Chaos Awakens Trilogy

By: Heath Pfaff

Narrated by: Paul J. McSorley

Length: 34 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

Having two of his fingers cut off at an early age hadn't done much to make Xandrith an agreeable fellow. Besides marking him as a pariah and having him shunned by even his own family, it had also hurt. A lot. Being stripped of a few of his fingers and cast out of the Order of Mages had left him bitter and angry, but if there was any consolation to be had it was that he was doing rather well in his new line of work. While perforating people for money might not have been the most noble of callings, it was quite lucrative. Well, it had been quite lucrative.

In a conspiracy of fate seemingly beyond his control, Xan soon finds himself facing a dilemma of conscience, and that isn't something he's familiar with. One dilemma leads to another, and before long the mage-turned-assassin finds himself performing more and more honorable deeds. Worse yet, without even attempting to do so he manages to acquire friends and to develop a sense of compassion.

As Xan struggles with his burgeoning humanity, a terrible darkness begins to wake in the world. The Order of Mages, once an overbearing power of control, seems to be losing its grip as a terrifying doom of their own creation rises in the north. As if that isn't enough, the horror brought upon the world by the folly of the mages may be only the precursor to something far more sinister.

©2014 Heath Pfaff (P)2015 Heath Pfaff

Gave up partway through chapter two.

A trite, hackneyed, poorly-worded fantasy story. Awkward phrasings and thesaurus-driven attempts to vary language fall flat. As rich a landscape the genre of "fantasy" may be, the author simply falls back to boring, stereotypical concepts to decorate the clumsy narrative. For example, Orcs are present without introduction, leaning on the assumption of the audience's familiarity.

The narrator's performance doesn't help much either. Odd regional pronunciations (roof pronounced as something similar to "ruff") distract from the story every time they pop up. Cliche accents are offered as a sloppy means of varying one character's from another.

All in all, the entire experience was similar to listening to a recounting of someone's junior high school D&D campaign.

You will be left awake after reading this

I love fantasy and I adore horror, and this has elements of both genres in it. What I love is that it "stars" a cast out mage who turns to assassination to survive, and somewhere along the way he begins to develop compassion and build a group of friends. Each book deals with an issue caused by the order of mages, and as the danger looms bad things happens to our reluctant hero. This guy is like John Maclaine from die hard, the more you beat him the tougher he gets. Book two deals more with his apprectice, but when he reappears in book three you will really be sorry he shows back up. Things have not gone in his favor.

The only negative is that the ending was a little predictable, but that can be forgiven for everthing else that you get in the rest of the series. The series is fantasy, but the horror tones are there, and I could see it getting flipped into a Horror trilogy flavored with fantasy. It owrks either way. The action and blood really flies and by the end you will be breathing hard from excitement.

Oh, and lemme tell ya about Paul J. McSorley. He elevates this whole series with just some intonations, a mastery of voices, and an inner Metronome that speeds up or slows down instinctively as needed. Good narrators like him are a rare gem.

Get this book and get chills.

Read it now!!

I wanted to like this series

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

The narration was pretty weak, but unfortunately the writing wasn't much better. The reader really seemed forced at times and so did the writing.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Chaos Awakens Trilogy?

That's the problem, there was nothing very memorable.

What didn’t you like about Paul J. McSorley’s performance?

He seemed out of breath sometimes, and slurred others. It was like being read to by the Marlboro Man.

Any additional comments?

Once again, Audibles policies make it very easy to explore authors and series I otherwise wouldn't try.

An Adventerous journey of an unlikely hero

If you could sum up Chaos Awakens Trilogy in three words, what would they be?

Addictive, engaging, and unique

Who was your favorite character and why?

Xandrith of course and his evolving identity. Faced with seemingly impossible obstacles, he never lost focus or hope. It may have waned, but was never lost even when his mind was broken.

Which scene was your favorite?

When Cassa shot him with an arrow during his attempt to hide and escape. It was kind of poetic, being shot by the woman who would become his love.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Darkness Falls and Chaos Awakens

Any additional comments?

Although I loved it, was a little uncomfortable with the Hayley/Daisy part being a love interest, even if it is one sided. It was a little on the verge of pedophilia. Not impressed with that part. I could have done with out it. Yes young girls have crushes, but in her case, esp. after just being a family girl and then being tortured and rape, most victims would seek parental figures not lovers. She was too young to be in that mind frame. She would mostly fear men or hate them. Even if she began to trust him, those feelings would be more of wanting a father whom she just lost, a protector. So I didn't care for those insinuations.

Amazing story

I loved how this book built upon its characters, and how there was always something to make me keep wanting to listen. The narrator did a great job at capsulizing each character as well. Every bit of this from story to narration was done beautifully.

Nice story plagued by bad writing = Not Good

This was one I picked up mostly due to the positive reviews and interesting cover picture. I had a lot of trepidation getting this book as I have learned that on audible a bad book sometimes has a surprisingly a significant number of both positive and negative reviews, and this one had quite a few. I asked myself…”If this is really as good as some of these reviews sound like it is, why haven’t I heard of this author?” a clear warning sign I should have considered before getting this title.

Hoping against hope, I considered the possibility of waiting another month for something in my wish list to finally get released, like Babylon’s Ashes by James SA Corey, or Servants of the storm by Jack Campbell. Writers I could depend on to produce decent books that don’t require me to read at a 4th grade level to enjoy.

But due to my overactive sense of need, and with no end in sight for the wait till the next Game of thrones book, I rushed the decision to get something to pass the time. In my defense I did consider some pro’s and con’s, such as value - after all, it seemed like a good value, 1 point for a trilogy, and at nearly 35 hrs listening time at that. There were also lots of audible reviews saying it was good, although this point has been proven over and over to be less than reliable.

Lastly, look at that cover, I dare you not be intrigued and guess at what (wondrously magical and perhaps even, maybe… some blend of science fiction with fantasy fiction) this cover art promised. I played the odds, rolled the dice and went with it. I made a choice. And boy what a letdown this choice turned out to be.

My biggest issue with this book is that its written like something a 14 year old with decent imagination and attention span decided to write, and a rich daddy, without benefit of a proof reader or editor, paid to publish.

The phrase “didn’t even”, which I and many others consider to be the literal equal of hearing nails on a chalkboard, that phrase featured prominently in every chapter, song and verse, punctuating a sadly amateur feel to the work. I was saddened by this because underneath the clearly poor writing that gave us this book, was a pretty decent story that some significant editing could have brought closer to the works of RA Salvatore …okay maybe not Salvatore…perhaps …Brent weeks (?) .

Bottom line is that the poor writing is really my biggest issue with this one. The characters, their journey through change and redemption, and eventual conflict with the protagonist and cliche's that blah blah blah…, all that was besmirched by the sadly poor writing that comprised the story, and significantly detracts from any enjoyment I tried to gain from it.

I actually thought about quitting after the first few chapters, but held fast, hoping against hope that maybe we will see some sort of transformation take place in the course of the story.

Alas, I hoped against hope. This one is one of those books you hope is one of many steps towards a brighter and more improved writing career for the author.

Disappointing

Would you try another book from Heath Pfaff and/or Paul J. McSorley?

No.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Paul J. McSorley?

Almost anyone.

Any additional comments?

The story was just compelling enough to make you want to hear the ending, but the writing was not good. The dialog seemed very forced, and the author doesn't seem to get the use of subtext. He just beats you over the face with every detail. The voice acting turned me off of it from the start, and the writing was not enough to carry it through. I listen to it all the way through to give it the fullest chance, but it wasn't worth the time at all. By the last book I just desperately wanted it to be over. If you've read Pfaff's other books and liked them, then give it a try, but otherwise I would steer clear of this one.

fantastic

It is good I can listen at work because I never wanted to put this down. Great book.

Good book with a good narrator.

I found the protagonist likable his constant struggle between what he is and what he wants to be is interesting. I liked that he has a darker view of the world and is not trying g to save everyone he comes across. towards the end of the book he acts more like a traditional hero but by then he is dealing with his increasing mental instability and guilt which is also quite interesting. overall it was a good investment of 30+hours.

Heath Pfaff Masters Another Immersive Fantasy!

Chaos Awakens -Trilogy; is another work by Author Heath Pfaff that displays his ever growing ownership of the Epic Fantasy genre. Narrator Paul J. McSorley gives an outstanding performance that makes the Authors world and characters as tangible to the listner as being right there.

Terrible reading, great story.

Would you listen to Chaos Awakens Trilogy again? Why?

No. The reading grates too much

Who was your favorite character and why?

Xandrith is a great hero.

Would you be willing to try another one of Paul J. McSorley’s performances?

Certainly not!

Any additional comments?

Its testament to the quality of the story that I put up with the reading. Tripping over words and incredibly bad voices nearly ruined it (the falsetto fae queen saying "we must away" nearly broke me, as did the wizard with an attempted Jamaican accent. The story is everything you want in a fantasy book though and I would still recommend.

Simple pleasures!

i enjoyed this story quite a lot.

Got a few twists and turns and on the odd occasion I did chuckle to myself.

i would recommend this to anyone who likes dark fantasy.

I really liked it

amazing stories and amazing performance of the narrator Paul j Mcsorley.
thank you
Regards
Sebastian Lopez-Pardo

Epicly good.

I loved this serise, it's got a great deal of detailing and the depth is superb, the characters are very likeable and they have their own personality. each book is brilliantly written and nicely paced, it's thoroughly entertaining and keeps the reader engaged.
The narration is really good and deffinatly brings the story to life.
well worth checking out.
5 STAR easily

Great book - terrible narration

A great story however takes effort to keep listening due to monotonous tone of narrator