The Wizard Killer, Season 1

A Post-Apocalyptic Fantasy Serial

By: Adam Dreece

Narrated by: Justin Thomas James

Waking up from the dead for the third time with vengeance on his mind, the Wizard Killer realizes his memory is shot. Who is he? And more importantly, how is he going to survive in the post-apocalyptic fantasy wasteland long enough to find out?

Called "Mad Max meets Lord of the Rings" and "Harry Potter meets Die Hard", this multi-award finalist series is a first-person, high-action adventure that grabs you by the collar at the start and doesn't relent. If you're looking for a fun popcorn adventure with a classic tough-guy type, this is it.

©2016 Adam Dreece (P)2017 Adam Dreece

Will Definitely Be Following This Series!

Love the first season of The Wizard Killer although I get the feeling that the narrator was not actually fighting a monster in episode six. Video proof would be great so I could sleep better at night.

In all honesty the narrator does an amazing job bringing the story to life. The authors story portrayed through the narrators smooth voice made this an easy listen and fantastic story that kept me wanting more. Will definitely be following this series for more from this author and narrator.

Disclaimer: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Definitely worth a listen!

I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

This was an awesome audio book experience. The narrator was fantastic. The serialized segments of the story actually worked for me. I enjoyed the overall story and really enjoyed the main character and the apocalyptic world he wakes up in. I would definitely look for more from this duo.

Collects small serials into a larger story

As outlined in the introduction, this 'season 1' collects 20-odd pieces, all released week to week. Ranging from 5 minutes to 15 minutes they have been collects and polish to remove any contradictions, to tell an ongoing story.

The Wizard Killer wakes up with a sword in his chest - clearly he was dead - but has no memory of how, or even who he is. He starts travelling trying to work out what is going on, and where he came from, while avoiding monsters and other dangers of the world. Magic is 'failing' and thus unreliable, meaning his magical abilities are hit and miss, and magics affect on the world is too.

Generally the story is well told. It is first person, present tense, which works very well for the amnesia of the main character. Each short piece has a cliff hanger of sorts, with some being more tense than others. Had I been reading this week to week in the original release I'm not sure they would be enough to keep me coming back each week. But once combined here the story works well. Combined together the constant cliff hanger events with small pieces between make the story feel relentless. This does lessen as the story moves on and the pieces start to become more 10 - 15 minutes rather than 5 minutes. The extra time for the story in each piece helps.

Narration by Justin James is good. Well paced and easy to listen to, he provides voices, emotions, inflections, pacing variations to match levels of excitement, etc. He definitely adds to the story through his narration work.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

I'll get the next one, but...

Let me start out by saying that I do hope to get the next season. However, there are some pretty big issues with this story. I was willing to give it some leeway because it’s a serialization, but it took me until the last half hour or the narrative to really get into it.
I love post-apocalyptic stories almost as much as I love high fantasy. I was sure that the combination would be amazing. However, it wasn’t. We meet the main character in the middle of a wasteland, waking up after being stabbed, and he doesn’t remember who he is. This could have been a really interesting story of survival, like The Road. The problem was, I didn’t relate to the main character enough to care. The main character was not proactive at all. Everything happened to him, rather than him taking charge of his life. Even when he was fighting for his life, he was just a very reactive character.
The learning curve was very steep. I was thrown into the world without a life jacket, or even floaties. If you would like some explanation to what’s going on, you really won’t get one. This upset me, mostly because I didn’t really understand the magic system until halfway through the story. Even then, I didn’t know what the limitations on the magic system were, aka what it could and couldn’t do.
All this being said, I have nothing but good things to say about the narration. Justin James has the voice of an angel. It’s deep and rumbling and over all soothing. He made me care enough to keep going, when I otherwise would have put it down. The reading style wasn’t too slow or too fast, and his diction was on point. Over all fantastic job.
I did get into it at the end, and like I said, I will get the next season. I hope our main character will be a little bit more proactive in that one.

Addicting Serialized Fantasy Adventure

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely! (and I already have!) This is the kind of storytelling experience that can get new listeners hooked on audiobooks.

What did you like best about this story?

This story was just SO addicting. The serialized format reminds me a binge-watching a Netflix tv show, because I just couldn't stop. Every episode ended on a cliff-hanger. It was so entertaining with the right mix of humor and action.

Which scene was your favorite?

How do I chose one? Honestly I love how the first season ended (no spoilers here), because it left me dying to read season two and see what happened next.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

"Max Mad Meets the Gunslinger with a Western Flair"

Any additional comments?

Re-reading this story as an audiobook was an amazing experience. The narrator absolutely nailed the voice of the protagonist. He did not simply read the book out loud, but rather put on a passionate, expressive performance. I was completely engaged the entire time I was listening to this book. This is the kind of storytelling that can get new listeners hooked on the audiobook experience. I would highly recommend the audiobook version of this entertaining post-apocalyptic story. I received the audiobook version from the author. I had previously purchased a physical copy of this fantastic serial.