Age of Heroes

The Pantheon Saga, Book 1

By: C.C. Ekeke

Narrated by: Roger Wayne, Adenrele Ojo, Kaleo Griffith

Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

Every hero has a beginning. So does every villain.

Titan, the world’s greatest superhero, has been murdered by his longtime archenemy Lord Borealis. And from the ashes rises a new generation.

Gifted with powers on the night of Titan’s death, 15-year-old Hugo awakes to the strange world of superheroes. A world he isn’t prepared for.

But with godlike powers and a history of tragedy, will Hugo become a guardian of justice...or agent of chaos?

Warning: Contains moderate swearing and big damn superhero action. If you’re not a fan of moderate swearing or big damn superhero action, this book might not be for you.

©2019 C.C. Ekeke (P)2019 Podium Publishing

3 connected stories but should have focused on 1.

This audiobook consists of three stories, one of which covers a man learning to control his powers and deal with a father who disapproves of 'paragons' (super heroes/villains). In my opinion this is the most fleshed out story with a full and interesting arch. The second story covers a teenage loser gaining several strong super power mysteriously and attempts to master them in an attempt to become the heroes he's idolized. It's a coming of age/heroes journey kind of story but doesn't have a narrative arch, and really doesn't even feel fully fleshed out. The last book I'm actively apathetic toward, its a story about a normal human reporter trying to make her way in the world, dealing with drama in the workplace, and trying to snag the next big scoop. She ends up discovering that an idolized hero that was recently murdered may not have been murdered by his arch rival and former villain despite evidence to the contrary... and when she starts digging to deep someone wants her dead.

I just don't care, I don't care that a reporter has a hard time at work... i don't care about the color of her skin... i don't care that she's a woman and has issues because she's a woman.. Every time a new part of her story came on I audibly sighed because it essentially puts the breaks on the larger story for 30+ mins. The only good thing i can say is that her arch does reveal certain areas of depth in the universe... but jesus could it be done better through one of the other established characters.

Overall I feel like the author wrote 3 short stories in the same universe but should have focused on 1 and stuck to it, creating the other 2 at a later time as their own separate and complete stories instead of 1 relatively finished arch and 2 unfinished ones.

Could have been better

Well this book was okay, only. My biggest issue with this book was the fashion show every time a person entered. I'm talking EVERYTIME the protagonist saw someone it like listing to an announcer for a fashion show! It got very old, very fast. I did listen to the entire book and the 2nd one too. Only because it wrapped up a story line. I will not get the next books...

Great Story, Mediocre Writer, Grating Narration

I gave this a shot since it and its sequel are included free with Audible Plus. If it had been a purchase, I probably would have returned it a few chapters in, but after finishing all the available audiobooks, I'm glad that I gave it a chance.

The story that spans the whole series is very good, but the author is hit or miss as an author. There is way, way too much emphasis put on describing all characters virtually every time they are shown. This is especially grating whenever one of the POV characters, a high school boy, is checking out the various supermodel-esque girls that go to school with him. It is awkward reading about oversexualized sophomores, and it really feels like the author is trying to compensate for something he missed out on in high school himself. This gets even worse as the series progresses into further books, and the POV character becomes the author's attempt to live vicariously through his Gary Stu character.

The most painful thing about the audiobook is Adenrele Ojo's narration of the female POV character, Quinn's, chapters. While she is great at actually voicing characters, her actual narration is just awful. She has the same airy, lilting cadence no matter what is going on, and she has some very odd inflections and pronunciations of very common words that are just jarring (notably; she pronounces "costume" as cos-TYOOM.). I actually liked Quinn's arc more than the other two, yet cringed whenever her chapters started because I didn't want to listen to Ojo. And for some reason, nobody every bothered to sit Ojo down and ask her to read like a normal person in following books.

Overall, the full series story makes this worth listening to, but with some decent editing and better audiobook direction/production, this could have been a much better book.

I've got about 2 hours left, but...

I had to write this now because while I love this book, the lady that is reading the reporter's story is aggravating as a performer. She lifts the end of nearly every single sentence and it effectively takes the weight and drama out of whatever she's saying. It could be a big knock-down, drag-out fight but the way she reads makes every bit of it sound as indifferent as possible. She reads her characters pretty well, it's just her narration that takes you right out of the story.

something different from Marvel and DC

the story is engaging and something different from the classic superhero trope that is so popular in cinema these days all of the characters are flushed out and you can really put yourself in their shoes.

A great action hero saga!

This action packed hero book is set in the Central Coast, which is normally full of small towns and rural wine country living. In this world that C.C. Ekeke has skillfully created, it has transformed into a bustling metropolis, with its own super heroes to boot! I found this saga to be full of great character development, fun filled action scenes and it kept me looking forward to more!

Can't wait for the next book!!!

Loved it! Never heard of this author but thought I would check him out because I'm into superhero type of stuff. I'm soooo glad I did. Great actions and I love the diversity of the characters. I'm hoping the next one comes out soon!

I enjoyed this book

it didnt have a very long or complex plotline, but it was a nice read

Good Start

As I read other reviews I see that of other of readers are upset because the author describes the ethnicity of the characters. I, for one, am refreshed to see this because in most of the books in in this genre there is mostly one race represented. This story acknowledges the rest of the American population and that is awesome in my opinion. The story is a good beginning to a bigger story. I am a big audiobook guy. With that being said I was slightly disappointed with the female voice actor. Also I really wish they would have taken advantage of having 3 narrators and read in the story as a production and not just having one narrator assigned read each protagonist chapters. The story itself is a good one. I am looking forward to the next installment.

Great opening for the Saga

This is a great opener for the Saga. The narration is on point and the narrators do an excellent job of defining the characters.

It's alright

The back splits off into 3 different, storylines I mainly enjoyed listening to Hugo's storyline, It's more captivating than the others.

The narrators did a really good job.

Super

I would have said I loved this book but the story just ended and it felt flat, I guess the author did it this way to make sure you get the next book, which I was going to do anyway. The story is made up by following three different characters and as they didn't come together (which I spent the whole book waiting for) it did feel like it could have been made into three different stories and then maybe we could have had a better ending. This also meant that the story would get exciting with one character before jumping to another character and then back again, making it jumpy but having the three narrator's helped. Each character and the challenges they face is very different but I liked the characters. There is a lot of names and super hero names but you quickly learn the main ones. There is plenty of teen drama such as bullying, super hero fights and learning how to use powers, mystery as are intrepid reporter looks into the super hero world and backstabbing, all of it making for an entertaining listen. Off to start the next book to see who really killed Titan.
With the greatest super hero dead Hugo, a high sophomore has to come to terms with not only losing his hero but after a serve beating gaining his powers. He has a summer to learn how to control his powers before he has to once again face the bullies at school. Gaining powers changed his way of looking at things including the girl he has been crushing on for years. Can he keep his powers secret of will the bullies finally push him to far?
Quinn tackles the death of Titan differently by shadowing his old team mates in order to do an in depth interview with the supers to find out how they are coping without there leader? Being up close to her hero's is an eye opener for Quinn, who use to do fluff pieces for the newspaper but is she about to learn to much?
Greyson has know he has had powers for years, ever since he and his father got caught in super hero battle that killed everybody else but his father's glee at Titan's death leads him to losing his temper. As a result he seeks therapy from the one man who seems to understand him but it is only when he attends group therapy that things start to change for him. Can he finally start to control his powers?
I liked having the three narrator's it meant I never had to try and work out which characters point of view I was listening to because they each had there own distinctive voice.

Not terrible.

I actually think the writing in this is pretty solid through out. My main complaint is that some of the narration is stiff ans monosyllabic.

Confusing

The cover is a little misleading.

To start the story has a lot of different character points, each directing into a different story of their own. And the layout is that If I get interested into the direction of one it splits into another.

A lot of drama instead of action is okay, there was only one combat scene in the entire book and I wouldn't say it was done incredibly well so it probably won't appeal to a lot of people who look for those types of books.

In another review someone mentioned SJW ideals were all over the book. Whilst I was confused why one of the MC's responded "because I'm black" out of nowhere I think the other characters response was normal for that situation, surprised and gobsmacked. Not that I even knew that the mc was black until very into the book maby because I was confused with all the other equally important MC's. There was also a mention of mansplaining once by a man. Personally I don't think we have the same terms for that thing.

Overall I think the story didnt accomplish what was needed (interesting developments). The one thing that interested me a lot was related to a car and some damage, the rest of the story in comparison felt like filler. All the different characters at once confused any single original character development felt muted at best. I could be wrong though, maby someone will enjoy this book. But after a long time of listening to it I've not developed any interest. I think another review got the cake on this one "Eh..."

Though I do wish you all a lovely day :D