On the Shoulders of Titans

Arcane Ascension, Book 2

By: Andrew Rowe

Narrated by: Nick Podehl

Corin Cadence finally has a firm reason to believe his brother, Tristan, is still alive. Unfortunately, finding more information isn’t going to be easy. Tristan appears to be entangled with a clandestine organization that calls themselves Whispers. And Corin’s last brush with the Whispers didn’t exactly end well.

As much as he wants to follow that lead, Corin has more pressing problems to deal with. Sera is still suffering from a mysterious malady that has stolen her voice and her magic. Corin knows that a portion of that is his fault, and he’s determined to fix it. His mother is still off in another country, and there are growing odds that she’s involved with a conspiracy to overthrow the visages.

Corin has also been branded with a new magical mark on his right hand - one that even veteran climbers don’t seem to recognize. He’s going to need to figure out how it works, otherwise it could be more of a vulnerability than an asset.

Corin still hasn’t finished his first year at Lorian Heights. If he fails his final exams, he’ll be sent off to the military and lose his chance to investigate his brother’s fate. And finally, there’s the issue of enemies. He might have made a few of them.

The biggest problem? He’s not sure if Jin, once one of his closest companions, is one of them.

©2018 Andrew Rowe (P)2019 Podium Publishing

Refreshing

As someone who identifies as being asexual but not Aromantic, it's so nice to see how the series has handled having a main protagonist like that. Often times ace people are shown to be robotic and cold which isn't the case, and it's nice to finally get good representation in media

This ending...

Lets begin with the good:
The voice acting is fantactic in this book.
The first 2/3 of the book have a great world building and character development.
The action sence are great throughtout the book with tension and worry gripping you as they play out.
I love almost every character by the middle of the book. Their interpersonal relationships are funny, heart felt, and believable.

The bad:
The last third of this book was furstrating to the max. Corin's love interest gets the boot for some girl we know nothing about. In fact, we meet her in a throwaway phrase in the beginning of the first book.The author isn't settle about this either. Corin and Jin have a farwell dance and this chick jsut shows up arfterward in like 5 seconds.
This is the most unrealistic part of this book and the whole time your questioning her because you dont know her at all. Leading to you questioning all of Corin's decision after that twist.
The author did wrong by these characters and I can't forgive them for that.

If you are reading this book for the charaters, be prepared for disappointment. However, if you are here for action then enjoy becuse its awesome.

Didn't want it to end!

its everything I want in a semi litrpg novel. plus the narrator is my personal favorite.

Ignore the woke nonsense

The story was interesting without the distraction of the lgbt lecture and the annoying pronoun nonsense. Luckily the author keeps it to a level where it doesn't get too intrusive to the story. Also could do away with the constant "gotta research that later" or constant reminders of how he doesn't like physical contact, we get it. Dispite those annoyances, I look forward to the next book.

a deeper dive into the world!

Andrew is done an excellent job with book 2. anybody who liked the first book or his other series war of broken mirrors should certainly be sure to pick up this book. from developing the magic system more to the characters having you challenges to some twists and turns and political unrest this book doesn't disappoint.

amazing

read the first book loved it really hoped for a second one love this one now I really hope for a third narrator was amazing story is great.

Best.Book.Ever

This is by far the best book I've ever read / listened to. The character development is phenomenal, the first person narration let's you really connect with the main character, and the creative attention to detail in creating the world in which it is set and the plot are unmatched. The first book in the series was also phenomenal, and this book surpassed the first!

really good, albeit a tad preachy at times.

clever, fun, thought provoking, and unexpected. I can't wait for the next one, and hope it comes straight to audible.

An Amazing Piece of Modern Fantasy

Arcane Ascension is on of those series with appeal for both old and new fantasy fans. Old fantasy fans will enjoy the clever writing, humor, interesting character interactions and development, as well as the overall personality of the work. It is well written and with an eye on detail that keeps the reader captivated. New fantasy fans will see this for exactly what it is, something akin to manga or video game in written form. Now that might sound insulting, but only because no one has ever truly taken the interesting tropes and elements of interactive media and done them as well as this. There are influences here that are done so well that they seem fresh, despite their ubiquity in other media. The main character is as nontraditional as you get, but in the best ways. The story has it's so called proper hero, but our protagonist is a hero in a different kind, and using that dynamic to subvert expectations.

That said. Nick Podehl is a revelation as a narrator. I'm a big fan of a few guys, such as Scott Brick, Dick Hill, and others. But Mr. Prodehl is the only narrator who has ever made me click his name and look for other books he's narrated. Currently listening to the 'Kingskiller Chronicles' because of the man. He's got a gift for departing a lot character in his voice work. Never am I ever at a loss for who is speaking, or what their emotion is. He's got skills to burn in this area and made an excellent story, extraordinary. A special shout out to the way he voices the female characters... their personality and strength shines through so well.

For those who read the reviews

This series is a must buy if you're a fan of those stories with powers, monsters, mystery and adventures.
I take forever to find a good series, literally spend hours searching, listening to samples and reading the short summery of a story, and never buy the book.
This series was one I took a chance on and fell in love with, I can't wait for the third story to come out.
The explanation aspect is a bit much at times, when the main character starts rambling on and on about his research ideas I tended to zone out. But that didn't take away from my enjoyment, I zoned about thinking about other parts and wondering how things would have been pieces together.
This is the first series I heard/read from the author and I can't believe how much thought he put into his characters, it's crazy and ingenious that he thought of traumatic back stories for each character. Honestly I found myself feeling for each character as they revealed their pasts..
So if you want a story you can sit back and ignore the world listening to you've found it!