A Warden's Purpose

Wardens of Issalia, Book 1

By: Jeffrey L. Kohanek

Narrated by: Tim Campbell

Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

An academy of magic and science. Another focused on military excellence. Deadly secrets await - secrets that lead to murder.

Everson is brilliant, ingenious, and yet, he feels broken. Cursed with a disability, he dreams of nothing more than being useful.

Quinn is bold, defiant, and will do anything to protect her brother.

When Everson is sent to an academy of magic and engineering, Quinn joins a military school to remain near her brother. However, things within the fabled institutions are not what they seem. Beneath a mantra of good intentions and the objective of a better future, spies and conspiracies lurk.

Quinn becomes embroiled in a struggle she doesn't understand - one with dire consequences as her training shifts from difficult to deadly. Her relentless determination might help her survive. If she only knew whom she could trust.

Within the other school, Everson learns about a dangerous power known as Chaos. Unable to wield this magic, he focuses on melding Chaos with science, dreaming up inventions that would shape the future. Perceptive, imaginative, and curious, his endeavors lead him to a revelation that could change the world.

And then, he discovers the truth.

©2018 Fallbrandt Press (P)2019 Podium Publishing

decent story, start if series

the story is good, but this first one was offered free in audible only as a come on to sell a non audible subscription and more books for purchase.

Decent book

A little long in the tooth. I listened through Audible. Death, intrigue, magic all this but the story was lacking something I can't put my finger on. This book didn't keep me interested enough to read the next book.

Fantastic!

This book turned out to be much more then I was expecting. Great prose and excellent exposition made this book a true gem. A narrator I haven't heard of brought the story to life like few can.

It's good.

worth the credit and I will be reading more, however I felt the story was too one dimensional. I haven't felt the rich more and worldbuilding I think this story would be improved by. hoping to see more of that in the future.

I did like the framing of the story from the beginning, though, and I felt the author used an even hand in marrying the two storylines.

The romance plot fell a bit flat for me, and there are a couple of r/menwritingwomen moments in Quinn's sections.

overall a good book and I will be recommending it to my friends who have teen readers.

Slow slog and boring despite interesting concept

I found this book quite boring and mostly because of the style of writing.
I’d read a lot of reviews before I bought it at a sale, but even though I knew partly what to expect and so lowered my expectations, I found that it was a chore to get through.
There is so much unnecessary stuff going on that shadow what is important and worth writing about. The style is overly pompous and droll, and rather than allowing the reader to immerse in the narrative and discover where it is leading us, it keeps telling us in advance and explaining as if it was a book for pre-teens.
Also, I can’t say I really know or care about the MC’s as I feel they were the backdrop to the story the way it was told; as if they were just props.
I’ll not be returning the book but neither am I investing in the sequels.

Boring and uninteresting

This book I couldn’t tell you what happened. I found myself wandering off and not even interested. The story simply isn’t enough to keep a readers attention