Taming the Elements

The Elwin Escari Chronicles, Volume 1

By: David Ekrut

Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell

Length: 19 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

A young man, Elwin, seeks to become an elementalist. But with war looming and an accident that could cost him his freedom, Elwin finds himself fleeing for his life and evading the Guardians of Life. The Guardians think Elwin guilty of the most grievous of crimes, and as he trains the gifts of his bloodline, he will discover a secret from long in his past.

©2015 Sub-Scribes Publications (P)2015 Sub-Scribes Publications

Mixed feelings

Any additional comments?

The story line works and was interesting enough to hold my attention. The characters are a little flat, but that was not my primary issue with the book. The conflicts in the story are consistently "bad guys work behind the scenes to betray everyone, bad guys have overwhelming power...yet some characters for some reason can go toe-toe with no issues...large fight scene....good guys lose, but not quite"....and repeat. Its gets old in a book of this length.

Great Story!

What made the experience of listening to Taming the Elements the most enjoyable?

Narrator was awesome!

What does Chris MacDonnell bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He brings the characters to life and makes you feel a part of the world David Ekrut has created.

well worth listening through to the end

This is a delightful fantasy book involving magic, sacrifice, war, and deep friendships.   Elwin Escari and his friend, Fifer, best friends tend to find themselves in trouble.  The day the army arrived to recruit boys to the war effort was no different.

Elwin always wanted to be an elementalist and Fifer wanted to be a soldier.   Their wishes are granted and off they go but not before Elwin comes into his power and accidentally kills another.   Elwin is the Son of Bane – an evil man seeking to awaken the dragons and bring about death and destruction in his search for power.

It is through the efforts of Jasmine and her daughter Zara to teach Elwin to control his power and Fifer to keep Elwin safe.   Secrets that have been kept for years begin to unravel.

David Ekrut, author, does an excellent job of building a world where magic, adventure and action walk hand in hand.  His development of characters is well done and complete.  As one listens to the audiobook, one can visualize the growth of each character.  One cannot help but gasp as Elwin comes into each of his powers or when Fifer battles the black savants.  Listeners come to feel the pain as younger children are used as pawns to further the growth of evil.

Ekrut’s writing style is smooth, full and easy to follow.  It is a long audiobook but one well worth listening through to the end.   The action is captivating and engrossing.  One cannot put the audiobook down.

Chris MacDonnell’s performance is strong and clear.  His voice reflects the energy and action going on in the book; he captures and holds the attention of the listener.  He becomes each character in the book and helps bring the book to life.  MacDonnell is an excellent narrator!

I was not looking forward to hearing this 19+ hour book but once I began it, I could not put it down!

There were no issues whatsoever with production of this audiobook – everything was clear and concise.

Audiobook was provided for review by the narrator.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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Got a real Wheel of Time vibe from this book.

Great narration, well told story. A little information overload at the start, but everything starts to fall into place. Usually 19 hours is a long book, but this book just flew by. Plenty of tropes, but they are all well executed and interesting. No particular expression is overused either which I was impressed by.

good story cant wait for more

i really enjoyed this story. cant wait for more to come good luck and have fun

Worth listing to

The story definitely has that Game of Thrones Lord of Rings feel to it. A young boy, his destiny, and the problems that come from that. Not a huge fantasy fan, but got sucked into this book.

Narrator reading

Could her every in take and release of the narrator breathing, can't wait for volume 2!

Wonderful journey!

This is an excellent book full of adventure, misadventure. It is full of hard decisions and heartache and yet there is still hope for the hero. What I enjoy most is it's a great story in a semi fictional world that resembles ours so closely that you aren't confused or lost by it. The magic is simple yet intriguing enough to keep you curious as to what more the hero can do. This is a fantastic start to an epic journey full of friendship, loyalty and the ever present good versus evil though those lines are very thin and crisscrosses, it just adds a deeper element to this tale. I can't wait to get my hands on the next one. If I were reading it id say I couldn't put it down. As it stands, I've listened to it as often as I possibly could! You won't regret adding this to your library.

An epic beginning to a classic fantasy tale.

A terrific start and rare Jewel in is the self published fantasy. definitely worth the credit for adult or young adult.

play it at 1.25 speed.

okay i see a lot of people complaining about narrator, but if you are using phone ap just play it at 1.25 speed and it actually sounds alright.