Forged in Fire

By: Olan Thorensen

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis

Length: 28 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's Summary

Joseph Colsco has survived what many would not have - cast naked on an alien planet amidst humans speaking an unknown language and with a different culture and history. Now, known to the people of Caedellium as Yozef Kolsko, he has risen out of despair to prominence and finds himself a central figure in the culmination of a struggle against an imperialist power bent on subjugation.

The clans of the Island of Caedellium must gird themselves for what is to come. If they can't unite to a degree previously unimaginable, they will fall into the bottomless abyss of lost history. Their strengths are their determination, bravery, potentially new allies, and a single man with a mysterious history. The options are simple: victory, death, enslavement.

Yozef Kolsko may have transformed from who he had been on Earth, but did the trials he has undergone produced a savior some of his adopted people see him as or is he an illusion? The crucible of fate is about to yield a final product, but is the result enough against a formidable enemy?

©2018 Podium Publishing; 2017 Olan Thorensen

Excellent story & narration.

Probably the best series I have read/heard. A great story and a great narrator. There are a few unanswered questions but maybe there will be a book 5? I don't want to spoil anything but you'll see. This is one purchase you very likely won't regret. Be sure to purchase the books in order! That being said, if you're reading reviews for this book then you've likely read the first 3 and need no further information! Enjoy!

16 of 16 people found this review helpful

Book 4 just as great as the previous 3!

Wow. Just Wow. What a truly great series. A fantastic combination of author and performer, who together literally breathe life into the epic tale of Joseph Koltho. I can't say enough good things about this series. Ther are no flaws, no hiccups, it is simply one of the best series I have ever listened to. Most highly recommended, but listen to the SERIES in ORDER!
( I kindof hope there are more sequels, but if not, this is a fine ending! )

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

I'm totally immersed, ready for the next book.

What does Jonathan Davis bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The narrator does a great job with voices and accents to help give the characters more depth and personality plus it's very helpful when following the story.

8 of 8 people found this review helpful

Hoping this isn't the end of this story...

This is a fantastic series and a great final? installment. The way this book ends has the feel that the author might be wrapping up the series, but there's so much potential for more.

Fingers crossed that the author is as enthusiastic to write more about Yoseph as I am to listen.

8 of 8 people found this review helpful

Please Sir, may I have some more?

I cringed when I saw this book was over 28 hours. Rarely does any story hold ones attention for that length. Not here. You know that Thorensen enjoyed this trip, and more, he enjoyed taking us along for the ride. What thoroughly enjoyable SciFi. Outrageous story line made believable, fast moving action, superb character development, light on the emotional slobbering, and easy on the intimacy (thank goodness). My favorite LOL line (paraphrased): Next time I am stranded on an alien planet, I shall come more prepared.

Can't forget to mention the Jonathan Davis narration was spot on - smooth, unhurried, a perfect fit. Thank you, really enjoyed this.

Makes you wonder why Audible continues to promote second rate works of more famous authors when there are gem series like this that I had to discover on my own.

14 of 15 people found this review helpful

story deteriorates with every book

The series has quite an interesting concept with novel ideas. every further book of the series it seems that is fillled with more war scenes (boring) and less story progress

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

SPECTACULAR story perfect narration

I've been on audible for several years and read stacks of books. This series is by far in my top 3 favorite almost could be my favorite .The depth of the world building is so well thought out it's close to someone actually living this out . The narration is so well done I would compare it to being in a desert for 3 days with no water and then waking up to being in a crisp clean fresh water pool . My point being this narrator is what is needed to combine with authors story to 100% transport you to another place and make you feel that every character and moment In this book was nothing less than a real event that had happened . I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm am blowing away by the author and narrator. And I would like to say I bought this book and all 3 previous books to this series it was not given to me it was just so good I had to write something about it . Only other thing I could possible say is that I wish I had no job or nothing else to do so I could have listen to this book start to finish . Instead it took me 3 days to go threw 28 hours

13 of 14 people found this review helpful

Historical Sci-fi!

Had a bunch of fun listening to this. The narrator is top rate with his voices and consistency.
I appreciated the character introspection, the pacing of the story and the authors attention to details. Thanks!

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

I Laughed, I Cried, I Hung on Every Word

If you could sum up Forged in Fire in three words, what would they be?

Suspense, Humor, Unique

What did you like best about this story?

The amount of detail, the rich characters, the suspense.

What does Jonathan Davis bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

You can feel the personality of the characters come through in his performance.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There were many, I cried at times and other times I was laughing out loud.

Any additional comments?

This series is amazing, fast moving, you never get bored. There are twists that you never see coming. Wars, inventions, spying, clever dialogue, and sex. What more could you want?

9 of 10 people found this review helpful

Not really scifi

The description and cover art are misleading. Except for the first few pages and little tidbits throughout, this is not science fiction. It's more like alternate military history, and a mix of the American Revolution and the Wars of Scottish Independence. At the conclusion, the involvement of scifi elements seems completely pointless and kind of muddle the main story.

As some other reviewers have noted, most of the books are filled with endless, repetitive meetings. I would say it's so repetitive, you could actually skip all of the sections from the "bad guys" perspective and still not miss anything important. For example, the bad guys have a meeting about their plans, then the good guys figure out their plans and come up with countermeasures, then the bad guys encounter the countermeasures and have debriefs afterwards to review the countermeasures, and then the good guys have their own debriefs to talk about how well the countermeasures worked. It's like this for every major encounter in the whole series.

Also, all of the characters in the book are too logical, almost to the point of mysteriously missing appropriate emotions. Whole towns and local governments can be conveniently convinced of the coldest, logical options with lists of pros and cons (seriously, there are dozens and dozens of numbered lists). *SPOILER* Even the main character is strangely convinced by his wife to take on her best friend as a second wife because she'll never get a husband of her own and so it just makes sense for some reason. He barely fights it and just accepts her logical reasons without questioning any of the emotional or relational consequences.

Also important note for those that appreciate resolution: *SPOILER* none of the scifi mysteries introduced at the start or alluded to in each book are ever solved. This is purely a story about a man with deus ex machina-level perfect memory recall of modern knowledge to solve every problem for the shortcomings of 1700's era society.

Just a few thoughts that could have given the story more conflict: *SPOILER* It should have started with Yozef on the beach, with memories of the accident, past life, and knowledge slowly coming back. He's constantly compared to someone who speaks with God, and so this way he could have wrestled with his own thoughts about who he is and how he knows all these amazing things. Or it could have revisited how the alien AI's nannites were altering his emotional ability to respond to tragic news. The main background is about how humankind was mysteriously spread across the universe and the alien AI's want to know what's so special about humans, and then they remove an aspect of his humanity! Also, what's the point of being on an alien planet if you barely address the native environment? It was so frustrating for the main character to just nonchalantly point out one or two fascinating alien creatures, and then just shrug and move on. All he does is regurgitate modern knowledge and pop culture, but doesn't explore how to combine any of it with this new planet.

Even though this series has a lot of flaws and misses some good narrative opportunities, I should say it still got me invested enough in the fate of the main characters to see the story through to the end. But it was not satisfying.

7 of 8 people found this review helpful

awesome but about time...

finally the BIG battle...great build up and delivery...
wont be getting book 5 as the reviews say its pointless and I believe them...
maybe if the story continues from book 4 then I will use a credit ....
all in all happy days...

Loved It, left me wanting more.

Great audio book. Some people seem to not like the pace of the story but I enjoyed the detail and atmosphere which was consistent through all the books. The characters are engaging and the narration excellent. There are a lot of unanswered questions and loads of possibilities for future expansion but the author stuck to the particular thread he'd chosen to follow and took it to a satisfying conclusion. Highly recommend, worth every moment i'd say.

bŕilliant series

loved it. narrator is brilliant. I have enjoyed every book so far. Colin, BEDWORTH, WARKs

Great!

A little slow to begin with, but totally hooked by the end! Can't wait for the next one.

awesome series

absolutely loved this series of books. great character building, at times slightly repetitive, Joseph did this Joseph did that but a really interesting concept well written and well read. highly recommended

Very entertaining! <br />

There were moments during this series where I drifted in and out of listening, especially during the very long strategic war councils and planning. But I still enjoyed the series very much.

A story

Found the entire series utterly entertaining and can only wait in fervent hope for more in the future.

MORE!

A really good series of books, I loved them all. Shame that there're no more.

Good ending for now

Some things not resolved so another book please so some unanswered questions can be given and end

Meetings

What there was was exceptionally well written. However...it just felt like one massive series of meetings.
The narrators performance tho was absolutely outstanding. It comes to me that he's up there with R.C Bray as guys at the top of their craft.