Of Sand, Sound, and Fury: Et-Vithan, Volume 1

De: J.L. Bearden

Narrado por: Valen

ET-VITHAN volume I

Of Sand, Sound, and Fury

A tale set within a universe where if asked a simple question, “What does a world look like when you mix enchantment, dark fantasy, a taste of horror, the blessing of animism, and set it off with a bit of covert espionage, conspiracy, violence, and insurgency?”

A world of boundless potential, where sorcery and witchcraft are as real as the spirits that bind and tend to the worlds of creation. There within the pages of its storied histories, immortals of fathomless powers have guided mortal-kind through the ebb and flow since time immemorial. But their hold has come at a terrible price. Where they have held constant, The Fates have decreed, “change is inevitable!”

There is a person who comes, whose footsteps are to become the sound of doom, and works shall bring about the will of The Fates. The Herald of Change, from any people, from any nation, from anywhere. In their wake, nothing shall remain as it once was.

A new herald arrives in tumultuous times, and the powers that be wonder, “When their shadow has passed us, what shall we see? What shall come once the butterfly flaps its wings?”

©2025 Jay L. Bearden (P)2025 Jay L. Bearden

Magic, Complex Characters, and a Fascinating World

Magical elements flourish, completely new creatures delight (Sri-buck) or terrify (Dar'Zhag-Rah), and complex characters abound, complete with personal and political intricacies unusual to new authors.
This is a first book to be proud of! While obviously a first work in several regards this author shows remarkable talent for world building, character development, and the suspension of disbelief. I found this audiobook to be captivating, fun, and brilliantly executed. The work of the narrator is to be commended and adds significant and skillful breadth to the story, as is often the case in sprawling fantasy worlds. I heartily recommend this book for your next listen and look forward to the next installment of the Et-vithan series!

excellent world building!

So I feel like this would make a great show! The world building is immense and this fantasy has what I don’t see often enough in the fantasy genre where mythical creatures, magic and all things fantasy are still relatively at the height of their existence and power in the fantasy world. Whereas most other fantasy stories take place in times where mythical creatures are almost a thing of the past, magic is a rarity and there’s not very many fantasy elements set within the story itself, like A Song of Ice and Fire for example. I really don’t like stories like that and I prefer more richly filled fantasy stories like this!

Now that said, I’m also a reader who likes the pace of a boo to stay consistent, which this story struggled with throughout. The author has a tendency to go on tangents about again the world and characters, to the point that when the plot progresses I’ve lost a lot of the context. BUT it is still an interesting story nonetheless. Another thing the author could improve upon is he tends to incorporate a lot of cheesy one liners, mainly in the fight scenes. Or sometimes more complex aspects of the story will be explained a little too simply like when characters channel magic it’s just described as them “feeling” something and then boom, magic. Which, I would have liked a little more explanation and complexity to how the characters engage with their magic systems. There were some other examples of that as well in different contexts but I can’t recall them at this time.

Now, with all that said, I’d give the story, overall 3.75/5. I DO like the story and I find the world very interesting but I think with how dense the detail is, for me as an audience member, it would be easier to enjoy it in a visual medium and I think it would thrive as a show. But the writing style needs some development and I trust the next installment will show improvement by the author, as a creative can only get better at their craft the longer they pursue it and he already shows promise!