The Squire

Blood of Kings, Book 1

De: Duncan M. Hamilton

Narrado por: John Lee

When creatures that lurk in the dark dare to venture out into the world, lives are changed forever.

Conrad lives a quiet rural life with his parents in the Northlands. During one fated night, his world is turned on its head, as nightmares become reality. While his Northlands blood cries out for revenge, Conrad’s head tells him surviving is the best he can do.

Rescued by a motley band of mercenaries, Conrad embarks on a life he could barely have imagined. As new challenges, friends, and enemies present themselves, Conrad knows that one day he will have to face the evil that so altered his life, and when that day comes, he must be ready.

©2021 Duncan M. Hamilton (P)2021 Audible, Inc.

Clean Language

It is refreshing to find a great listen that does not require perverse language to make a point or enhance a story.

The characters' morales on display inspire me to be a better man. To simply do the right thing because it is the right thing to do.

Overall engaging, though nothing brilliant

This story will not be for everyone, as should be obvious from the negative reviews. I decided to give it a try anyway, despite being less than impressed by the Society of the Sword trilogy. It's not something I was gushing over when I finished, but I do want to know what happens next strongly enough to get the next book.

A couple of things:
1. I didn't realize the magic would be so creepy. It was a bit disturbing to listen to at a couple of points.
2. The main character is a 12 year old boy. There are several reviews complaining about how useless he is - always being rescued, peeing his pants - but I think they have gotten used to the typical story book protagonists who are described as 12 but written as if they were 16 or 18. I just found it very realistic and honestly was impressed by how smart he was most of the time to accept that by trying to help would only make things worse. He for the most part *thinks* before rushing into terrible decisions, as most protagonists do.
3. Conrad's initial confrontation with Manfred made me roll my eyes. The book is a bit tropey, but overall I thought it was executed better than Society of the Sword.

A bit slow and only part 1

This story takes its time, unfolding very slowly. It is more of a coming of age story of a young man, and to me it would appeal as a YA series.

Once I attuned to the pace I enjoyed the story and the characters. Unfortunately for me the ending of this first book was not satisfactory - you need to commit to the trilogy. Book one just ends abruptly. While I now have 13 hrs invested in the story, it is not worth 2 credits to immediately get the other two books. Maybe if they go on sale I’ll pick them up.

Narration was good for the most part, but It seemed to me that the voices and accents occasionally slipped between characters, making it confusing to track who was speaking.

First time new author

I was very happy with the story lines and the basic outline of the series

Another great start to a series

Loved the book, I just really would have appreciated no accents from John Lee, I’ve listened to many audible books narrated by him but this one was tedious to the point of irritation.
Please don’t use the accents in the follow up, or get Simon or Derek to narrate…

I really enjoyed this book it was a lot better than I thought it was going to be

I read this book and about 24 hours when I went to go check and click on the series button on audible I was really disappointed that this was the only book that was released in the series. I put this writer in the top 10 writers of a red my life. I can't wait until the next book comes out!!!!!!

Engaging

I thought the story line was interesting but on occasion I thought it was a little wordy. The narrator did an excellent job with the accents and I liked there were a few strong women characters. I’d be really interested in hearing more about Heidi. Overall it was good enough to make me want to hear the next book in the series.

A wonderful story and fantastic performance

This was an impulse purchase for me a some time ago and I just got around to listening to it and found myself having a hard time stopping. once I barreled through I had to buy the next book.

Good Book!

It took me a moment to get into it because I am used to John Lee narrating another series I am listening to but once I got straightened out it was great. I love the way Duncan M Hamilton writes. This was no exception.

Good story just wish there had been more

it was good but I wish there had been more action and more development of the main character. definitely will pick up the sequel though. definitely worth the listen. I did enjoy it very much. good performance as well. it was a little hard to get used to his speech pattern at first but in the end it was actually really good. he does the voices really well.