The Sword of Light: The Complete Trilogy

By: Aaron Hodges

Narrated by: David Stifel

Length: 29 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

For 500 years, the Gods have united the Three Nations in harmony. Now, that balance has been shattered, and chaos threatens.

A town burns, and flames light the night sky. Hunted and alone, 17-year-old Eric flees through the wreckage. The mob grows closer, baying for the blood of their tormentor. Guilt weighs on his soul, but he cannot stop, cannot turn back. If he stops, they die.

For two years, he has carried this curse, bringing death and destruction wherever he goes. But now, there is another searching for him - one who offers salvation. His name is Alastair, and he knows the true nature of the curse. Magic.

©2017 Aaron Hodges (P)2018 Aaron Hodges

Good

I liked it. It was classic and easy to visualize. Also the story progressed nicely. Not to fast and not to slow.

Over dramatic reading and excessive purple prose

I am not sure why this gets such good reviews in written and spoken (Audible.com). The story is pretty juvenile and the battles are overwrought and the heroes restored to life over and over. The narrator probably did his better, but he is was over dramatic in his reading. The writing is clumsy and I would hate to see how many times something “touches the soul” or similar for all the characters.

The magic system is not consistent and the characters are cardboard in many cases and too many.

A Grand Adventure

The Sword of Light was the first books by Aaron Hodges that I've read (listened) to, but it won't be my last. I love grand, sweeping adventures, similar to Lord of the Rings, and this trilogy did not disappoint. The narration was solid and the world-building was excellent.

The Sword of Light trilogy tells the tale of the 3 lands, their gods and their fight against Archon. It's a grand adventure full of magic and a daring effort to fight back the forces of darkness. It reminded me a lot of the Lord of the Rings series (I know, that gets said a lot, but it was true for me with this series) and had some similarities, but also some differences from it. We meet our unlikely hero, Eric and things quickly go from bad to worse. Along the way, he's joined by new members of the company that will each play a pivotal role in the final battle against Archon's dark forces.

I really love the world Aaron creates in this series. We're giving pieces of the mystery a little at a time so there are still things to learn about how the world came to be by the time you reach book 3. The mystery of trying to figure out how the world came to be the way it is and what events led up to it are a nice way to break up the story without being frustrating. The actions comes fast and often in each book. Each book is also told through alternating members of the company, so you get a chance to get inside each character's head a little more than just "hearing" the events from the view of Eric.

There's a lot of character growth in these books as well. While Eric starts out as an unlikely hero, he grows into the role by the final battle and the progression feels right. It's not too rushed or unbelievable. Each company member has some degree of growth and they each have a little different personality that keeps the book interesting. There are several twists and turns along the way and it definitely kept the story from getting too predictable. You will need to read the whole series though. Each book ties into the next one, so if you're reading book 1 thinking it will wrap up neatly in case you don't want to continue the series, it doesn't. Each book ends with clear, unfinished business leading into the next book. All the books in this series are out now, so just plan on reading (or listening) to them all. It's worth it!

Aaron did a great job with this trilogy. I really enjoyed the story and the characters. The narration was well done also. There were a lot of voices for the narrator to keep track of and David did great with them. I'm looking forward to the next adventure from Aaron.

interesting storyline

Great book full of many twists and turns! Some aspects were very captivating, the author did a great job.

if you are running out of things to listen too,

I wonder if a different narrator would make a difference. decent value for 3 books for the cost of 1.

The real killer: dehydration

This epic take centers around an intrepid fellowship in their quest to defeat the land's greatest evil: Archon, the ancient dark magician bent on killing the gods and world domination, I think. What Archon wants to do after killing the gods is kind of fuzzy. But the real challenge is dehydration from all the tears shed. They cry a lot.
It is a good story but the constant weeping is irritating. I found myself practically shouting for them to suck it up and get on with it. They several rivers worth of tears to the point I wondered if this was going to end up a flood story instead. If you can get past the incessant, and I mean incessant crying, then you'll enjoy it.

Lack Luster

I am an avid Audio books fan and have listened to more titles than I can remember. This one stood out to me in a bad way.
The righting seemed like it was more fit for young adults or teens and didn't seem to flow very well. The Narrator for this book may have done well with what he was working with but when you put him against other great titles like The King Killer series, spellmonger series, the wolf of the north series, or the Malazan book of the fallen series this just really seems to fall short for me.

This is an personal review and im only about halfway through the book and I will be finishing it but so far this Is my take. You may love it as so many others have.

it was ok.

The books were alright. Not quite what I was expecting, more along the lines of a young adult series than a serious trilogy. The books themselves I would give 4 stars. As for the narrator, I would give 2.5 stars. Excellent volume from the narrator, horrible tone inflection. Odd pauses in the reading, and the voice needs to match the story. if something sad is happening an excited voice should not be used...

Predictable but fun

The story was very predictable, and occasionally self-inconsistant, but overall a fun and easy listen.

Average book and performance.

I suggest skipping this book. It drags on and on. The characters are so under developed I didn't care for the big surprise at the end. Like surprise, "these characters you don't care about lived." meh