Bridgefinders

The Echo Worlds, Volume 1

By: Joshua C. Cook

Narrated by: Brian C. McKee

Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's Summary

We are losing a war we don't even know is being fought. A war over magic. On one side the Slyph, an immensely powerful magical being who rules the Echo World. On the other, the Bridgefinders, an ancient order of men and women. A war that the humans are losing. When Cendan Key, a new Bridgefinder is discovered, he wants nothing to do with it. But he alone can change the course of a war that has the highest stakes ever, the planet itself.

©2016 Joshua Cook (P)2016 Joshua Cook

Story was ok but recording & narrator made it less

Storyline was ok, not a full on grab me and not let go, but ok. Seemed like a "modern" twist on LOTR, what with wanting all power, the Gollum-ish character.

Recording and narrator made this SO hard to listen to. Gaps where there shouldn't be, no gaps where there should, the sound of lip smacking, making 2 distinct characters sound very alike.

Will read 2

I liked the plot and people. It needs a little tighter editing. Some things are self evident and do mot need to be spelled out. But i liked the worlds and the overall story. I will read the next book
The reader started well but then either got a cold or dry mouth and I could hear him swallow. It was distracting. .

Interesting take

What did you love best about Bridgefinders?

I think the world created was an interesting one. The writer took the normal fantasy tropes and expanded them in a new way.

What did you like best about this story?

Grellnot. A fun villain. He's a simple creature, but just interesting.

Which scene was your favorite?

Cendan entering the Echo World for the first time, and the Elves.. the ELVES.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I would say when you find out the Elves true intentions, I was moved, but not in a happy way. Don't want to say anymore, spoilers! :)

Any additional comments?

Overall I really liked it. I would say I think the production while good, could be better. Audio quality was alright, not stellar. But the reader had good tone, and told the story quite well.

Different Slant

I found this a different slant to the ‘normal’ fantasy story. Throughly enjoyable recommend a read.

Great Story, BAD Editing

Cendan does not know he's a Bridgefinder until he set upon by a nasty creature from another Echo World. Other Bridgefinders, one of which is his ex-girlfriend, find him and bring him into their fold. As time passes, he finds out he's a Maker, a rare type of Bridgefinder with special powers. Cendan ventures into the Slyph (Queen badass) world to find the answers to repair EVA. EVA is an AI machine that can hold the baddies at bay for that is Slyph's goal, the takeover of Earth's World. This is imaginative fantasy with the only distraction being the poor narration, which is primarily editing. Looking forward to book 2 which I rec'd from Audiobooks Unleashed.

GREAT CROSSING WORLDS AND FINDING DESTINY.

STORYLINE IS GREAT AND EASY TO FOLLOW.
ACCEPTABLE FOR PEOPLE OF ALL AGES.

NARRATOR IS GOOD AND EASY TO FOLLOW.

The Magical World Versus The Human World

In this story, the main character named Cendan Key, finds out that he is part of a group of people called Bridgefinders, who fight to keep magical creatures from entering the Human world. How can one not relate to a character who finds himself in a place he doesn't want to be, doing things he doesn't want to do, because of some unexplained random chance? The story is fun and entertaining and I recommend it to others who like this genre. Brian C McKee's narration is lackluster and there are strange pauses during the execution of the story, although his voice is pleasant. I was given a free copy of the audiobook and I have voluntarily left this review.

Exquisite 💖

Fanbloodytastic 💖best characters ever and very engaging world, Joshua c. Cook as written another masterpiece, total recommendation

Promising beginning of a new series

The story is entertaining and creative.
It was easy and fast to listen to that definitely sparks curiosity, making the reader want to know more.
It is a good start to a promising new book series.
I am looking forward to seeing what the author comes up with next, where he takes these characters, and what new creatures he introduces us to.

Thank you to StoryOrigin for the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Baskerville Book Reviews

I’ve mentioned numerous times in my reviews that I’m a fan of the whole good vs. evil battles while humanity remains miraculously, blissfully unaware. It’s fair to say that I have a bit of a bias towards this type of story.

This is one of those rare exceptions for me. I did enjoy it, don’t get me wrong. But it’s incredibly slow. Little to nothing happens in the grand scheme of things and it’s almost entirely setup and world-building. When it finally starts to get interesting, it ends.

The story constantly brings up memorable protagonist and his ex-girlfriend’s relationship. But it never goes anywhere with it. It never hints that they might still have feelings or get back together, so it feels like a waste of time to even bring it up. It seems the only reason for ex-girlfriend and memorable protagonist’s relationship is so she can constantly talk about how logical he is in his decision making, every time he does something rash.

The other characters are all generic. Bossman, who I want to call Isran because he reminds some of a character from a videogame, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. He’s the tough, gruff boss-man who’s always been in charge and doesn’t like this new kid who doesn’t bend to his will. There’s generic evil villain who’s evil because evil, generic evil sidekick who’s evil because evil. Finally, there’s generic throwaway character because they needed another body to make the roster feel less empty.

The premise is interesting. The world and lore are interesting. The story is slow and the characters are paper-thin, and by paper, I mean tracing paper.

The narrator is a mixed bag as well. He constantly pauses awkwardly between sentences, as if each sentence is the end of a paragraph. He reads the number 0 as “o”, which I find insufferably annoying. While this didn’t annoy me, I’m mentioning it because it might annoy some; he constantly makes smacking noises while he talks. It sounds like he’s got a mouth full of spit or a piece of candy clinking off his teeth every few words. You can tell when one audio recording session ends and another begins because the audio will randomly be louder or quieter than it was before, which is incredibly distracting.

For those of you wondering why I referred to his narration as a mixed bag; He’s amazing at doing character voices. He does a superb job of bringing personality to these cardboard cutouts.

NOTE: This copy was provided to me free of charge as a digital review copy. The opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone, I was not paid or requested to give this book a certain rating, suggestion, or approval.

Good

The storyline is good, and it flowed well. A pleasure to hear this story. Good world building.

Out of this world

I enjoyed this book and look forward to book two because it has been set up nicely to continue. The plot was interesting the way magic can only be found in an alternative world but the hero's still need to protect against it and the creatures it produces without really understanding it. The cast of characters was like able and the bad guys bad enough to be hated. The author has a way of drawing you into the story that keeps you hooked and wanting to know what happens next and I liked the way we learnt about the bridge finders and the history along with the main character and his special connection to the key. Off to start the next book.
When his young neighbour is bitten by a creature, Cendan is thrust into a whole new world of magic and world that he is supposed to protect. He is a bridgefinder. Someone who is charged with sending demons and creatures created by the Slyph back to there own world before they can create havoc in his world. He is one in a small group of people with the capability to do this and with the Slyph growing in power time is running out. He will have to learn as he goes along but he is not just any old bridgefinder and the Slyph knows it, so she will do everything in her power to catch him or destroy him like she did the last maker.
The narrator was okay but did seem to hesitate or take long pauses that weren't necessary. Otherwise he was a good reader with different voices for the characters.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Moving to Paper

had to stop, the narrator is destroying this story for me, an amateur that is far to breathy and has too much saliva in his mouth.

moving to paperback