A King's Return

Kingdoms of Islandia, Book 1

By: J.J. Johnson

Narrated by: J.J. Johnson, Ricky Mathai, Preston Rosales

Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

Islandia had been without a High King for a generation. Eloy, the last High King, embarked upon a journey shrouded in mystery after a cryptic warning found from a long lost prophet promised a return of ancient dark forces.

Eloy had placed the rule of Islandia and the five kingdoms in the hands of his closest friend, King Richard. After 30 years most have long since stopped looking for Eloy's return or the darkness foretold. Many under Richard's rule have grown discontent and jealous of his appointment. All hope for peace is lost and chaos reigns after the icy hand of an assassin takes the life of King Richard and plucks him from the throne.

What now? Will Prince Titus, Richard's son, have the strength to hold Islandia together, or will it descend into war over the High King's throne! The kingdom is divided by the sword as each must decide where their loyalties lie.

©2020 Jacob Johnson (P)2020 Jacob Johnson

Plots, Magic, Battles, Chaos and Hope

Listened to audio narrated by Ricky Mathai, Preson Rosales and J.J. Johnson. For the most part this was easy to listen to but one of the narrators frequently mispronounced words and had very little dynamics in the narration. It actually sounded like he was reading out loud, you know the way people sound when they are forced to read out loud in a class room? It pulled me out of the story several times. I was also surprised by the very different accents between the kingdoms, except for the hill people, it didn't feel like the distance between the various kingdoms would yield such different accents, but it's possible I missed some clue to explain this.

High King Elos ruler of the five kingdoms in Islandia left Kingshelm in the hands of Steward King Robert to seek out the Founders homeland to learn how to defeat the upcoming threat of the dark force known as the Felled Ones. He's been gone for thirty years and few believe he will ever return. Unrest leads to the Steward King's assassination on the Day of Remembrance and starts a chain of events that will change all of their lives.

Prince Titus finds himself taking over as the Steward King after his father is assassinated. Unsure who to trust, the attack triggers events leading to war with a neighboring kingdom and a mysterious man instigating it all.

There's a lot of moving parts in this first book in the Kingdoms of Islandia trilogy. Plots within plots, betrayals, magical Dawn Blades, sinister forces, fierce battles, a touch of love and the hopes of a young Prince to lead the kingdom well through all the chaos.

This author is new to me and I enjoyed this first book in this trilogy and the twisty bits toward the end has me looking forward to the next book in the trilogy.

If you like my reviews you can find me at Wordpress under Wyldheart Reads.

Slow start, but definitely worth finishing

I haven't read as much as when I was younger, but always loved reading fiction stories, especially those with underlying meaning or purpose. This one reminds me of Chronicles or Narnia mixed with Lord of the Rings, but it's hard to escape that comparison I suppose within this genre. Not that that is a bad thing!

For my short attention span, I loved the story after I got closer to the mid point. Like I mentioned, I haven't read in awhile, so I took a bit to recall who was who, with all the different characters. Each of them having their own motives and purposes in the story, made me want to finish it towards the end.

Needless to say, I am looking forward to seeing what the next book brings.

Amazing Christian Fantasy

Different character perspectives.
Relatable to themes in real life.
Epic Battles.
Comparable to Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones

wonderful story, can't wait for book 2

I really loved this story and the dynamics between characters. For me it was a bit of a slow start building up and filling in the back story, but that didn't last too long before I was happily immersed in this world and invested in the fate of Titus, Imari, Lydia, and the others. Wonderful story, can't wait for the next book!

Great Adventure

A King’s Return takes you on an adventure with likable characters. The ending leaves you wanting more and excited for the things to come.

Haven’t read fiction in awhile. Great one to start with!

Every chapter left me wanting to know what happens next.

The narrators do a good job presenting the text.

And I can’t wait for the sequel!

It’s a wild ride

The story is faced-past and hard to turn off once you start. The readers are polished with believable accents! It’s a wild ride.