Summer Sword

Birth of Djinn Magic Book 1

By: James Livingood

Narrated by: 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.*