The Downs

By: Kim Fielding

Narrated by: K.C. Kelly

Length: 3 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

As the son of a wealthy man, Enitan Javed has spent his life frivolously - drinking, fighting, and making love. But after his father dies, Enitan is unjustly accused of murdering him and is given the harshest sentence possible. Judged irredeemable, he is banished to the Downs. As even young children know, nothing lives in the Downs except demons who delight in torturing the condemned. Brutalized by the men who transport him to his fate, Enitan has nothing left but his thirst for vengeance.

His plummet to the Downs nearly kills him, and Enitan finds himself battered and helpless in a frightening, mysterious land. But many surprises await him there, including a strange man named Rig. And the realization that the demons he must face aren't at all the ones he expected.

©2015 Kim Fielding (P)2016 Kim Fielding

Perfection

So sweet and well rounded story. Love Kim Fielding!!! Gonna miss Audible Escape because it has some great gems like this one.

Great story, beautifully read

A truly captivating story, focused on the questions of injustice and the need for vengeance. A very different kind of MM romance, set in a dark world of danger and death. Exceptional world building, engaging characters. Beautifully descriptive narrative, which is, in itself, a rare commodity in modern literature.

Beautifully narrated by K.C. Kelly!

Any additional comments?

Kim Fielding builds an amazing dystopian fantasy world full of deadly things, including the darkness that can eat at Enitan’s soul if he lets it, and she does it in a quiet unhurried pace that offers redemption, hope, revenge, and love.

Slow and steady. That describes both the pace of the story and Rig, the man who heals Enitan after he’s thrown to the Downs.

Wrongly judged for a crime he did not commit, Enitan is brutalized before being hurled into the Downs, a place where criminals and banished are thrown to die. When Enitan survives the fall, he is found by Rig, a gentle, but scarred, giant who helps heal Enitan’s body.

I loved that Rig has his own scars, both physical and spiritual, but Enitan helps to heal him as well.

Beautifully narrated by K.C. Kelly, I was drawn into the story immediately and never lost focus for a single moment until the end. I loved his choice of character voices, his pacing, and almost soothing tone. This was just an absolute treat to listen to.

“I choose you,” he whispered in Rig’s ear. “I will always choose you.”
And of course they kissed.

Recommended.

Two thumbs up!

Having picked this up on a whim as part of Audible Escape, I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this book. The characters were well thought out & portrayed. The story moved along quickly & was very entertaining. The narration was wonderful and the love story poignant.

I'm so glad I stumbled upon this & can guarantee it will get another listen from me in the future!

Amazing!!!! Worth IT!!

Was not expecting such a good story. Not sappy as I thought it would be.

A slow and steady yet beautifully sweet romance.

The magical combination of Kim Fielding’s lovely prose and K.C. Kelly’s superb narration never fails to entertain. I listened and followed the text at the same time because I just love Kim’s writing. This certainly is an outstanding story. Her imagination creates wonderful new worlds with flawed yet beautiful characters.

K.C. Kelly’s delivery perfectly suits this tale, its steady pace, and the gradual revelation of the fantasy world. He brings the story and characters to life, imparting the right emotions and tone throughout.

I particularly enjoyed this fantasy story and the excellent world building. It’s similar but on a smaller scale to Brute. There’s a clear contrast between Enitan’s luxurious life in the city and the basic and sometimes frighteningly dangerous life in The Downs, with its demons, caustic fog, and venomous creatures. For all its harshness, the people who inhabit the Downs appear to be unselfish and more accepting of others. They live in a world where same sex relations are the norm.

The two main characters come across as believable and real. They are both physically and emotionally imperfect, but together they slowly find love and healing in each other. It’s not instant and that’s what I love about Kim’s stories. She gives them time to get to know each other and build a friendship first.

Enitan is the proverbial rich kid who likes to fight and fuck. He is wronged by his sister and judged as unredeemable. He hankers after revenge.

Like Brute, Rig is big and lumbering and disfigured. Both Rig and Brute have a heart of gold and consider others before themselves. Rig’s backstory is heart-wrenchingly sad and when his future with Enitan is in doubt I could see him being broken all over again.

This is a story of love and hate, revenge and redemption, and of finding peace and happiness with your lot in life and with the person you love. A story of second chances and discovering what’s important in life.

"I don't want to die. But if I have a choice between a few minutes with you or an eternity without, well ... I choose you ... I will always choose you."

A slow and steady yet beautifully sweet romance set in an imaginary world. Highly recommended.

Intriguing story and great narration!

Any additional comments?

I really liked the originality of the fantasy world, it had tinges of Australia/Down Under in its penal colony days and its variety of poisonous creatures. This was a very sweet, slow-building romance. The narration was excellent and brought the story to life - I loved Rig's voice in particular.

I listened to this as part of the Romance Package and bought the Kindle ebook for 99 cents so I could get Whispersync (the ebook is 98 pages). The ebook notes said that all proceeds from the sale of this book would be donated to Doctors Without Borders, which is commendable!

lovely M/M Romance

I listened to the audiobook ‘Guarded’ (because of narrator Greg Tremblay, and HIGHLY recommended BTW), which in turn introduced me to this author. I really liked the story and although the slow burn sometimes felt a little too slow, it was well done.

I’m still kind of new to differentiating between reading and listening, but listening to this story I had doubts about whether or not our two heroes would get to a happily ever after, which is kind of unusual. It wasn’t an artificial plot twist barrier, either, but personal history that got me hooked wondering how the author would resolve it.

I thought the protagonist should have realized a little sooner that there was nothing for him by seeking ‘revenge’. Also, I did feel some sympathy for the villain, and had the protagonist seriously contemplated her situation earlier, it might’ve made him realize that revenge was unnecessary.

I was a little put off by this narrator, and almost quit the book early on, But I stuck with it and eventually got swept up enough into the story that the narration did not bother me.

There is some pretty harsh action at the beginning, but once our hero gets to the Downs it’s more gentle and emotional, not action-packed. This is definitely an interesting M/M story, and if that is your thing, this is the definitely the sort of thing you need to look into!

Rough, real, lovely

Entian is condemned for killing his father – which he didn’t do – but feels the judge was right when she decreed him “unredeemable” because he’s been selfish, lazy and not a good contributor to his family’s wealth.

Rig is a … okay – well he’s the guy who saves Entian and it’s part of the story so I won’t tell you much about him – only that he’s a healer and amazing!

This is an earth-like place? I’m not sure how you qualify this – but it feels earth like but not the earth we know.

Entian and Rig must navigate through both their insecurities and Entian’s desire for revenge before finding their very, very HEA.

It’s a dark story – similar in flavor and feel to Brute, also by Kim Fielding, but so rewarding! Neither character is perfect, in fact you might classify Entian as an anti-hero for most of the book – but his redemption is complete and perfect by the end.



Audio

KC Kelly does a masterful job with this vaguely “old world” story – giving it just the right “other” sort of inflection and making us understand and appreciate the “otherness” of this world. He’s just so easy to listen to and so good with pacing and emotion. I truly love his narrations and this is no exception. I especially loved Rig ☺

Highly recommended.

Overall 5 of 5 stars

Good

Reading the plot I thought it would be darker with some more rape or torture but it's very mild. It's a very healing human story and fairly simple but with lovable characters, I wish it were a little longer with more details of the village and such but great story.