Shadow of the Arisen

Lands of Wanderlust, Book 1

By: Paul Yoder

Narrated by: Nathaniel Priestley

A must-listen for fans of high-fantasy epics, this sword-and-sorcery high-adventure series will be your new favorite fantasy book.

Once a thriving city—now a foul necropolis, ruled over by the arisen dead.

The fallen city of Brigganden now poses a threat to the neighboring lands, its demonic warlord slaughtering all who venture near.

Reza, a member of an elite code of knights, leads the only troop willing to stand against the hellish army—risking not only her life to the vile arisen, but the lives of her only friends.

As they struggle to survive the rising tide of evil, fulfilling their mission becomes the least of their priorities. The dead know of their presence—and this evil hungers for more than just flesh and blood.

Shadow of the Arisen is the first book in a high-fantasy trilogy that has deep roots in dark magic, Lovecraftian horror, and the occult. It’s an epic fantasy fiction novel that will leave you wanting more from the vibrant cast of characters you’ll grow to love.

©2016, 2022 Paul Yoder (P)2022 Paul Yoder

An excellent epic high fantasy story and trilogy!

Paul Yoder starts off another excellent epic high fantasy series with a strong book 1. The characters are interesting and well developed, the story is engaging and well written, and the plot moves at a good pace for an epic fantasy novel. I absolutely cannot wait for book 2 and 3! Audio Version: Nathaniel Priestley does a great job with this book.

Very well done

This is a good story of adventure and battle of good and evil and a great story of adventurers who start off not knowing each other and then becoming close and caring about each other

Shadow of the Arisen

Thank you sor ACX listen, I voluntarily give this book an honest review
Nomad & Reza story is filled with magical and otherworldly tales, that just grabs an runs with the amazing amount of imagination.  Hearing Nathaniel Priestley does great job but the narration of the over ecstatic Jadu was hilarious to listen to.
As a wonderer, surviving the terrains was a given. Nomad would willing to suffer the hazards of the storm, was one that after all to witnessing a brutal battle between two knights. Now with a wounded knight on his hands, Nomad turned to a village. With a healing physician wanting to tag along for research may just be more luck or hindering that these two will have to chance on their new found journey towards the war that is breaking out. 

A story that would have deserved better execution

I listen to a lot of fantasy literature on Audible; this was the first book in a long, long time I almost returned. The story isn't bad, but the over-the-top voice acting is incredibly annoying. Especially the Jadu character is insufferable. First time ever I actively hoped for the death of a character to be spared his voice acting.
Speaking of characters, every single one of them is incredibly shallow and underdeveloped. The good guys are all exceptionally pure, noble and good, while all the bad guys are almost comically evil. There is no character development whatsoever, and the protagonists all feel a little too cookie cutter. I'll abandon this series after this book.

Fun

Narration was really good. Unfortunately the story isn’t my cup of tea. It’s not bad by any means, just not what I normally prefer

great book

very well narrated. I really enjoyed it. can't wait to listen to next book in the series.

A dark fantasy adventure

What a tale!

This dark fantasy starts with action right out the gate. We follow these characters as they realize an army of the undead is rising and they must discover why, who is creating it, and how to defeat them.

The cast of characters gives us all we crave in fantasy--strong but not overbearing women, an alchemist with a tendency to blow things up, a mysterious hero, a band of warriors (who include, of course, a love-able thief).

Something I love about this story is that the magic within is used to create a story rather than as a crutch. Characters often have to think and fight their way from danger. Something else is that none of the cast seems empty or characterless. You are interested in each one.

Another thing in particular -- the narration. Absolutely perfect! The narrator reminds me of the reader of the Artemis Fowl series (so much so that I had to look it up to check if it was him.) He gives each character their own voice, their own tones, and draws you into the story with ease. Never did I find my attention drifting as it has with other long audios when I find the tonality remaining unchanged for prolonged periods. Nathaniel Priestly did an amazing job keeping me engaged and picking up each portion of the story.

This was a free copy in exchange for an honest review. My honest review is that, when the story leaves off leading into the sequel, I want to snatch it up instantly. Five stars across the board.

Like Listening to a great DnD game

There have not been a lot of books over the years that I have "read" and instantly made me feel as if I was hanging out with my friends playing DND. Ironically a YA dark fantasy book now tops that list.

From the amazing worldbuilding (through the backstory of characters), to the creative and sprawling fights, to the fact that the characters felt like actual characters that had real investment in them (not just throwaway 1d shadows of characters) this book was non-stop enjoyment.

Plot wise its a pretty standard "fight your way through a city of the dead" story, but like so much else in high-fantasy that really doesn't matter. The characters are what brings it to life, and they do a fantastic job of it. I know I keep coming back to it, but there is no other way to really describe this book, but "character focused"

If you're a fan of tabletop gaming, or if you just enjoy fantasy with amazing character depth, then I highly recommend this book.

Epic battles against armies of the dead

Received as an audio review copy from Story Origin, this is an honest review. Narrated exceptionally by Nathaniel Priestley, brings to life the beautifully descriptive world of Shadow of the Arisen; a great epic dark fantasy adventure filled with grand intense battles with armies of the dead puppeteered by magic conjurors that are the monsters of nightmares. Nathaniel's vocal abilities allows each character and every character in this story to shine with their own quirks and vulnerabilities that makes each personal viewpoint all more poignant and memorable. The end of this journey is capped off well while clearly illustrating this hardened group of warriors has a much darker trial to face. A wondrous thrill ride you'll want to return to many times over, highly recommended.

Fantasy

This book was awesome if you like D&D style fantasy journeys! Nomad is a strong main character and easily likable. The narrator has a nice voice too, so it was fun to listen to. If you like LoTR, you’ll enjoy this. Can’t wait for more!