The Legions of Fire

Books of the Elements, Book 1

By: David Drake

Narrated by: David Ledoux

Length: 17 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

From the best-selling author of Lord of Isles....

In this novel of magical menace to the survival of all humanity, David Drake introduces a new fantasy world, Carce, based on Europe during the later Roman Empire.

Far in the north, a group of magicians perform a strange dance on a volcanic island intended to open a gateway for supernatural creatures that will allow them to devastate the whole Earth and destroy all life. Not knowing the cause, two young men, Corylus and Varus, and two women, Hedia and Alphena, each separately pursue the answer to mysterious and threatening happenings that prefigure disaster in the great city of Carce, the center of civilization. Through magical voyages in other realities where fantastic creatures, and even gods, help or hinder them, each of them must succeed or not just the city but the world will end in fire.

The Legions of Fire is the first of a fantasy quartet set in the world of the city of Carce.

©2010 David Drake (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

good but not the regular

Mr Drake always delivers a great story and interesting world. except here. sorry. it is good! I found the world to be interesting and the characters also. I just can't put it all together in my mind. Eh, can't be perfect all the time.

Good story, abysmal narrator

This narrator needs to stop narrating. Better yet, his narration needs to be deleted and a competent narrator needs to be allowed to give this story its due. Perhaps his breathless tone over the most mundane story elements could be forgiven, but not his randomly chosen word and syllables to emphasize. Perhaps his complete and total ignorance of *any* of the standard Latin pronunciations could be overlooked (but not by me as they grate painfully on the ears) but his inability to pronounce even the most basic of English words is entirely unforgivable. Erroneous examples are too numerous to list, but perhaps this suffices to warn you away. "Potsherds" those fragments of clay/ceramics from broken pieces is repeatedly uttered as " pots" (deep breath, noticeable pause) "herds" causing me to wonder just what those pots were herding - cattle? sheep? cats? And that prompts me to ask "Where is the editor or producer go correct such incompetence?" I won't continue the series if this narrator mangoes the other three. Save yourself and read the paper/ebook.

Solid story but the narration is distracting.

I have not yet completed this listen and I am not sure I am going to. The story is solid and the characters are well written. However, I find the narration to be so poor that I don't think I can finish. It seems like the narrator has no idea what he is reading. He emphasizes random words in every sentence like he has a formula for reading without any cognizance of what should be emphasized. I don't know how else to explain it. He sing-songs through every sentence with a strange cadence that is all over the map. Would recommended reading the book but not listening to it.

great book

I don't know how I missed this book but I'm really glad I got the audio. it's good

wizards want to take over the world. citizens of carsi show this is a bad ideal

Garbage

I do not know which was worse, the story or the nation! A real bad work.

Slow read. Not for me

I liked the premise, but had to put it down. The narrative moved too slowly for an audio listen - to my taste.

I just stop after three hours

I'm so sorry to say, but the book didn't work for me.
Maybe the story is great, and has a good payoff, couldn't tell.
Was a bold choice to start a book with the narration of a boring and bad poem reading. It was very well written because it was very boring and bad.
The idea of a Roman setup is a nice touch, so if you are interested, give it a try.
Just be aware, is a slooooow start.

DNF, Unable To Push Through

DNF, no matter how much I tried to push through. I was not able to complete about 60% of the book.

A novel about a fictional city named Carce, during the late Roman Empire. A group of four discover the world will end in fire. We follow each person as they try to solve the mystery of the upcoming threat and how to prevent it from happening.

I was trying to figure out if there was a story here. The book seems to focus more on unnecessary, over description and the servants. If one was unaware that those of status during the Roman Empire had servants, this book ensures one does. The book could probably be cut in half, and not affect the “story.”

It just felt like a long prologue, with not much character development. Corylus seems to be strong, Varus is just Corylus’ friend and Alphena is a tomboy. The least boring character is Hedia, stepmother to Varus and Alphena. However, her age does not add up to how she acts and what she has experienced. I understand people in ancient times grew up a lot quicker than today, but some parts do not add up.

I did not care for any of the characters or the story. The characters could all get killed, and it would not change anything.