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

Great!

This is a very solid and well-written epic fantasy story and a great first book to the series. It can be dark at times, but I dont think it goes full grimdark. Just be aware that it can be a bit confusing early on with many names and locations introduced, but just hang in there and it all comes together.

As for the narration, I am a fan. I think the narrator does a fine job with diferentiating the characters with several different voices and accents. I really don't get where all the hate is coming from.

If you like epic fantasy then pick this up!

Good book

Didn’t like the reader’s voice, but got use to it. Great story though and well written.

a few shining characters, the rest? blehh...

only one or two characters felt really amazing. the rest felt bland or back ups to the other two great characters. felt like you could cut them out entirely and you wouldn't mix much but small context and character dynamics.

5 very enthusiastic bright and shiny stars! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I am torn between leaving a review of "Malice" or starting the second in the series immediately. I'll be brief.
I accidentally stumbled upon malice. I had just finished my third run of Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy. I tried and abandoned at least 10 new titles. Nothing seemed to even spark interest for me so I was resigned to return to George R.R.'s familiar "Song". I was humming the GoT intro as I clicked on the sample for "Malice" and before it even ended I had ordered the title. That was 3 days ago, this is a 24-hour book so I have stopped to eat and go to work since ordering it!
Yes, it's that good! Now I must go, "Valor" awaits!

fantastic narrator

funny... after reading these reviews suggesting a bad narrator, I can tell which ones actually listened to the entire book and those that, like me, struggled with him early on. I noticed in the dialog parts, he spoke a characters lines like he wasn't reading them off a page himself but doing improv. the cadence being that he'd speak a word and then wait a sec then another word etc. Well heres the best way to describe it: think William Shatner...: "some...one some....thing....came ...and...farted"

So early on I was in agreement with that being my only issue with this book... however....

This guy...went from having my heart racing to tears threatening to flow. Unable to continue breathing and even got a wracking sob from me at the ending scene. I've listened to ALOT of narrstors and this one has me. all others from here out will be compared to this high standard. sadly, I'm pretty much convinced that I've found the pinnacle already. everyone else will seem less than adequate.

So thank you for selecting this guy to whomever picked him!

Good book good narration solid choice.

Hard to get into I’d say the names are a bit difficult to learn and understand but like all books when you get into the flow. And learn the necessary names and info it’s a great experience Iv read the books and I’d say the audio book enhances the experience
. Narrator really gets in his flow throughout the book. Highly suggest

Worth the credit

The story takes a few chapters to pick up. The world building is interesting and the characters are well written. One of the better fantasy books I have listened to in a long while.

Could NOT stop listening!!

This is honestly one of the best fantasy series I’ve listened to, and I’ve gone through a lot of them. It’s hard to keep track of all of characters at first and I ended up listening to the book twice for this reason. The second listen only improved the story.

The narrator is one of my favorites and I thought he did an AMAZING job!!

Pretty Good tale

it was an enjoyable read for the most part. overabundance of characters at first but at the end, the cast was manageable. Will go to volume 2

Great Narration

Good story and great reading! Definitely going through the whole series now. Felt very drawn in by some of the characters.