Forgotten Ruin

An Epic Military Fantasy Thriller

By: Jason Anspach, Nick Cole

Narrated by: Christopher Ryan Grant

Length: 18 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

Tolkien meets Shock and Awe 

Orcs. Trolls. Wraith riders. Dark wizards. Together, they form an unstoppable force. Or so they thought. 

Dark Army...meet the US Army Rangers. 

When a Joint Task Force of elite Rangers are transported to a strange and fantastic future where science and evolution have incarnated the evils of myth and legend, they find themselves surrounded, pinned down, and in a desperate fight for their very survival - against nightmares of flesh and blood made real. Which means only one thing. 

It’s time to Ranger up and stack bodies. 

The forces of evil have no idea how dangerous a Ranger has been trained to be, and once the action starts, it won’t let up in this no-holds-barred, full-auto, epic battle for survival in the Forgotten Ruin. 

From the creators of Galaxy's Edge....

Buy in, and jock up for this thrilling WarGate adventure. A battle unlike any other is calling. 

©2021 Jason Anspach & Nick Cole (P)2021 WarGate Books

Can't decide between Military Sci-Fi or Fantasy?

Well, here's the solution to your conundrum. Told from the POV of some hardcore Rangers (as if there were any other kind), this story is the start of another great series from Anspach and Cole. Instead of fighting amazing aliens and twisted sci-fi humans, now we're taking on the magical and the bizarre (happily, the 240 cares not when it's angry and cyclic).

And when they run out of ammo, that's when a Ranger PFC gets to use a magic staff to channel their inner Harry Dresden and really go to town on the baddies. I mean, what's not to love?

Just like their excellent Galaxy's Edge series, the characters are all relatable and identifiable if you've spent anytime in the military (or just been around your share of military personnel). Perhaps they wanted to throw a bone to us nerd POGs, because the main character is a linguist who finds himself playing Ranger alongside the "real" hardcores and that makes me cheer for him all the harder. (Even if he breezed through DLI.)

Also true to form, the book is perfectly fine as a stand alone novel, but the authors already have book two coming. So unlike some authors with three initials and too many HBO deals, you don't have to worry about running out of entertainment or not getting sufficient bang for your buck (and resolution to the plot)!

These authors are on my "buy immediately" list for Audible and my Kindle. You might not end up enjoying their books quite as much as I do, but if you take the chance on them I bet at the very least you'll have a blast!

A little less exposition please

I like the book but the constant yammering in the form of eronious imagery and long tangential verbal diarrhea gets to me a bit.

The best of all the Anspach & Cole Offshoots.

If this book doesn’t reach out and touch that part of your soul that loves stories, that feels brotherhood, and dreams of killing Orcs, well…you have no soul, and maybe you should do something about that. There wasn’t anything in this novel that I did not love. As a vet, I will say the authors nailed the ideology and behaviors of a group of combat arms soldiers at war, and in this case, it happened to be Rangers. I related with MC’s obsession with coffee more than I should admit, but once the Rip-It tabs were popped, I immediately placed this at the top of my favorite fantasy (and honestly, military) book list. It’s the little things that made the difference for those of us who have spent time in the company of men like these. It’s the smoke sessions, the one guy that marries the stripper and will forever be a PFC, the small words of leadership that to the entitled would yield a middle finger, but to those who have served, will keep them moving when there is nothing left in the tank. Those things. They're small things, and yet so huge. I hope this series continues, and I hope the grit, and determination, and brotherhood, and dark humor, and all the other Rangering continues until the end. Jason and Nick, you nailed this one and it’s ridiculous you managed to stir up some forgotten memories within me in a book about Orcs and Wizards. But I guess it’s not about them at all. It’s about Rangers, and every other combat arms soldier that’s served. You almost got a tear from me, and for that, I’m going to go put my back against a wall, get into a riding position, and ride an imaginary Harley across the U.S. until my legs give out and the walls sweat. Thank You for this one men.

Just get to the bloody story please...

We get it...we get it. Rangers are "Awesome." Could please get to the story without hours of exposition?!?!
I'm a fan of Jason and Nick, but this story sure beat a dead horse with incredibly tedious exposition. I want a fun story about Ranger's fragging Orcs and monsters, but I can do without the hours of not-so-subtle social commentary and conspiracy theories. I'm going to stick with Galaxy's edge when the series continues, but this new series is a no for me.

Reviewed on an advanced copy due to preorder.

When I first saw the concept of the book I was expecting to read an American version of the anime GATE, I was pleasantly surprised. Anspach and Cole were able to take the modern equipment and tactics of the US military and show how it would preform in a realistic way when met with an enemy that either doesn't feel fear, or fears the bark and bite of rifles far less than the magic of the new world.
The way this book integrated high fantasy and military fiction was a sight to behold and I cant wait to get ahold of Book 2.
Be Meaner than it!

Outstanding mix of modern and fantasy fiction!

Absolutely loved the book. My buddies and I, when we were in the field or deployed, used to sit around and wonder what it'd be like if a company of hard charging Soldiers were transported to an alternate dimension. This book delivers it on a scale that knocks it out of the park! Can't help but think that all those years of playing D&D in secret paid off!!
Listening to the creed got me a little misty too as recited alongside.

Reviewed an advance copy received via pre-ordering

Summary: Black Hawk Down meets Lord of the Rings...or Lord of the Rings meets Black Hawk Down.

If you've ever watched a fantasy movie and wondered, "I wonder what a light machine gun would do to those marching orcs," or "what if this D&D "ranger" was actually a U.S. Army Ranger," then this is the book for you. Great action and an original but familiar setting.

All Battle Little Story

If this book is an indicator to the remaining stories in the series, those that are really into battle descriptions are in for a fun arc.
I am not one of those folks.
I really hoped for a lot more story and was overwhelmed by the constant battle.
I will not be going on in this story arc.

Qanon meets GATE

Never in the 10 years I hav been on audible left a 1 star review. I thought this would be along the same lines as the Arisen series. (all time fave) But my god was this that Bad. First off the storyline is a Direct rip off of the GATE anime series. Then to make it worse the it hits you over the head with so much Qanon, pizzagate, Deep State BS that it feel like Roger Stone had a hand in writing it. No wonder the writers are constantly getting banned of Facebook.

Does not Disappoint!

This book is everything you would expect from this creative team of authors and a little more.
This is a great stand alone but there could be more. (More Please!) Much better than most adult fairy tales (this isn't one but has done similar elements) and it's fun to see what happens when the military visits fantasyland.
I love that this book is appropriate for a PG-13 audience so I can share with anyone.
The narrator keeps the story moving along and gives an interpretation of the material that is thoroughly enjoyable.

I'm a fan

I came across the books of Anspach et al by chance and I have to say I'm a fan as other reviews have mentioned it's Lord of the Rings meets We were soldiers.
No story reveals just get a copy you won't be disappointed, roll on the next instalment.

Definitely Sold on this!

Absolutely brilliant mashup. Waiting patiently for the next one. Great narrator by the way. Really got me from the first page.

Filled with racist dog whistles

I found this an uncomfortable listen.

Apart from the puerile adulation of violence and worshipful praise that’s heaped on it meat headed protagonists. This is a gossamer thinly vailed fable is in my opinion, laced with blatant racism.

The ‘enemy’ who are literally subhuman creatures (rendered into canon fodder for mindless trigger happy ‘patriotots’) are garbed in Chinese Coolie hats, Mullah’s robes and Babbling a hybrid language, a convenient mixture of German, Arabic and Chinese. This reads like a who’s who of races US Nationalists wants to view down a gun site.

The god like hero the writer lord as the paragon Ranger kind calls himself Thor and is of course blond with blue eyes. Far right groups have a history of co-opting Norse mythology btw.

If perchance this unsubtle racist flat shovel in the face escapes you and you can reasonably find fault with my analysis, I’d like to draw your attention to when the writers literally refer to Pakistanis as Paki’s

It a disgrace.

Promised little, delivered less

Had an extra credit to spare.. Thought I'd try this. Wasted. Incoherent story that goes nowhere. Runaway machismo with obsessive serial number gun fetish. One battle takes half the book and that's the better half. The rest is repeated bleating about coffee addiction and ranger magnificence. I'd yawn but I wasted enough energy on this already. Narration is poor with appalling accents. I'll have my credit back please..

GRATE

loved it, best listen for a while, couldn't turn it off
as good as R C Bray

BRILLIANT

Bit unsure to start with, very quickly got into it, story brilliant performance brilliant, can't wait for the next story, rangers, orks, elves and a vampire navy seal, BRILLIANT

Seriously enjoyable

This was fun. A spec ops / middle earth mashup. Excellent story arc, good characterisation, likeable protagonist, interesting narrative structure and a superb vocal performance. Hurry up volume 2!

Rangers rangering rangerly

A great adventure, narrated with mixed competence, but that may have been down to the script. narrator does do excellent voices for the characters, his Gandalf is pretty good.

The bad is the sheer lack of brevity. "Hey guys, remember how we're Rangers and we do ranger things?" The same information is hammered home every few chapters and several times I found myself yelling 'yeah, I got it bro. Ranger can be used as a verb. funny. Now tell a different joke!'

But otherwise, this is worth a gander if you are patient with it.

Way to much explanation not enough excitement!!

this was a struggle. the premise was interesting, but i just found the constant over explaining of every situation from the main character constantly removed me from the story. plenty of battles but slowed down so much by the over explaining, i forgot what they were fighting about. characters are very forgettable, as i found them very genric. so didn't care. Which is the feeling im left with about the book.

outstanding

truly unique.excellent. thoroughly enjoyed this book a great idea well written. great. write more please