Summer Sword

Birth of Djinn Magic Book 1

By: James Livingood

Narrated by: Jack Nolan

Length: 59 mins

Publisher's summary

"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.

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.

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!

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

Uniquely Imaginative!!!!!

Excellent audio narration of a unique and imaginative fantasy based on a sentient being who resides in the wind and can communicate with humans. Great opening that peaks your interest. The only reason I'm giving it four stars is because it's incredibly short . I will definitely read, or rather, listen, to any continuation of this short story!!!

The promise is strong with this one

I warn you: listen to this and you'll want to know more!

This is an origin story. At the beginning of it a wind esper is attacked by others of his kind. Wishing to find less harmful company, he begins chatting with Wyatt, a freshly jobless guy camping in the woods. Things happen and they bond... a bit more than they expected.

Now Wyatt talks with a burning pyre and calls it Thunder Born. He swings a sword around, tinkers with his living room rug and keeps laughing at job interviews. Would you hire him? Or would you read book two of this series to find out what exactly will he make of his career with a curious wind esper as a sidekick and a carpet as his ride?

James's writing is good. The set-up for the ending is done very well. Some bits are a tad repetitive (mentioning the 'real people pleaser', for instance) and could do with better descriptions (which we'll see in a longer book, I'm sure, since this is just a short story).

I liked how the narrator did dialogues in this story, but I'd love him to slow down overall, so I can differentiate between actions in the text better. No rush, man, I'll listen to this story and your nice voice for hours.

All in all, this is a great read with a great promise. It has characters and quirky bits that I love already. I'm really eager to see what adventures will James Livingood imagine for our friend Wyatt!

Bring it on, Mr. Livingood, bring it on!

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.