Spellslinger

Spellslinger Series, Book 1

By: Sebastien de Castell

Narrated by: Joe Jameson

Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

A would-be mage with no magic of his own has to defeat powerful enemies with only cunning and deception in the first book of an exciting adventure fantasy series from Sebastien de Castell.

Kellen is moments away from facing his first duel and proving his worth as a spellcaster. There's just one problem: his magic is fading.

Facing exile unless he can pass the mage trials, Kellen is willing to risk everything - even his own life - in search of a way to restore his magic. But when the enigmatic Ferius Parfax arrives in town, she challenges him to take a different path.

One of the elusive Argosi, Ferius is a traveller who lives by her wits and the cards she carries. Daring, unpredictable, and wielding magic Kellen has never seen before, she may be his only hope.

The first novel in a compelling six-book series, bursting with tricks, humor, and a whole new way to look at magic.

Spellslinger Series:

• Spellslinger
• Shadowblack
• Charmcaster

For more from Sebastien de Castell, check out:

The Greatcoats Quartet

• Traitor's Blade
• Saint's Blood
• Knight's Shadow
• Tyrant's Throne

©2018 Sebastien de Castell (P)2018 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"There's room for wit and playfulness amid the high-stakes duels and death matches, and Kellen's career is likely to run and run." (The Observer - UK)

"A bucket-load of tension is offset with humour, power struggles, lots of magic and some great characters. Fantasy junkies will devour with relish." (Guardian - UK)

"An intriguing system of magic, wry humor, and a twisting plot make for an entertaining series debut." (Kirkus)

Great story

I really enjoyed listening to this story and will definitely look for future books by this author and narrator. Highly recommended.

Lighter fare

Came to this book after listening to the amazing Greatcoats series, so this seemed a bit fluffy by comparison. However, I still found the writing to be engaging and enjoyable. Joe Jameson is a fantastic narrator, but Joe! Joe Joe Joe, what were you thinking with the Ferius voice?! I almost couldn’t listen to the story because of it. Not only does she (as well as Reichis) have a pitiful american accent, but Jameson shapes her voice as a quivering, obnoxiously pitched, hillbilly yodel that might be ok for a side character but so wrong for Ferius. I persisted nevertheless and am glad I did. Kellen’s voice is pure unadulterated J. J. which is, well, like crack for your ears. I’ll give the next book a go as well.

Spells and Tales

Great book, hard to get into at first, alot of names and characters. Gets good and has you wanting to hear the next story. 8/10 The narration has its ups and downs

Enjoyable adventure and easy summer read

So far this doesn't feel quite as endearing as his Greatcoats series. The characters are slightly more flat and the stakes are not as high (though he still likes to beat up his main characters as much as Jim Butcher.) However the pace is quick and the plot well thought out. You care about the outcome and the mystery of the palace intrigue is engaging. It's a fun, well paced summer read with a decent narrator. Good enough to keep going into the series that gives me great hope for big things along the road.

I Reckon I Enjoyed This

Very enjoyable coming-of-age story with an interesting world.

While I found the story a little too dense, the characters are far too entertaining for me not to love it. Will probably check out the rest of the series.

Honestly pretty amazing

Loved it. found it by accident. Had an itch for high fantasy and after a couple of failed Google searches I randomly typed in spell slinger books.

Came across this series. 2 days later I'm 2 books deep and working through my third. highly recommend if you like weird western style fantasy with a bit of high fantasy thrown in.

the voice actor fits the role of the main character perfectly as well. overall it's just fantastic. I highly recommend it

who the eff is Sebastien?

This is my third book from this author(I have read book 1 of the series and two books of greatcoats). He writes constantly great plot, good dialogue and likable characters. I am going to read his rest of his oeuvre.

Wow!

wow...wow...everything about this was amazing the performance was spot on. Onward to book two of this series. <3

ehhhh little too grounded.

the author seems to want to subvert expectations by making the main character boring because nothing you hope for or expect actually happens. it's nice to be surprised but there's a fine line between suprise and disappoinment.

Loved every second!

There are those books that you don't want to miss a word of. For me, this was that. It was inventive, fun, and entertaining. I am a stickler for books told from a first person perspective.

I was there with Kellan every moment.