Water Keep

Farworld, Volume 1

By: J. Scott Savage

Narrated by: Mark Wright

Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Even though ­thirteen-­year-­old Marcus Kanenas is confined to a wheelchair, he sees himself as a survivor and a dreamer. In fact, his favorite dream is of a world far away, a world where magic is as common as air, where animals tell jokes, and where trees beg people to pick their fruit. He even has a name for this place - Farworld.

When Marcus magically travels to Farworld, he meets Kyja, a girl without magic in a world where spells, charms, and potions are everywhere, and Master Therapass, a master wizard who has kept a secret hidden for 13 years, a secret that could change the fate of two ­worlds. But the Dark Circle has learned of Master Therapass’ secret and their evil influence and power are growing.

Farworld’s only hope is for Marcus and Kyja to find the mythical Elementals - ­water, land, air, and ­fire - ­and convince them to open a drift between the ­worlds. As Kyja and Marcus travel to Water Keep, they must face the worst the evil Dark Circle can throw at them - Summoners, who can command the living and the dead; Unmakers, invisible creatures that can destroy both body and soul; and dark mages known as Thrathkin S’Bae.

Along the way, Marcus and Kyja will discover the truth about their own heritage, the strength of their friendship, and the depths of their unique ­powers.

©2008 J. Scott Savage (P)2008 Shadow Mountain

Critic reviews

"Fantastic!...I loved it!" (Dean Lorey, author of Nightmare Academy)

"Consider me officially hooked on the Farworld series." (James Dashner, New York Times best-selling author of the Maze Runner series)

Amazing and addictive!

I loved Water Keep. I needed an escape and this book brought me just that. Water Keep will tug at your emotions and keep you reading into the late hours of the night! This book is full of so many twists and turns with various splashes of humor that had me listen to several parts numerous times before I continued the story.

Oh, sweet nostalgia

9/10. The story is fun and enjoyable, with funny and heartfelt moments in equal parts that do not take away from the magical journey Marcus and Kyja take. Riffraff too, I guess. The only thing I fault it for is the audio book narrator, Mark Wright, is not so terribly engaging, although I found his French accented icy beasty with no prompt very much needed. Favorite part; the farm animal jokes. Burst out giggling. The delivery of them also helped.

I remembered reading this book vividly, and as I went through the chapters, I could recall them, and even nearly recall names of characters who appeared before they said who they were. By far, the part that most disturbed me was the Unmakers section. The descriptions gave me a visceral feeling of dread and discomfort, and I could imagine the smell and hear the disgusting sounds of those dark creatures, and I could hear the screeches of Screech, the troll-like monster serving the Unmakers. It was dark, and I forgot about them. For good reason.

Farworld, a fun series for young adults & adults!

This is a great young adult fiction! My husband & I listened to it in the car on a road trip & really enjoyed it! We look forward to finishing the series.

Amazing

I am just amazed at how well this book kept you from guessing the end!
The best book I have ever read.

It grate!

IT take a bit to get into the boo. But as soon as your there you cant get out and is amazing.

Water Keep: Farworld- Unique Story of Two Worlds

What did you love best about Water Keep?

Mr. Savage has combined good story telling with well developed characters who have an interesting problem to overcome even though Kaisha and Marcus are only 10 years old.

What other book might you compare Water Keep to and why?

Take a pinch of Harry Potter, add a dash of Leven Thumps, and a smidge of Enders Wiggin, mix them all together and you might be close to Farworld.

Have you listened to any of Mark Wright’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This was my first time to hear Mark Wright.

Glued to the story

On a hunt for the next 3 books now. Where are they?? This might be the only book I'm gonna read for the next few months. Lolz

Love this so much!

This is probably my twentieth or so time listening to this book, and even though I’m much older now than when I first discovered it, it’s still one of my favorites. These characters are so dear to my heart, and I’m sure I’ll be listening to it for years to come. 💙

I have been looking for a fix since Brandon Mull

I had a difficult time adjusting to the reader Mark Wright, but I liked the book a lot and am downloading the next book in the series right now. I love Brandon Mull and have been looking for a fix that comes close to his books or the Harry Potter series. This book is original enough that it doesn't feel like the author borrowed too much from anywhere and the story is enough to keep me excited to keep listening/reading. I recommend if you like other other similar magic/adventure type titles.

younger readers

meh. simple and relaxing. The narrator did a decent job with the voices and was well spoken.