Fight for the Kingdom

By: Victoria Schwimley

Narrated by: Vicky RIng

Length: 3 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's Summary

It's summer vacation and all Aiden can think about is the coming camping trip, where he is going to convince his dad he's mature enough to join the Adventure Scouts. Aiden gets plenty of opportunities to prove this when he and his brother, Trystan, follow a mysterious light behind a waterfall and step through to the other side, and into the Kingdom of Anka - where they must defend the kingdom from an angry dragon, who is intent on retrieving her stolen egg. On their quest, they encounter some interesting characters, including the beautiful Queen Aryana - the youngest ruler in history; the peddler, Jay James - who possesses a magic stone the group desperately wants; Zachary - keeper of the foxes, who can't seem to keep track of a single fox; the two beautiful fairies, Jayden and Jacy - who help the group out of some sticky situations; the competent guide, Alyssa - without whom the group would be lost; and Fizzle girl, who will help them rise above their problems.

©2017 Victoria Schwimley (P)2017 Victoria Schwimley

Fight for the Kingdom

Any additional comments?

A simple camping trip into a magical adventure for two young boy! A mysterious voice brought them to another world behind a beautiful waterfall where they find dragons, fairies and plenty of excitement. A grat l story for young ones.

This was a joy!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Look, this is not a book for adults. It's a book for kids. Not like Harry Potter is for kids, this is REALLY for kids.

There's goofiness, there's worrying about your parents' opinion of you, there's looking out for your little brother, there's being brave and there's studying everything you can about your environment before you camp.

It was a delight! I listened to it before I showed it to some of my charges, just to make sure it was appropriate. They loved it! The ones around 12 thought it was silly and scoffed, but kept listening "because of my little brother", the ones between 3 and 8 had a blast!

Victoria Schwimley wrote such a cute, wholesome book! I really liked their journey and the lessons in the story that I could discuss with the kids. Vicky was a great narrator - and storyteller! While some of the voices she made annoyed my adult ears a little bit, I am 100% sure she would have been able to keep 20 kids enthralled with her live storytelling. It was wonderful, in that sense!

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review, and there it is! I would just recommend that the cover is updated and the writing made a little better-looking (even if image is kept intact), just so that it catches the eye of more people!

Absolutely Delightful!

This is an adorable children's story about two young boys who are tasked with saving a kingdom from an angry dragon. The characters are sure to delight young listeners and, as an adult, I got a kick out of the narrator's interpretation of the antagonist, Carinda. I thought all the character voices were great - the narrator does an excellent job. A must listen for little ones!

I received a complimentary copy of this audiobook with no obligation to leave a review. This is my unbiased opinion.

great for children on a long car journey

The story is rated for 5-7 but I feel is better suited to a child at the older end of that scale.
The story flows and the characters are well developed. The author has described the fantasy world extremely well, and the narrator manages to bring the many characters to life. It's easy to identify with the children within the story, Victoria Schwimley obviously understands younger children and how they are likely to behave...

This is the perfect book to listen to, before bed, during the long holidays or on a car journey.

what a great story

This book was so fun to listen to. I enjoyed every single minute! Victoria's imagination blew my mind with this book. The detail made the scenes in my mind as clear as if I was there. I loved how to all came together. I just can't say enough good about this book!
This is def credit worthy!!!

The Queen said, ‘None of those knights were the right person for the job, that’s why I had to look for you!’

It’s hard to turn down a quest, with a plea like that!

Victoria Schwimley’s Fight for the Kingdom is animatedly narrated by voice talent Vicky Ring.
It’s a magical adventure with fairies, queens, foxes (somewhere!), dragons, and a treasure hunt for the dragon egg. Oh. And a mysterious wicked teacher. I think all kids know at least one witchy teacher!
A camping trip reveals a waterfall type portal. Tristan is knighted and convinces his older brother this is an adventure of a lifetime - to save the kingdom from a dragon. Torn between his desire to one day earn his adventure badge and his eye witness account of a knight being burnt to ashes, Aiden comes up with an alternative plan.
They make friends and allies as they learn this new world in order to save them.
The characters were all wonderful. They all had unique characters and Vicky had unique voices that captured their essence, personalities, and emotions.
I absolutely LOVED this wonderful family friendly book!

4.75 stars

Great children's fantasy tale

This is a wonderfully imaginative fantasy story for young readers. I love the two brothers, Aiden and Trystan, and the way they relate to each other and to all the magical characters they encounter on their fairy-tale adventure.

The story is fast-paced and full of exciting characters, who help and/or deter the brothers on their quest to find the Dragon's egg. The story is told in such a way that the reader will learn many things along the way about relationships, commitment, friendships, as well as unusual facts about bears and other things.

Delightful and fun read. I listened to the audio version and, while a few of the character's voices were a little hard to distinguish from one another at times, I still felt like the narrator, Vicky Ring, did a fine job.

Fun book for kids 10 and younger

This was a fun book that my eight-year-old and I read together. It was cute, short, and had a nice adventure in it. My eight-year-old’s review will follow this one.

I would recommend this book for kids aged 10 and younger. I think because it was for such young kids that I did not fully get into it as much as I wanted to (being an adult). But Olsen, my eight-year-old, really enjoyed it.

One interesting thought I had was – the 11-year-old boy in the story appeared to really strive to earn his father’s affection and it seemed that he feared he would fall short. But, the story did not indicate why the father would not feel this affection toward his son. I know this is more of an adult-tone but I just found it a little interesting.

I feel like the author must have had some sort of scout-like experience or training since that is what the 11-year-old boy was striving for – becoming an adventure scout!

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it (for the younger kids).

Audiobook narrator Vicky Ring rating: 4.5 stars
The narrator of this audiobook was fantastic! She did a great job of changing her voice, especially for the little kids. She showed good emotion as well.

Olsen’s rating: 5 stars
Olsen’s review:

I liked the book because they had to get the dragon’s egg back to the dragon. I liked that there was a portal and the boys had to go through to get to the other world. It’s funny that Zachary can’t keep track of his foxes.
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I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

A charming bedtime story

What boy doesn't dream of becoming a hero, rescuing a damsel in distress or saving a kingdom? Aiden and Tristan live that dream in Fight for the Kingdom, a charming children's story by Victoria Schwimley.

Schwimley has succeeded in stitching together a delightful fantasy adventure while conveying a series of life lessons. Narrator Vicky Ring's expressive delivery helps to bring the characters and the story to life.

I received a free copy of this audiobook with no obligation to leave a review.

An expansive fantasy adventure

As with all good fantasy adventures, the story starts in the present day. Aiden is on his last day of school and, once released, he is straight off on a camping trip with just Dad and his younger brother Trystan. Aiden’s hope is to show Dad that he is adventure scout material and this proves to be his motivation for getting out of his comfort zone throughout the tale that follows. When with Dad there is much discussion of the outdoor life and bears. Then at night there is a transition into another world and both Aiden and Trystan are transported to a magical place populated by fairy’s, a menagerie of creatures, new friends and enemies and a familiar nemesis. The boys have a new status in this place with a quest to fulfil. The magical world has its own rules which we and Aiden discover. He and Trystan navigate their way as if through a computer adventure game passing tests and gaining unlikely, but import items along the way.

There is much here that is reminiscent of the Narnia stories. And what child doesn’t delight in the dream of an adventure where they are suddenly important and powerful, talk to animals and fairies and right a terrible wrong?

Victoria Schwimley’s story itself is expansive and pleasingly non-linear. It’s easy to get lost in this alternate world and Vicky Ring’s narration keeps the journey brisk. As a Brit I found her voice took a bit of getting used to and I wondered if a story about two boys might have been better suited to a male voice, but she manages well with the voices of the multiple characters that we meet and travel with.

As an adult reviewing a children’s story I think kids will love this audiobook provided they are able to give it their full attention. There are many twists and turns, problems and solutions, friends and enemies with their own back stories. I think it would be good for long car journeys or in bedtime instalments, but be warned the chapters have quite varying durations.

Fairy Tale short story Loved it!

A father and sons camping trip with fairies, dragons, conquering of kingdoms. A little over 3 hours of a interesting story. Well written. We really enjoyed this young adult, adult story. The narration was good once we got past the first chapter. I was not sure about the voice (everyone has their own opinion of what sounds good), but after the second chapter I was used to it and by the end loved her!

You will be glad you listed to this story.