Ruins on Stone Hill

Heroes of Ravenford, Volume 1

By: F.P. Spirit

Narrated by: Alexander P. Wender

Length: 14 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

What do you get when you mix a novice wizard, a reckless warrior, a sharp-tongued thief, and a saintly cleric? Swords, sorcery, and sarcasm.

Glolindir thought he knew all about magic until he came face-to-face with his very first monster. He only survived thanks to his new friends: a gallant warrior as talented as he is reckless, a mysterious halfling whose knives are nearly as sharp as his tongue, and a saintly gnome whose very touch can heal.

Unfortunately, that was just the beginning of their troubles. Strange things have been happening around the little town of Ravenford. Before they know it, they are up to their necks in monsters and worse.

From eerie ruins to underground caves to a ghostly forest devoid of life, they encounter the forces of darkness. Can they overcome their faults and work together to save the town, or will they die trying?

Enter a world of magic and adventure in this fun tale of heroes in the making. Perfect for fans of Lord of the Rings and Dungeons & Dragons.

©2014, 2016, 2018 F. P. Spirit (P)2023 F. P. Spirit

Gripping and fun!

A gréât book to read or listen to on a rainy Sunday or any day. Wonderful characters and very entertaining!

Okay. Not great.

The narration is the most notable aspect of this book. It. is. very. stilted. So. much. so. that. it. is. very. distracting. I listened to it at 1.5 speed and it was slightly better, but this was obviously done with a limited budget and probably a single take with little to no editing or looking ahead as many of the inflections don't make sense in terms of the story, particularly during the dialogs. The only "accent" changes were between a nasal "New Yorker" and a generic Northern accent.

The story is reminiscent of amateur D&D minus the dice and character sheets. It is hard to tell if the choppy "forced" story is due mostly to the narration or the awkward wording. I understand that some of it is due to trying to convey a personality or two, but it is nonetheless difficult to follow and is inconsistent, ultimately defeating the purpose for which it was implemented.

This is obviously an attempt of someone trying break into a well established market. I want to be supportive of such artists. It is easy to find fault and hard to give kudos. Some of the characters do try to break away from the stereotypical molds, such as a halfling ninja, a gnome cleric, an elf mage who is inexperienced and a heavily armored warrior woman (instead of scantily clad). These changes were somewhat interesting, but ultimately not much was done with these breaks from convention.

Frankly, the narration was my least favorite part of this book. That being said, each word was clearly pronounced. Reading each paragraph and practicing a little before recording it may have helped considerably. Also making note of how each character "sounds" may have helped me differentiate them more easily and added to the immersion.

I am sure others will provide additional insights. I wish both artists the best of luck. Don't give up!

A Fun listen with action and Adventure

I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook. The story is fun and exciting and the narrator does a fabulous job in bring the characters to life. It is highly entertaining and it is time well spent listening to the audio with the rich narration and variety of characterizations. A job truly well done especially if you have already read the book. Hearing the different voices really was a treat. I highly recommend it.

So Glad This Is In Audio Now!

I love this series, so I was REALLY excited for the audiobooks.
I was not disappointed. The narrator does a good job, is clear, and the further he gets into the story, the more he gets into it. Some of the voices were a little unexpected and different from what I had in my head, but they totally worked!
And Seth is my favorite character... even more so with that accent. It fits SO. WELL.
Overall, I was super happy to share this with my kids and let them listen to one of my favorite Indie Authors while I worked from home. They really enjoyed it, and we are all looking forward to the following audios!

Fun story, Awful naration

I have read these books before, and I enjoyed them. so when I was looking for something enjoyable to listen to while I'm at work I figured I'd give these books a try. At 7.99 I figured I wouldn't lose much. I'm glad though that I did not buy all books in the series, because the narrator of this book is absolutely awful. He reads very slowly. leaving. spaces. in. between. words. His accent isn't bad, but he gives the characters voices that you'd find in a video game. These guys are heroes, but two of them sound like sneaky weasels and another two sound like lumbering idiots. I almost quit listening as soon as he introduced Lloyd, but kept going in the hope that it would get better. Unfortunately it got worse and worse. on top of the horrible character voices, there were uncountable mispronounced words and words that were over enunciated. People don'T. talK. like. thAT. (It very much reminded me of Master Shifu from the movie Kung Fu Panda.)
In short, I would recommend the books, but would not recommend the audio versions until they find a better narrator.