Reign & Ruin

Mages of the Wheel, Book 1

By: J.D. Evans

Narrated by: Tim Campbell, Caren Naess

Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

“All magic is beautiful...and terrible. Do you not see the beauty in yours, nor the terror in mine? You can stop a heart, and I can stop your breath.”

She is heir to a Sultanate that once ruled the world. He is an unwanted prince with the power to destroy. She is order and intellect, a woman fit to rule in a man's place. He is chaos and violence and will stop at nothing to protect his people.

His magic answers hers with shadow for light. They need each other, but the cost of balance may be too high a price. Magic is dying and the only way to save it is to enlist mages who wield the forbidden power of death, mages cast out centuries ago in a brutal and bloody war.

Now, a new war is coming. Science and machines to replace magic and old religion.

They must find a way to save their people from annihilation and balance the sacred Wheel—but first, they will have to balance their own forbidden passion. His peace for her tempest, his restlessness for her calm.

Night and day, dusk and dawn, the end, and the beginning.

©2019 J.D. Evans (P)2022 Podium Audio

Loved this

So worth the listen. Great voices. Great story. The beginning felt a little slow, but all good books start slow

Beautiful

This is easily one of my top 5 fantasy romance books ever. Would recommend to anyone interested in fantasy.

One of my favorite audiobooks - EVER!

Not only was this a great book, but this is hands down one of my favorite performances in an audiobook to date. I actually purchased the audiobook because I was so hooked on the story that I wanted to be able to continue “reading” when I was driving or working. Usually audiobooks are just a means to an end for me, but this one was genuinely so good that I listened to parts of the story that I had already read just to experience it in this form! An excellently written adult fantasy. The characters, their motivations, plans, personalities, and dialogue were all thoughtfully written and came across very true. The plot was interesting, and kept me guessing. I was so impressed that the author strayed away from the typical “romantasy” pitfalls. There were no overly cliche or dramatic misunderstandings between the love interests, no damsel in distress moments, and no major “red flags” from the male love interest that (I feel) often plague the “enemies to lovers” style stories, but are overlooked because we are supposed to love the main man. The same could be said of the female lead, who is enjoyable to read because she is realistically written. She has no skills she has not earned, and is ACTUALLY calculating, intelligent, and calm, something that the author shows us through many interactions rather than telling us.

I am genuinely surprised this is not at ACOTAR levels of admiration from the masses, because it has certainly surpassed that for me. A wonderful book for anyone who loves fantasy, romance, magic, and stepping fully into another world.

Fantastic Read

Great book- Evans finds a great balance between romance and fantasy. Interesting world building and magic system in a Middle Eastern setting - fresh change of pace from vaguely medieval Western Europe.

Voice actors do a great job with pacing, accents, and differentiating character dialogue without taking you out of story.

Romance is fully fleshed out despite attention to world building and political machinations. One of the best kids scenes I’ve read in awhile. Definitely worth reading, and I look forward to other books in series.

Loved This So Much!

This is absolutely gorgeous! I had read the book twice but the audio was completely different experience. J.D. Evans is a talented writer and this is the best start and most unique start I've read for a fantasy series in a while.

Balance

War is coming and Naime wants to rule when her father is no longer able but the Grand Vizer has his own plans and he is the leader of the Council.

Makrem, a mage of the void (death called by some), is the younger brother of the ruler of Sarkum and the leader of Sarkum's military forces. When he was a boy Makrem's parents didn't want him around so sent him to the janisaries for training. His brother 10 years his senior looked after him and befriended him until their parents died and he became Sarkum's ruler. Nobody ever dared hold his gaze for more than a second or two for fear of his magic, that was until he met Naime who looked him full in the eye with awe and amazement.

This book has magic, political intrigue, romance, and good vs evil. The best part of me was Naime who fought with her wits and not unbelievable prowess as so many women are depicted in stories these days.

Will she be able to fix the broken wheel? I guess I'll have to keep reading to find out. Loved the magnetism with Naime and Makrem.

Wonderfully written and phenomenal performance!

This was such a delightful read. The book is well written with an interesting world, the romance is tasteful and mature, and the performance by the narrators was fantastic!

Magic, Politics, and Romance

This book was amazing, start to finish. The political games might make the plot seem slow for those used to a lot of action, but the complex magic system and thorough world building more than make up for any lack.

I can’t wait to start the next book in the series.

intriguing and alluring

The story is very captivating and the narration on both the MFC and MMC did such a great job with the different characters. The political influence and the magic system is really good! I devoured it in two days and am excited to see what the next books hold!

In depth characters and great writing

Thoroughly enjoyed this book! All of the characters were in depth and well thought out and written. This book is more subdued and subtle than some other fantasy I’ve read but the plot is interesting and intricate and draws you in all the same.
The narrators were excellent. They really added to the story and captured the essence of the characters well.
Would highly recommend giving this a listen!