Malice

By: John Gwynne

Narrated by: Damian Lynch

Winner of the Morningstar Award for Best Fantasy Debut, 2013

The world is broken....

Corban wants nothing more than to be a warrior under King Brenin's rule—to protect and serve. But that day will come all too soon. And the price he pays will be in blood.

Evnis has sacrificed—too much it seems. But what he wants—the power to rule—will soon be in his grasp. And nothing will stop him once he has started on his path.

Veradis is the newest member of the warband for the High Prince, Nathair. He is one of the most skilled swordsman to come out of his homeland, yet he is always under the shadow of his older brother.

Nathair has ideas—and a lot of plans. Many of them don't involve his father, the High King Aquilus. Nor does he agree with his father's idea to summon his fellow kings to council.

The Banished Lands has a violent past where armies of men and giants clashed in battle, but now giants are seen, the stones weep blood, and giant wyrms are stirring. Those who can still read the signs see a threat far greater than the ancient wars. For if the Black Sun gains ascendancy, mankind's hopes and dreams will fall to dust....

...and it can never be made whole again.

Malice is a dark epic fantasy tale of blind greed, ambition, and betrayal.

©2012 John Gwynne (P)2019 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Influenced by Gemmell's Rigante and George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones ... Hell of a debut."—Conn Iggulden

"Middle Earth-ish extravaganza with all the usual thrills, chills, spills and frills ... there's plenty of action."—Kirkus

"Three-dimensional characters, a gripping plot, and a world that became real to me ... this is the type of fantasy I love to read and I truly can't wait to read the next volume in The Faith and the Fallen!"—Fantasy Book Critic

Amazing you should definitely read it

Great story. Good vs Evil. Characters are alive. Definitely in mytop5 favorite fantasy series. Well written. I couldn't put this book down once i started.

Classic & Predictable Tropes done Masterfully

Being an 80’s baby I became a constant reader of the typical fantasy and sword & sorcery that was in many ways derivative of either Tolkien or Robert E. Howard. If you loved the work of the early nineties like Forgotten Realms, Dragon Lance etc, it’s like the modernized, more graphic more grounded version. There were believable characters. Great action scenes and intriguing lore. I recommend this to those who enjoy epic Eurocentric medieval adventure fantasy.

The only dislike (which is reaching) is it does the typical very well, but doesn’t bring to many new elements to the genre. That’s the the only thing holding it back from 5 stars for me. Enjoyable read.

Also, I always read along with the audio and the performer nailed the inflections and expressions.

Fun story, poor narration

Great beginning to a series. Looking forward to diving into the next. However, I’ll be looking for either a version not narrated by Lynch or just finish on paper. I checked several times to see if my speed was cranked up on my Audible app but that’s just the style of the narrator. He seems rushed to finish some sentences and it can be jarring when you are getting into a scene. The accents were fine but character inflection and tone (like when yelling) could use some work as well. Don’t let this turn you away from a great book, this just wasn’t the right fit for narrator so perhaps look elsewhere.

This is brilliant writhing from an incredible writer

This book lifts your spirt, makes you smile and breaks your heart, moments apart. You will crave more and thankfully there is. I took a few days just to consider how well this story was written and look forward with great anticipation to the next book. Don’t know if the author ever reads reviews, but I want to thank him.

Great!

Was a great book. Some things I was upset about, but only because I liked certain story arcs or characters that didn’t turn out as I expected. That’s what everyone should expect with the books they read though. It’s a world out of your control, yet still enthralling from start to finish. Very few, if any, dull moments.

Story is Great, the Narator not so much

I thought the story was great. The narrator must have been paid by the minute and had to speed up the play to 1.6 to sound normal.

I think it would have been a much better to read book than to listen to audible as the narrator was distracting and had to listen the first couple chapters again to catch a few things missed.

narration isn't bad, people are weird.

only downside to this book is the fact that it follows so many different POVs. it inevitably leads to the reader dreading entire chapters because some characters suck to follow.

Wait for it…

Holy smokes this book is packed. The world building is awesome, and the finish… magnificent!!! As I’m writing this book two is already started… LETS GO

Exciting!

I love John Gwynne and Malice is a great and exciting read. Starts a bit slow but builds and builds. Some of the plot development is predictable but the story and characters are interesting and gritty. Great action and battle!

Damian Lynch is THE worst narrator.

I can’t even get into the story because Lynch adds about 3 to 20 periods to every paragraph he reads. The pauses are absolutely maddening!