Dragon’s Trail

The Outworlders, Book 1

By: Joseph Malik

Narrated by: Troy Duran

"I didn't come here to sell my soul. I came here to buy it back."

Once dubbed "The Deadliest Man Alive", Jarrod Torrealday is a former Olympic saber hopeful and medieval-weapons expert banned from competition for killing another fencer in a duel. Despondent, volatile, alcoholic, yet still one of the greatest swordsmen alive, he now works for third-rate fantasy films as a technical consultant and stuntman.

When Jarrod accepts the gig of a lifetime from a sorcerer looking for a hero, he finds himself facing an invading army in a world inhabited by creatures from Earth's mythical past. He soon learns that the enemy mastermind is also from Earth and has laid the foundations for a new kind of war.

Contains mature themes.

©2016, 2017 Joseph Malik (P)2019 Tantor

wow

could not put the book down. great detail and vision that allowed you to see events

A great first installment... if a touch short.

This story was a refreshing twist on the standard trope about the guy who goes back in time and applies his modern knowledge to affect change in a tumultuous world. It was nice that the whole plot didn’t revolve solely around the MC’s future-based knowledge, which is the more typical move of most authors in this genre.

The scope of the plot in the this book felt a little underdone due to the ending, but that’s certainly not a reason to miss out on this engrossing story.

The editing was seamless and the performance of the narrator was superb. There were minor things that kept me from giving a 5 star review, but in order to hit that mark a book really has to knock me off my feet.

Definitely worth the credit though... I’m looking forward to the next installment.

Was hard for me to connect

I saw this author at a panel and he was a great speaker. The book was very tactical and strategic. The main character started as the hero and remained the hero. I don’t feel he learned or grew at all. It was definitely written from a man’s perspective. It reminded me of those fighter anime’s that do a lot of fan service and completely avoid any meaningful connections

War-dudes + sexism for young male readers = PASS

Main character notices there are "no fat chicks" in the world he is transported to. Fat men yes. Women no.

Bath-women wash male warriors and service them sexually, as do concubines and do most women in the story. In the 3 sex encounters I made it thru there was no described or erotic content tho.

Struck me as a low-brow dude-fest suited to young male readers into war games.

I have read hundreds of Plus Catalog offerings in the fantasy genre but this one caused too many eyerolls to finish.