Day of the Dragonking: The Last American Wizard

By: Edward Irving

Narrated by: Bill Powers

Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

"Mystically powered terrorists unleash volatile magic on the world, turning Washington, D.C., into a politically-charged fantasyland ripe for human sacrifice.

A trio of suicide attackers with magical abilities bring down a 747 by summoning a dragon to rip it from the sky, using the hundreds of lives lost as a sacrifice to initiate the Change. The country morphs into a new landscape of swords and sorcery. Now computers and other machines are coming to life, and regular people have started to turn into mythical creatures and forgotten deities, creating a chaotic world easily seized by whoever - or whatever - set this shift into motion. Hope appears in the nation's capital where, along with transforming Democrats into potbellied elves, Republicans into cantankerous dwarves, and Tea Party members into trolls, the Change has granted struggling freelance journalist Steve Rowan the abilities of the Tarot Arcana's Fool card, making him a powerful, yet unreliable, wizard. Realizing his potential, he is "hired" by the trivia-obsessed sentient computer Barnaby and coupled with the attractive, no-nonsense female Navy SEAL Ace Morningstar to uncover the puppet masters behind the plane crash. Irving (Courier, 2014, etc.), a producer of Emmy Award-winning news television and a journalist well-acquainted with the Beltway, makes good use of clichéd Washington stereotypes by mashing them together with fantasy tropes, breathing new life into political satire.

...Like many first books in a genre series, the novel foreshadows a greater enemy behind all this madness while barely hinting at its identity, offering a wonderfully bizarre consolation prize as its denouement.

A clever, humorous fantasy...." (Kirkus Reviews)

©2016 Edward B. Irving (P)2016 Edward B. Irving

Different... but fun and entertaining

Any additional comments?

Just a really fun, humorous and entertaining book. Completely different and unusual in a good way. Not quite sure how to describe this book. Political satire, magical post apocalyptic, science fiction urban fantasy. However you describe it, it's worth a listen.

When you need a change from your usual listening preference or your just in the mood for something a little different this book will definitely fill that slot.

The world has been changed by a group of mystically powered terrorists and chaos ensues. The book synopsis tells you the gist of the story except for the fact that it's a really fun , quirky, enjoyable listen.

This is the first book by Edward Irving I have "read". I will definitely be continuing with future installments of this series.

This is the first time I have listened to a book narrated by Bill Powers. Fantastic job. Great character voices, and there are a lot of characters. Pleasant voice, easy to listen to. He was able to capture the humor and sarcasm of the characters. He doesn't just read the story. You can tell he put an effort into bringing the story to life. Really enjoyable to listen to.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBoom

tarot and beasties in with more contemporary theme

This audiobook really didn't do it for me. What I find extra frustrating is that I think I would have loved the book if I'd read the print edition.

The story ticks most of the boxes I look for in a fantasy novel; it has eccentric characters, witty dialogue, magic and monsters.

The author blends magic, tarot and beasties in with more contemporary themes like the military, alternate dimensions and haunted smart phones.

It's a brave new world in terms of fantasy fiction, it seems - so why couldn't I stay interested?

The sound quality is a little sketchy, with an echo which makes it sound like it was recorded decades ago but sadly it was the narrator, Will Powers, who completely failed to attract my interest.  All of the characters have the same voice and despite them each having their own distinctly written personalities, there was no particular inflection.

Ace, the Queen of Swords, would have naturally been my favourite character while reading this book. A woman who has done whatever necessary to achieve the rank of Master Chief in the military (obviously 'whatever necessary' involves making the rest of the world think that you're a man), she's a stone cold killer and a master at modern weaponry, rescuing the main protagonist again and again from his own stupidity.

Sadly, in the audio version she had no personality at all and just came across as annoying, along with all the other characters. I that this is just an issue of compatibility between the narrator's production of this book and my earholes, but I can say with a fair amount of conviction that I won't be listening to more of his work.

I'll 'fess up to it, despite not skipping forwards through the book, I think I probably zoned out somewhere around the middle which is frustrating. I did go back over parts to try to make sure I didn't miss anything but in the end I just ploughed through, I'm going to try this book again in a few months and go straight to the print version so I don't miss anything again.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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Interesting story, just not my thing.

Interesting story, but just felt like something was missing.



This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBoom dot com.

Pretty Funny

If you’ve listened to books by Edward Irving before, how does this one compare?

I have not. I thought his timing/spacing was good.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This book made me laugh.

Any additional comments?

I received this audiobook for free through Audiobook Boom for my unbiased review.

And Now for Something Completely Different

This is a strange book. Seriously. It's part political satire and part "Metamorphoses." Reality and non-reality collide, and no one is the same as they were. (I recommend you read the various plot descriptions in other reviews.) The "wizard" of the title is a journalist, not a wizard, and is totally unprepared and disbelieving when he's informed he's the only person with the magical ability to save the world. There is lots of action, a healthy dose of humor, and I suspect a lot of inside jokes that went right over my head.

Interesting way of finding yourself in a new world

At first I wasn't very sure about the story. But the more I got into it the characters grew on me. Not knowing anything about Tarot cards it was a different approach to magic. Steve is not sure he is cut out to be The Fool, and Ace is the only thing keeping him alive for the most part. The idea of the world changing along fantasy lines and keeping it funny does its job. I know this is part of a new series but the ending really was kinda anticlimactic. It just we defeated the bad little guy but still not sure about the Big Bad Guy. I hope in the next installment we find out more about who is really behind things or at least start to see the curtain he, she or it is hiding behind. It was a nice lite bit of reading and I would read more when it comes

"This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBoom dot com."

Wimps can prevail!

Folks, if you want to listen to a book that that will make you laugh, teach, and just flat blow your mind, this is it.

Magic comes back into the world through a plane crash that only 1 person saw. That starts him on a journey that he really does not want to take.He is a smart ass reporter that has more puns than I have ever heard. He is also a wise ass so that should tell you about the climate of this book.

Along the way, he is joined by an ensemble for quirky people straight out of Tarot cards and of course he is the Fool. So the Fool and his merry band take on the people that are trying to bring blood from everywhere in the world.

Great and fast read and keeps you wanting more all the time.

"This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBoom dot com."

A fun wild ride when the magic comes...

This book is an fun take o na new type of terrorist attack, one that brings magic back and changes everything. Filled with memorable characters and so much action Mel Gibson would be jealous, it will keep you up late at night, because you wont be able to turn it off. Bill powers does a great job bringing the individual characters to life, and keeping the story moving at a brisk pace.

I was given a copy of this book by the author free of charge in exchange for an honest review through Audiobook Boom.

Not good

I made it halfway through chapter 6 before tapping out. The story seemed poorly written with bad dialogue. The narrator just didn't work at all for me as he sounded annoying to listen to. Hopefully other people will find it more to their liking or read the summary completely which I did not do.

He got me on page one.

I fell in love with this book when I found out that the wizard's haunted Chinese knockoff phone wishes to be called "Send Money" :D

I adore quirky, funny and unexpected, and boy (or girl), that's what you're going to get in this book! In the beginning, a sort of magical cataclysm happens, and suddenly both humans and machines gain strange and fantastic new powers. What has happened? Not even the most intelligent one of them is sure... except maybe the guy from Roswell.

The Last American Wizard is a fast-paced book, with plot unfolding quite smoothly. Sometimes it feels like the main characters blunder a bit, yet arrive precisely where they need to - but I don't mind, and you probably won't either. The story carried me seamlessly and there was always something amusing lurking around the corner. It's a lighthearted book filled with action, and it looks like there will be sequels. I surely do hope so!

Edward Irving uses many mythologies here and weaves them together nicely. It reminds me of The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne in places. And as someone who has a Tarot course or two under her belt, I can tell you that Edward knows his stuff.

I liked Bill's performance a lot. His Barnaby is great and the voice he chose for Steve is spot-on.

Give this a listen, folks!

This audiobook was given by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review via Audiobook Boom.