Annals of the Nameless Dwarf: Books 1-6

By: D.P. Prior

Narrated by: Mike Carnes

Length: 59 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's Summary

A sprawling epic of redemption, heroism, and friendship in the face of insurmountable evil and an inexorable fate.

"A beautifully written and engrossing masterwork!" (Mitchell Hogan)

Fantasy Faction semifinalist for the SPFBO 2018

Child of an unreliable prophecy.

Victim of a terrible deception.

A soldier once. Then a killer of his own kind. A butcher.

The Nameless Dwarf lies entombed beneath the earth, locked in an eternal sleep until the hour of Medryn-Tha's greatest need.

With one shot at redemption, he must discover who he really is if he is to prevent the destruction of all the worlds and lead the dwarves to safety.

But the deceptions that once cursed him have not been lain to rest. Every victory, every loss presents new dangers, new decisions.

And history will remember him as the most cursed among the fallen....

Or the greatest hero of legend. 

©2019 D.P. Prior (P)2020 D.P. Prior

Slow to start but good story and excellent value

First, let me start out by saying this is 60 hours of a fantasy tale for 1 Audible Credit. Anyone with even a passing interest in fantasy fiction is likely to find this a good deal. And now, the specifics.

I started this "origin" series without having read the author's other works. This story is self contained and you don't need any previous understanding of the world. And D.P. Prior creates a full, magical, and perhaps a little dystopian world that has a real feel to it. Major characters get lots of attention to their personalities and motivations. And if you like your characters flawed or a little broken as I do, there is much here in that department too. Now the story itself is pretty good, though the first book moves along slowly. It does improve after book 1, so try to stick it out. Our MC isn't completely likeable, though that may be on purpose. You can certainly feel his heart is in the right place though. In case you didn't pick up on it in the description, this book is not a happy tale. It is a hard journey for our MC and those around him. Aside from some pacing issues, the only thing that really kept pulling me out of the story is the heavy use of the made-up curse word. Mostly it seems to be a replacement of the F-word, and used heavily. If this were the kindle version I would have to do a search for how often it comes up. Often reminded me of some Brits who communicate like "F_. Where the F_ is my F_ing coat."

I found the narration to be very well done. Carnes clearly puts a good deal of effort in making this a performance and ensuring listeners know who is speaking. His performance adds to the story and helps put it up to 5 stars for me.

I was given a free review copy of this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this honest review.

a lot of great listening for one credit

I really liked the cast of characters in this series. they felt fleshed out but had plenty of growth. at times I felt it read like a d&d session, which was fun.
cannot recall anytime it felt like it dragged or was being stretched out.

great series

world-building is non-existent

the story had great potential, but due to the lack of world-building and relatability. it falls short. I seriously struggled to finish the book. voice actor actually did a fair good job.he uses accent and dialect to distinguish the character.

Fun Dwarf Series

The Annals of the Nameless Dwarf is a fun fantasy (with occasional bits of sci-fi) series focused around the fall and redemption of a dwarf who ends up Nameless, with his very name magically stripped from all knowledge in all of spacetime. Not that people have forgotten HIM, just his NAME, with intriguing consequences. Mike Carnes provides excellent narration and really brings the characters to life. This audiobook ends at a high point, but with a setup for further stories in the series (at least one more ebook is out, but not yet available in Audiobook). An excellent use of a credit for 59 and a half hours of fun!

Disclaimer: I was given a free review copy audiobook and have voluntarily left this review.

Amazing!

This needs to be turned into a miniseries!
Worth waaaay more than 1 credit way more!

Amazing in every way!

Best Dwarfish series I have ever read and easily one if my favorite epic/dark fantasy ones. Prior really hooks you with the action and keeps you on the line with the deep and extremely well wrought characters. The narrator is perfect for this story and makes it even easier to follow our stunted friends on their perilous adventures.

Great book

loved every minute. Narrator did a great job. brought the characters to life. outstanding.

A heck of a ride

I was hooked early on in this series. I have always like Dwarves in stories and the first book had me fully immersed into Dwarven society and I loved it. The serious is also unpredictable, which is another thing that I love. I hate when you know the ending a few pages into a book, and this series is definitely is not predictable.

The one negative I'll list is that one of the villains has a certain pension for torture that I would like to have less detail about.

Well worth the read/listen. By the way the narration is excellent!

This wasn’t for me!💜

This book/series was very different and difficult for me to enjoy. The narration was absolutely fantastic and his accents were wonderful that’s one reason I was able to push through. I’m not saying this series was written bad, I just couldn’t get into it.

Sisters Spotlight 💜

slow but riveting story.

it's slow to start for sure, and the narration is a mid melotone, but the story is top notch. made me feel uncomfortable, disgust, sadness, disappointment, and plenty of laughing.

An Epic Saga of Redemption

If you're not familiar with the work of D.P. Prior then you are missing out. The characters he creates are so much more than your generic two dimensional carbon copy fantasy tropes. Add to this an epic plot with grandiose world building and you have the recipe for a perfect fantasy series which will hopefully see many instalments to come. I strongly recommend checking out Prior's other works (especially The Codex of Her Scars) as you won't be disappointed.

Mike Carnes' narration flows well and is crystal clear with no real discernable "break points". His character voices are many with all the main players easily recognisable.

I hope to see several spin offs of various characters from this series as there are so many backstories hinted at which would be worthwhile exploring further.

Epically long and entertaining

I thoroughly enjoyed it, a good story to which the narrator adds real character and expression.

An epic in the league of Tolkien

This is a sweeping saga that will grip your attention. If you like Lord of the rings you will love this book! Well written characters, a plot that keeps you guessing and moving forward, and twists that will tug at your heart. Mike Carnes does a brilliant job of narrating and bringing characters alive without distracting from the plot of the stories. Brilliant job gentlemen!

What a ride!

I was provided a copy of this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review.
I'll be honest, I was dubious coming into this one as Dwarves don't seem charismatic enough to carry off one book, let along 60hours of books! Thankfully, not only is Carn super-interesting to read about but the hierarchy and world that D.P Prior has built around him is unfathomable. A long journey for sure but a thrilling and perfectly narrated one.

Absolute awesome. I was gutted when it ended.

I was initially concerned that I might get bored part way through, but as the story unfolded I got more involved and loved every minute. I was surprised at how brutal it was in places, the author doesn't hold back. The story was long and detailed but not ridiculously so that you forget who is who, or what's going on. I loved the characters and how unique they were. I loved that battles were not drawn out into hours of pointless detail, just enough to feel the full force and then the story continues. This is an amazing tale, well written and really well narrated also. I absolutely loved this and total recommend it to any one who likes this genre.