Blade of Ghosts

The Lost Sect, Book 1

By: Julian Gyll

Narrated by: Travis Baldree

Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

The Hollow is dying.

Beset by nightmarish creatures from the caverns below, Jason’s tribe is slowly being whittled away. Only a brave few still stand against the darkness.

Jason dreams of joining the glorious Shadowfront and battling the enemy known only as the Void. But, as a lowly Pastfinder, he is denied that path and forced to serve as little more than a glorified scavenger.

It is only when he chances upon the ruins of a long dead civilization that his fortunes change. Jason discovers a forgotten form of cultivation, one fueled by the ghosts of centuries-lost history and powerful, forbidden knowledge.

For the first time in his life, Jason has the strength to join the fight against the shadows.

But, if his fellow tribesmen learn of his new power's cursed origins, the Void will be the least of his concerns....

Inspired by the worlds of Xianxia and Wuxia, Julian Gyll brings a fresh, western fantasy take on the burgeoning cultivation genre.

©2022 Julian Gyll (P)2022 Portal Books

Really enjoyed it

So the book is really good but the whole self deprecating inner monologue gets a little bit too much for me. The plot itself it pretty awesome. Hoping the next book is even better.

Bit of a letdown

I really liked the start of the story, but disliked it the further it progressed. The magic system is really soft, which as a personal preference I don't like. The main character is super weak, right up until the moments when he's really powerful when he needs to be for the plot. Also, the author does this thing where the characters will have worse and worse things pile up until they luck out and escape from the problem. This is a common plotting device, but it's kind of lazy and means that there's not logical reason the characters succeed, and there isn't any actual tension.

A great story

Stumbled across this book randomly and wasn't disappointed. The story is finally unique. I've been having trouble finding something that doesn't just seem cookie cutter. The one thing that was hard to get used to is the magic sounding like enima hahaha but it became endearing. Only thing I'm disappointed about is that it just barely came out and I really want book 2

Fun New Tale

Always delightful to get to discover a new author, and Travis Baldree’s name is how I find the best. The story manages to be a consistently amazing balance of moving action and detailed training and cultivation. Tried not to rush through the story too quickly once I realized early how sad it would be to have to wait for book two of this new series

The inner monologue is a bit much but....

This is truly an amazing story and I hope it finishes. it was well written and the plot kept you going the progression, characters, and world keep you fixated on what's going to happen next and I don't need to say Travis was amazing as always, I will be waiting for the next book.

Enjoyable but slow

The first half of the book kind of drags along
Fairly predictable

But the last half really picks up
It has a bitter sweet ending
But not a cliffhanger I can kind of guess or envision the world the author is trying to create a wish she would’ve given a little more world development but that will happen in the next book overall four out of five

This book will probably be better if you had several books in the series to read back to back

A deep and thorough discovery of power and place

This stand-out feature of this rewarding story is the depth in which it explores the various aspects of the world in which it takes place. It is as much about the interior psychological development of the character as it is the exterior skill development of the character’s use of the cultivation/magic system or the events that drive the plot of the story. The story takes us step by step through the thoughts and emotions of our hero as he attempts to find his place in the isolated community in which he lives among the potential roles that the community offers him. It also walks us through his discovery of how to leverage his unique burdens into his greatest strengths.

As a bonus, the plot lines mostly all neatly tied up by the end of the book, even as it suggests adventures in the wider world for future novels in the series.

And as always, Travis Baldree’s narration was top notch.

FANTASTIC 👏 👏 👏

Such an amazing experience 💖 love this story . cannot wait to see what happens next.

great twist!

I really enjoyed the way magic works in this book! I can't wait to see how the story progresses!

the first like 10-12hrs are so slow

the last few hours are really good, but man slogging through the first 3/4 of this book was seriously a chore, and unfortunately, it wasn't even original. I put together the entire plot about 4 hours in and was only mildly surprised by the waterbenders. only in that they showed up and not really in how they interact.