Soulkeeper

The Keepers, Book 1

By: David Dalglish

Narrated by: Nicholas Tecosky

Length: 19 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

The Witcher meets D&D in the first book of this epic fantasy adventure where a warrior priest must suddenly protect his world from monsters that were once only legend from USA Today best-selling author David Dalglish.

Devin Eveson is a Soulkeeper, traveling through remote villages as a preacher and healer. But when a mysterious black water washes over the world, the veil is torn, flooding the land with ancient magic and forgotten races: fire that dances as if alive, corpses that walk, and creatures that can manipulate time itself. And not all the creatures that have reawakened remember humanity fondly. 

As the land grows more dangerous and more chaotic, Soulkeepers are turning up dead, their bodies transformed into macabre works of art. Devin must set aside his words of peace and accept his new role: slayer of monsters and protector of the human race. 

©2019 David Dalglish (P)2019 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Soulkeeper is a fast-paced, page-turning ride with a great, likeable main character in Devin Eveson. It's the definition of entertaining" (John Gwynne, author of Malice)

"Dalglish manages to combine familiar elements in exciting ways...that's sure to keep readers turning pages." (Publishers Weekly)

"A dark and lush epic fantasy brimming with magical creatures and terrifying evil.... Dalglish's world building is subtle and fluid, and he weaves the history, magical workings, and governance of his world within the conversations and camaraderie of his characters. Readers of George R. R. Martin and Patrick Rothfuss will find much to enjoy here." (Booklist)

A Slow Start.

Devin Eveson is a Soulkeeper, he travels the land as a preacher and healer until the world begins to change. There is a mysterious black water that appears from nowhere and washes over the land, Soon ancient magic returns to the world along with ancient races long ago forgotten and or thought to be extinct. Some of these races are decidedly not into peaceful coexistence with the human race. That is the setup to "Soulkeeper." To add complexity, we also learn, as part of the framework of the tale, Devin's world has a two-tier, deity belief system. The top tier is the domain of the three sisters, who are credited with creation of life and who have dominion over the soul. The second tier seem to be for all the other Gods. Magic and the non human beings that are returning to the world seems to be the purview of these deities.

All of that had me hooked and ready to completely enjoy "Soulkeeper." Unfortunately, the pacing of the story is strongly on the slow side. The writing and the narration are both good, but the pace is not. Overall, the story is interesting and it does pick up in the second half of the book, but you have to be willing to stick with it. I've seen other reviews that say "Soulkeeper" is fast paced. I honestly don't know how those reviewers came up with that, but I stand by my critique.

Having said all that, I definitely intend to check out book 2 because I'm both curious and invested. Hopefully the pace will continue to pick up. Finally, this free, review copy audiobook was given to me at my request and I have voluntarily left this review.

Repetitive plotlines became monotonous

David Dalglish writing style was good but his tendency to burden the story with redundant passages needlessly slowed the pace of the story to ill effect.

What follows are light spoilers.

The story starts out in a highly religious, bordering on fanatical, mundane society revolved around 3 deities (sisters) that seem to be a mashup between christian Holy Trinity and Roman-Greco mythology Fates in that they are revered as the creators of life along with controlling the human souls. There is a 2nd pantheon of gods who control the arcane magical abilities and entities who resurface after being cast down millennia ago by the three sisters. What follows is a bloody conflict of the arcane demigods to reassert their influence in the otherwise pious mundane world.

Regrettably, the reasons given for the arcane banishment is only vaguely touched on and the arcane demigods method for forcing it back into human society seems overly brutal and, frankly, a bit nonsensical.

Nicholas Tecosky narrating performance was very good.

Fun world and interesting characters.

I really liked this story. Never read this author before, and I had no expectations. This book is the perfect break/palate cleanser to read in between heavier books. The lore of the world is unique, with a simple magical system that was logical and not over done. Lots of mystery and questions left to answer, which may be a turn-off for some, but I find myself patiently anticipating the next story.

Never Been A Fan of Zombies

SoulKeeper, the name caught my eye.
If it would have said Zombies, I would have passed.
I still have 16 hours, ugh
Not sure I can finish, but will try. Narrator is good.

This great story kept me entertained.

This great story kept me entertained.from the beginning. Many fantasy stories use myths and folklore. Some use it well some not so well David has come up with a new and original slant on magic and joins my short list of great fantasy authors.

Nice Suprise

I really liked this book, It's a little different than what I usually get but I have to say I enjoyed the story and narration

highly recommend

everything in this book was top notch from character building to world building and in the end left me wanting morr

So amazing I can't wait for book 2

This is bloody amazing. I haven't seen any of David's work for years and I love this new book. The world Is so amazing and he has so much potential here.

Eh. Too much internal dialogue

If you're interested in an endless exploration of every main character's thoughts, feelings and internal struggle, then jump right in. It's not for me. If one were to excise inner dialogue, this book would be less than half the length. Some might like this, but I don't. I'll probably pass on the sequels.

phenomenal story with an incredible performance.

strong story, from start to finish. the narrations are solid and well performed. a great listen!