Greatshadow

The Dragon Apocalypse, Book 1

By: James Maxey

Narrated by: Jake Urry

Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's Summary

A classic sword and sorcery dungeon crawl to hunt a dangerous dragon! 

After stealing a priceless relic from the Church of the Book, Infidel is the world’s most infamous mercenary. Now she’s got her eyes on a new prize, the fabled treasure trove of the dragon Greatshadow. Joining forces with a band of dangerous rogues, can she survive her own allies long enough to face the dragon? 

Narrated by Jake Urry!

©2012 James Maxey (P)2017 James Maxey

Critic Reviews

"This one is worth reading right now." (Orson Scott Card)

"Greatshadow's level 30+ adventure is charming, not po-faced, with a group of flawed, sarcastic, quick-witted and oddball adventurers that are equally comfortable with set-piece battle and rapid fire sarcasm." (Pornokitsch)

"A magnificently entertaining romp bursting with charm." (SFX)

If you enjoy fantasy at its best, this is a must

Stagger and Infidel are bounty hunters searching for highly prized dragon bones.  While chased by pygmies, Stagger accidentally stabs and kills himself with his bone knife,  and is transformed into a ghost tied to his knife, he must go where it goes.  Infidel, the beautiful warrior with impenetrable skin and unnatural strength, mourns his death, not knowing Stagger is still following her.  She joins a strange band of magical warriors and priests to slay the elemental dragon, Greatshadow, to free the world of his control of fire.

This is an extremely complex story with imaginative characters and demons.  Maxey paints a richly detailed world of magic and adventure: impenetrable armor that only exists as long as long as 300 monks pray for its existence, a deceiver who can change reality by convincing others of his lies, a mercenary who can change into an animal from the tattoos on his body, an ice priestess who can freeze anything with a touch and many, many more.  The story’s originality and fresh ideas alone are worth the visit, but it is the richly developed characters that will keep the listener enjoying the ride.

The plot is far too complex to describe here.  Each character has his or her own reason for searching out the elemental dragon, Greatshodow.  One wants to kill it for king and country, others just for the money, another as an enslaved magician and Infidel to bury her grief.  It is an epic adventure that will satisfy fantasy lovers.

Jake Urry performs the story magnificently.  He brings the story to life with his exceptional voice and character portrayals.  A beautiful dance of narrator and story and a pleasure to listen to.

Greatshadow is a thoroughly entertaining action adventure fantasy.  It even throws a bit of philosophy into the mix about when messing with nature is going too far.  It is book one in the series, but stands alone as a complete novel.  You’ll definitely want to listen to book two when it is available.  If you enjoy fantasy at its best, this is a must listen.  Highly recommended.

Audiobook was provided for review by the narrator.

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

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Greatshadow

Any additional comments?

A great fantasy book with some really cool additions to the wonderful world of dragon mythology. I loved the story telling devise, thought it worked really well and very much look forward to reading the next in the series.

Intriguing Fantasy.

Whilst being chased through the jungle by pygmies, Stagger and Infidel have no choice but to jump off a cliff into the water. Unfortunately Stagger accidentally stabs and kills himself with his knife. He then becomes bound to the knife and has to go where it goes. Infidel, is distraught but gathers up his knife and flees. She needs a job so joins a quest to slay the mighty Greatshadow, but the gang of unlikely accomplices have there work cut out for them trying to slay an elemental Dragon.

I have to say that I did not expect to love this as much as I did!! The author has created a very vivid and intrinsic world and one I absolutely adored! There is so much happening within the pages that it was impossible to put down. The world the author created was extremely well crafted and pleasantly unique.

Character wise, we have a wide variety of them but each was well written and developed. We have a warrior whom is nearly indestructible, a priest who can sense lies and other untruths, he is also powerful in his own right, we have a deceiver who can make you believe anything, a man who can bring armor into being just by opening a book and more, plus we have dragons!!! It was amazing to read about them all.

The plot was fast paced and so entertaining. The quest they set out on is impossible because everyone who has tried has failed, plus, how can you defeat the Dragon of fire? I also loved how the story was told!! It was told via Staggers POV, even though he is a ghost!! It was a refreshing way for it to be told and I thoroughly enjoyed Stagger!

In all, an intriguing, exciting and adventurous tale and I'm so glad it seems to be a series. I want to know more about the world and characters!!

Jake Urry surpassed himself with his narration here. Every book I've listened to that he has narrated has been a 5 star narration, but this one was even better. The sheer amount of tones and voices he had was phenomenal! He was goofy and silly when needed (the goons) and tense and serious when called for. His voice for the dragons were amazing and he nailed the performance of the whole book. Amazing narration!!!

I was voluntarily provided this audiobook for free from the author, narrator, or publisher. This in no way affected nor influenced my thoughts.

Awesome!

Fast paced, funny, full of adventure and romance. Great book, great narration, just perfect.

Epic Fantasy

I got this ARC via audiobook boom. Listening to 13 hours of action mixed with humor, zany characters, and tragedy and an awesome narrator was a great way to spend time crocheting. All told through the voice of a dead man.The only problem I have with the whole story is that for 13 hours the story ends in a cliffhanger. I have yet to understand how a mind that can produce such a story can't find a better transition to the next story without it being a cliffhanger. I was able to relate to the characters and enjoy the story until the end. Why?

A truly original epic fantasy

Greatshadow is a truly original epic fantasy. The story it’s self is that a group of unlikely allies get together to try and kill a dragon, and anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. There is a good amount of silly mixed in, but it kept me engaged from start to finish. I didn’t want to pause the book at all, which is hard to say for most 13 hour novels. What really sets this book apart from other epic fantasy novels is the way in which the story was told. I’ve never heard of another story told from the POV of a dead guy, who isn’t really the main character. Plus, there are a few times that he breaks the fourth wall, but it an entertaining and well-done way. There is also large and diverse cast that shouldn’t be able to work together, yet somehow, they do... Kind of. The story has fantastic narration, with Jake Urry performing a huge amount of voices, but keeping them all separated and easily distinguishable. He especially does a great job with the dragon voices. Overall, this was a thoroughly entertaining book and I can’t wait for book two.

This audiobook was provided by the narrator at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.

6 Stars

There are very few books I have enjoyed more. Greatshadow, James Maxey and Jake Urry all get 6 stars. Way to go James!!

This book has action, adventure, romance, characters you want to hate and other you are cheers for. Very well balance story, not too much of any single character that dominates the story. I'm looking forward to books 2, 3 & 4.

"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

An Epic Fantasy Adventure

This was a great book and a must-read for all fantasy lovers. It had just about everything fantasy you can imagine. Dragons, magic, dwarves, elves, ghosts, ogres, necromancers, and much more.

The adventure centers around a group of barely allied warriors, adventures, and thieves who take off on a quest to kill the elemental dragon of fire, Greatshadow. With a storyline that takes many twists and turns, you'll have a hard time stopping before the book is over.

I was unsure about the narrator for the first 20-30 minutes, however, I knew after the first hour that he was the perfect voice for this book.

If you like any type of fantasy story, you will love this book!

I requested and received a free copy of this audiobook from the author, publisher, or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review. I was NOT required to write a positive review and this reflects my honest opinion of the work.

This was a fantastic surprise! Listen 2 this book!

From the very beginning I was pulled into this story. It doesn't follow all the tropes that one can include into a fantasy story. It was original from the beginning. And the narration was as well.

Within a few chapters I began to really appreciate the choice of narrator. Jake captures the main character well. He is a complex character, a bit shady. and the tone fit perfectly.

The other characters were also captured well. And the cynical moments felt cynical. The timing great, and I cracked up a few times because of the performance. GREAT job!

I loved how the story unveils. One might think a character, spiritually tied to a knife, would be a bore... would be limited. But James opened up a whole new world from the perspective of a knife.

GREAT story! Listen asap!

Great writing!

What made the experience of listening to Greatshadow the most enjoyable?

I love how different each character is.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I liked Lord Tower and his holy armor.

Which character – as performed by Jake Urry – was your favorite?

No face was hard to understand at times. Other than that, each one sounded unique and real.

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

I found myself excited to pick up where I left off. But it did take me a week to find the time to finish it.

Any additional comments?

Great story, great writing, can't wait for the next one!

Such a lot of fun

This was my first ever dragon book, it is also the first book in a four-part series, but it works perfectly fine as a standalone.
Told in first-person, the narrator isn't the protagonist making this quite an original way of relaying the story. Stagger, the narrator, actually dies right at the start of the story. Following his long-term companion around in ghost-format, Stagger tells the story of Infidel, a super strong female mercenary, and his secret love interest.
I really enjoyed Stagger's perspective. He was funny and endearing although he had basically been a drunk and a scoundrel most of his life.
The plot itself is a fairly typical action-adventure quest featuring a group of incompatible rogues setting off to slay a powerful dragon, Greatshadow, the dragon of fire. As I'm generally not a huge fan of fantasy epics, I appreciated that this was fast-paced action and entertainment rather than loads of world building. Characters were introduced with sufficient history and they, as well as the setting, were described thoroughly enough to make it easy to imagine the island, the dragons, the immortals, the orcs etc.
The rather mixed bunch of characters surrounding Infidel were all likeable and fun despite the expected tension within their group. I really enjoyed the "romantic" elements of Infidel's story as well although some of it was getting very close to being cheesy. Still, the arc about Stagger and Infidel's relationship, which neither of them had honestly and fully appreciated until Stagger wasn't alive anymore, was an interesting addition to all the sword wielding action.

Jake Urry brought the characters to life in a spectacular fashion. His dragon voices were menacing, his portrayal of The Three Goons was wonderful, in particular No Face. I like how Jake makes female characters sound believable and not like cartoon-type characters. There was a large cast of characters involved, but it was always clear who was talking due to Jake Urry's differentiation and tones. To be honest, I wouldn't have sat down to read this in book-format, it's just not my thing, but listening to this was phenomenal and so much fun.

Brilliantly Narrated

Where does Greatshadow rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Greatshadow ranks highly on my list of audiobooks I've listened to so far as it's a fascinating story narrated brilliantly by Jake Urry.

Have you listened to any of Jake Urry’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Yes, I have and he just keeps on getting better and better.

Any additional comments?

I loved this audiobook, the story came to life in the capable hands of Jake Urry who, in my opinion, is one of the best narrators I've come across so far. A fabulous and enjoyable listen that I would highly recommend.

Out of this world fantastic

Any additional comments?

What a book! Mr Maxey has the most wonderful imagination. The characters, Infidel, Stagger, Aurora are so brilliant, each one is so carefully thought out and brilliantly drawn. I loved The Goons. There is absolutely everything in this story; fantasy, romance, love, hate, betrayal, dysfunctional family relationships, the whole range of writing genres. As if the genius writing is not enough, the book's level is raised to an even higher stratosphere due to the narration by Jake Urry. How he manages to make all the voices of all the different players and keep them separated in his head is beyond me. He even makes No Face's speech consistently incomprehensible, (you'll understand why this is important when you listen to the book!). This is a work of art, written by a master author and narrated by a master actor and most definitely should be listened to by all. It will take you to places you'd never even dreamed of! 5 stars simply don't seem enough!

Thank you Jake Urry!

I would never have picked this book, but the narrator gave me a code so I decided to give it a go. I’m so glad I did! Absolutely brilliant and fab narration as always by Mr Urry! Can’t wait for the next one :-)

Enjoyable

Not my usual genre but I enjoyed this.
Fantasy & always moving story.
Jake Urry as always did a great job narrating and keeping the story flowing with life.

Great start to the series

I really love dragon stories so looked forward to listening to this one.

The book is very different from most books as it is told from the point of view of a dead person who is following the main person around as a ghost.

The story follows a woman who is a mercenary as heads out to steal the treasure of a dragon.
The book is really well written and i loved the narration on this story.

Great book

Loved it. Just love fantasy and this book didn't disappoint. The writer kept me captivating the whole way through. it is an excellent start to a serie. Can't wait to listen the the rest of the serie.

Top notch narration - extraordinarily good fun!

This was extraordinarily good fun - the narration by Jake Urry is faultless: atmospheric, crisp, with a different voice for each character and great different tones and dialects, simply top notch!
The story itself took me completely by surprise - I picked it up because I love the narrator, and I’m always a little sceptical with fantasy, as it so easily falls into tired tropes and clichés. This, however, was full of heart, adventure and humour, with a great cast of characters, well rounded world building and an original way of telling the tale. A great start to the series and I’m looking forward to the next one!

Book 1 in title, but strong as standalone

An interesting set of characters, a novel twist for the narrator and an entertaining writing style results in a book that despite being the first part of a series more than stands on it's own merits rather than the collective ones of that series.

The narrator within a book not being the main character can sometimes detract from a story if the author doesn't get the tone quite right, but thankfully that is not the case and the nature of that narrator makes for an interesting change too with him being inextricably linked to the story but still somewhat apart. I will refrain from revealing the twist even though some of the others have mentioned it, but for those who have unfortunately seen it in those other reviews, don't worry as knowing doesn't detract from a minor element that happens before the main part of the story in any case.

Moving onto the actual narrator of the book, he gave a strong overall performance, with a clear tone and suitable levels of distinction between the various character to nicely enhance the audiobook version of this novel.

Overall, I found this to be an entertaining listen and am interested in the subsequent books in the series because of it.

[Note - I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.]

Great story

All I can say is, Audible, hurry up with books three and four, please!
The story is told from a strange perspective, it is third person but really it is first person, without spoilers, I can't say any more than that, but it is a nice change. :)
As for the story, it is, roguelike dragon slayer fantasy, if you like the types of books you'll love this, I immediately bought the second book.
Jake Urry is a great vocal artist but this story is told at quite a slow pace, so you may want to turn up the speed a little.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.