The Druid

The Dawning of Muirwood, Book 1

By: Jeff Wheeler

Narrated by: Kate Rudd

Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

An abandoned child becomes a singular inspiration to the mythology of Muirwood in an epic series by Jeff Wheeler, Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Muirwood and Kingfountain novels.

Eilean was born a “wretched”—a lowly foundling raised by the Aldermaston of Tintern Abbey. Then she’s chosen to assist in establishing the new abbey of Muirwood, now the site of a castle in the swampy Bearden Muir. Eilean’s role is as night servant to the druid Mordaunt, the king’s exiled advisor—and prisoner. He’s clever, dangerous, and invaluable to the Aldermaston.

Mordaunt’s priceless secret: the hiding place of an ancient tome that reveals the existence of other worlds and the magic between them. Mordaunt knows how potent its words are and how dangerous they could be in the wrong hands. But can Eilean win him over? All she must do is gain Mordaunt’s confidence and trust and persuade the apostate to divulge his secret to her. But as she learns more from Mordaunt, Eilean’s loyalties begin to fray. And the risks are greater than she imagined.

Despite betrayals, deceptions, and the deadly motivations of others, a girl from the flax fields is about to rise above her station. By exploring the potential of the power of an ancient spoken magic, Eilean is coming into her own.

©2022 by Jeff Wheeler (P)2021 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Wheeler loads his tale with magic, intrigue, and believably conflicted characters. Readers will be impatient to know what happens next.”—Publishers Weekly

“Action and intrigue are Wheeler’s bread and butter, as are stories with the core value of virtue without ambiguity and gratuitous violence, all on display here.”—Booklist 

“A superbly crafted novel of magic, fantasy, and mythology.”—Midwest Book Review 

Not Wheeler’s best

I rarely post full reviews. A book has to “Knock off my Bobby Socks,” be the best work of a prolific writer, or it has to disappoint a writer’s fan.

I’ve read ALL of Wheeler’s novels, including his many series books as well as his standalone works. This is, without a doubt, the manuscript that Wheeler (a) should spend another year revising, adding a tighter plot with interesting characters; (b) rethink the chapter order; or (c) find an editor with no fear of telling her authors when they’re boring their readers and to (b) find an editor who’ll urge her writers NOT to continue to refer to the same event sometiin the future involving the same, small group of characters. Some of us are old, but really?

My Wheeler, you could have made the return to the abbeys great.

I don’t sleep heavily, but I had to re-listen to more than ¼ of the chapters, either because my mind wandered off and I completely stopped actively listening to a chapter, or because I couldn’t tie the new chapter’s subject matter to the one preceding it.

My Wheeler, you could have made the return to the abbeys great.

Typical Muirwood fantasy

Like other Jeff Wheeler stories about Muirwood, The Druid is a young adults fantasy.

The Druid is a prequel about the establishment of Muirwood. It also lays out how the Maston Order has been corrupted, and needs fixing. The hero, Eileen, is a young “wretched” who is strong in the Medium. She enters the tutelage is the Druid, who teaches her about the Medium and how to use it properly.

The story ends with Eileen recovering the Druid’s tome. Subsequent books must complete the story of the redemption of the Maston order.

Another great book by Jeff Wheeler!

I love Jeff Wheeler's works, and this book did not disappoint! I'm only sad I have to wait for the next 2 to come out! I'm very excited to see how the story will play out. Additionally, the narrator, Kate Rudd, did an amazing job bringing this book to life. I absolutely love her narration.

Young adult book, it all felt... simple

None of the characters had believable dialog. The main character was forgettable and seemed on track to be a "Mary Sue". I guess overall the story was just to simple.

4.5 Stars!

I wasn't sure what to expect when I saw this new entry in a series by Mr. Wheeler. I will admit to being a very huge fan of the world that Mr. Wheeler has created and a fan of the many, many books that have proceeded this entry. At the time, I wasn't really sure where this book fell in terms of the timeline. But, if I'm honest, it wasn't too hard to determine that this book fell well.... WELL... in the past....way before the time that we had previously been privy to.

Part of the issue that I had when I was trying to get into this story was probably my own determination of trying to figure out the whole why and where and who of where exactly we were in the timeline. After a while, I realized that that was actually kind of ridiculous and decided to just go with the flow and find out what was happening like a normal reader. I mean, I knew a heck of a lot about what had actually happened in the future, now I just needed to read(listen) and try to understand how this new information fit into what I already knew.

This story takes us back to the very beginning and to the building of the Muirwood Abbey. This Abbey becomes EXTREMELY important in the future, but at this time, it is not even completed. We get to meet Eilean who was a "wretched" and the story takes off from there. Honestly, I found the story captivating and interesting. Maybe it was because I already knew more information about the Muirwood Abbey, but honestly, I don't think so. Mr. Wheeler made this story interesting enough that someone coming in completely cold without any prior information would be captivated.

This story is the "prequel" the VERY beginning of everything that those of us who have been a part of this entire series (gosh, and at this point I don't even know how many books it entails but it is a whole heck of a lot) this is the beginning. And what a beginning it is. At this point in time, I can honestly say that I do not know how everything is going to tie in and make sense...I only know that it will.

This was a great entry to this new timeline and I cannot wait to get to the next book.

Mr. Wheeler.... you are amazing. just thought I might mention that.

The Druid

Excellent story!! Excellent performance by all characters!!
The volume was extremely low & very hard to listen to because of it & was very disappointed in having such a hard time listening to the story! The story was amazing & interesting💐🥰

Eilean, you’re a wizer!

I enjoy Jeff Wheeler’s books. I’m even happier that he has begun merging his different series into a continuous universe. It’s not an easy road, but he is doing a great job of it.

Kate Rudd is doing a fantastic job as the voice of Muirwood, Kingfountain, and beyond. I’ve never been disappointed.

The story is the origin of Muirwood Abbey, but it spins into a hero’s journey of his protagonist, Eilean. If you’ve read his series in the past, you know what you’re getting into already. It’s worth the read. I’m looking forward to the next book.

Not a complete story

This is just an installment! you have to buy another program to find out what happens next.

great series

I really enjoy these books, there are a lot of parallels between religions of the world today and the religions reflected in the book- which aren't actually all that different from each other. I've mostly listened to the book so my comprehension isn't as good as if I had read it but this series is VERY thought provoking in my opinion.

one thing I LOVE about these books is the strong female characters, and that almost none of the main characters come from noble beginnings, frequently they're orphans from birth.

name pronunciation is super weird though- example the main characters name looks like it should be pronounced "eye-lean" but is pronounced "Ay-lin"

great beginning to another Muirwood story.

Jeff Wheeler as usual delivers a character building nicely paced adventure. highly recommend. Looking forward to book two.

Constant repetition of the same descriptive phrase … agh!

….“sick to her stomach” time and time again.
A good story line, marred by it’s jarring recurrence.

Engrossing

Really enjoyed the book. The plot is good and the characters are well rounded and likeable.

Amazing

It’s so good to go back to muirwood to hear where it all began. How I’ve missed it. Loved listening to Kate one of my favourite narrators of all time. Thankyou

Great performance of a very good story

Kate Rudd brings this fantasy story to life.
woven around religion's pagan, Christian in all its forms and old and new testament.
Including Martin Luther and the inquisition.
A good start to this epic for anyone interested in religious history or just a good fantasy.