Kingmaker's Sword

Rune Blades of Celi, Book 1

By: Ann Marston

Narrated by: Austin Vanfleet

Triumphing over adversity and evil, Kian dav Leydon brings the fabled Rune Blade Kingmaker back to the Isle of Celi after it was stolen, so the Isle will be ready when and if invasion comes.

©2012 Ann Marston (P)2017 Ann Marston

great story, not crazy about the narrator

The narrator did decent voices, but sounded a bit pompous. Other than that, the story was great.

A delight!

Story is thrilling, descriptions were delightful, setting and characters were a dream to imagine in their kilts and side braids and sword dances. Narrator did an excellent job, Jeriad's voice was my favorite.

Fun story

Performance: the performance and narration was really on point. The accent was well worth the listen and well done. As an audio professional I sometimes get bugged by little things on recordings and I didn’t hear any of the inconsistencies in editing or production.

Story: I enjoyed the fact the story did not follow traditional fantasy of “here is a magic item, you must be chosen, go win.” I like when the hero of our story has to work a little harder and find their place in the world. I would recommend this as a fun book to listen to!

Amazing New Series

Where does Kingmaker's Sword rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Among the top. Ready to dive into book 2.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Colin, Oh my gosh, why!! no, no, no. And "Bringing Him Home" I needed Kleenex.

What about Austin Vanfleet’s performance did you like?

He had me hooked from the start. making the characters come to life.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

I love it when I can enjoy a book so much that I to want to become a part of it. This new world is fascinating, To me great fiction is bringing the listener into a world the writer created and believing it.
This book was given to me for free at my request and that I provide this honest voluntary review, I do so without reading other reviews in order to form my own opinion.

A welcome change

In a genre full of stories based in or inspired by English/Arthurian lore, having a book with with a foundation in Scottish lore and settings was a breath of fresh air. Instead of relying on a clever magic system, the story focuses on the characters, and becomes more of an engrossing adventure because of it. The magic is there, but you are eased into it perfectly as the story moves along. You really get invested emotionally into Kian and the gang, and i bought into it totally. I also enjoyed that, even though its 'book 1', you actually get an ending, instead of some cliffhanger to get you to buy the next in the series. And because the focus was instead on the characters, it makes me want to pick up book 2 (which i will). Very well written, and wonderfully performed, I will be recommending this one to my fellow fantasy readers. This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.