The Dark Ability

By: D. K. Holmberg

Narrated by: Vikas Adam

Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

Exiled by his family. Claimed by thieves. Could his dark ability be the key to his salvation?

Rsiran is a disappointment to his family, gifted with the ability to Slide. It is a dark magic, one where he can transport himself wherever he wants, but using it will only turn him into the thief his father fears.

Forbidden from Sliding, he's apprenticed under his father as a blacksmith where lorcith, a rare, precious metal with arcane properties, calls to him, seducing him into forming forbidden blades. When discovered, he's banished, sentenced indefinitely to the mines of Ilphaesn Mountain.

Though Rsiran tries to serve obediently, to learn to control the call of lorcith as his father demands, when his life is threatened in the darkness of the mines, he finds himself Sliding back to Elaeavn, where he finds a black market for his blades - and a new family of thieves.

There someone far more powerful than him discovers what he can do and intends to use him. He doesn't want to be a pawn in anyone's ambitions; all he ever wanted was a family. But the darkness inside him cannot be ignored - and he's already embroiled in an ancient struggle that only he may be able to end.

©2015 D.K. Holmberg (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

tolerable but kinda painful

let me start by saying this is a review coming from someone in the military and is not forgiving of weakness.

However, my god, what a self loathing, cowardly, and stupid sack of potatoes the main character can be. I've seen rodents with more backbone. If it were the 21st century he'd def be an emo kid.

Aside from that, the story is entertaining and the premise/construct behind it is intriguing. The book is worth listening to if ur a touch patient..or sympathetic..whatever. the main character does get a slight bit more gusto right towards the end, so hang in there troopers.

After I skipped whole minutes of his self pitying, woe is me b.s., I am pleased with the ending and will get the next book. I have hopes after his trials and tribulations he will finally become more useful then a screen door on a submarine.

Decent but had potential to be grand

The story had so much potential. The world and the supporting characters were interesting. The main problem for me with it was the main character. He constantly second guesses his choices and indulges himself in self pity. And with all the second guessing of his choices you would think he would have some better plans. He was far to meek and soft for me through most of the book. By the last sixth of the book he had a little bit more of a backbone but still had undercurrents of the nauseating self pity. If you can get past this the book is amazing. Also was a pretty good performance. I will continue listening to sequels in hope of the main character evolving into more of a hero and less of the wimpy crybaby he seemed to be for so much of this first book. Like I said, this series has potential.

not good, even for YA lit

the main character was too obsessed with not becoming a criminal without thinking at all about the morality of his actions, it was as if the label bothered him more than what he was doing. I got really tired of him worrying about it. also, he didn't seem very smart.

INTERESTING STORYLINE. HAS POTENTIAL.

I find the protagonist, Rsiran an interesting character. He defied his orders and was sent to the mines as punishment. He managed to escape and he joined a group of thieves. He has the power of "sliding" and made good use to help his friends. Not a bad start to a new series and worth continuing.

boring and poorly written

a lot of the writing was extremely repetitive and didn't really move the plot forward at all. I found that I didn't care about the main character or any of the side characters and there was nothing redeeming about any of them. overall, I really, really struggled to finish this book and found myself rolling my eyes a lot at the dialogue and plot

Great Read......

I didn't think I'd like this book at first, but I decided to give it a go. By the end of the second chapter, I was a fan. This book is such a gem.

Gave it a chance; it was amazing

Where does The Dark Ability rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Top 3 in the category.

What did you like best about this story?

The characters were really interesting. This didn't turn into a "god vs mages" book like it could have -- and still might in subsequent sequals.

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

He's an amazing narrator. This was not his best work. It was still incredible.

Great book I love it

I love this book. I already got the next one in the series can't wait to here what happens next.

Meh

Vikas Adam does a pretty good job. That being said, I can't help but wonder if this book was narrated by someone with a bit manlier voice if the main character wouldn't sound like a walking vagina without a single working brain cell.

By far the whiniest main character I've heard in ages. And the choices made by the characters, all of them, are so obviously moronic that it takes a lot of employment out of the book. Plus some of the writing is just cliche garbage, but since it's YA fantasy basically, that can be forgiven to an extent.

But when combined with such an astoundingly stupid, whiny main character, your natural inclination to forgive is slightly dampened. The side characters aren't likable either. I'm on the second book because I stupidly bought them all, and I was hoping the main character would stop being so completely whiny. Maybe man up at least, since he's supposed to be a hard ass smith's son. But nope.

I don't recommend this series at all. Vikas Adam does good, but now I don't know if I'll be able to stop hearing the whine in his voice ever again. This series literally ruined Vikas Adam for me; no simple task.

If you don't like stupidity and whining, steer clear.

The plot never shifts out of first gear

Kept hoping this would get better. There are ideas, and story elements that have a lot of promise. It feels kind of like the 12 year old practice stories of someone who grew up to be a great author. There too few plot devices used to create tension and move the story forward and they get used too many times.
There is a constant theme of confusion for the main character that is developed too the point where I the reader was so confused that I lost faith that the author himself wasn't confused. It felt as if the scenes were being pasted together with with lot's of vague connections that look like good storytelling but were really the author pretending they knew where they were taking the story.
the first book was a good enough start that I read several more in the series. It had hints of greatness, but after 3 books and the characters seeming to make progress (that didn't actually turn out to get them anywhere), I got tired of waiting for the author to take me someplace meaningful.

i was initially cautious but...

I'd read a mixed range of reviews around the book. however as I was drawn to the book and story I thought 'Well its only a book lets try it.' it proved a good choice for me. I enjoyed the early slowish development of characters and introduction into the new world.
I found it a pleasure to read and was interested in the next book very quickly. Almost finished the second book - (1 hour left and a long trip coming up) and bought the third book.

I have enjoyed the readers performance . The voices are just a little different which enables you to follow the main characters fairly easy without lots of over delivery. its been a pleasure to enter this world.

New to the Holmbergverse!!!! Amazing!!!

Okay I should not be picky about the voice of the narration but Vikas Adam for me kept pulling me back to this amazing story from DK Holmberg (Sadly unlike alot of audiobooks). I admit it i'm noob and a total stumble onto the book and series, but all i'm going to say is I am hooked. Big TIME!!! The Wife is Hooked and well!!! we are churning through the next one!!

So if you are unsure about this book give it a go! As a professional metal smith Rsiren's story makes me feel at home and its nice to hear/see a new rogue in town! Definitely in the list next to my favourites from JRR Tolkien, Gail Z Martin and Patrick Rothfuss.