River of Fate: The Jade Scripture

Book One

By: David North

Narrated by: Zachary Johnson

Length: 17 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

A Cultivation Progression Epic.

In a world of cultivators, Verse will become a legend.

Ages ago, the world was filled with mythical beasts and cultivators who could shake the heavens. Whispers say they are searching for a way home, but an ancient enemy has blocked the path.

After passing through the River of Fate, Verse’s memories are fragmented and mixed with others. Only by exploring a world on the verge of destruction will he be able to discover who he is and claim his destiny. He will rise from humble beginnings and shake the foundations of his world as he unlocks the heritage of the Emerald Dragons, gathering power until he is able to right an ancient wrong.

*This is a xianxia immortal cultivation story. It focuses on gathering power to break through to new levels, alchemy as a crafting profession, and fighting enemies of a higher tier. Verse uses jade and sunset magic, unlocks an ancient inheritance, and uncovers a primordial bloodline.

©2022 David North (P)2024 David North

Average

There is more cultivator content than action and story line. I like the cultivator progression to occur within a natural flow of a good story. This is more flowery cultivator progression than actual story line with relevant action. Too slow for an action fan, like myself.

The narrator sounds serious and angry, or whispering, and takes the story down a notch as a result

Over all good!

For me it started out a little slow but it picked up and had a great finish.

Entertaining

A good story! A little predictable at times, but overall enjoyable and keeps a decent pace.

good cultivation story with potential

I liked this one. Not quite on the level of Cradle, or Thousand Li in terms of Prose, but the stakes are high and the scope of the world he's building is vast enough to keep me curious. Protagonist isn't perfect, but his motivations are realistic and his opportunities are as much a product of effort as they are luck.

My main criticism is the editing. the combat scenes were pretty good, but there were times David dives deep into the inner workings of the main character... but many times these deep dives were at inopportune moments in the story and presented more distraction then exposition. Flashbacks are great rhetorical devices when employed correctly, but if employed incorrectly or too heavily relied upon, the flow of The narrative becomes disjointed and wonky.

An example of this would be the Rocky movies, where you get this montage of Stallone training and becoming an absolute beast... when the fight is shown, you already know who's who and what's what. you get to enjoy this dramatic clash; the swollen eyes, busted noses and bloody lips. the focus is entirely on the fight and the participants and the audience.

There were flashes of brilliance in this book. at times I was inspired enough to visualize and internalize the imagery David was painting with his words. I think with a bit more polishing, his work could definitely be up there with Tao Wong, or Will Wight.

Zachary did a great job reading and capturing the tone of this book. the only criticism I have for him is that I would like to hear more diversity in the range of voices. one sign of a great reader is a wide range of male and female voices, as well as a range between young and old, benevolent and malevolent. separating the tone of narration from the point of view of characters... it's all easier said than done, I know, but so much more color and definition manifest in a story when the reader is capable of these things.. some stories simply wouldn't be bearable were it not for readers like Andrea Parsneau, Jeff Hayes, Travis baldree and many others. I think Zach is well on his way and I look forward to seeing him and David evolve with this series. definitely worth the credit

Great Start

A good cultivation story. I am excited with the path the storyline is on. Looking forward to book 2.

A struggle to put it down

A very good first book in the series by David North. A cultivation novel with reborn on a new world aspects. North paints a colorful and detailed tapestry throughout, similar to his other books. For those not familiar with cultivation it goes into good detail. I am eager to read and listen to the next in the series.

Not bad for the first book.

Lots of twist and turns. A great cultivation novel, but it is quite typical and can be somewhat predictable. I really hope that the story line improves, in the next book.

great book

loved it. I'm very invested in the protagonist journey. I can't wait for the next installment

Good xianxia novel

I really enjoyed this book, I was kinda unsure at first and the author made some decisions I disagreed with, but in the end I was not only pleasantly surprised I had to admire admit I was wrong. Try it and see

Second Chance

This was an exciting book to listen to. The main characteristic that I associated with throughout book was LOYALTY. For a warrior that word means everything.