Taming the Elements

By: David Ekrut

Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell

Length: 19 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's Summary

A young man, Elwin, seeks to become an elementalist. But with war looming and an accident that could cost him his freedom, Elwin finds himself fleeing for his life and evading the Guardians of Life. The Guardians think Elwin guilty of the most grievous of crimes, and as he trains the gifts of his bloodline, he will discover a secret from long in his past.

©2015 Sub-Scribes Publications (P)2015 Sub-Scribes Publications

Wonderful journey!

This is an excellent book full of adventure, misadventure. It is full of hard decisions and heartache and yet there is still hope for the hero. What I enjoy most is it's a great story in a semi fictional world that resembles ours so closely that you aren't confused or lost by it. The magic is simple yet intriguing enough to keep you curious as to what more the hero can do. This is a fantastic start to an epic journey full of friendship, loyalty and the ever present good versus evil though those lines are very thin and crisscrosses, it just adds a deeper element to this tale. I can't wait to get my hands on the next one. If I were reading it id say I couldn't put it down. As it stands, I've listened to it as often as I possibly could! You won't regret adding this to your library.

9 people found this helpful

A Wonderful Story and a Wonderful Storyteller

I'm often reluctant to choose a title from a previously unread author since the chances of finding not merely a diamond in the rough but a expertly facet jewel is fairly rare. While the fantastical aspects of this fantasy are not unlike what is found in many other novels of the same genre, what makes this one truly unique and rare is the way in which the author weaves his tale.

Many novels tend to unfold a story in pre-Copernicus fashion, where the events primary revolve around a primary protagonist with some interaction with supporting characters. Taming of the Elements still has a primary character but the author takes much care in providing a rich background to not only the secondary players but also the tertiary ones. Additionally, he moves the story through adventures that involve the secondary characters, separate from the primary protagonist. It really makes for a much more pleasurable reading (and in the case, listening) experience.

The story also has an ample amount of intrigue and several poignant moments which worked its own kind of dark magic which inhibited sleep on my part, not wanting to wait until a restful evening to renew this interesting tale.

8 people found this helpful

Adventure and magic, love it!

Would you listen to Taming the Elements again? Why?

Most definitely! I always listen to the books I enjoy multiple times. This is an impressive story for a new author. I love the point of view writing style and the journey that the characters endure. A little slow at first but, develops into an exciting adventure. The characters draw you in and the magic system is interesting too. I was sad when the book ended. I want more!

What did you like best about this story?

I really enjoyed the way the characters grew in the story. I think this is different than most epic fantasy's I have read. I saw more internal growth of the characters than expected. And I enjoyed the way their relationships changed as they faced difficult situations. I enjoyed how some of the characters brought humor into the mix.

What about Chris MacDonnell’s performance did you like?

I liked his ability to shift from one character to another and the continuity of voice that able maintained for the different characters.

Any additional comments?

I can't wait to hear more from these characters.

4 people found this helpful

Great Story!

What made the experience of listening to Taming the Elements the most enjoyable?

Narrator was awesome!

What does Chris MacDonnell bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He brings the characters to life and makes you feel a part of the world David Ekrut has created.

3 people found this helpful

good story cant wait for more

i really enjoyed this story. cant wait for more to come good luck and have fun

3 people found this helpful

surprisingly enjoyable

despite borrowing heavily from other series, especially WoT, I found this to bee an entertaining listen.

3 people found this helpful

Loved it!

Character development and story were very good. Hard to turn it off. Can't wait for the next book.

3 people found this helpful

A Fantastic story, looking forward to the sequel

Where does Taming the Elements rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I have listened to so many novels at this point I don't rank them. I will say that I am anticipating the sequel to this book just as much if not more than any other series I am involved in presently.

What did you like best about this story?

I was entertained. I enjoyed the story, the narration was fantastic, and that's all I really look for. I got into audible when issues with chronic migraines made it difficult to read as often as I like. I really enjoy listening to fiction, I prefer to read non-fiction.

This has all the makings of a great fantasy series. The author has successfully created a world and the narrator does a great job bringing it to life and navigating listeners through the story. I was invested in the concept and the characters. For me a great audible book feels the same as an incredible page turner, but it's more difficult to achieve this on audible. An amazing story can be destroyed by poor narration. There are some great series that I enjoyed reading that I can no longer stand because it is apparent that the author either never listened to the audio version, or could care less about it as he/she allows the same narrator to return even when every review highlights how horrible the performance was.

In this case, we have the makings of greatness. David Ekrut's debut has sci-fi fantasy readers and listeners excited. If you research him you learn that he was very invested in the audible performance, and the narrator brought the story to life. A great sequel will establish Ekrut as a gamer in this genre.

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed the setting of the novel before the novel focuses primarily on Elwin. I would have liked to hear more about Bane, Elwin's evil biological father who is searching for over a decade to locate his son. There is time to explore this side of the story as the series progresses, I hope Ekrut further give us more Bane in the future.

3 people found this helpful

Wisps of brilliance from young heroes

A nice twist on an old premise. A nicely developed story with much promise of more to come.

Chris MacDonnell"s performance was that of a true thespian. One of my favorite parts was the performance of the poems in the epilogue... Well done Sir!

3 people found this helpful

Got a real Wheel of Time vibe from this book.

Great narration, well told story. A little information overload at the start, but everything starts to fall into place. Usually 19 hours is a long book, but this book just flew by. Plenty of tropes, but they are all well executed and interesting. No particular expression is overused either which I was impressed by.

7 people found this helpful