Archer of the Heathland

Deliverance, Volume 1

By: J.W. Elliot

Narrated by: Jim Byrne

Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's Summary

Brion never meant to start a war.   

But when they murdered his parents and enslaved his sister and his sweetheart, they left him no choice. 

Brion of Wexford is the son of a crippled trapper living a quiet life on the edge of the vast and unruly heathland. But when Salassani raiders destroy his world, he must venture into the heathland to attempt the impossible task of finding the girls, rescuing them, and conveying them safely home across hundreds of miles of enemy territory. Now Brion finds himself pursued by men bent on his destruction, deprived of his protectors, and haunted by the knowledge that his murdered father has hidden a dark secret that could reshape Brion’s entire identity. Brion must find a way to stay alive long enough to get the girls safely home.   

This is an adventure series perfect for fans of John Flanagan’s Ranger's Apprentice, J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, T. H. White’s The Sword in the Stone, Christopher Paolini’s Eragon series, and George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire series.

©2017 James E. Wadsworth (P)2018 James E. Wadsworth

This audiobook is worth your credit.

Some people have compared this book to the Ranger’s apprentice, but I think the two books’ similarities are only superficial. The Ranger’s Apprentice has a definite YA vibe and almost everything seems to work out for the MC usually sooner rather than later. By the second book, even when there was dark foreshadowing, I was always confident that the MC would save the day, and neither he nor his friends would would suffer any negative consequences. Also, there were familiar tropes like the Vikings, the middle eastern nomads, the Asian sword masters, and oh yeah, there was Magic.

The Archer of the Heathland does follow the coming of age story of an archer, and he is trained by a grizzled, old, lonely veteran. However, the tone and feel of this book is darker and quite a bit more harrowing for the MC. While this book would probably appeal to some YA audiences it doesn’t have the immature vibe of your average YA story.

This audiobook was very well written, and if I could I would give it 4.5 stars. There were just a few things that kept me from going all the way to five though...

First, there were a couple parts that just didn’t seem realistic within the world the author built. They weren’t deal breakers, but they did pull me out of the story. Most of this had to do with the author’s overly optimistic ideas about what could be accomplished in a certain amount of time... whether it was in a number of days, weeks, or months.

Second, was the narration which was absolutely adequate. After an hour or two in I barely took note of the performance. However, occasionally the performance felt a little clunky to me, and it pulled me out of the story. On the whole the narrator did a good job... a solid 4 star performance. It just wasn’t unusually good, which is my minimum bar for 5 stars.

Last, there were some overly coincidental moments and situations that the author should have supplied justifications for. You can get away with that kind of thing only once in a book (if that), but do it several times and it starts to feel like lazy writing. I hope that the author might address these coincidences in the next book and explain how/why they might not have been so coincidental. He has left the door open for it, so maybe he will, but as of now it’s just kind of off-putting.

So in the end, the flaws I’ve noted were more to justify my not giving this book 5 stars than to say that this book isn’t good, because truly it is very good. I will definitely be continuing the series. While this book does have a dark tone, it is very PG-13 in terms of being descriptive about the topics it focuses on which include violence, murder, war, the possibility of rape, slavery, and revenge.

There shouldn’t be any triggering issues, nor should this book be categorized as grim-dark. I found it to be a very engrossing and enjoyable listen. If you like archers and swords, suspense and last ditch fights, or mysteries and a little bit of moral ambiguity then you can’t go wrong here.

This is a great story

This is a great story, sucks you in at the very beginning. Love the story and the characters. Hope audile get the rest of the series soon.

too slow

I listened to four hours of this book and just couldn't get into the book, it was just to slow for my liking.

Great start to a new to me series!

Good, believable characters, interesting storylines that leave you wondering where the next book will lead. Very good narration, varies for different characters-I really liked this first book and I hope the series continues at this level.

great book to rival rangers apprentice

it starts out a little slow in the story line but just hold on a while it gets better. The reader was not very good at bringing out the sarcastic moments much of the time and you away some of the needed humor, but did get better by the end. I was a little bothered by the sentences being shortened, strange extended pauses in the middle of important things or words meant to go together like longbow ( it was really "long..... bow"), or read so dully that it took away from the story. the story did seem a little rushed at times and yet other times it seemed a little unnecessarily drawn out. Overall it's been a good book. it obviously has violence in that it is a fighting/war related story but nothing overly gory or needlessly obsessed over. No constant swearing. some adult content in that they obviously want women as slaves and concubines but no intricate details.

PLEASE include the whole series on audible

Hoping to continue the series with audible if they produce more than this first book.

Great story that kept our interest...and you will like it if you enjoyed the Ranger Apprentice series.

Great book

This is a great book when you are traveling and need to stay awake for hours on end, lots of fun and adventure. This book could keep you listening from Boston to Chicago.

PLEASE READ THE WHOLE SERIES

Jim Byrne read it so that while my eyes were focused on the road I was also watching a fierce battle in my mind feeling the sweat and blood. I would love it if y'all came out with the rest of the books for I don't often have the time to sit down and read anymore.

Turn this Book into a Screenplay

I have REALLY enjoyed this book. The story picks up speed and I found myself getting to know the characters to the point that I'm thinking about them and what they will do next. I drive about 2 hours a day...a long commute and I have actually sat in my car in my driveway so that I can hear what happens next. I haven't done that since "The Martian". I'm not usually a fan of this genre but the reader does an excellent job and the story gets more interesting as it moves along. The descriptions of the lay of the land, the archery, the sword play is visualizing. Anyway....this is a great listen!!

Very well narrated fantasy

Narrator was engaging and kept me and my son well entertained. Interesting characters and story development.

Fantastic

What a beautiful story and a wonderfully narrated by Jim Byrne. I loved it.A grea t listen.