The Blackguard

The Blue Dragon's Geas, Volume 2

By: Cheryl Matthynssens

Narrated by: Paul Woodson

In The Blackguard, Alador finds himself in the city of Silverport, the Lerdenian capital. Surrounded by a culture that sees murder as a path to social power, he struggles to find his place.

Sent by his uncle, the High Minister of Lerdenia, to the Blackguard, he begins his training as both a soldier and a water mage. The dragon dreams have not stopped and he learns more of the bloodstone he had harvested and what it means for him. Auron, the Trench Lord of Silverport, hates Daezun as he sees them responsible for the death of his mother and being thrown away due to his lack of magic.

Having clawed and fought his way to power, he discovers that the High Minister's nephew sits in privelege, a Daezun half-breed. He vows to see to the boy's undoing. Will Alador find the power within himself to survive the cut-throat culture of Silverport? Will he be able to outwit his uncle in a game for power and conquest? Will Auron take out his hatred on the young half-breed before he can become a fully trained battlemage? What of Mesiande left behind in Smallbrook?

With its deep insight into characters, The Blackguard is an epic tale of dragons and magic, friends and lovers, ambition and betrayal, deception and political machinations. It is a tale of fantasy into a world of unique culture.

A tale of coming of age the hard way, surrounded by lies and half-truths.

©2014 Cheryl Matthynssens (P)2014 Cheryl Matthynssens

Engaging, entertaining book series

It has been a while but this book is both a traditional Epic swords and sorcery adventure that had characters that you care about a couple of new twists on the traditional swords and sorcery theme. I found each book to be satisfying individually and yet the first to lead to the need for hopefully and equally consistent third book. Whether that book is the finish of the trilogy or not, I just know that it's time for the next book in this saga to be put on audible for our enjoyment. sorry I waited so long before reviewing this book as I did have it noted down as a must finish the series level of quality. Finally putting up this vague review now because it has yet to be reviewed and this book and it's his sister book are both really good examples of intelligent traditional swords and sorcery stories that don't feel like another book you already read. Why, because I cared about the people of the world and the creatures and while they were similar since it is a traditional fantasy novel they were not one-dimensional or boring. Examples of other books that I really liked and am waiting on the next book are the painted Man, some call it the warded man, by Peter V Brett and Blood song by Anthony Ryan all of which are in the same state as this series! Trerrific but still waiting its next or final books. It is maddening trying to wait how many more partial series can I wait for. But my larger point here is to show you that Cheryl's books belong i. The same genre and same general quality level. And so it deserved a review. The bigger difference about her book and those I mentioned with hers, is that they all had the backing of a very large publisher, while her book only had the backing of a small publisher. But they're great books and I Encourage people to give their audio version a listen. And for those of you worried that the writer of this book is a female and therefore the book itself is a bout a female or that the male characters are written in a unnatural form put your mind at rest. When I read this Book I am not once thought about the gender of the writer due to the writing. The narrator was good and did not take away from the quality of the book. I am giving this book 5 stars across-the-board, because I think it's been overlooked. I surmise this because it's been on audible for a while and yet it has not gotten any reviews and that surprises me. I am not related to her nor do I get any compensation for pushing her books but if you have run out of good traditional epic swords in surgery fantasy series and you want to try something new give these a try I found them worth the time. The reader was generally good, I am more tolerant of the Scott Brick style of readerthat can have a bit too much inflection and excitement in his reads for some peoples taste, while it must be noted that Scott brick is one of the more well loved and popular readers for those who like that style I also like the Nick podehll style of reader too. And what I can tell you as this voice actor put forth a good solid effort and Summer going to love him while others will find him a bit melodramatic and some will think he's okay. One thing he's not is patently bad unless you are in that niche audience that hates readers that infuse the reading with any level of emotion at the Scott brick level. Overall though, very good book with very solid reading and Cheryl is a good new author to support.

Even better than the first.

Where does The Blackguard rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

So far this is one of my favorite series. I mostly listen to Sci Fi. A friend recommended After listening to the first I had to listen to the second. I would rank it in the top. Even if your not a big fantasy reader this will get you hooked.

What did you like best about this story?

Author didn't rush at the end of the book to fill an ending. She let the story progress even in the end. The author new this was going to be a multi book series and you can see it in the righting.. Most books you read you get a good flow then at the end there are allot of holes. because it seams like they rush to end the book. Then when that book ends and does well they right a second. This one does not do this. You can tell there is a plan. And after reading this one I think there will be at lease 2 more.

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

Emotion he does real good job at getting the emotion into his reading. And as the emotion changes with different characters you can fill that. Even when it changes in the same interaction.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I did listen to it in one sitting lol. As a truck driver I run 8-10 hours a day. And that is what I like about audio books. I didn't want to stop while I was listening to this book and the first one.

Any additional comments?

IF you have not listened or read the first one. I would highly recommend you doing that. This book if read with out reading the first one won't make as much since. But the author does do a good job at filling in blanks if you do decide to listen to this one first.

awesome

loved the series. waiting for the next book. read and listened to series.