Imperial Wizard

By: J Parsons

Narrated by: Matt Hicks, Melissa Green

Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

An age has passed, a blight curses the land, and one hero stands above the rest to restore the balance.

Verdan Blacke is an Imperial Wizard, a researcher by preference but soldier by necessity. Surviving an intense battle, Verdan is cursed by a hex witch in her final moments. Without any good options, Verdan escapes the ever-increasing pain the curse inflicts by performing a self-made stasis ritual.

When the spell fades, and he has awoken, Verdan finds a world completely different from the one he left behind. Dark things work in daylight with impunity, once common knowledge is a mystery, and even the nature of magic that humans use has changed.

One wizard, a million problems, and the wrath of profound magic.

©2023 J Parsons (P)2023 Royal Guard Publishing LLC

Amazing

I decided to give this book a chance and honestly, I was not disappointed. It sounded like a cultivation story it has elements of it in it for sure,

I tried...

The story itself is fairly decently written. it has some OP character traits without it seeming boring, the world building is interesting, the characters actually have personalities. I wanted so badly to enjoy this, but from the second I turned it on, the narration frustrated, if not completely angered me. I have no clue what accents the male narrator was trying to do, but they were inconsistent and often came off as cartoon-y. When there was a conversation between the male and female narrators, the sound was so off it was jarring. Being completely honest, I returned this and read on Kindle so I could at least get the story. If narration is a killer for you, I highly recommend skipping this book

A great first book

I received a free copy to give my honest opinion, I will try to avoid spoilers. In Arthurian legend, it was said that the great king will one day return to save the land. However in this case, instead of Arthur, it's Merlin. That should give you a hint of the kind of culture shock and shenanigans our MC will go through. Overall, this was an entertaining story.

OK story with a frustrating MC

The story was alright at the start, but I found it increasingly frustrating moving forward. The MC has lost knowledge from his past that he refuses to teach/show because it is too dangerous or might cause wars. He doesn't seem to realize the crappy situation he and the whole of humanity is in though. Monsters roam around and it gets worse year after year, corrupting magic has has turned powerful magic users and people into some kind zombie like creatures left unchecked, but yeah lets not share information because it might cause a war. It is actually more surprising that humanity isn't dead with how bad and corrupt they are.

3.5 stars rounded up.

Good, entertaining story. A few too many characters by the end of the book I was starting to confuse who was who.

The narrator was good for the most part, but some of his voices were a little mush-mouthed and hard to understand.

I’ll likely get the next one.

Kind of boring

The story or lack of is all over the place. The very first town the MC runs into, the MC stops and sets up shop. Way to many characters introduced and the MC is not even flushed out. The MC seems like a side character because he really doesn't add anything. He is a one trick pony, most of the magics users are. Any long drawn out battle the magic users are just useless.

Strong start

Join Verdin on his adventure. An ancient and powerful wizard puts himself in stasis, awakening long after he's a bit nerfed. The book basically has him learning what the world has become as he slept

Decent enough story with okay narration

The story is a bit simplistic but good enough for fans of traditional progression fantasy. Interesting premise, strong prose, well-written action/combat, good world-building,

The narration quality is...okay, overall. The male narrator is on average much better than the female narrator, the latter having trouble making different female characters sound differently. Meanwhile the male narrator has a great range of voices and the MC is voice acted very well. But he sometimes puts odd or unnecessary emphasis on words and, worse, occasionally misreads the text badly.

Overall, a decent read/listen if you've already consumed the top-tier of the PF genre.

Insufferable, and the narrators are distracting

The mc is handed everything he needs, is OP and is a white knight to everyone he meets. Seems like a projected fantasy of the author to be the cool guy unsung hero. Has a good premise and the world building and magic system is a decent enough mash up of familiar tropes. But there is no growth, any real danger, antagonists are paper thin, characters are thinner than deli ham. Save the credit.

That. Was. EPIC!!!

First, thanks go out to Royal Guard for this review code and opportunity to listen to this book!

Now the book… I didn’t have high expectations since I hate being let down. Which allows for surprises like this book! The story is relatively simple but Parsons makes it epic with his creative touch. The MC is actually enjoyable and leaves you continually interested in seeing his personality be revealed; for him to develop and for us to discover his past, bit by bit. He isn’t an idiot and he has already experienced a lot in the past to guide his actions.
The characters that surround him are engaging, filled with nuance and Parsons makes them easy to be invested in.
The lore is rich and leave me wanting to learn more.
The magic and progression system is relatively simple but fun. And I should probably say “systems” since there are more than one.
The simple story has Slice of Life elements that I really enjoy. I’m looking forward to the next book!

As always, Matt Hicks is an excellent narrator with the treat of having a female narrator for the female characters with Melissa Green giving the experience of this audiobook all the more enjoyable.