The Sum of All Men

The Runelords, Book 1

By: David Farland

Narrated by: Ray Porter

Length: 21 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

David Farland's acclaimed Runelords series introduces a world where the social structure is based upon the magical exchange of "endowments" such as stamina, grace, and wit. The Runelords are those who receive these endowments from their vassals, becoming superhuman in exchange for the responsibility of caring for those they have deprived of strength, or beauty, or sight.

Young Prince Gaborn of Mystarria is traveling in disguise on a journey to ask for the hand of the lovely Princess Iome of Sylvarresta. Armed with his gifts of strength and perception, the prince and his bodyguard stop at a local tavern, where they spot a pair of assassins who have their sights set on Princess Iome's father. As they race to warn the king, they realize that more than the royal family is at risk—the very fate of the Earth is in jeopardy.

©1998 David Farland (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

What’s with the characters names in this book LOL

It’s a decent book, character development is piss poor but it makes up for it in over indulging word play making every scene seem more important than the last. But if I have to hear the name Gabourn or raj atten one more time I’m gonna blast myself holy crap in the last hour I’ve hear those names probably 200-300 times

A King is Coming, Greater than the Earth itself.

I marvel at the penmanship of this author, his vivid imagination, his way with words. And the narrator, how he brings these heroic characters to life, as if they leap from the page.

Well made characters, great moral dillemas but

The author is incredibly descriptive of the scene, and does a great job of world building, but personally I feel like constantly pausing to talk about details in depth bogs down the story to the point it is mildly irritating for me. other than that, it's a great book.

The sum of all men

Awesome x5!
I am just sorry that I didn't find this sooner!
Battle from the first word!
Happily ever after at the end!
However the author has left me wanting more!
Mr. David Farland you have made me a follower!
Recommend for fast pace heated war, longing love that requires you to hope for the prince and princess and their life, friends, and families!

Amazing story telling

I’ve had the book for many years and the narrator really made the book pop for me. Been several years since I read the book and I was still amazed with listening to as I did then.

A world of interesting magics and moral choices.

David Farland has created a land where the rulers take advantage of a magical process by which one person can acquire the attributes of another, such as strength, stamina, glamour, metabolism, or grace. The person that gives the endowment loses the attribute and is "crippled" while the receiver is enhanced. These Runelords approach the process of receiving endowments from multiple moral perspectives and this adds to the richness of the story.

This ability to take/receive endowments re-defines how people live, rule, and fight wars and Farland goes into much detail explaining how this ability can be manipulated by good or evil. Rarely is such a structure governing magic so well defined in Fantasy books and for me it really helped make the magic seem more realistic and plausible.

Endowments aren't the only magic in this series and there is also a whole range of wizards that use various elemental magics, as well as strange creatures that live underground known as Reavers. Ray Porter does an excellent job of bringing all of these various characters to life with his narration.

This book hooked me pretty quickly and I have now listened to the first 4 books in the series. I have enjoyed them all, so this book is an excellent start to an excellent series.

Good but...

Okay, overall I liked the story - it wasn't great, but it was solid. The plot is good, the idea of magic as just one element of a capitalist society is good... I love the idea of an Earth Warden who will bring together not just the people but the creatures and animals and elements that inhabit the earth, against a greater evil. I like all the references to various herbs and their uses, to magic which is in many cases simply a refinement of basic physics. There's a load of potential for the remaining books, which I have not as of this writing yet read. But I like to be able to totally lose myself in a believable "other" world and this book doesn't quite get me there.

One, the economics of magic just don't work for me. How can any society support so many people who have given their endowments to so few, people who are now dependent on social welfare for sustenance? Thousands of people who give up essential parts of themselves and are supposedly supported by others - family, government or both - for the rest of their lives, for the benefit of just a few lords and ladies? Raj Ahten has thousands of dedicates who support him - who is supporting them? Who tills the fields, farms the lands? Who has time to provide these dedicates with food and water? It just doesn't work for me and was, unfortunately, constantly in the back of my mind as I listened to this book.

Two, I got tired of hearing the words yet, fey and fell, and the phrase "to the core of" in the narration. Admittedly I'm a bit of a grammar nazi, a word nerd... but I didn't like the manner or the frequency with which any of these were used - they felt contrived and over-used, and detracted from an otherwise decent storyline.

I'm curious about what might happen next but I'm not sure I'm reading or willing to listen to more...

Excellent

Interesting approach to the concepts of destiny, empowerment and the obligations of the privileged vs the commoner. Definitely worth the read, or listen. I hope the rest of the series makes its way onto
Audible.

Loved this book!

Loved this book and loved the second one almost as well. Writer is very creative and keeps your attention through the entire book. Very creative approach to fantasy.
My only complaint is that the other books in the series are not on audible. Hope that problem gets fixed in the near future.

Much Better Than Expected.

Honestly, going into this book, I was worried it would be boring and unoriginal. I was so very wrong. I've found a new series to love, and am grateful for it.

Garland weaves a story that will have you wanting more, and somehow satisfied as well.

Ray Porter did a wonderful job giving voice to this tale and these characters.