Knightmare Arcanist

Frith Chronicles, Book 1

By: Shami Stovall

Narrated by: Brian Wiggins

Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

Magic. Sailing. A murderer among heroes.

Gravedigger Volke Savan wants nothing more than to be like his hero, the legendary magical swashbuckler, Gregory Ruma. First he needs to become an arcanist, someone capable of wielding magic, which requires bonding with a mythical creature. And he’ll take anything - a pegasus, a griffin, a ravenous hydra - maybe even a leviathan, like Ruma.

So when Volke stumbles across a knightmare, a creature made of shadow and terror, he has no reservations. But the knightmare knows a terrible secret: Ruma is a murderer out to spread corrupted magic throughout their island nation. He’s already killed a population of phoenixes and he intends to kill even more.

In order to protect his home, his adopted sister, and the girl he admires from afar, Volke will need to confront his hero, the Master Arcanist Gregory Ruma.

A fast-paced flintlock fantasy for those who enjoy How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell, Unsouled (Cradle Series) by Will Wight, and Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan.

©2019 Capital Station Books (P)2019 Capital Station Books

enjoyed it

very well done, I am looking forward to the rest of this series for sure

Amazing open book to a series.

Stovall creates a world where people and magical creatures bond together so that they can both reach their best magical potential. Before dropping a everyone into an adventure riddled mystery of love and murder.

Wiggins start out a bit rough in his read but by the end is magnificent. He truly goes all out to not only give the listener unique voices but also great performances.

If you like magical open world stories with lots of adventures, friends, magic, and intrigue this is a book for you.

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

Hooked from the first chapter.

It's not very often a story has me hooked. Great story telling, plot, characters, and character progression. I think Shami Stovall is onto something great with this series and Im only 3 books in so far. I highly recommend anyone who even has the slightest interest in this to pick it up. I don't believe you'd be disappointed.

Great start to the series

This was a great book and I can honestly say that I have nothing bad to say or even minor thing to critique. The story was very well written and left me excited to find out what else was still left to explore in this new world.

The characters had good backstories and hinted at much more being revealed in future books in this series.

Brian Wiggins did a fantastic job narrating this book. He had a great range for both males and female characters (And magical creatures!) and did very well at making each one unique and come to life.

I typically won't hesitate at giving 4 out of 5 stars for a review but I felt like this book earned 5 out 5 across the board.

I'm looking forward to listening to the rest of the series and finding out what will happen next.

Disclaimer - Per my request I received a copy of this audiobook for free and have voluntarily left this unbiased review.

not bad

this was definitely an interesting book, it was a slow start, but the character development was pretty good and had a unique storyline.

Great Fantasy

If you’re looking for a young adult fantasy with exceptional world building, you will find it here. The magical system was well thought out, where characters gained their powers from a mystical creature that they bonded with. The mystical creatures would determine the unique powers that a person would gain. This allowed for a variety of powers unique to different people. The characters in the story are all strong characters, each with backstories of their own.

The narrator was clear and did a good job, and I am looking forward to see how the series progresses.

Good world building and cool magic system

Shami Stovall does a good job of world building, giving readers a nice picture of what life is like for the characters. There's also the fair share of smaller problems (like discrimination, cultural insensitivity, etc.) to help it feel like a living world. The characters have depth and their own motivations, giving them suitable complexity. In particular, I enjoyed the magic system. I think it works in a pretty cool way. The plot is fairly simple and mainly easy to figure out long before the big hints to help anyone left behind. :) Overall, this makes for a good read. Some may find the end a bit rushed, but not disconcertingly so.

Nice job on narration by Brian Wiggins. He has a good pace. Some scenes, like fights or times of strong emotion could possibly have benefitted from a bit more drama/energy. However, this is certainly not a big issue. All-in-all, this was a nice listen that went quickly. Certainly recommended.

I received this audiobook for free in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Very YA

This is a very YA book. The characters are immature and transparent, their plans are simplistic and work out for no apparent reason, and the villains motivations are so boilerplate that they almost manage to be archetypal.

The narration is... fine. Mostly. I'm used to much better narrators, but I'm annoyed that I've gotten so picky. I don't think I would have had a problem a few years ago. That said, the audio effects are amateurish and distracting, and I actually started to wince at what he was doing to convey mental communication by the end of the book.

All of that said, the story and writing are basically good. Despite all the issues I was having, I wanted to finish the story. The magic system is interesting. I saw most of the plot twists coming from a million miles away, but the characters were interesting. I won't be getting the next book in the series because I don't like YA. But if you really do like YA, you will probably like this book.

Great book but the description

So far the books great but whoever wrote the description gave away basically the whole book. I'm actually pretty annoyed by it. I was hoping to figure it out myself which I did now that I see the description.

Magnificent in every way

This book is amazing. I was engaged immediately. The story and pace is excellent and the narrator is fantastic! Very few books are this satisfying throughout. I never got bored with this and can’t wait to listen the the rest of the series. I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.