Deceived

The Athanasian Realm, Book 1

By: M. C. Colon

Narrated by: Daniela Acitelli

Length: 17 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

One thousand years ago, the Towers on the Isle of Wisdom were beacons of hope. Originally started to train sorcerers, clerics, and warriors to protect the Athanasian Realm, the Towers gave the people a sense of security against the enemies in the Tenebrosity Realm. But when the original Tower members left, that peace was shattered, and now, the Towers have fallen into a state of decline.

Now run by the Merila, the Mahatma, the Towers are not what they used to be. Magic users are practically impotent. The knowledge of the past has been hidden away, keeping everyone complacent and weak. Protecting the Athanasian Realm seems almost impossible now. When the current Luminary, Eliza, is poisoned and loses her powers, Merila appoints Eliza’s Second, Adicia, to the position. Adicia, though, isn’t quite as gullible and naïve as Merila thinks she is.

When things start spiraling out of control around the time of the Springtime Celebration, Adicia and he friends Tavis and Gara discover things aren’t quite what they seem. Orc attacks, ignored cries for help, and youth with magic abilities that haven’t been seen in years force Adicia and her friends on a quest to track down the only man who can help them. There’s only one problem - Garnrin is not only retired, he’s also the only one who can bring Merila down.

Adicia and her friends must fight rogue magic users, goblins, and hell hounds, all while trying to uncover the truth about the Towers, the Realm, and everything in-between. Can they bring the Towers back to their former glory, or will their quest lead to the destruction of the entire Athanasian Realm?

©2017 M.C. Colon (P)2018 M.C. Colon

Fun, and Entertaining!

This was a fun book. The storyline was interesting, the characters complex and likeable and the Journey was eventful.. The Narrator did a good job of bringing the Characters to life and I look forward to the sequel. This book was provided free of charge in exchange for a fair review of the book... Thank You.

New Series!

Great first book The magic system is well thought-out. little tough to get through it first but wonderful storyline.

Interesting Storyline

I received a review copy.

What I liked about the book: It has an interesting storyline. It has some humor and romance. It includes some realistic elements that are sometimes missing from other fantasy books, like feelings, relationships, eating, washing dishes, etc.

What I didn’t like about the book: It seems slow-paced and repetitive at times.

If you want a fantasy book that includes relationships, romance and some humor; and that moves at a slower pace, is down-to-earth, and uses repetition to highlight main points, I recommend considering this book.

Wonderful Story!

While I almost passed this one by due to the cover, I am SO glad I didn't. This is an epic tale that has many lines that weave together to create a story that is difficult to put away. The perspective the story is written in is one that is not commonly used but worked fabulously for this tale as it gave me insight to what all the characters were thinking and feeling. Deceived is a tale of how little changes can pile up to disastrous effect as well as a story of companionship and adventure.

My only criticism of the story is that some of the descriptions drag on for far too long and while it is nice to have a clear picture of who all in a group and what everything looks like, the long lists left me wishing I could skim over these sections like I would be able to in a book but find myself unable to do in the audiobook format without knowing where the end is. That said, the quality of the world building, plot, and characters are of such quality that I can forgive this. As such, if you want to listen to an epic story of friendship, learning, and magic then you should definitely consider Deceived as your next listen.

A New Beginning

Interesting characters and vivid scenes made the world this author created someplace you'd like to see.
This audio was given to me free and I voluntarily gave this review.

Interesting

I got this story via audiobook boom and this is my voluntary review. The world-building was good. The secondary characters really made the story come to life. I liked the entire story although it was not on the top of my list and is definitely not one that I would read again. I might listen to the next one.

Epic story

I was given this book for free at my request but the opinion is of my own. The towers were once centers of power training members of the realm of their magic and thereby protecting the realm. Now it seems the towers are completely gone to the waste side and the realm no longer wants to send their children to the towers to be trained. Soon a new Illuminati is made and she starts to find out the truth and how there’s been much lost. Amazing story and characters.

Great book.

Has a very interesting story. The narration is perfect for this book. I received this audio book free at my request and voluntarily reviewd.

Poor Fantasy, Poorly Narrated

I received a review copy of this audiobook.

The shortest description I could offer of this book is that it reads like someone read the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, decided to run a Dungeons & Dragons campaign inspired primarily by the White Tower from that series, and then wrote a book based on that campaign.

Characters’ names are too similar to one another (such as the sisters Maddie, Maggie, and Nettie). We receive massive info-dump style backstories on characters in the most bland way possible. We are given the same information more than once in quick succession on multiple occasions. When meeting large groups of minor characters, the author feels the need to name each and every individual character, even if that character never shows up outside of that one mention. Idioms are misused. Language that seems modern and out of step with the fantasy genre. Other changes are made arbitrarily, like consistently referring to months as moons and replacing weeks with “tendays,” seem aimed at creating a fantasy feel but are applied so artlessly that it feels awkward and clunky. There is virtually no subtext, as the author seems committed to having every character explicitly state his or her thoughts. To be honest, I could go on but I don’t want to.

There are some good qualities. The core of the story is interesting, if not its execution. I like the idea of wizards’ lives being extended specifically due to the use of their magic, rather than the mere ability.

The narrator does not adequately distinguish between character voices. She obviously tries, as she deepens her voice when portraying adult male characters, but the majority of the female main characters have identical performances.

To be perfectly honest, if I had not agreed to review this book in exchange for a promotional copy, I would not have even finished it. I hate to give poor reviews to books that I have been given for that purpose, but I also must remain honest.