The Berserker and the Pedant: The Complete First Season

De: Josh Powell

Narrado por: Robert Ashker Kraft

Gurken Stonebiter, avatar of Durstin Firebeard, templerager of the Stonebiter clan, is in a pretty pickle. He's an axe-happy, grammatically-challenged dwarf on the hunt for blood. Thieves made off with temple property, sending him into a fit of vengeful rage. Seeing as he's a Berserker, it's in everyone's best interest not to get Gurken's hackles up. Gurken often dissolves into a fury of bloodlust, and carnage unlike anything seen in the age of men. When he finds those whom he assumes to be the aforementioned thieves, he is unable to control himself. Thus for our heroes, a master magician named Arthur and a girl-child named Pellonia, the blood flows until poor Arthur is hacked into pieces. It takes all the temple priests (and all the king's men) to put Arthur back together again. Imprisoned for their supposed crimes, Pellonia and Arthur aren't willing to sit around the dungeon on principle, and so promptly escape. They return the following morning to join Gurken on a hilarious and dangerous adventure to the Mines of Moog to recover the sacred Orb of Skzd. Along the way they face gruesome deaths at the hands of enormous arthropods, an amiable Minotaur, and excitable dragons, making them wonder what exactly they're doing on this quest in the first place.

Pellonia, for one, is much more than meets the eye, and although she has the body of a pre-pubescent girl, she is full of snark and knowledge beyond her years. Her past and fate become apparent as they meet mysterious denizens from her childhood. Arthur's ability to frequently engage in death throes only to return once more is to be admired as well as puzzled over. Unfortunately, one too many dismemberments occur and some shortcuts are taken during the resurrection process, to Arthur's utmost shame and revulsion. Gurken, with his brash temperament and willingness to confront anything that challenges them, though it be 10 times his size, is both an enviable asset and a terrible curse along the way.

©2015 Josh Powell (P)2015 Josh Powell

didn't see that ending coming!

In a word: Fun.

This book is split into episodes rather than chapters, each one moves us towards a common goal but each episode contains its own funny little romp featuring our main characters: Gurken, the typically short tempered dwarf (pun intended) with a penchant for hitting things with his axe. Pellonia, an exceptionally snarky young girl with some mysterious secrets and Arthur, a pedantic wizard who finds himself being murdered a lot.

Josh Powell has a certain Terry Pratchettishness about his style of writing, his characters manage to be a fresh take on classics and share hilarious and witty dialogue.

I would say that this book would be suitable for kids aged 8 and up, though it has cartoonish violence the entire story is very funny and very enjoyable to listen to. This story reminded me of  listening to Johnny and the Dead by Terry Pratchett when I was around 10 years old, it has a very similar sense of humour and enough action to keep your attention right to the end.

Our three main characters are on a quest together to retrieve the sacred Orb of Skzd which has been stolen from the temple Gurken is charged to guard. Arthur and Pellonia die several times on this journey, but thankfully they have friends that are able to help them out in that regard - even if resurrection isn't always as straightforward as they might hope.

What did come as a surprise to me was the twist at the end, I can honestly say I didn't see it coming! Put it this way, now there's definitely enough scope to carry on adding books to the series!

Robert Ashker Kraft stands out to me as a narrator after listening to this well produced performance, bringing each of the characters to life with a selection of well executed accents and personalities. The sense of fun he brings to the story lights it up even further and made it a pleasure to listen to, Kraft was definitely an asset to this production!

If you're a fan of the Discworld series and looking for something new to get your teeth into, I would absolutely recommend this audiobook.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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Humorous fantasy adventue

I'm not going to bore anyone with repeating the synopsis, because it is pretty well covered here at Audible. Anyway, I loved this book! Lots of adventure and humor. A little bit too much dying, but at least most of the time, they came back to life! The narrator, Robert Ashker Kraft, was excellent.

I got this audio free from the author via Audiobookblast and the ebook was also free at Amazon (thanks Mr. Powell!).

A wonderful adventure!!

If you enjoy trips into worlds full of fantastical creatures, then this is a adventure for you! Travel along to find the thief, then onto a quest that needs to be finished because the fate of this world depends on this quest being completed! Grab a seat on this journey and enjoy the ride! Oh, and watch out for goblins!!

Fun twists and turns, with a good twist ending.

I was given this title by the author for free in return for an honest review from audiobookblast dot com. There, legal stuff out of the way. I had no idea when I started this book that I would enjoy it so much. It follows the adventures of Gurken Stonebiter, a Temple Ranger for the Temple of the Dwarven, not Dwarfen, God Durstin Firebeard, as he has to try and retrieve the Orb of Skzd, a magical item of great importance. Along the way, he uses his magical ax, which blazes with different Dwarven magic runes (of hilarious names), to berserk rage his way through anything that gets in his way, along with his companions, a wizard, an elf girl, a gnomelike dwarf, and a grown elf. Lots of twists and turns, resurrections, reincarnations, centaur making, and a climactic battle against the evil Phage that shows that reality might not be what everyone thinks it is. The characters are hilarious, the dialogue is witty, and the plot moves along at a quick pace without seeming rushed. The narration was excellent,with Robert Ashker Kraft's narration reminding of one of my favorite narrators, Phil Gigante. Any fans of Yahtzee Crowshaw's Mogworld, or Rob Kroese's Dis books are sure to love this book. I can't wait for the sequel.

A good listen

I chose this book because I'm into sci fi and fantasy and it did not let me down. It was over the top and cut me on my toes I can't wait for the next one