Angst

By: David J. Pedersen

Narrated by: Michael Troughton

Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

When Angst turned 40, he knew it was over. Angst had longed to be a knight of Unsel, to make his mark in history, to be remembered for heroic deeds and wondrous acts. He grew up knowing he was destined for something great, but now, it is too late. Not only is 40 far too old to become a knight, Angst is one of the few able to wield "the magics".

For 2,000 years, magic has been outlawed, repressed, even outright destroyed throughout the world of Ehrde. By law, Angst is reduced to using his great power only to file papers. His marriage is on the rocks, his friends are bored with him, and he hates his job. The one person who makes him happy is the young Princess Victoria, who seems to adore him. Unfortunately, that makes his boss, the queen, hate him.

Without warning, Unsel is besieged with dangerous monsters - birds with metallic beaks, monkey creatures that can dive through solid ground, mindless horse-eating giants. The world that shunned magic now turns to Angst for help, and he is happy to listen once his back stops hurting.

On the edge of a midlife crisis, Angst drags his reluctant friends along with him on an adventure into the heart of magic. He's not sure where they're going, what they'll find, or even if they'll survive. But he knows this is his one chance to be a hero because the only way to fight magic is with magic.

©2010 David J. Pedersen (P)2018 David J. Pedersen

And the underdog wins again

This is the first book I have listened to by David Pedersen and I very much enjoyed the story. An underdog who dreams of being the hero and he gets his chance. He drags his closest friends who are reluctant to go along for the adventure. The story is filled with action and has a good story line. The narrator, Michael Troughton, does a good job in telling the story. The voice for he uses for the queen has a Monty Python feel.

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

Relatable hero is RELATABLE

I really dug this book. Angst is such a relatable hero. Him being older really adds something different to this hero's journey. Gotta see what happens next.

Give this one a chance

I loved the idea of a 40 something adventurer but in all honestly I wasn't expecting much from this book. I was pleasantly surprised by the story, the characters, and the world.

This book was a great portal into a new fantasy realm. I enjoyed the suppression on magic and how the world just gave them a big F-you and magic reworked itself. I love how that parallels our own world when we try to fight the elements and end up losing more often than we are comfortable admitting.

I want to write more about everything I liked about this book but I've erased three paragraphs for giving too much away. I hate spoilers and won't do that in my reviews. So all I am comfortable saying or shouting is GIVE THIS ONE A CHANCE. You will not be disappointed.

The narrator did a good job but only got the 5 stars because I liked this book enough for it to get a full 5 star reveiw. In all fairness the narrator rated a 4 but that's still pretty awesome.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

Surprisingly good

I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

So, I'm not sure what I was expecting, going into this book. I was interested in the premise but this was a new author and narrator to me. Allow me to express my delight in finding a fantastic book here. The story is colorful and well written. The characters and world are well developed and engaging. The narration is done quite well too. I think any fan of fantasy should give this one a shot. I doubt you'd be disappointed.

Good audio fantasy book with some twists

Thank you SO MUCH for getting Angst into audio format. I really enjoyed this book. I asked for Audio format from the author over several years, meeting at a central US Sci-Fi Convention, And once he got it moved over, I listened. The story and buildup for additional novels in the series has been a listening pleasure. Thanks, David for releasing the audio version and I look forward to the others, ( hopefully sometime in the near future.) I like the twists in the story and eager to start the next book in the series.

An Excellent Tale of Magic and Heroism

While many fantasy novels feature youthful protagonists, Angst receives the hero's call in his middle years. And he's not a reluctant hero either, which is refreshing; he is all about fighting the good fight.
This is a bright and colorful story, filled with magic and droll characters. There is a bit of set up in the beginning, but that all changes when the adventures kick in. The prose is clean and clear, and the dialogue/banter will bring many a chuckle.
Michael Troughton is a superb narrator. He did a fine job bringing the characters to life.

Fantastic Book and beautifully read

I had to look up the narrator because I find that an excellent one can really make an audiobook. Michael Troughton is an English actor with an enormous list of TV shows. His father Patrick Troughton was the second Dr Who!
I really found his tone and accentuation pulling me into each character, and did a beautiful job, and has a lot of other titles on Audible.
Now on to the book....

This is an amazing story that many can easily identify with. In a nutshell the book is about the main character Angst, who could be described as a middle-age reluctant hero that not only battles nightmarish creatures, but also with himself.

Pedersen does a brilliant job of capturing the internal struggles; dreams and discontent clashing against the pressure of fate and sacrifice. Angst is compelled by his internal drive for adventure and having something different in life. Almost to the point that he is somewhat blinded to the schemes of those in power who are trying to improve their tenuous grip on control. As the story unfolds, and more richly described characters are added, you find that what is happening is the result of an imbalance that has happened as a result of that control.

The creatures are both fantastical, and horrifying, and I loved the descriptions of scenes and characters. Many of the characters, and awkward moments made me chuckle. A lot of the writing reminds me of a David Eddings, or R.A. Salvatore. I loved the author's choice of words, and how the period speech is so different than many other fantasy novels. The feelings of pressure, fear, sacrifice, and self-doubt are so palpable; the reader will easy sympathize with one of the characters.

The reader will also realize that there is a larger battle happening, and understand that the story is much larger in scope and history. Without giving the surprises away, I just wanted to share how much I enjoyed the book. I hope that there will be more books to follow, making this the first book of an epic series.