The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn

By: Tyler Whitesides

Narrated by: Tyler Whitesides

Length: 25 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

"Mission Impossible, but with magic, dragons, and a series of heists that go from stealing a crown to saving the world." (David Dalglish)

Master con artist Ardor Benn and his crew of intrepid thieves are hired to pull off a series of wildly complex heists, from stealing a crown to saving the world, in this daring fantasy adventure.

Liar. Thief. Legend.

Ardor Benn is no ordinary thief. Rakish, ambitious, and master of wildly complex heists, he styles himself a Ruse Artist Extraordinaire.

When a priest hires him for the most daring ruse yet, Ardor knows he'll need more than quick wit and sleight of hand. Assembling a dream team of forgers, disguisers, schemers, and thieves, he sets out to steal from the most powerful king the realm has ever known.

But it soon becomes clear there's more at stake than fame and glory - Ard and his team might just be the last hope for human civilization.

Discover the start of an epic fantasy trilogy that begins with a heist and quickly explodes into a full-tilt last-ditch plan to save humanity.

©2018 Tyler Whitesides (P)2020 Orbit

Critic reviews

"Mission Impossible, but with magic, dragons, and a series of heists that go from stealing a crown to saving the world. A fun, terrific read I heartily recommend."—David Dalglish, author of A Dance of Cloaks

"Ardor is a rogue with a heart of gold and his team is incredibly fun to follow, but we also love this one for the originality of its heist."—B&N Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog

"If you enjoy The Lies of Locke Lamora . . . then I can confidently predict that The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn is the book for you . . . Highly recommended."—The Eloquent Page

Such a good story!

Loved every minute of it! The story is engaging from the first page. You can’t help but love the characters as you get to know them. Such a entertaining book. Would highly recommend. And the Authors reading is top notch. Great voices and personality. Loved that as much as the story!

Excellent read!

A lot to take in at the beginning, but well worth it in the end. Twists and unexpected turns to keep you thinking and wondering. Thank you and by the flames....let there be more!

I loved it

I find the world to be interesting and the characters to be fun and work well. The story itself has a nice twist and I can't wait to know what happens in the next book.

I wanted to love it but I just couldn't get there.

I loved the idea of this story. I wanted to love the story itself but, try as I did, I just couldn't get there.
To give an idea of what i enjoy reading: I'm a dyed in the wool fantasy reader. My favorites include, Philip Pullmans "His Dark Materials" series, everything by Joe Abercrombie, Robert Jackson Bennett's Divine Cities trilogy, "The Lies of Locke Lamora" and- to a lesser extent- the rest of the Gentleman Bastards series (not ready to give up hope and call it a trilogy 😉) and, well, you probably get the picture...
If I had to name a favorite, it would be Locke Lamora. So I got excited when I read review after review comparing this book to that one (yeah I know, but Scott Lynch fans are famously gullible). If you're thinking of reading this book in hopes it'll fill that Locke Lamora- shaped hole in your heart, don't. You will only cause yourself more pain. Just accept that there isn't anyone but Scott Lynch who can fill that empty space and we may never get another word out of him. One thing is for certain: no one should even whisperer the word Lamora when talking about this book. it's unfair.
I don't want to beat up on it though, either. It isn't completely without merit, it just suffers- at least for me- from an unfair comparison and the inevitable ludicrously high expectations that came as a result. It's not a bad book, but it failed to draw me in. I just never found myself caring about Ardor, or any of the other characters. I think one issue was the "show-don't-tell" dictum that can be so tricky writing fiction- especially, I suspect, science fiction/ fantasy. Like, for example, I gather that Ardor is witty, with a knack for turning a well-wrought phrase. I'll have to take Ardor's word for it, though, because although there were plenty of references to this talent of his, he never actually demonstrated it. I think also the narrator may not have been the best choice, as it seemed to me he failed to create the sort of cocky, snotty, lovable rogue that I sense Ardor Benn was intended to be.

My son recommended

I bought the book because my son recommended. Ended up downloading the audio because I had a lot of driving time. Overall a good story. It kept me engaged and wondering what Ardor was going to do next. Kinda love the Crazy’s. I would recommend if you want something a bit different than the norm.

Hire professional Voice Actors edit: it’s good now

I’m sorry while I love the story and characters the performance by the author was awful. His attempt at trying to do different voices was difficult and had completely taken me out of enjoying the story.

Edit: I have just finished my second listen through of the book and honestly, the performance has grown on me. While I did not like it the first time after this play through I’ve come to actually end joy his performance and it has made my enjoyment of the book even better

Highly recommend

Loved it! Great narration!! Any lover of fantasy and a great ruse will love this book.

Entertaining

Better than I thought it was going to be after reading some of the reviews. Ardor Benn is no Locke Lamora but it was a good story and well worth the credit. The author did a surprisingly decent job as the narrator, and my only real gripe is his need to substitute several words that weren't necessary ("ashings" instead of money, "roller" instead of gun, etc).

Definitely worth a listen!

The story struggles at times but overall is very enjoyable and worth your time.

Great magical heist book

It was a really great book, I throughly recommend. I will say as a heist novel it kept the tempo the entire way!