Rise and Fall

Book One of the Blood and Tears Trilogy

By: Joshua P. Simon

Narrated by: Jonathan Waters

Length: 17 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's Summary

An ill-prepared queen, a soft-hearted mercenary, and a crippled warrior struggle as a kingdom falls and an empire rises. For years, the High Mages of Cadonia have maintained an uneasy peace among the nobles disgruntled with the rule of the king. In the aftermath of a tragic event, Elyse, the king's daughter, is thrust into a role she is not ready for. As queen, she must now determine who to trust while struggling to keep the kingdom from collapsing around her. The Hell Patrol, a legendary mercenary outfit commanded by Jonrell, finds itself disenfranchised with their current employer. Recalling a promise he made over a decade ago, Jonrell breaks his contract in order to right the wrongs of his past.

On the continent of Hesh, the Blue Island Clan has long been ignored by its neighbors. Tobin, a warrior and son of the Clan's ruler, struggles as an outcast as he watches his brother Kaz lead his father's army to glory. Emboldened by a new friendship with a mysterious shaman, Tobin finds himself gaining the respect he always wanted.

An epic fantasy tale, Rise and Fall is the first book in the Blood and Tears Trilogy.

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©2011 Joshua P. Simon (P)2013 Joshua P. Simon

Excellent entry into a new fantasy trilogy

The opening throws you into the action of the nation of Cadonia with marked carnage, leaving young Elyse the new queen. We are subsequently taken to 2 other story lines, those of Jonrell (a mercenary of highborn lineage, whose ancestry isn't revealed until later, so I won't divulge here) and the story of two warrior brothers (Tobin and Kaz) of the Blue Island Clan.

Overall, there is much action and good plotting especially with the Jonrell and Blue Island Clan story lines. I felt the political machinations in the Elyse storyline dragged a bit, but was more than compensated for in the action in the rest of the book.

The character development held few surprises (in classic epic fantasy fashion), but was well-handled and written, so was enjoyable, if a bit predictable. The characters were engaging (including one crusty female mercenary, aptly named Hag) and the alternating story lines well plotted without being confusing. I did find the ending surprising and look forward to the next volume of this series.

The narrator did a good job overall, especially with the various male characters and one of the female characters (Hag.) The other female voices sounded a bit cartoonish, but it must be difficult to do such a range of voices and accents. This volume would have benefited from the addition of a female narrator to voice the female characters.

Narrator Trying Way Too Hard

I don't want to be universally down on this book. On the bright side, it has a nice title. The main characters are pretty well developed if a little simple. The story is... easy to follow, at least.

That's it; that's all i got. As to negatives:

This book feels like Simon was trying to write "The Black Company" or "Gardens of the Moon" (Cook and Erikson, respectively), but wanted to leave out innovations like good dialogue, interesting character interactions, humanesque emotion, or creative story lines.

The narrator is giving it his all (bless his heart). He overdoes in every case but a few. His female characters sound like he's a grown man trying to mock a four year old. His accents are all over the map and they migrate over the course of the reading. A brother and sister in the book that were raised together have drastically different accents. His "burly man" voice is cartoonish. He also pauses mid-sentence as if there is a comma every three words. It's very distracting.

There are also some editing flubs. It's as if they thought this book would win through on enthusiasm alone. I would not recommend this to a friend. I would recommend this to someone I am trying to discourage from reading fantasy.

What and adventure

A must read/listen in my books. The author had me questioning my judgment of each character several times.

Though tough to follow in the beginning, the narrative of each character was gripping and the story line exceptional. The fight scenes were well written and easy to follow.

Can't wait to listen to the rest of the series.

Good story!💜

This book has two major issues going on. The first, the hatred between 2 brothers and the rule of their father. The second, is WAR. I’m not a huge war fan but I found the story of the brothers was so engaging that it kept me wanting more.
The war going on had too many factions for me and so many characters that I admit at times I was a bit confused. Did I stop after book 1? Heck no. There was more storyline that I enjoyed than not. But mostly because I enjoyed the narration so much. Jon E Waters was new to me only a few months ago and now I can’t get enough. His voices are brilliant and especially his female voices. I love the way he performs so many different characters in one story. Fantastic. I recommend this book/series but remember sometimes in war good people die. This book is not a standalone and does not have an HEA. The entire trilogy is already published.

Sisters Spotlight 💜

Good Start to another Series

This Audible book has 2 different stories going on that are moving to intertwine. It takes Several Chapters while author brings the different characters in that are somewhat confusing, but stick with it as it resolves into a Good Story. Narrator does a good job with the characters voices and the storyline.

Great narration but a bit of a predictable story

I liked this book but felt that the big reveal events were supposed to be things we figured out ages before, and I'm pretty slow to see the surprise plot sneaking up.

Another great narration by Mr Waters, who brings the story to life

Full series awesome

There is no words for me...to describe this series other than I wish there were more.Awesome narration good ending good plot

Loved

I really enjoyed this audible. From the character development to the details in the story are masterly told.
The narrator did an amazing job.
You won’t be disappointed in this series.

Excellent fantasy series

This is an action packed fantasy series. If you like war and magic, then this one is definitely for you.

great story

great story even with jumping back and forth from person to person loved it. I will continue read the series

Exciting! I need more.

A very exciting turn of events. Following several characters spread out over space and time. I must learn more, especially since this ending was quite a cliffie!
The narration was good and it was easy keeping up.

weak tale, poorly read

it was worth a try, but I had to give up. so many clichés, tired tropes of the genre. just about adequate style and world building, but the reading is awful. does no one edit these books? a Calvary charge on a spurned horse is hilarious! not good enough