The Innkeeper's Son

The Harven Legacy

By: Jeremy Brooks

Narrated by: Duncan White

Length: 25 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Before Desirmor came and broke the peace of the Alexidus monarchy with his army of dark beasts, Princess Harmony Alexidus spoke a prophecy of his rise and fall. He would destroy the warriors of the Harven Mountains. He would make the princess his eternally unwilling bride. Then he would wrap the world in a veil of darkness so tight, the people would forget that light ever existed.

But the Harmony Prophecy foretold that a scion of the Alexidus bloodline would find the last descendant of the fabled Harven warriors and guide him to a final clash with King Desirmor.

1000 years have passed. 1000 years of Desirmor's Nine Laws. 1000 years of indentured matrimony for Harmony Alexidus. The world has forgotten the prophecy.

Now, at an inn on a tropical island, Lady Enaya Relador has found the last Harven. But Siminus Kelmor is not a willing hero. He is the naïve son of an innkeeper, sheltered all of his life from the horrors indigenous to people on the mainland. And he is broken. Just as she has found him, Sim witnesses the brutal murder of his parents at the hands of King Desirmor's son, the feared Blood Lord. To mold him into the champion promised by the prophecy, Enaya will need to forge him as a blacksmith turns a scrap of iron into a sword. Because if he is to fulfill his destiny and put an end to the 1000 year reign of King Desirmor, Sim will need to become a perfectly crafted weapon. But can she make a weapon out of a man she is falling in love with?

©2013 Jeremy Brooks (P)2013 Jeremy Brooks

Cliche fantasy with little to make it stand out.

There are so many fantasy books available these days that it is quite difficult for an author to be unique and for the most part The Innkeeper's Son fails to separate itself from the pack. There are plenty of standard fantasy clichés to be had here along with a fair amount of "deus ex machina" throughout. The characters themselves are pretty typical and the premise is tired so while the book isn't terrible there just isn't much unique about it.

The story is centered around a thousand year old prophecy which foretells the downfall of the current evil ruler, Desirmor. The time has finally come for it be fulfilled and the savior from the prophecy happens to be the naïve son of an innkeeper. His mute sister also has a role to play fighting the evil that consumes the land and when the bad guys show up at the inn they both narrowly escape. Since they are separated after the attack the book has one story thread for each of them. I found the sister's story to be the more interesting of the two and it contained the only characters with some personality.

Duncan White's performance wasn't any better than the writing. Either the recording was sped up for the first half of the book or he read it too quickly. Despite the fact that he does a decent variety of voices he is fairly monotone and the character interactions don't feel genuine. I would have given him 2.5 stars if I could have but since I can't he gets 2.

Overall the book and the performance aren't terrible and occasionally things do get interesting; however, if you are a veteran fantasy reader you might want to spend your credit elsewhere.

Great Entertainment!

Love audiobooks like this for long boring drives in the summer! Great story about a young guy who was hidden away because of his his hidden ability. Come to think of it,almost like Luck Skywalker was hidden away.

Great adventure, imagination and narration.

I'll probably listen to this one again later on!

Excellent Story and Narration!

I thought this book was very engaging and exciting. Excellent story and narration! Looking forward to the next installment!

Slow Starter - Great Ending

This book has everything from a typical 'coming of age' fantasy novel. Light vs Dark, Evil Overlord, Naive Hero, Snotty Noble Lady, Warrior Queen, Prophecies etc.

Don't. Let. That. Turn. You. Off.

The first 1/4 of the book is quite slow burning as it introduces all the characters. At first they all seem shallow and two dimensional and I spent a lot of time rolling my eyes at all the the people telling the hero how he was the ONLY one who could save the world etc.

Then it starts to pick up. We start to see darker elements like rape and torture (some quite graphic though in my opinion tastefully done, it never felt over the top for me).

By the time I got to the end of the book I was desperate to know what happened, I was very invested and really enjoying myself. For all the stereotypes that happen here, the characters become more detailed and interesting by the end.

It also does a bit of foreshadowing with various visions that have to be fulfilled. Essentially in each major story event, we the reader get a glimpse of part of a final scene. We are left wondering how they are going to get out of this one, or how that scene could possible come true with the fact we know our hero has to save the world. Then we see all the pieces fit together and you go 'Aha! So that's what that meant!"

This is not a Y.A book even though it might start off like one. At points it channels Robert Jordan a little too hard in the "Ooo stupid men!" from the women and vice versa but this is quickly forgotten as our party members begin to trust each other and save each other from various situations.

I'll be looking for the sequel for sure. Pleasantly surprised.

disappointed

What did you like best about The Innkeeper's Son? What did you like least?

It is a great story idea, but it has an identity issue....is it a sexy love story or is it a killer/thiller with crazy people as main characters.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I have to admit I didn't finish the book...I got to a part about the almost rape and killing of a character I liked and quite. About the end of the first part...author was to graphic and seemed to enjoy those parts that dealt with lust or torture. ..very disappointed!

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Narrator did an amazing job.

Could you see The Innkeeper's Son being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Please No. But knowing the crazies in Hollywood. ..this is right up their alley:(

Any additional comments?

This could have been such a good book...do not let kids read this one for sure...might even be to bad for teens...just one mom's opinion.

classic fantasy story

don't want to be that guy but it's been 8 years where the second book be . hope the second one is good as this one but I'm sure it's great if it continues with the lure that it's building off of this one. would 100% reread it the next book was released tho

Absolutely terrible

This book must have been written by a twelve year old. The author liked to use big words without any understanding of their meaning. Horrendous.