The Thousand Names

By: Django Wexler

Narrated by: Richard Poe

With this stunning series opener, Django Wexler leaps to the upper echelon of today’s best fantasy authors. The Thousand Names opens his Shadow Campaigns series with a tale of bloody rebellion that will reshape an empire -- and a world. Captain Marcus d’Ivoire and Winter Ihernglass see their fortunes rise under the command of military genius Janus bet Vhalnich. But Janus’ obsession with the supernatural portends a dire fate for the realm.

©2013 Django Wexler (P)2013 Recorded Books

The mystery behind the magic

I absolutely loved the premise and characters. I am always looking out for books with interesting magic. My only “well that’s a bit too convenient and hard to take seriously” moment was when Bobby’s secret was revealed; but soon Bobby’s role in the story became more interesting and events in the story made it less of a convenient plot point.

Excellent storyline and Narration

This book was amazing and left me in tense anticipation for the second installment of what I understand will be a 5 book series.

This is a great series!

This second book in the series is better than the first! It has the makings of a great epic series. It's definitely worth a credit. The narration is also fantastic!

Solid

Very solid first book that lays the foundation. Flintlock fantasy with teasers of a magic system to come.

New

live the book. it has war, politics & magic. a great new series that has the GOT series potential and if u do not no what is GOT it is game of thrones.

great fantasy in another realm!

i love good ole orc and elven fantasy, set in a medieval-like period. but it really is refreshing to find excellent fantasy living in a wholly different time and place! and for that time and that place to be 18th century... esque colonialism is very exiting! i am hooked!

Awesome unique fantasy.

I thought that I just didn't like this time period as a setting. Thanks to this book I'm now all but obsessed with it. The narrator is fine but many of his voices sound very similar which can be confusing. Otherwise great, I'm starting the next one immediately.

Way of Kings lite

I enjoy this story quite a bit. It rang with a similar air to me with Brandon Sanderson’s Way of Kings with the bridge crews in that book. High praise from me. The narrator is great but he doesn’t do the best female voice. An important factor with one of the leads being a woman.

A flintlock fantasy that's worth sticking with it

Captain Marcus D'Ivoire is captain of the 1st Battalion of the Colonials, the Vordanai empire's colonial garrison in a land where rebellion has suddenly exploded. His job has just become much tougher, and it's not made easier of the new colonel. Marcus, as senior captain, has been running the regiment since the death of Colonel Juarez. He's happy to be relieved of the paperwork and extra responsibility that goes along with that, but Count Colonel Janus bet Vhalnich Mieran turns out to be a very odd character indeed. He's here to put down the rebellion, but he has another mission, too, that he isn't telling anyone about.

Winter Ihernglass is a ranker in that same army. Winter's little secret is that she's a woman--she disguised herself as a man and enlisted in the Colonials to escape her past. She relies heavily on not being noticed very much. When changing conditions see her promoted first to sergeant and then to lieutenant, it's very much a mixed blessing. She needs to make herself into a leader of men and take responsibility for leading her company into battle against the rebellion.

Our main viewpoint characters are Marcus and Winter, but we do get a few scenes from the perspective of the "other side," specifically the Vordanai-trained rebel general and some Khandari priestesses.

The story itself is very effectively setting up the beginning of a multi-volume fantasy epic. It's a flintlock fantasy, with government and social institutions appropriate to that time period and technology level, and the people are humans. Other than that, nothing about the politics or culture suggests that this is in any way set on our world. The world-building is good, the characters are complex, and the religions feel real. That last point is a pet peeve of mine; too often in fantasy worlds one sees "religions" that mainly reflect the author's modern skepticism and hostility to whatever flavor of religion they were raised in, with no apparent awareness that other intelligent, honest people might think--and believe--differently, especially in a radically different environment than our present day. It's not a perfect book. There's a lot going on here and sometimes it's hard to keep up. At times, Winter's success in hiding her gender, for so long, and then when she is promoted to command of a company and the higher visibility that brings, strains credulity.

Stick with it, though. It's an enjoyable book, and rewards persistence.

Recommended.

I bought this audiobook.

Hang in there, it's worth it

Excellent story but it starts slow if you're not too into historical fiction and the movement of troops. Around the halfway point I got the fantasy novel I was hoping for and it didn't let up until the end. Looking forward to book two!