Black Wings Beating

Skybound Saga, Book 1

De: Alex London

Narrado por: Michael Crouch, Brittany Pressley

"Epic thrills, heart-punching romance, and a marvel of a hero." (Adam Silvera, New York Times best-selling author of They Both Die at the End)

The people of Uztar have long looked to the sky with hope and wonder. Nothing in their world is more revered than the birds of prey and no one more honored than the falconers who call them to their fists.

Brysen strives to be a great falconer - while his twin sister, Kylee, rejects her ancient gifts for the sport and wishes to be free of falconry. She’s nearly made it out, too, but a war is rolling toward their home in the Six Villages, and no bird or falconer will be safe. Together, the twins must journey into the treacherous mountains to trap the Ghost Eagle, the greatest of the Uztari birds and a solitary killer.

Brysen goes for the boy he loves and the glory he's long craved, and Kylee to atone for her past and to protect her brother's future. But both are hunted by those who seek one thing: power.

In this first young-adult fantasy audiobook in a trilogy, Alex London launches a soaring saga about the memories that haunt us, the histories that hunt us, and the bonds of blood between us.

©2018 Charles London (P)2018 Macmillan Audio

This epic soars

Gorgeous novel, with prose that is precise and poetic. The combination of real-world falconry with with the fantastic makes this an inventive world I can’t wait to return to.

Ready for more

Overall I would definitely recommend this story. I struggled a little with the beginning, but then I got sucked right in and couldn't wait to listen again. I wasn't overly fond of the male voice narrator, but that could have been because the volume was so much lower for him and I always had to adjust it between readers.

Enjoyable

I liked the book. just wish they didnt switch off between female and Male narrators. otherwise it's a good book learning about what can come if you believe and try and that you will lose a lot to try and find it.

Better then expected!

I really enjoyed this book! Even though it’s short for an audio book, overall the story and the writing was really good! The twists are really nice as well because it didn’t feel like it came out of no where. The only complaint is that the pacing went a little fast towards the end but other then that I recommend!

Interesting Start to a Trilogy

Excited to see where book two goes. Think I might try falconry in the upcoming months.

Very.... middling, for me

I'll be honest, I just didn't find this story to be terribly interesting. The premise and world are neat, and it's what made me want to check it out, but I think the overall application just kinda fell short. The story kind of meandered for a while, especially in the middle, and most of the interpersonal drama in between just wasn't really my cup of tea.

I think the narrator for Kylee did a great job overall, though her male voices tended to sound very samey. The narrator for Brycen... I kinda got annoyed listening to him. He has this sort of repetitive rhythmic cadence, where every sentence kind of goes up and down and up and down in the exact same pattern and it just makes it all start to sound droning and tedious. I actually had to take a break from the book for a while because of this.

Anyway, very average fantasy experience and I probably won't pick up the sequels.

What a thrill ride!!

I found this book to be super original and unique. I have never read a book where the world building took me someplace I wasn’t expecting go—bird land.

Basically, there are these twins, Kylee and Brysen, and they live in the land that honors individuals who can speak the language of falconers, as well as control powerful birds in certain situations like war and battle. Kylee has the power, but doesn’t want it. Brysen wants the power, but doesn’t have it. The two head-butt often and it comes to a halt when they have to set out to find a rare, dangerous bird called the Ghost Eagle. They set out to find this bird because Brysen’s crush asks him to find the bird for this gangster-type character named Gorwyn. If the bird isn’t found, than Brysen’s beau, Dymian, will die. On the other side, this group of people who believe birds carry sin, as well as the people who keep and train them (Utzari), want to get rid of all birds, so they plan to go to war with the Utzari.

This book was really good—loved the diversity, as well as the impact that trauma plays on both main characters, especially Brysen. He’s a little stubborn and childish, but he acts like this because he was abused as a child. Kylee, on the other hand, is stoic and cold—which is a defense mechanism in itself.

I really enjoyed the narration. Presley and Crouch did a phenomenal job. Alex London’s effortless and eloquent writing style is truly remarkable and I can’t wait to see what happens in Book 2.

Cheap, Trashy, Predictable and Loving It

Could not stop listening and finished the book in two days. I love fantasy, historical dramas and gay boys. This book has it all.

The entire time I was listening, I was hoping Amazon would turn it into an original so I can actually see these guys make out.

The ending is painfully predictable. The story is a little cheap. The characters have some development.

Having said that, I still loved it.

Great characters Great Story Great heart

an amazing fully realized fantasy epic kicks off with a brother and sister fighting for family and to create their own fates. great gay positive characters and society as well!

great story

very good book. awesome story of love drama and action, without bad language. I will read more like this