God of Neverland

A Defenders of Lore Novel

By: Gama Ray Martinez

Narrated by: Simon Vance

In this magical re-imagining of J. M. Barrie’s classic tale, Michael Darling—the youngest of the Darling siblings and former Lost Boy, now all grown up—must return to the life he left behind to save Neverland from the brink of collapse and keep humanity safe from magical and mythological threats, as well as answer the ultimate question: Where is Peter Pan?

Peter Pan is missing; Neverland is in trouble. For adults, that might not matter all that much, but for children—whose dreams and imagination draw strength from the wild god’s power—the magic we take for granted in the real world is in danger of being lost forever.

Such is the life of a now grown-up Michael Darling.

Michael returned from Neverland with the dream of continuing his adventuring ways by joining the Knights of the Round, an organization built to keep humanity safe from magical and mythological threats. But after a mission gone terribly wrong, he vowed to leave the Knights behind and finally live as a “civilian,” finding order and simplicity as a train engineer, the tracks and schedule tables a far cry from the chaos of his youth.

He hasn’t entered the narrative in years. So what could the Knights need from him now?

Maponos—or how he’s better known, Peter Pan—has gone missing, and Neverland is now on the edge of oblivion. Michael realizes he has no choice and agrees to one last mission. Alongside the young Knight Vanessa and some old friends, Michael embarks on the ultimate adventure: a journey to a fantasy world to save a god. Determined to stop evil, fight for Neverland, and find Maponos, will Michael be able to save the magical and physical world? Or will his biggest fear come true?

The clock is ticking, and in Neverland, that’s never a good sign.

©2022 Gama Ray Martinez (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

I was bored the ENTIRE time.

I only finished this on principle. Nothing happened that carried any weight. Oh! Something fantastic? The story will spend no time on it whatsoever. Throwing fantastical things at the reader, but refusing giving them the barest hint of gravitas makes everything that happens cheap and unrewarding.

Pan meets mythology meets Hook meets never ending story

A great reimagining of a classic story. Feels like a mashup of Pan, mythology, the movie Hook, and The Never-ending Story

swashbuckling adventure & new twist on Peter Pan

great reader. really fun story. an exciting new world of intrigue and adventure. And great for the kids too!

Enjoyable Listen

I listen to a LOT of books… Historical Fiction and Children’s Literature being favored escapes. This one was nice. Not so loud or action packed I couldn’t fall asleep listening to it. (Which is often a goal. Blame my mom for reading to me as a child.) Narrator is a favorite of mine! Revisiting Neverland was cool. I enjoyed going back there. Details of the story and plot easily kept me interested. Possibly better for readers younger than myself but I was expecting that and enjoyed it, despite being in my 50’s.
I intend to listen to the next in the series.

a blast to your own childhood

I loved it! it was a compelling story with fun connections to a childhood favorite story.

an interesting concept I enjoyed it

this was interesting a cute idea. and it was well done. I will eventually listen to the second book.

A fun future for the Peter Pan story 

Joining Michael and others many years after their adventures, and with real, grown-up problems is both fun and depressing. The story feels like it in event a few too many things, and introduces them into the Peter Pan story, but in general a very enjoyable book. 

A good story made better by excellent narration

There are a lot of fun ideas in this book, perhaps more than the author is able to present in a cohesive way. The extrapolations on the Peter Pan story are deep and well thought out. Other elements that come into play through the idea of The Knights of the Round seem a bit tossed in at points where the story needs a random save. The pacing was a bit inconsistent, but overall the story kept my interest well. A large amount of credit has to go to Simon Vance who kept the entire program afloat through masterful reading.

Really Fun Listen

'God of Neverland' is a really fun an interesting addition to Peter Pan. The story brings in all the characters of Peter Pan plus more. Well worth the read if you like adventure stories and have a good imagination.

A Reimagining

It took a while to get pulled into the story (once Michael stopped his protestations), but then it was an imaginative addition to the Peter Pan stories. Simon Vance, as always, was a great narrator.