The White Tower

The Aldoran Chronicles, Book 1

By: Michael Wisehart

Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds

Re-recorded 3rd Edition.

They are feared, hated, haunted down, and destroyed—and yet, they are mankind's last hope. For a thousand years magic has been banished throughout the Five Kingdoms, and those caught wielding it are rounded up and taken to the White Tower. They are never heard from again.

TY knows he's different. And when the bounty hunters arrive in the quiet city of Easthaven, his family is forced to reveal the shocking truth about his magical bloodline, a secret that threatens not only his life, but the lives of everyone around him...including LYESSA.

As the daughter of an overlord, and a skilled fighter, Lyessa will one day be expected to rule. However, when an Ahvari witch hires a tribe of Northmen to capture Ty, the two find themselves in the middle of a war they didn't know existed.

Armed with nothing but his will to survive, FERRIN attempts what no prisoner has ever accomplished and vows to escape the White Tower. His only hope is RAE, a gifted healer tasked with keeping the prisoners alive during the inquisitors' brutal interrogations. Will she be willing to risk her own life for that same chance of freedom?

AYRION outworked his fellow soldiers for years to become captain of the guard. But his strength and valor alone won't be enough to stop the bloodthirsty creatures coming for his king, or protect the woman he loves from the king's son. And when a sweeping number of the city's outcasts begin to mysteriously disappear, he realizes that the threat is closer than he knew...

An epic tale that demonstrates the power of love, the strength of friendship, and the importance of family. Sometimes, doing what’s right can cost you everything.

©2016 Easthaven Publishing LLC (P)2025 Easthaven Publishing LLC

Favorite of all time

As of today, I have listened to this series and the Street rats series. I love the characters, story and suspense. It really is beautifully written and left me wanting for more. I was also very, very, pleased to find an author who could express emotions without the need for swear words. I have read\listened to Robert Jordan and some of Brandon Sanderson's works. I rank Wisehart's above them both.

What an amazing fantasy series hidden gem!!!

Michael wisehart is a brilliant writer who is an expert at descriptive writing, and character building. The White Tower is no exception. From breathing life into characters so believable, you feel like you know them on a personal level,, to developing worlds so well described, it's almost as if you were right there. This book tantalizes it's readers with well thought out action scenes, as well as engaging and relatable dialogue, good story pacing, with a suspenseful and engaging plot line. Combine all of that with the extremely versatile and well honed narrative talents of the amazing TJR, and The White Tower is a literary masterpiece.

If you have not read wise hearts other series; Street Rats of Aramoor, it is recommended you do so, and I highly suggest it. You may feel like you are thrown into the story of The White Tower without the connecting background information that his other series provides. Without the prior backstory from "Street Rats ," The White Tower can seem a little chaotic to new readers. That is the only downside to the book. Wisehart more than remedies the confusion with Street Rats of Aramoor, which seamlessly combines the two series'

Great Story

Get the short prequel first for better understanding, BEST introduction get STREET RAT series first, but if you jump straight until this you won't be too lost.

Great progression. Easy to like characters. plenty of action. Not extremely predictable. I lost myself into the story and couldn't wait to dive into the next book.. then the next...

Narrator was TOP NOTCH!!

Still 5 stars across the board after 2nd listen.

Still 5 stars across the board after the second time around. Tim Gerard Reynolds and Michael Wisehart = 5 stars.

Ending was unsatisfying.

I knew it was the first of a series but this ending felt like it just stopped in the middle of a paragraph instead of at the end of part.

Amateur writing, too many contradictions and lazy storytelling.

This story is very difficult to listen to, not because the reader is bad, but because the story is bad. Things happen, and characters say things solely for our benefit, as the listener, instead of letting us watch the story unfold. In one breath, a character will say something is totally unknown and unique, then in the next breath say he has a story passed down his family for generations, about this unknown thing. Wait, you just told us it was unknown? But, just kidding, the same character that told you that knows all about it! Why? Because instead of having the story unfold to explain what the unknown thing is, why not just take the lazy way out and have someone tell us? I'll just make up a lazy story and say it was passed down, who cares. It's as if the author has already forgotten what they just wrote in the previous line.

Another example: A character is undercover and trying to figure out how to rescue this captured woman. But events go out of control and he is borderline panicking trying to make it work. Keep in mind, we can see in the characters head, and he is thinking panicked thoughts, rushing things, being short with his son, among other things. End of the chapter, he has to do something we see he really doesn't want to do( that we learn from his thoughts), and has no choice but to do it. But then, SUPRISE! Next chapter it was all planned! Except..... that we heard his panic, we HEARD his thoughts. Just a poorly planned bait and switch, that leaves you very unsatisfied.

One more: Another characters thoughts are pleading for any human conversation/contact that isn't his jailers. Then he gets a human cellmate, and now he doesn't want to talk? Doesn't want that exact thing he was JUST wanting so much? Why? Because he needs to be skeptical, so that we, the reader, are skeptical, about the prophetic things this cellmate says, so we have that "Aha! I remember that!" later on. Except, we JUST had the character that was being tortured JUST tell us he would talk to anyone! As long as it wasnt the jailer. If our tourtured character had listened, and been happy to talk to anyone (like we just had him tell us), it wouldn't have removed the Aha moment, it would still have happened. The character would be actually believable and feel constant had this happened. But nope! He acts completely out of character because the author needs him to for our benefit.

The writing feels like something out of a creative writing class. And that's without mentioning several other major contradictions and other lazy tropes. I made it 10 hours in, and couldn't take it anymore. The only reason I got as far as I did was because the narrator does some competition level heavy lifting here. TGR is always great, too bad he had to read this mediocre story.

Not my cup of tea

Whole chapters dedicated to the interrogation and torture of a character, multiple chapters with characters and scenes that don't really add anything to the story, and scenes that start too early and go on well past the point of being relevant to the story. I don't think I will be getting the rest of the series.

Poor writing

Made for Audible series. Not worthy of the cost of a credit. I am going to request a refund

How boring the reader was

It took too long for the story to get interesting it was very predictable also