Awakening

The Ydron Saga, Book 1

By: Raymond Bolton

Narrated by: Matt Standley

Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

How does a world equipped with bows, arrows and catapults, where steam power is just beginning to replace horses and sailing ships, avert a conquest from beyond the stars? Prince Regilius has been engineered to combat the Dalthin, a predatory alien species that enslaves worlds telepathically, and to do so he must unite his people. But when his mother murders his father, the land descends into chaos and his task may prove impossible. Faced with slaying the one who gave him life in order to protect his world, he seeks a better way. Set in a vast and varied land where telepaths and those with unusual mental abilities tip the course of events, Awakening goes to the heart of family, friendship and betrayal.

©2017 WordFire Press LLC (P)2018 WordFire Press LLC

A powerful story!

Awakening is an elegant and original fantasy story in a novel setting. It has exciting intrigue and action alongside inspired themes of enlightenment and friendship.

X-Files meets Hamlet in a Fantasy World!

This is a great start for a series that links two genres that rarely meet: conspiracy science fiction and second world fantasy (with a taste of steampunk). The action is very fast paced and there is always something going on. Great stuff!

Story is great

The audio version would be better with a narrator that gives life to the story. This narrator seems to have forgotten emotion and infliction in his narration. The story itself is full of intrigue, and a little action. It is a unique blend of fantasy and sci-fi.

Great premise but poor presentation

This story revolves around a set of characters that include the son and daughter of the king and queen, the princes' sailing friends and tutor as well as the daughter's nanny. Other characters are later introduced into the story line as well.

The story involves a world where one alien race has come to conquer and consume the occupants of the world and a second alien race who are attempting to stop them. In the process they develop the inhabitants with both technology and mental abilities to fight the conquering aliens.

The story starts when the prince begins to experience visions and to know what is going on around him even when he is not present. At the same time the queen plots to remove the king and assume the role of leader. This sets up a situation that is involved in the heart of the story where the small group must escape and find a way to resolve the political conflict and at the same time prevent the aliens from gaining dominance.

The story line was good, the action was light though. There was far to much soul searching and indecision to actually survive such situations. The narration was very stilted and poorly done especially for the male parts. The narrator was actually better on the female characters but never gained momentum to bring off a great performance.

This book was provided free with the expectation of an honest review.

Fascinating story, but the narrator is not for me

I got this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
I really like this story. Creative characters and brilliant world building. It's like a cross between the sci fi of Babylon 5 and the fantasy of LotR: really, truly brilliant work.
My only complaint is the narrator. I genuinely had a hard time getting into the book with this reader. I think Siri could probably narrate with more life than he does.
But the book itself is really first rate, and I would recommend it.