Land of Gods

Falls of Redemption, Book 1

By: Justin Sloan

Narrated by: Jeff Hays

Following the death of his father, Narcel longs to escape the ongoing violence and wars of the land of Braze. It doesn't help that his mother is mayor of Valhia and his older brother the top advocate for war. Another point against Narcel is his devious cousin, and the fact that they both love the same girl.

His world is thrown upside down when first his brother goes missing, and then Narcel's taken by the warrior Mawtu and made to become one of their slaves and fighters.

At first he's all alone, caught between his will to live and his hatred for these people. But soon allegiances form and the legends of the gods begin to tempt him and his brothers. If he can survive through training and establish himself in these warrior ranks, Narcel may be able to bring this land and its people to the peace he believes it deserves.

When his two worlds collide, the warrior brothers he's trained with and learned to love, and the village of his youth, Narcel is forced to make a choice that will inevitably bring Braze to levels of war it has never seen.

If you love such epic fantasy books as Prince of Thorns, Game of Thrones, or Way of Kings, you'll feel at home with this series.

©2016 Justin Sloan (P)2017 Justin Sloan

Fantastic

Loved every bit and especially being able to listen instead of reading was great. I was able to go for a walk or do housework while listening and enjoyed this amazing story.

Don't give up at the beginning, it gets good

Any additional comments?

Jeff Hays does an excellent job as narrator of a very good story. It has a slow start, but once it progresses it gets very intense. Good characters, a love triangle, and epic action. Give it some time at the beginning. It takes a bit to discover the characters in the story line , but once it finds it's stride it's very good . “I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.”

Overcoming Obstacles....

Any additional comments?

The this book centers around the main lead, Narcel.

His brother is missing and he has a few issued of his own to deal with.

This was a well written story line that has everything from slavery, war, jealousy, and a "love triangle".


Jeff Hays did well with the narration as usual.

Note:
"This audio book was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review."

An Epic Greek Adventure

Land of Gods is the first book in the Falls of Redemption series and an epic adventure. It reminded me of other ancient Greek adventures in the vein of the Odyssey and I could not stop listening to it. If you enjoy Greek war stories and heroes with tragic circumstances thrust upon them, you will likely love this book as well.

Narcel is an artistic soul in a world he doesn't fit in. He wants nothing more to live out his days in peace with the girl he loves, but fate has other plans for him. He's thrust into the world of the Mawtu against his will and is forced to endure the horrors and torture of being bred into a killing machine. Narcel has a choice to either embrace his new brothers and join the mighty Mawtu warriors or follow his soul and run back to the girl he loves and search for their peace.

Narcel is a great protagonist who struggles with a role he doesn't want. Land of Gods is very much an ancient Greek story in the sense that it's filled with tragedy for our hero, Narcel. As we follow Narcel as he weathers blow after blow, you have to wonder if he's going to break under the constant tragedy thrust upon him or if he would stay true to who he is and see the end of the day victorious.

I really enjoyed the characters and story in this book. They're not simple black and white characters with each having to make difficult decisions forced on them often times by other people. The whole story I was left trying to figure out which side was right and which side was wrong. Ultimately, I had to decide that neither side was totally right or wrong. There are simply choices and the consequences of those actions.

I didn't want to stop this book until I reached the end. It was a fantastic start to this trilogy and I cannot wait to dive into book 2. Justin did a great job of weaving a true ancient Greek adventure that reminded me a lot of stories I love like the Odyssey and other stories of heroes on perilous journeys. I have never watched Game of Thrones, but I could imagine people who enjoy that series would like this book from everything I've heard of it.

Jeff Hays did an excellent job with the narration on this one. I had no complaints and thought he handled multiple characters well.

Slow start with weak characters

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I have a backlog of books to read and hence I get irrationally irritated when I feel like a book runs very slow. This book did that. The start was very very slow and kept increasing my boredom with it. I kept wishing it will pick up speed soon, but it didn't by the time I quit.

Was Land of Gods worth the listening time?

Since the start was very slow, I didn't find the character development to be adequate. The scenes felt lackluster and uninteresting.

Any additional comments?

I was voluntarily provided a free copy of this book by the author / narrator / publisher and I'm leaving an unbiased review.

Choosing Sides

Although I found the constantly changing political relationships confusing, they were not critical to the core story of a young artist/dreamer thrust by tradition into the role of a warrior whose actions range from cowardice to bravery and whose motivations seem to waver like flickering candlelight. There are hints at the greater story to be told in the epic but the actions of this volume can be read and enjoyed on their own.

I listened to the AUDIBLE version and, for a story this complex, that can almost be a drawback as action plunges forward at great speed and it is easy to get lost. On the other hand one is swept into the drama and drawn forward at a furious rate as battles rage and family relationships play out. And then there are the gods. Again, the pace of the well-read narrative (excellent vocalizations!) left me somewhat baffled, but it was clear that some of the frictions were between religious factions within regions. I suspect reading, and seeing the names, I would have better remembered who was who.

So, action and adventure? A+ Clarity of motivations? C- Epic scope? A Delineation of good guys and bad guys? Ah, there you have in a nutshell the source of many of my confusions and yet probably the point of the story. There is no Snidley Whiplash nor Dudley DoRight; each faction has pluses and minuses and each person is nuanced. Even those you want to hate turn out to have golden moments.

Gruesome coming-of-age story

This audiobbook started out very slow, and I pretty much didn't know what was going on in the big picture. The love triangle was meh, and seemed mostly about a girl who couldn't figure out what she wanted and just played both of the two boys who "loved" her. The action picked up about half-way through the book, and then it got violent and gruesome with sexual rites, human sacrifice, and cannibalism. If you are looking for a bloody coming-of-age story, you will probably like this tale, but it wasn't for me. The narration was good, and I thought Mr. Hays did a good job of capturing the different characters.
I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Slow start, strong finish, overall good book

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

This one started kind of slow and I almost gave up on the story but Jeff Hays did a good enough job on the narration that I decided to stick with it. Ultimately, I'm really glad I did. Once the action actually started, it finally sucked me in and held my interest until the end. I'd consider other books by this author, but hope his other works don't take as long to truly get going.

epic!

Really liked the story. The narrator did an excellent job. Looking forward to listening to the next installment.

Great old world war story

This is a different kinda book for me but one I did find I liked. The story of a young mans kid napping and initiation into a brutal new order of men. Not really a girls kinda book but still interesting. I received this book at no charge in exchange for an honest review review. I do add some caution it's pretty graphic and gory in spots. Talk a lot of physical abuse and torture.