Draxinger

The Draxinger Series, Book 1

By: Noble Smith

Narrated by: Elijah Alexander

Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

The charmingly eccentric Otto Draxinger appears to be your typical pipe-smoking Oxford professor, doing his best to preserve his sanity while his beloved former students are being slaughtered at the Western Front. But the American expatriate has diagnosed himself with the newly coined term “schizophrenia". And he believes the nightmarish waking visions he’s been experiencing are caused by the psychological trauma of the catastrophe that is The Great War.

But after a chance encounter on a train with a beautiful and dangerous woman, the witty academic is drawn into a web of espionage and the paranormal. Conscripted by a secret British intelligence agency called The Department of Anti-Mageia, the astonished Draxinger is transported to an isolated castle and immediately put into training for a desperate mission.

Here, at the mysterious brigade’s headquarters called The Crypt, Draxinger makes friends with his fellow recruits including the fighter pilot ace Buppy Singh, the wily weapons inventor code named “Fizz", and the brilliant cryptologist/suffragette known only as Abacus.

But Draxinger soon learns that to uncover the appalling truth about his terrifying visions, he will have to come face to face with the German side of his family’s legacy of the Dark Arts. For he has been ordered to fly straight into the heart of enemy territory and assassinate his murderous brother - an operative for the German emperor Kaiser Wilhelm’s own agency of the occult.

From Oxford to Berlin to the skies above No Man’s Land, the reluctant yet always humorous professor-turned-spy must discover how to wield magic for good...in a world gone truly bad.

Produced by Aubrey House Publishing

Recorded at Deyan Audio, Los Angeles

Engineered by Dilara Senbilgen

©2020 Noble Smith (P)2020 Noble Smith

Creative & Well-researched

The author expertly pulls together an odd assortment of characters, gives them depth in a very well- researched setting, and then mixes in enough mysterious elements for the reader to suspend their disbelief. Very creative application of humour & wit in a dark historical context. The narrator does a great job bringing it to life.

Unusual and good

I tend to shy away from stories about war, and I only gave this a try because it was in the Plus catalog. Very little interests me in the Plus catalog, and I’m disappointed in it, but this book was an exception.

I have no idea how to describe this book without giving it away. I’ll just say that I was never sure if the events were real in the context of the book, or if Draxinger is hopelessly lost in hallucinations. I rather think the latter, and that this is the vehicle that allows the author to spin such a fantastic tale.

So often, mental illness is treated with shame, pity, or disdain. So it was refreshing to hear the point of view of an enjoyable character who was heroic and not looked down upon.

WW1 prospectiv told truthful from an honest madman

There are truly are few fictional novels set during the WW1 time period which is a shame, but when a great piece comes along you know it'll be buffet of read to do over an over aging.

P.S.

Author it's been 2 years since this book was released when are you going to release the sequel?

Fantastic story & characters, great performance!

Talk about a thoroughly enjoyable book! Draxinger, the main character, is instantly engaging - a charming, fascinatingly flawed hero that you’re rooting for from the get-go. And the historical adventure he embarks upon is a delightful action-packed romp - epic in scale, yet intimate and personal; with unpredictable twists and turns, and intelligence emanating from every well-researched detail. The fact that it’s all brought to life by a great vocal performance makes this a must-listen for any fan of audiobooks, let alone fans of fantastic fiction!