Spark of Defiance

Games of Fire, Book 1

By: Autumn M. Birt

Narrated by: Alan Peery

Six months after a tragic war, the world of Myrrah has found peace. But many of the heroes have not.

Wandering to avoid memories of lost friends and past actions, Zhao reluctantly returns home to fulfill a promise to his sister. And to proclaim to the elders of his people that their treatment of Air Elementals is wrong. His homecoming is met with hostility but not for the reason he expects. It is far worse.

To protect his gifted niece from a life of hardship and subjugation like the one he endured, Zhao must rescue his sister. Even if she doesn't wish it. Quickly caught once again in events greater than he can handle alone, Zhao struggles to prevent a personal conflict from erupting into a larger battle. But friends are distant, and more than a few are wrestling with new problems of their own.

Welcome back to the world of Myrrah, full of elemental magic and epic fantasy adventure! A new trilogy begins in Games of Fire with book 1, Spark of Defiance.

©2016, 2017 Autumn M. Birt (P)2017 Autumn M. Birt

Spark of Defiance

The story is great, as always. My issue is with 4 narrators over the course of four books set in the same world with the same characters. This narrator showed some tonal differentiation between the characters, but not much. If I wasn't committed to this storyline already, I'd probably have given up after the second narrator change. As it is, it is still very frustrating.

A cool fantasy story, but read the earlier series first

Spark of Defiance is the beginning of an epic fantasy trilogy, but it follows another series which the reader (or listener) would be wise to read first. With so many characters and such a complicated backstory, it is easy to become lost otherwise. I know because I spent most of the book trying to catch up. I had a hard time keeping track of who was who and keeping interest in the book as a result. This is a shame because there is a lot going for this book, and I can see why fans would love it. There are interesting settings and races, cool magical abilities, and action packed battles.

The narrator of the audiobook does a decent job reading the book, but does not do well with making different voices for the characters which made it more difficult for me to keep straight who was who,

I received a complimentary copy of this audiobook. This is my honest and voluntary review.