The Chosen

Rise of Cithria Book 1

By: Kris Kramer, Alistair McIntyre, Patrick Underhill

Narrated by: Kevin Clay

Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

Three kingdoms at war. Three stories of hope, sorrow, and sacrifice. Three groups of heroes, whose personal quests lead them to discover that a fourth kingdom, long forgotten, lies dormant. But no more. Unless these heroes, bitter enemies of each other, can put aside their enmity, then Cithria will rise again, and everyone else will fall into the abyss.

©2013 Kris Kramer, Alistair McIntyre, and Patrick Underhill (P)2015 Kris Kramer

The Chosen

Three Kingdoms at war with WAY too many characters to keep track of.I enjoyed what I could follow.I gave up in the end because I couldn't keep them straight.Kevin Clay is a great narrator.
I was given this book free for an honest review

Excellent narration! Intriguing story.

good story, can't wait to read the next book. The narrator was awesome - his voices were great. His narrating flowed smoothly, very easy to listen to.

Engaging

The authors begin the book by explaining that their work is different than other books and contains many, many characters and would end in a cliff hanger. If I had heard that before receiving the book, I would have passed on it and thus missed a very exciting book. The first chapter gives the history of all the people, lands and conflicts. Since I hated history class in school, all I heard was blah, blah, blah. Thankfully it was short and the story became interesting to me after that. There are indeed many characters and subplots. At first I tried to remember who was who and where and why but ended up frustrated. After I stopped trying so hard the story began to flow and all the characters and actions began to converge toward a central point. The action was almost constant without any boring lulls. The narrator did an excellent job giving each character a unique voice and personality. It ended in the promised cliff hanger which had me shouting 'Nooo, not now!" I will be purchasing the next book in the series, something I had not planned on doing before listening to this one.

"This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com."

A fresh, new epic fantasy!

I was impressed by this- it's a fresh new epic fantasy (It sounds as if this book will be one of five or six!), at least to me. There is a lot of action, but there are also a lot of thought provoking events going on throughout. We have a handful of characters and it's very intriguing to see how they will meet, will they be allies or enemies?

I would definitely consider reading the next installment in the series.

The narrator did a good job differentiating most characters, and I would absolutely listen to more of his work in the future.

I received this book for free from the publisher, authors or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review.

very interesting

"I was provided this audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review via AudiobookBlast dot com".

I absolutely loved the book it was wonderful.

Very Confusing

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

The story started out great! I'm still intrigued by "The coward's " story & his entourage. But suddenly that storyline just went in like 5 different directions with all kinds of characters who have very complicated bloodlines & stories. I think the authors really messed up! They could have expanded on one or two groups , completed this story with happy readers/ listeners & then added these others in with the next book.

What about Kevin Clay’s performance did you like?

He made listening to this audiobook more enjoyable

A Great Start To An Epic Fantasy!

Book one was very entertaining, fast paced with lots of action; however it was the characters, and subplots that had me hooked.

There are three main groups of characters who embark on separate quest and each find themselves in different battles. Some of my favorite characters were Aidan, who was branded a coward but is becoming the leader and warrior he once was. The others in his group are looking to him to get them to safety. Gruesome (really loved the voice) is honorable and liked how he finally accepted Tarac’s, the necromancer, but not Tarac’s companion. Then there is the very vain Liam, he had me laughing out loud.

The narrator was A M A Z I N G! For a story with lots of characters, he did an awesome job of giving each character their own voice and accents. Kudos!

In the beginning of the story, the reader is advised this is book one of six and has lots of characters. Since it sounded like there was going to be a lot of detail, I went ahead and downloaded the Kindle version and actually listened and read certain parts of the book at the same time. For me, it makes the story more enjoyable, and I never felt lost or confused.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast dot com.

I really enjoyed listening to this story and will be on the lookout for the next book in the series.

D&D, the platinum version

The Chosen (Unabridged)
___

Author: Kris Kramer, Alistair McIntyre, Patrick Underhill
Date:
2015
Narrator:
Kevin Clay
Provider:
The 4th Realm
Running Time:
11 h 54 min
Audible Enhanced Audio

Three kingdoms at war. Three stories of hope, sorrow, and sacrifice. Three groups of heroes, whose personal quests lead them to discover that a fourth kingdom, long forgotten, lies dormant. But no more. Unless these heroes, bitter enemies of each other, can put aside their enmity, then Cithria will rise again, and everyone else will fall into the abyss.

Although published as 5 books, the authors make clear from the very beginning that this is really 1 story divided into (so far) 5 parts. They also admit to ending each part with a cliff hanger (which, in my book, gives them a pass for doing that). This story has a HUGE cast of characters, but the authors manage them well. Each “set” has its own scene, and each of these scenes is long enough that keeping track of them isn’t confusing, at least not often. In some ways, this book is D&D, the Platinum Edition, and it contains all the races we would expect, plus a few new ones, but the authors manage to give each of them unique cultural histories, traits, and characteristics. The result is lots of fun, and very good fantasy. It also helps that the writing is extremely good, and that the world and character building approach excellence. Many of these characters, including the nonhuman characters, are very sympathetic, yet never come across as lightly disguised humans.

In addition, the narrator is excellent. His performance stands out in every possible way. In fact, I enjoyed this first book so much that I’m going to happily use a credit to get the next, and if I keep enjoying this series, I will follow it to its hopefully distant end.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for this unbiased review courtesy of AudioBookBlast dot com.

Great new series!

I am going to have to continue this series as it is great. The writing is fantastic but there are a couple of things to complain about. There are a bunch of characters to keep track off. I mean a great big bunch. Second the book just ends. No resolution, no logical stopping point. It just ends. In fairness the authors warned about this at the beginning. So be aware that if you start this you are going to have to get all five books to have resolution. I suspect it will be worth it.

Really Terrific Performance!

Narration - Kevin Clay - Kick A$$!
Really amazing narration. This book has a ton of character's and he really had unique character voices for each one, without any of them sounding like over the top animated critters. Just Really a terrific job!

The story is really three stories in one all heading towards each other. Really creative worlds with really creative characters so there is a lot to take in and keep organized in your mind. If you are a fan of fantasy, I think you will love this start to what I'm sure will be an epic tale. It does end on a rather large cliffy so be prepared for that.

And, I can't say enough about how terrific this narrator is. Such an enjoyable listen!

I received a copy of this audiobook free of charge from audiobookblast in exchange for an unbiased review.