. I am very curious to find out what will happen in the next book in the series and I recommend this book to others who enjoy this genre. Andrew L Barnes' narration is good, but there were times that I found some of his character voices to be somewhat strident. I was given a free copy of the audiobook and I have voluntarily left this review.

A great story

The author did a great job with this one. A story full of grief, courage, loyalty & war. Gavin's father the baron is missing along with his brother the Heir. So like it or not Gavin is thrust into the role of leader. He has no idea what to do & feels he will make a huge mess of things. However he accepts his role and all the responsibilities. His struggle to lead his people to safety will depend on if they will follow him. Great characters and twists you won't see coming.

CRYSTAL KING

A UNIQUE STORY, FILLED WITH ADVENTURE. AND FUN TO LISTEN TO. NARRATION WAS GREAT.

GREAT FANTASY MEDIEVAL ADVENTURE

STORYLINE IS WELL WRITTEN AND EASY TO FOLLOW.
ACCEPTABLE FOR TEEN AGES AND OLDER.
NARRATOR IS WELL WRITTEN AND EASY TO FOLLOW.

Not all things are crystal clear

The story is an interesting tale of deception and obligation that has more twists and turns than you’d expect. An enjoyable and mostly fast-paced read/listen in a world thrust into chaos for the sake of power. While this isn’t a shifter series, it does carry that vibe to an extent but in a way that keeps you intrigued. The main character is fun to watch as he grows into the position that is thrust upon him; I’m excited to see how things shake out in the next installment.

Parents: It's appropriate for YA+, there's no bad language, the violence is mainly animal and human warfare with no explicit gore, and no sexual content.

Narrator: has ok differences between characters, transition music is a bit loud and competitive with the narration.

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

Baskerville Book Reviews

I had a difficult time getting into this book at first. It tries to kill off a bunch of characters and set up this intense danger. It doesn’t feel earned because we as readers have no idea who these people are, or why we should care. It spends a decent chunk of time on world-building and setting up the new Baron. I eventually started to care, around the 1 hour, 5 minutes mark left (listening at 2.55x speed).

That last hour and 5 minutes really pulled me in though. The amount of story crammed into that section of the book was impressive. I kept expecting it to be over and it kept giving me interesting scenario after interesting scenario. For me, I think it would hold up better to a re-read (listen), as I’d have some understanding of who these people are now. if you’re a first-time reader, I think you should stick with it. The last third is pretty damn good and well worth waiting for.

I think using crystals to control animals/people is extremely creative. It led to some exciting, and fun combat scenes. I don’t care so much about the lore or how it works, it’s just intriguing how different animals are used for different types of combat, as well as how their handlers develop a bond with them.

Overall, the narration was excellent, he did a superb job with voices and acting out lines. Each character was emoted well and felt unique. The audio did have some issues with ridiculously loud, poorly balanced audio playing during chapter transitions. They drowned out the narration and made it difficult to concentrate on what anybody was saying.

NOTE: This copy was provided to me free of charge as a digital review copy. The opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone, I was not paid or requested to give this book a certain rating, suggestion, or approval.