Wrath of the Royals

The Darkslayer, Book 1

By: Craig Halloran

Narrated by: Lee Alan

Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

Fans of RA Salvatore's Drizzt Do' Urden, Frizt Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, David Gemmell's Druss the Legend, Raymond E. Feist's Pug the Wizard, and Robert E. Howard's Conan, like The Darkslayer series. Perhaps you will as well.

Welcome to the unwelcome world of Bish.

Bish is the land of constant strife and turmoil. The rise and fall of the blazing suns make the days long and the people disagreeable. Its barren Outlands are as comforting as a bed of thorns as there is little sanctuary to be found in the sweltering forests or the dank caves below the ground. Its caviling cities are overrun with death, greed, and corruption, but few complain. It is a place where tempers flare and alliances last as long as a tankard of ale. It is a place where the women are as beautiful as they are scarred and deranged. A place where good doesn't thrive, it endures. It is the land of fight or die.

Enter Venir the incorrigible, a fierce warrior, who has been secretly keeping the underling forces at bay for years. He is the Darkslayer, a man possessed by a mantle of power he cannot let go.

Enter Melegal the resilient, a crafty rogue, and Venir's reluctant shadow.

Enter the underlings, a purely evil race of sadistic killers bent on the destruction of mankind.

Enter the humans, a greedy, self-absorbed race of shameless survivors.

Enter the orcs, halflings, dwarves, ogres, and other races, some good, some bad, all caught in the maelstrom of treachery and seduction.

How will they survive to fight and skim another day? Only Bish knows.

©2010 Craig Halloran (P)2016 Craig Halloran

I love Chongo.

This was great a lot going on. Though a bit of a cliffhanger which I don't care for. I look forward to the next part.
The narrator brings it to life.
This Audiobook was given to me for free at my request from the publisher, author or narrator and I provided this unbiased voluntary review.
Reasons I enjoyed this book:
Action-packed, Easy-to-read, Entertaining, Funny, Great world building, Tragic, Wonderful characters.

Loved it

Any additional comments?

I was very excited that the DarkSlayer had finally made it to audible after reading through the series twice already. The narration really brought the book to life. I can't wait to listen the rest of the series.

Underlings are a pain....or is the Dark Slayer?

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

HECK YES!
Plainly put, if you want, action, adventure, a mixture of Lord of The Rings twist in evil goblins (Underlings) that are a menace, and a man set to kill every-single-one while they are on the destruction of trying to kill him, then this is a MUST!

What did you like best about this story?

Again, action, adventure, nonstop fun, twists in story line, a little of surprises indeed. The description and details helps picture everything in my mind, and it is done very well!

Which character – as performed by Lee Alan – was your favorite?

Well, Venir and Mood the Blood Ranger

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Anything is possible in Bish!

Any additional comments?

I've read/listened to Craig Halloran and Lee Alan's work for a while (Smoke (Rock On Awesome- The Black List Meet X-Files), Chronicles of Dragon (1st series, and half of 2nd), Squawk (SO AWESOME!!!) ), and have never been disappointed! Right off the bat, if you just want just plain fun action, adventure, and everything else, The Dark Slayer (and many of their other works) is worth your $. If you like Rise of the Dragons by Megan Rice, Armies of the Silver Mage by Christian Warren Freed, Magic of Thieves by C Greenwood, A Quest of Heroes by Megan Rice, Skip by Berrin Briar, The Sanctuary Series by Robert J. Crane, and The book of Deacon by Joseph R Lallo, then you will enjoy this series. Great reading and enjoyable listening!!!!

excellent battle fantasy

loved it. captivating character's. non-stop action.
great narrator. wonderful world with all the monsters you want.

Out of this world; And into the Fantasy Realms

Craig Halloran has expanded his universe to include the story of Bish, who is a man on a quest, like most standard fantasies. The thing with Halloran's writing is that the plots aren't too complicated, but the characters are tangible, and leap off the page. Halloran is very capable with ideas, and can really get you feeling for Bish, or Nath, or even Melegal.

These books, or any of Halloran's work, are a great introductory to the Fantasy epic, for anyone interested in making a foray into this world, or a journey that anyone would like to start with their children. His books are a little young, and the narrator his very exaggerated, but they are solid work. They are also a quick real read, if you want to read the work before you listen with the kids.

My nephews love all of the adventures that Halloran has so elegantly told. Mr. Lee Alan is a bit too much and obnoxious for me, but his sound effects, and his exuberance keeps my nephews enthralled for long sittings at a time.

I highly recommend this book, and all of the Halloran-Mythtos for anyone who wants to be able to enjoy fantasy with their children, and be able to share their passions with a new generation.

The Darkslayer is one bad dude! Fun and Grisly!

Would you listen to Wrath of the Royals again? Why?

Maybe, once I've finished the complete series. Mr. Halloran has a lot of books I want to try.

What other book might you compare Wrath of the Royals to and why?

R.A. Salvatorre, Icewind Dale seires, with Drizz't , also, David Gemmel, Druss the Legend, Conan, and a flare of the LOR settings.

Which character – as performed by Lee Alan – was your favorite?

Venir, the Darkslayer, but Melegal has some classic lines.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

FIGHT OR DIE!

Any additional comments?

Craig Halloran's stories have an edge I like. Everytime I read or listen, he brings personalities I can relate too and a new surprising creative element. The many characters have nice layers, each with a distinct personality. The stories had a lot of brutal battle scenes, but the overall content is clean, like traditional fantasy, and without those seedier elements that invade literature today. Meets my approval for my teenagers. I enjoyed rooting for Venir and his allies battling those nasty Royals, half-ogres, forest magi, vicious and Underlings.

it's different and you have to be patient!!!

the production is interesting and it moves strangely but it grows on you and the story and writing is pretty good. at least enough to keep you invested.

A story to get lost in.

This story was an interesting one and makes you think on who is really in control. There was only a sprinkling of magic in this one. It felt like a DnD game to me but we'll told.

The characters you never really get to fully know in one sitting. you are left wondering all the time about them. they feel realistic enough but over all you never get to meet any one character on a deeper level.

many outside forces seem to play over this world and it gives you pause to think if the same is happening to our world.

through this story, there is no clear overarching enemy. you run into an antagonist that is delt with but, the story feels a bit unguided. a lot of stuff happens but it's hard to tell where the story is going. The out of word scenes felt a bit jarring when they come up and pulled me a bit out of the story.

over all it's a good story but it could use a bit more lead in to the plot.

great

I have read the whole series. but to be able to hear them is almost like being there.

Lots of action and fighting

This is definetly a book written by a man that will generally appeal mostly to men. Not my particular cup of tea, but interesting enough that I finished listening to it. The books starts with bar room fighting, then there are a variety of fights and battles almost nonstop on this rather unpleasant world that was created for the pleasure of another creature who checks in from time to time, for their entertainment and to just see how the inhabitants on Bish deal with their lives. The story line is interesting enough, if you keep in mind it is only the beginning of the series, yet there seems to be a history that might help to make this more understandable at first. As I had not read any of Mr. Halloran's books before, initially it was a little bit challenging as I am not inclined to read books that seem to be going from one fight or battle to another. I suspect this would be of interest to younger men, and perhaps those who enjoy computer games about wolds that are at war regardless of whether they are men or women, but suspect most women are attracted to a different type of story. The story itself was well written, the individual characters were quite well developed and easy to discern between them, and the story line followed a pattern that lead from one confrontation to the other well. Eventually some of the questionable areas in the story were filled in, and the story came together. In addition, at the end of the recording there seemed to be some bonus chapters from another book that may have actually been almost like a prequel, as they seemed to fill in some more about the history of the lead character. Overall, this was an okay Audible version of the book. In full disclosure, the author provided a free copy the Audible version in return for an honest review.