Skeleton with a Heart

Death Knight, Book 1

By: Michael Chatfield

Narrated by: Todd Menesses

Length: 4 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's Summary

He was a great warrior...who thought he was taking a nap.

He was mostly dead.

Anthony accidentally lived a heroic life. He was a kind, loyal, though somewhat quirky guy, who earned many of his nicknames through remarkable good luck in battle. He just wanted to know two things.

Who woke him up from a perfectly good slumber...and why can’t he remember anything?

As the daughter of the Dark Elf Queen, Aila had needed to prove herself at every step. Her latest mission was about more than recognition. A magical doorway has opened. It could mean only one thing. War is imminent. She must warn the High Elves.

It should have been simple.

When she woke up the Death Knight, he was a bit of a disappointment. His great skill as a warrior was complimented with a healthy dose of bumbling idiot.

Aila hoped bards would not sing of their adventures.

You’ll love this hilarious fantasy, because nobody does mayhem and mirth like Michael Chatfield.

Get it now.

Warning: this is a short audiobook!

©2019 Michael Chatfield (P)2020 Michael Chatfield

Had me punching the roof laughing

This was hysterical. Todd Menesses did wonderfully, transitioning between serious and laughable moments. Been a fan of Michael Chatfield and Todd Menesses for some time, and this just resoldifies it. Thank you both for this, and the rest to come. Especially for bringing this level of story, with it's mirthful interactions, and serious moments, in these times it is a good escape from the issues that seem to come up in reality.

very interesting!

I really enjoyed this book, I do wish it was longer. this has a very fun and exciting storyline and I highly recommend it.

over powered marty stu mc

don't bother it's not good, like really not good, like absolutely terrible. The main character is absurdly overpowered, has near omniscient knowledge, defeats anything and everyone in seconds and never faces any actual challenge or struggle at any point within the book. for example with a single spell he suppresses an entire city and brings them to judgment where the city leadership is forced to confess its crimes and are assigned punishments.
the villains are one-dimensional and implausible, for example the Elven City Lord who obstruct and blocks them from speaking with the elders is named avarice oh, this one is also easily defeated with the flick of a finger. and to make things even worse the rules of the universe into warp around the main character, for example the Goblins are obsessed with explosives and express themselves artistically with explosions yet they have no idea what fireworks are until the main character of course explains it to them. combine that with near childlike morality plays in which obviously the villains are racists, because you know racists are bad and we should be diverse and inclusive and obviously we're better off being diverse and inclusive by the way did you know racism is bad? of course the merchants are greedy and absurdly stupid for example ordering their men to attack the guy who just single-handedly defeated the Beast that was threatening the entire Caravan because we can make money don't you know! by the way did you know greed is bad? Of course you did! the entire book reads like a Tumblr blog from a sjw writer who was rejected by Marvel. I had some hopes that this would be decent the premise had potential but dear God it was like fingernails on chalkboard.

Fun, but a huge info dump.

it was a fun story with a world that is interesting enough for me to await the next installment of the series. The only reason it was not rated five stars was because a huge chunk of the book felt like a forced lecture. I'd rather get bits and pieces instead of listen for ten minutes about how the humans can contract familiars for the fifth time.

Regardless, awesome story!

amazing and funny

great and amazing book cant wait for the next book to come out how it longer

Unsure

I am not sure how I feel about this book, or I guess it is more like a booklet given its length. I liked the main character, who is sort of an overpowered Don Quixote. Unfortunately the writing was clunky and awkward in parts and excessively preachy in many others. Most of the book consists of the main character telling many different races (humans, elves, gnomes, goblins, etc.) that they are all racist, selfish scum... and in the context of this book he is correct. I liked it more initially but less so as the book continued. I'm really on the fence if I want to try the next book, hence the three star rating. I know I wouldn't actually recommend this to any of my friends, if that is a help in deciding if you want to try it.

enjoyable

I liked this. it was amusing. would certainly listen through the rest of the series for a light but enjoyable journey.

Story is a jumble of disjunct info

This story has some fun ideas, but the author has a real problem setting up the story in a way that the reader can follow.

This makes it a very frustrating read, each sentences raises more questions.

From the get go the story follows two characters and next are a series of 'info dump' moments, over-explaining the world at large. The author also shifts perspectives between the two characters on a whim, going on about something they remembered from long ago to give context.

Example: One of the main characters is explaining the map of the whole world to the other, including races and politics, but the reader has no idea where the characters are, they just left a very elaborate crypt, but are they in a graveyard? under or in a city? (which?!) in a church?

This story reminds me of a DM from a DnD campaign I was in; great ideas, but unable to describe how a player might be able to discover the world by themselves.

Too short!

I hope the books get longer but man was it good. Chatfield did it again. Alway enjoy reading his books.