Shades of Black I

In Darkness Cast

By: Jonathan Shuerger

Narrated by: Nick Denton

Length: 14 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's Summary

On the world of Sinai, the last walls of the last kingdoms of Man crumble before the demonic armies of the East. Hope fades as casualties mount before the relentless onslaught of a trifecta of fallen angels.

Gideon Halcyon is fearless and idealistic, but he lacks the training to truly make a difference. He believes his dreams of heroism unattainable, until he meets Ashkelon.

Coming from the Void beyond the world, Ashkelon alone survives the ruined world of Avalon. Cynical and ruthless, he is a sorcerer of the Everlasting Dark, seething with millennia of bitterness, and his black sword shrieks with the last screams of a thousand failed heroes. Having failed to find a worthy champion of the Light, Ashkelon vows to forge Gideon into the hero Sinai needs, and the adversary he craves.

As the last of mankind’s strength drains away, a hero is born in Darkness.

©2020 Jonathan Shuerger (P)2020 Jonathan Shuerger

Sadly it missed the mark.

I gave this story a shot based on a positive online comment. I am a fan of epic fantasy stories and I do appreciate the author’s attempt at writing one,

But I feel it tried to go too epic, too soon. Unfortunately the narration followed the same path with continual drawn out pronunciations and rounded inflection.

Perhaps the story would be more enjoyable with a different narration style or perhaps the narration could have been better with different direction from the author.

But to me, with the whole being the sum of its parts, the tale missed the mark.

I hope the author keeps writing and improving. Perhaps using good beta readers would help.

And if anyone disagrees with me and does enjoy this story - more power to you. I’m glad you enjoyed it.

Best Christian fantasy, realistic battles

A lot of Christian fantasy goes over the top trying to tell the reader what to believe, not to mention they have little understanding of real battle tactics. This story does a beautiful job of just telling an amazing story.

Ashkelon is an evil mage, and he's also the only hope for Gideon to learn how to be the hero the world needs. This juxtaposition of darkness and light is equally intense, engaging, entertaining, and just fascinating as the relationship plays out.

The story is written by an actual Marine so the battle scenes are realistic and present a unique first-hand experience. Lots of creative tactics, strategies, and believable reaction of the characters throughout the engagements.

A thoroughly entertaining listen. Since book two is not available on Audible, I will definitely be buying it on ebook.

great 1st entry

being a marine myself I had high hopes for my brother in arms, he exceeded all of them

Suspenseful and enjoyably dark

When I started this book, admittedly I didn't have high expectations. However, it was recommended to me by a good friend who normally has good taste in books. HE DID NOT DISAPPOINT! This book may put on a dark and tough apperience in the beginning but don't let that fool you into thinking "Man, this is way to dark". Instead this book will take you on an incredible journey that will both supprize and delight you. I can not wait for the next book to come out! I'm talking to you Mr. Shuerger and Mr. Denton!

Fighting with a side of adventure

Shades of Black delivered relentless, unabashed fight sequences, and a strong start for its series.

Abandon hope, all ye...

This is a dark, visceral, gory and yet compelling tale. It's not my thing but I have to rate it well because it is a well-constructed work. It could have used more humor, but it pulls you in, and makes you sit down and shut up. In the end, it was a heavy-handed tale and left me feeling a bit depressed, but the characters were wonderfully written and the descriptions were vivid and intense.

The performance was also quite good. I have no complaints except that the fact that he kept mispronouncing "chitin."

A great book!

This kind of book isn't usually what I read but I was surprised to find myself drawn in and couldn't stop. It is hard to follow sometimes due to jumping between multiple groups of people and feels like sometimes there isn't enough of a lead in to introducing new people but overall I found it detracted from the story minorly. This is a great listen and definitely well worth the time.