Fae - The Wild Hunt

Riven Wyrde Saga, Book 1

By: Graham Austin-King

Narrated by: Jonny McPherson

Length: 14 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

Fairies. The Fae. The stuff of bedtime stories and fables. But sometimes the fairy tales are true. Sometimes they are a warning.

For a hundred generations the Fae have been locked away from the world, in the cold, the Outside. They have faded out of sight and mind into myth and folklore, but now the barriers are weakening and they push against the tattered remnants of the wyrde as they seek a way to return.

As a new religion spreads across the world, sweeping the old ways and beliefs away before it, a warlike people look across the frozen ocean towards the shores of Anlan, hungry for new lands. War is coming, even as the wyrde of the droos is fading.

Only by realizing the truth lost in a child's tale will the world hope to withstand the wild hunt.

©2014 Graham Austin-King (P)2016 Graham Austin-King

A really good read (or listen) for fantasy lovers

When I listened to this novel, I had just finished a steampunk book, so going "back to the roots" of fantasy was very refreshing to me. The narrator did a very good job with this book, and I wanted to say that I thought the female voices were well-done, which is something I don't often see with male narrators. Right off the bat, I became heavily invested in characters in the book due to the sudden drama that occurs. I was interested in one set of characters, and then the POV would change and I would be disappointed, only to find myself then interested in this new/different character. I found all of the main POV characters to be very interesting in their own way and the way that the story was developing had me hooked. I think the POV changes and time changes that occur were well done, not skipping too much important things while progressing the story to where it needed to be. Overall, I very much enjoyed the story and would happily listen to the next one when time (and money!) permits. I would certainly recommend!
*Spoiler* My only disappointment was that the book for me seemed to end in the middle of a very important scene. It felt as if the book should have ended either before the event started or at some resolution phase.
I received this audiobook for free, and this in no way shaped my opinions.

The night is dark, and full of Fae!

I love me a fairy tale, whether the Fae therein are portrayed as good or bad (as they seem to be often interchangeable in the various mythos in which they appear). The Fae in this one are pretty obviously the bad Fae, and I'm down with it. Dark, scary Fae are okay.

It took me a little while to truly get into. The story didn't really latch on to my attention until about 1/4 of the way in or so. Once we got a bit settled down with Kloss, I was completely immersed. The shifting POV between Selena, Kloss, and Devin gave a nice view of the whole story from multiple angles. I really liked Selena's 'I'M THE BOSS' attitude. I'm excited to see how she deals with the situation that is arising. I'm also excited to see if everyone puts their differences aside, so to speak, to deal with what has become an entirely larger problem than Vikings vs the locals, in the end.

The narrator of this book was amazing. Accents on point (though, I might have made the Bjornmen ah... Scandinavianer, which is a word I just made... but I'll roll with this). Stress in the right places. Out-of-breathiness when it fit. He told this story very well, and I do really hope that we get audio versions of books 2 and 3 of this trilogy with this same narrator. My fingers are crossed.

Really well done!

EERIE Story! Grimdark Fantasy At Its Best

The premise of Fae The Wild Hunt, Book 1, is a large, medieval-like mainland is separated from a cluster of islands by an ocean that is very difficult to navigate. The islands have limited resources, and the people raid the mainland for food and other goods. The culture of the people on the islands is focused on raising young boys into warring raiders adept at navigating the ocean. If it sounds similar to medieval Europe being raided by Vikings, it is, but there are many differences that set this world apart.

The story moves between a few main characters on both the mainland and the islands. They're very different in their culture, motivations, and outlook on how to live and survive. In the opening chapters, we are witness to a tragic story of a boy and his family being attacked by bandits while travelling on the mainland. The Grimdark kicks in with an introduction of one of the Fae when the boy and his mother stumble into the forest. The Fae is a humanoid creature with glowing orange eyes that has absolute contempt for the boy when anyone else would show empathy and care. It's clear that the Fae are evil and very angry at humans. We don't know why at this point, but what sets this story apart from others is the very detailed description of the Fae, how the world reacts to the area the Fae are in, and the absolute terror on the part of the humans who come across them. There's a larger backstory of the Fae being locked away in another 'world' and they're slowing breaking their bonds, allowing them to walk the world of humans again for the first time in over 100 generations. The action really kicks in when more Fae appear in the world and come across the mainland nations attempting to defend themselves from a large island raiding force.

The story is narrated very well by Jonny McPherson. But, be warned that Mr. McPherson yells when a character shouts orders, laughs, cries, and other similar sounds that act out the emotions of the characters. It takes some getting used to, but in the end, I nearly forgot that one person narrated this story, all the characters sounded unique.

I enjoyed Book 1 in this series, and I'm a few chapters already into Book 2. Creepy, eerie, and it's very suspenseful - the Fae are powerful and it's difficult for me to see how the humans are going to defend against the onslaught.

I recommend the author and the narration, but not the book

Listening to this, I believe this author loves fantasy. These are grimdark themes, but they weren’t written by a skeptic writer who tries to subvert the usual tropes just to prove his intelligence. I feel like he loves what he writes and that’s important to me. The narration is immersive and well done.
That said, the story is repetitive throughout, uses the same clichês a couple of times and there are many details which I find unnecessary and dull. It was difficult to finnish because of that.
In conclusion, I would try something else from this author because I feel he deserves another chance. But I’m not interested in how this particular story ends.

Great new series and I LOVED the narrator

I listened at 1.25 speed because that seemed more like normal speech speed to me and I'm a bit ADD. ... I think the narrator was dragging the length out by reading a bit slow or the editor slowed the tape.... however this narrator is really really talented and nice to listen to. he does many character voices well and he has a very pleasant voice. I probably could have enjoyed it at regular speed once I was onto the book (so 3 minutes in, lol). Why haven't I heard of this narrator before? ???? he's got a GREAT voice!!! Very talented narrator and author.

This is a bit of a coming of age story while still remaining very original. It follows 2 boys on different sides of an upcoming war until they come together. This book has action, love, danger and introduces us to the mysterious fae. This book would be OK for YA but it does not feel like YA or immature, however no sex, rape or really gory scenes. it's not missing action at all. You instantly love these emotionally mature characters and the world they live in. I did not struggle even once to stay engaged, from the very beginning all the way through. This author is a true storyteller so works and character building are developed and is an absolute treat to explore.
I have >900 audio books, 75% fantasy however probably 40% are unfinished because I am not disciplined enough to stick with books that can't grab my attention right away. .....