The Failures

Wanderlands, Book 1

By: Benjamin Liar

Narrated by: John Skelley

Welcome to the Wanderlands.
A vast machine made for reasons unknown, the Wanderlands was broken long ago. First went the sky, splintering and cracking, and then very slowly, the whole machine—the whole world—began to go dark.

Meet the Failures.
Following the summons of a strange dream, a scattering of adventurers, degenerates, and children find themselves drawn toward the same place: the vast underground Keep. They will discover there that they have been called for a purpose—and that purpose could be the destruction of everything they love.

The end is nigh.
For below the Keep, imprisoned in the greatest cage ever built by magicians and gods, lies the buried Giant. It is the most powerful of its kind, and its purpose is the annihilation of all civilization. But any kind of power, no matter how terrible, is precious in the dimming Wanderlands, and those that crave it are making their moves.

All machines can be broken, and the final cracks are spreading. It will take only the careless actions of two cheerful monsters to tip the Wanderlands towards an endless dark … or help it find its way back to the light.

“The Failures is the kind of book you find maybe once, under a blood moon, if you’re lucky enough to wander off the trail … an unabashed triumph of speculative fiction. It’s not exactly science fiction, not quite fantasy … deep, thrilling (I’m looking at you, Deadsmith), and masterfully atmospheric.”—Daniel Cohen, author of the Coldmaker Saga

©2024 Benjamin Liar (P)2024 Recorded Books

One of the hardest to describe books I’ve read in awhile

This is a captivating book that pulls you in for a ride as long as you accept the fact that you will not fully understand the plot until the last 1/5 of the book. This may be off putting to some, but the final stretch is full of “ah ha!” moments that make the ride worth it. Excellent world building that reminded me of China Mieville though not as grim. Unfortunately the ending is rather abrupt though it had me wishing for the next installment. Overall, a fun read that will leave you struggling to describe the book to friends.

Who the Heck is this Writer? Amazing1

Where did this guy come from? This is one of the most original fantasy books I have read in ages. Complex deep world building meets wonderfully flawed characters. This is a complicated well plotted book whose distinct threads all entertained by themselves and each individually amazed me. As the book progresses, the various perspectives and plots of the story gradually reveal their connections to each other and the feeling you get as they are brought together and their intertwined purposes revealed is wonderful. It makes you just want to root for the many characters to meet each other. Who is good and who is bad can be very hard to discern sometimes. No one is perfect and all perspectives make sense and work together.

This is the best book so far this year and the best start to a series in ten years.

Bravo! Now get writing the next one.

Every fantasy reader will love this book

The plot, the characters, and the world are so well developed in this debut novel! I enjoyed all of the perspectives and nothing feels better than being immensely confused in a fantasy book but finally figuring out what is happening. I know that sounds weird but it’s the most incredible feeling.

I’m going to be thinking about this book for a long while

Wow. I’m in love with this strange and wonderful story. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything quite like it, but I seriously can’t wait for the next one.

Great world building , fantastic narrator, immersive listening

I really enjoyed this book. Characters are so fun and unique. New world. Classic portal and fantasy reading but with a fresh spin and enjoyable ride.

For teens. Sample was misleading

I’ll keep it simple: if you’ve ever heard a teen try to talk like an adult and liked it than this story is for you. Writer needs real life experience not anime.