Summer Sword

Birth of Djinn Magic Book 1

De: James Livingood

Narrado por: Jack Nolan

"To those that see the sky and can not fly, I feel this wind for them."

An otherworldly friendship is forged under stress and fear. Wyatt, a recently unemployed camper, is looking for an escape from responsibilities. Thunder Born is a wind esper looking to escape from those who want to murder him. Together they start something surpassing both of them.

©2015 James Livingood (P)2015 James Livingood

Fun short story.

This is a fun short story about a man named Wyatt who just lost his job, Who, while camping, is approached by a diminished air spirit named Thunder Born. They start to converse and form a friendship. Duing a forest fire, when Wyatt is dying in a river running from the fire, the air spirit gives him air, filtered throught the water, which somehow transfers some of the air powers to him, allowing him to use the air spirits power, to see and hear air spirits. First in a series, it has a good solid foundation, with a couple of fun characters in Wyatt and Thunder Born. It is age appropriate for any age, and is really a nice whimsical fantasy tale.
Jack Nolan does a really good job narrating, bringing the characters to life.

I was given a copy of this book by the author, narrator or publisher free of charge in return for an honest review through Audiobook Boom.

Great story about listening to nature!

Any additional comments?

Summer Sword - Birth of Djinn Magic by James Livingood is a story about a unique friendship that develops between a wind "spirit" named Thunder Born and regular guy named Wyatt. Wyatt is kindhearted soul who planned a fabulous camping trip for his friends, but soon finds himself unemployed and alone. Just when you think Wyatt is losing his spirit due to all the catastrophes that befall him during his camping trip, his friendship and bond with Thunder Born rejuvenates him and makes him whole again. For such a short story, Summer Sword contains several thought provoking insights if one only looks beneath the surface -or should I say, looks high in the sky and listens to the wind?

I listened to the Audible version of this story narrated by Jack Noland. He has an easygoing voice that made Wyatt come to life. He was very believable and had great intonation and pace. I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook, which I received for free in exchange for an honest review.

Where is this series going?

Thunder Born is a new-born wind spirit. Some of his "friends" tried to kill him, though I don't understand why. He escaped and met Wyatt, who is camping in the woods trying to decide what to do next after losing his job. They talk and become friends of a sort.

Given the material (or lack thereof) I think the narrator did a creditable job. Unfortunately, there just isn't enough meat to this story. There's a preview of part two, Winter Bell, at the end of this audio book, but it fails to tempt me to continue with the tale.

(Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this audio book in exchange for an honest review."

Short story that creates an interesting world

My rating: 3.5 stars
Audiobook narrator Jack Nolan rating: 3.5 stars

I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very short book that created an interesting world in just a couple of chapters. However, I do not feel like this short book had a very developed plot (due to the shortness). It is obvious that the author is setting up a series of books and this story would fit perfectly in a series but I was hoping for something just a little more. I like how the end of this story gives a lengthy preview of the second story that is coming out (and it sounds good too).

For Summer Sword, the section before the first chapter (that describes the wind espers, etc) confused me a little but I understood it better once I got to the first chapter. I liked the relationship building between Wyatt and Thunder Born and seeing their somewhat similar paths.

The narrator did an ok job. I felt that he read a little faster than I am used to. Which is just fine, it’s just that when I listen to a book at 1.5x speed, it was quite fast (I wish the Audible app was smarter with their speeds and offered more options).

All in all, I like the imagination of the author and am curious about future books. Thanks for letting me listen to your book, James!

fun!

I really enjoyed Summer Sword by James Livingood. It tells the story of a kindhearted guy, Wyatt, who planned a camping trip, invited friends, spent quite a lot of money then found himself unemployed. At his campsite, he meets a wind esper, Thunder Born, who had been bullied and was hiding from his attackers. Together they form a friendship, and we can learn a few life lessons as we learn about their lives from the conversations. Lots happen on the trip. There’s a sword. And there’s a forest fire. And there’s burnt marshmallows. And there’s the near-drowning death.

All in all, it was a fun book. Looking forward to Book 2.

*I received this audiobook free in exchange for an honest review.*

The start of something good!

Wyatt planned a lovely camping trip, bought some new gear, invited friends, and then suddenly became unemployed. Sitting at his campsite, his friends having departed, he drinks a few beers and starts hearing voices. Lucky for him he is not going crazy, but rather chatting with a wind esper, Thunder Born, who is in hiding from his own kind while he rebuilds his strength after a mugging (of sorts).

I have listened to 2 other Livingood books, Pale Rider and Magic Factory, and the man set a high bar with those works. Summer Sword is a close third in enjoyment, though I feel this work has the most potential for a worthy series. In fact, this audio edition contains a snippet from Book 2 in the series, and I quite enjoyed the teaser.

So Wyatt is someone I can immediately sympathize with. While I have never been fired or let go from a job, I can totally relate to having a sudden change in circumstances…. and when you couple that with friends deserting you, you have one sad puppy of a character. He definitely needed Thunder Born.

The wind espers in general are pretty interesting. They can give a part of themselves to affect the world around them, or to pacify a larger, meaner wind esper. Thunder Born is mugged harshly at the very beginning of the story and he has to stay in hiding for a time to rebuild his strength. Hence, he is lonely too and decides to chat up poor Wyatt via the camp fire.

Things get fun & raucous once these two have built up their friendship. Indeed, a sword comes into play. There’s an accidental fire, perhaps a near drowning. Even a thoroughly burnt marsh mellow. Yep. Best camping trip ever. While this story was a little slower to start than other Livingood stories, I did quite enjoy the plot once the setting was in place. I definitely look forward to the full version of Book 2.

I received this book free of charge from the author (via the GoodReads Audiobooks Group) in exchange for an honest review.

Very Short Story

The narrator was excellent. He kept me listening until the end. I did not like the story until I listened to the part of book 2 that was included. That is when the story started to make some sense. This was not your usual story. Perhaps after I read book 2 I will understabd the story.
I was given this book via audiobook boom for an honest review.

Sweet story about a young man and a spirit

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Summer Sword is a short story about Wyatt, a young man recently unemployed who goes camping and meets an "air vesper" or a spirit. The story is sweet and waxes philosophically at times on life.

If you’ve listened to books by James Livingood before, how does this one compare?

I have listened to several books by James Livingood and find them enjoyably sweet and earnest.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Jack Nolan?

I enjoyed JAck Nolan's narrration. His voice was clear and he did a good job differentiating the voices.

Was Summer Sword worth the listening time?

Summer Sword was enjpoyable.

Any additional comments?

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

An Enjoyable Short Story That Needed To Be Longer

After having read/listened to the quirky short story, “Vampire Caving,” by Mr. Livingood, I thought I’d give “Summer Sword” a try. I’m definitely glad I did. “Summer Sword” was a fun read/listen. It offers us wind espers, fire and wind spirits, an unemployed camper, a whistling sword and an unlikely friendship. There’s a lot to like in this short story, but there is not enough story offered to the reader/listener. It was just too short. I wish Mr. Livingood had provided book one and two in one book. Without having read/listened to book two, I feel it would have been much more satisfying. Narrator Jack Nolan has a good voice and does a good job with the material. My only criticism with him is that he seemed to be in a rush. His natural speaking speed was just a touch too fast for me. It wasn’t a deal breaker by any means, but the short story’s listening time was less than one hour. If it had been a novel length story I think it would have started to bother me.

Finally, this audio book was provided by the author at no cost in exchange for an honest review, courtesy of Audio Book Blast.

Unique take on a new world of magic

Wind espers. Cool magical idea. Fire spirits, wind spirits and more. Whistling swords and a hero named marshmallow. How can you go wrong. Whimsical and weird but quite interesting. Well written and well narrated look forward to rest of the series. I received this audiobook from the author narrator or publisher for free via audiobookboom in exchange for an unbiased review