Empire of Dirt

Publisher's Summary

The Echoes of Fate will not be forgotten. The words uttered a thousand a years ago will come to pass....

War is set to ravage the land of Illian. The elves sail from the east, the savage Darkakin rise from the south and Valanis, the dark elf, is finally free. Valanis would see the world plunged into chaos and drowned in blood, ready for the return of the gods that still haunt him.

A new hope rises in the Red Mountains, where the last remaining dragons have been discovered. Gideon and Galanor, human and elf, will have to work together. Only then might they convince Adriel, the last of the Dragorn order, to intervene in the war to come.

Devoid of hope and unsure what road to take, Asher and his companions must decide what role they will play in the coming war. The only weapon known to rival the dark elf’s power is in a place the ranger has avoided for a long time, a place where, until now, neither man nor elf would dare to tread.

Civil war has shattered the empire in The Arid Lands, as the slaves make their stand against the highborns. Tauren Son-of-none, would see a new empire rule over the desert, but while revolution brews, a greater threat looms. As a thunderous cacophony of steel and savagery marches through the Undying Mountains, who will stand before this army of death?

©2017 Philip C. Quaintrell (P)2018 Podium Publishing

What a story, what a ride

Very engrossing second volume in the “Echoes of Fate” series well performed by Steven Brand. Great characters, unpredictable tale, fast paced.
One of the better series of the last few years.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

awesome

Can't wait for the next book. The story characters and pace of action is enthralling. The narration was excelllent

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great Story

Well developed characters. Narrator brought the story to life. Loved it. Hate for it to end.

One of my new favorite books (not for teens)

Echoes of Fate, a book series by Philip C. Quaintrell, is a very engrossing story. At first I wasn’t sure I would like it because the story follows many different lead characters, all with weird sounding names. I didn’t think I would be able to follow the many different story lines. However, it was not long before the stories intertwined, making it easier and much more enjoyable to follow.

My favorite aspect about this story is the path for redemption that two of the characters – Asher, the main character, and Galanor – are on. Each of these characters has had a tumultuous past. Whereas Asher has already turned from his old life as an assassin when you first meet him, Galanor is conflicted between duty, which calls him to perform unsavory actions, and his desire to be a good person. While you get to see Galanor in the before-and-after stages of his path to redemption, you meet Asher after he has turned away from the life of an assassin. However, trusting and friendship are two things foreign to Asher, and it is fun to watch his relationship with the characters develop as he struggles to live life as a better person while carrying the guilt of his past life.

Due to the content of this series, I would say it is rated R. There is intermittent use of the F-word and some fairly graphic violence (at least by my standards). However, it is the scenes in which the Darkakin torture/rape the queen of the elves that is primarily responsible for my rating the book as R. It is hard to describe these scenes; they are not graphic but there is enough description and allusions to what is going on that it is bothersome. While this did not stop me from reading the book (as you can easily skip those scenes), it does make me hesitant to recommend it to anyone but a mature audience.

Note: I continued reading the book despite the scenes with the Darkakin because I am enjoying (I’m on the last book) the path to redemption of Asher and Galanor. I also enjoy the internal struggle of the other characters who, after experiencing horrendous torture or loss, fight to retain their virtues and moral beliefs. The characters in this book experience very real, human emotions. You see them struggle to be the people they want to be despite the torture they’ve experienced or the losses they have endured. For that reason alone, the book is worth reading as you see that no matter how horrible life can get, you should always strive to be the better person, even if you don’t always succeed.

P.S. I will be adding this to my favorite books for adults.

great

absolutely love it. excellent story telling. the narrator did a great job of telling the story

even better

the amazing story continues. cant wait to start book 3 and secretly hope there are a dozen more to follow.

Loved it, technical problem

For some reason the first chapter of the audible book was something like chapter 20 in the real book. I thought something was weird, but I did not quite figure it out until the real start of the book started after I listened to the ending of the book. Audible may want to fix that.

Third book

I didn't realize there were 3 books in the series. Now how long do I have to wait for the third one to be in audio?

another incomplete collection

Very good story, sad that it's an incomplete series even though the 3rd book is available on kindle. get on the ball audible!

excellent

excellent story, world building and characters. each book in series is better then the last

Can’t wait for Book 3 - Brilliant

Love the characters and pace of the book - please list the book three asap - Great books will try his other books nest

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Brilliant Fantasy Series

Love these books, can't wait for the 3rd one to come on Audible. So exciting and all the characters so interesting. Journeying with them is awesome, wish I was there, although I would probably get killed but to see the dragons!!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Good listen

thoroughly enjoyed the book, felt a wee bit short compared to the last book but very enjoyable.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Fantastic second book in the Echoes of fate series

I was so sad when the audio book finished as I was so involved with the various characters the plots and the continual action, hardly ever a dull moment as with some long winded authors, from beggining to end its full of things to make you absorbed,as I said I did not want this one to end and cannot wait now for the third book that I pre ordered on Kindle but hope that they do an audio book version, listion to the first book before this as its a continuing story where the endings leave you hanging, one of my favourite audio books so far

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Looking forward to the 3rd installment

Enjoying the story and looking forward to the 3rd book. Great characters and plot line

brutal and fantastic.

I absolutely love this series and can't wait for book 3. believable, endearing, hateful characters. fantastic settings, amazing fights, great magic. high fantasy but with a grittier finish.

Loved it!

A fantasy tale in the lord of rings genre but very different. Likeable and believable characters. I can't wait to start the next book. Great narrator.

OK

I think I will leave purchasing the third part of the series off until I have credits to spare.
Not because of the story but because of the reading.
I kept missing scene switches when just slightly distracted due to the monotony. I like the voice though.

Decent high fantasy

Well performed, but unsurprising. Even typical at some points. Caricature characters, lots of superlatives, maybe too many.

too many tangents

the story has too many tangents. As it go's on I have trouble remembering whose who.