The Dragons of Deepwood Fen

By: Bradley P. Beaulieu

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 22 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

This first book in a new fantasy series from the author of the acclaimed Song of the Shattered Sands series follows an unlikely pair as they expose the secrets at the heart of the mountain city of Ancris.

Lorelei Aurelius is the smartest inquisitor in the mountain city of Ancris. When a mysterious tip leads her to a clandestine meeting between the Church and the hated Red Knives, she uncovers a plot that threatens not only her home but the empire itself.

The trail leads her to Rylan Holbrooke, a notorious thief posing as a dragon singer. Rylan came to Ancris to solve the very same mystery she stumbled onto. Knowing his incarceration could lead to the Red Knives achieving their goals, Lorelei makes a fateful decision: she frees him.

Now branded as traitors, the two flee the city on dragonback. In the massive forest known as the Holt, they discover something terrible. The Red Knives are planning to awaken a powerful demigod in the holiest shrine in Ancris, and for some reason the Church is willing to allow it. It forces their return to Ancris, where the unlikely allies must rally the very people who’ve vowed to capture them before it’s too late.

Explore the mountain city of Ancris, where fast-paced adventure and intrigue abound, in this new offering from the author of the acclaimed Song of the Shattered Sands series.

©2023 Bradley P. Beaulieu (P)2023 Bradley P. Beaulieu

Great start to a new fantasy series!

I read this because I am such a huge fan of his previous fantasy series, Shattered Sands. And I was not disappointed! Great audiobook experience!

Great Story

Love the story, the characters and the plot. As usual, Simon Vance delivers a wonderful experience for a great story.

Fantastic take on different cultures and opposing factions

Overall this was a great story and a very intriguing start to a new series. If you are a fan of the author’s previous works then you will not be disappointed. Also, its nice to see a take on dragons where they are balanced and bot overpowered.

Great character building

Great characters both human or dragon. Excellent world building, interesting magic system(s). Thankfully nothing like the current romantasy dragon books. I can't wait for book 2. Beaulieu is one of the best authors of the moment. It's amazing to see how his writing developed over the years.

Legends and Dragons

I am a fan of Bradley P. Beaulieu and narrator Simon Vance. The combination had me pretty excited for this book. Despite this, it took me a while to really get into this one. As the story begins, it feels like you've been dropped into the middle of the story with no information of the surrounding world and its origins. Some of this clears up as you go along, but there is a quite a bit lacking in the world building for this book, and you find yourself wondering about the surrounding environment and its history. Perhaps this will be expanded upon in future books, but it was a bit surprising coming from Beaulieu, who has provided such expansive worlds in previous series.

The story itself eventually becomes very interesting with some great characters. The dragons are more than just beasts of war, bonding with their riders, and providing the source of magic in the story. The political setup of an empirical ruling class with an overreaching church is a bit overdone in fantasy, but it works here as a basis for the good vs evil premise of the story.

Overall, this book was a pretty entertaining read, but seemed to lack Beaulieu's usual originality and ability to create a grand world. Future books may provide a larger picture, but a little more world building may have turned this book from a good one into a great one. I enjoyed enough to move on to the next one.

More political than magical

First chapter where like character cards, lots of layers to the story but most not elaborated on enough to understand how it relates to the events . The book felt like a lot of episodes of a series that were summarized . Needed more stories about the holt and less about the church , state and rebels.