The Grey Warden: A Fantasy Progression Adventure

Sixth Kingdom, Book 1

By: A. F. Kay

Narrated by: Michael Crouch

Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

Every year, the five kingdoms send their finest magic users to the Ink Academy to learn the sacred art of ink manipulation and create intricate tattoos of great power.

Ry knows this because he sits in their classrooms, his inkless condition so awful even the vachi, tiny flying lizards attracted to the ink, can't stand to come near him. His grey eyes mark him a Repeller, and his only value to society is keeping the vachi away from his betters.

Ironically, Ry's only friend, Thelt, is one of these vachi. For as long as Ry can remember, he and Thelt could speak to each other without talking. A secret no one else knows.

Ry didn't think his job could get any worse until speaking his mind during a class caught the ire of an important student who punishes Ry for stating the truth. Ry's brush with death awakens a power inside himself, but before he can explore it, Thelt lands in a deathly situation of his own.

Determined to save Thelt at any cost, Ry makes matters worse, starting a chain of events that could destroy himself, Thelt, and every Repeller in the city.

To fix this catastrophe Ry must find allies, explore his new terrible abilities, and face the secrets and lies of his parents.

Opposing Ry are the keepers of an ancient wrong that shackles Ry and his people. These guardians of oppression are intent on a single task: killing Ry.

If Ry, and everyone he loves, are to survive, he must embrace the dreadful power growing within him and accept the mantle of the Grey Warden.

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Author's Note: This book was a passion project created for my children before I started the Divine Apostasy series. It has a younger MC and a simple, straightforward plot. It is suitable for young readers but enjoyable by adults.

AFK

©2022 A. F. Kay (P)2022 A. F. Kay

Good, but a bit of whiplash from the other series

I just binged 1-6 of Divine Apostasy (which was good) and just auto-bought this, leading to a bit of Young Adult whiplash. The world building is good but seemingly intentionally vague—there’s a lot of room to grow. The magic system is interesting, but vague, again. Calling this a progression novel, though, is just a flat out lie. This is bog standard fantasy, and that’s fine, but it’s a total bait a switch.

The other series started with the main character being very angst and anxious, but then showed the character develop over time. Hopefully that will happen here because the angsty young adult tropes are turned up to 11. The narration just empathizes it, and makes it worse. I’m sure a younger sounding voice is good for the target audience, but man I had a hard time getting through this. I didn’t have Travis Baldree carrying me through this one.

Anyway, this would’ve been my favorite book for a couple weeks about 25 years ago.

OK story not good narration

The story is OK, but the narration is extremely whiny. You really need a better narrator to drag you through this thing.

Great story

I’m so glad A. F. Kay published this early work of his. I was excited to finally be able to listen to it performed here on audible. I do wish Travis Baldree was available for narration, he would’ve made the characters come to life. Michael Crouch did a good job, but he was just a little too monotone and sad for my tastes.

I’ve read reviews regarding the MC being less confident than what an MC should be, but I wholeheartedly disagree. People have to realize what kind of society he lives in. Ry has basically been a whipped dog his whole life for being a “grey”, you can’t expect him to be Uber confident and super charismatic all of a sudden. But now that he has awakened to his powers, imagine the type of person he’s going to evolve into… I can’t wait to see what happens next.

It’s pretty good

I think this book is less of a fantasy progression then some may perceive it to be. Like yes there is character progression but it’s not as fast as one might like. It’s a good story and I enjoyed it a lot but if you’re expecting something fast paced and a lot of progression, this probably isn’t for you.

Fantastic powers, spells, and character progression

This was an excellent start to a new progression series! The story starts quickly and maintains suspense throughout. There are progression advancement elements sprinkled in, complimenting story rather than distracting from it.

In this world nearly everyone is an elemental manipulator with ink that grants them extraordinary power.

We follow a character and his family that cannot absorb the ink. They are seen as outcasts, but outcasts who provides a needed service.

An exciting beginning to a new epic saga

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed other series by A.F. Kay, and took a chance on this new series by the author. For me the hero’s journey never gets old, and this book tells a tale that drew me in quickly, held my attention to the end, and left me excited about (hopefully) many more books in this series. The main characters and the glimpses of the forces of morality and power in this new world are both interesting and crisply painted. I will pleasantly await the next books in this saga.

Somber

Guy reading sounds like he’s on the verge of crying the whole time. Otherwise I enjoyed the read, characters, and the powers.

interesting story but subpar narration

Usually I don't write reviews for better or worse, but in this case I'm half way through the book and I keep catching myself on the same thought. The storyline is driven by narration and not in a good way. Maybe its just me but when you get an audiobook narrated by neutral voice , you are able to assign character identity and alter the character voices in your own head. Same as reading a text and after a while each character gets their own color and personality. With this narration the voice creates the feeling of despair like painting the book in sad gray color. I understand that maybe that is the original intend of the narrator. After a while you get parts of the book which bring out moments of hope, creativity and joy but the narration continues with the gray sadness. For me those moments becomes confusing since you feel the emotion of joy in the book but listen to someone describe it in a sad voice. I read the first part of the book on A F Kay patrion and felt the sadness of the situation of the MC and was looking forward for the character to take his journey, but when you get to see the glimpses of hope I wish the narration would change cadence and intonation. I love the creativity of the book and will finish it , and hope narration will change within second part of the book. I'm sure some people will love this kind of narration but I feel you should get what you want and looking for out of the book. Unfortunately this narration dictates the mood of the story and it is just not my cup of tea.

I recommend the story

the tattoos and the way the interact with magic and the world is just such a good concept. the poem about the scarecrow was random and kinda out of nowhere but it makes it fit into his other books in some way. the MC is kinda dense and more than a little naive. the mysteries that are hinted at by most of the characters can be put together with a bit of common sense. there is a lot of room to grow but id be okay with reading book 2 if there are improvements.

ok, so this.

I was really intrigued by the ink. I enjoyed how the story handled it and have been waiting a while for a book about magical tattoos. at first I didn't like the narration, sounded almost too whiney, but then the narrator found his groove and it really seemed to pull the story together. all in all, I am very impressed with this outing by A F Kay.im a huge fan of DA, so wanted to give this a try. and very glad I did.