The Chosen

Contender, Book 1

By: Taran Matharu

Narrated by: Pat Young

Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

The Chosen introduces the first book in the Contender trilogy, an epic young adult fantasy from Taran Matharu, author of the New York Times best-selling Summoner series.

Throughout history, people have vanished with no explanation. A group of teenagers are about to discover why.

Cade is settling into a new boarding school, contemplating his future, when he finds himself transported to another realm. He soon discovers their new world is populated with lost remnants from the past: prehistoric creatures, ancient relics, and, stranger still - people. Overwhelmed by his new surroundings, Cade has little time to adjust, for soon he and his fellow classmates are forced to become contenders in a brutal game, controlled by mysterious overlords.

But who are these beings, and why did they choose these teens? Cade must prepare for battle...because hiding is not an option. Fans of fantasy and LitRPG will welcome this new character and world from the author of the Summoner series.

©2019 Taran Matharu Ltd. (P)2020 Audible, Inc.

You Really Have to Suspend Your Disbelief

The story is fun and the characters are interesting enough, but there were several times where I simply couldn't bring myself to believe their capabilities. Oh well, I still enjoyed the story overall, but we'll see if I continue on to Book 2.

Huge Disappointment!

As a serious fan of the Novice series, I had high hopes for The Chosen. What a disappointment! The plot was an amalgam of all YA tropes: bullying in boys' reform school, abusive or ineffectual adults, survival against monsters, girls who are stronger than boys, and weapons training montage. The dialogue was uninspired and the characters were one-dimensional. Add to all of these flaws the frequent use of god-d***, a**, sh** and I would not recommend this book to ANYONE... and I'm a librarian!

To short just like all his books

The book was good, but so confusing how it was jumping back and forth for no apparent reason. His books always feel rushed and not enough detail and not enough character development. After his fourth book you would think he would get better but nope.

Reader ruined a cool story

The reading is flat and character voices unappealing. Sometimes he reads lines, that should sound threatening or sarcastic, as happy and friendly. It’s bizarre.

I would not recommend this audiobook.
But I would recommend Reading this book.
If you won’t ever get to reading it, then I guess you’ll have to suffer through this.

Great Author, Bland Story

I couldn’t find this book interesting. 10 chapters in and it still hadn’t found a way to pick up. The story is bland, following a bunch of teenagers stuck in a world that wants to kill them. There was one minuscule scene of action in these 10 chapters. All the other scenes were your classic: “I don’t fit in so I get bullied” trope sprinkled with racism. It struggles to compel. The writing style of the author is great. I could see the events like a movie: however the movie itself wasn’t gripping.

Great writing style held back by a bland story. That’s just me though. Maybe someone else would enjoy this book. I personally need more from a YA fiction book. I do hope to see more work from this author though.

much better than other reviews suggest

I wish it was longer simply because I liked it so much. i would consider this sci-fiction more than fantasy for sure. maybe that's where fans of summoner get cranky. I loved it.

stick with it

Slow at first and was going to stop reading it but really liked it after a time. fascinating story.

Not his best work but still worth the listen.

I felt as if this book had a slow start. The character development and back story were also somewhat lackluster. I did enjoy most of this book and will most likely reread and relisten to it again just to catch bits I've missed. Needless to say that the "stranded in a dinosaur land" has been better filled by other authors. This has also been a far cry from the quality of the summoner series.

Slow build up but good cliffhanger

As the title says, it’s a good cliffhanger, but slow builder. The characters are interesting, and the plot is a new spin on some old ideas. I will look forward to listening to the next installment of the series.

good book

not all the words match up but it is still a really good book. enjoyed it a lot.