The Grey War Saga

Book One: The Gathering

By: Damon R. Laws

Narrated by: Keval Shah

Length: 14 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's Summary

D’Lean, a member of a long-forgotten order of mystical monks, believes something has gone wrong with the Prophecy of Return. A prophecy that has given hope for thousands of years to the people against the evil rule of the dragon King Marcus the Red.

However, with the capturing of Balor, the king’s brother, he finds out the truth and so much more. The prophecy has indeed been interrupted, plus the king is breeding half-breed abominations for a sinister and vile purpose.

Soon D’Lean, a redeemed Balor, and Laurana, the first woman monk in thousands of years, set out to give life to the broken prophecy. Along the way, they gather a group of unlikely help. Mara a thief that cannot help her wandering hands, Hayden, a boy, and would-be knight, and twins Na’Resse and Thrace, a brother and sister born into slavery.

Will their bonds of friendship and love be enough to overcome thousands of years of oppression and hate, or will the darkness emerge and destroy the world?

©2015 Damon Laws (P)2021 Damon Laws

Not A Good Listen

I seem to be in the minority, but I found the narration to be rather lacking. I won’t call it horrible, but it wasn’t too far removed. The pacing, the absence of emotion, the inflection, the mix-and-match character voice, and the random-seeming placement of emphasis… . It’s disjointed and awkward,

With a good narration and editing, a story can be magical and transport me to fantastic places. I returned the book after a dozen chapters.

Keval Shah's AWESOME narration rocked the book!

Keval Shah is going to the name to listen for in fantasy! I'm here to see what else he can do as a narrator and he knocked this out of the ballpark! Author Damon R. Laws couldn't have found a better reader for 'The Grey War Saga'. In the book, we find that something has gone horribly wrong with the Prophecy of Return, which has been deliberately 'corrupted' in service to King Marcus the Red. The dragon ruler is propagating half-breed abominations that will insure his evil rule indefinitely. D'Lean and a group of other unlikely heroes go forth to give life to the broken prophecy. Talk about an epic adventure! This is an incredible start to a promising series. The writer takes special care in developing a story all his own with a premise that is unique in the quality of the heroes! This makes the fantasy a bit more realistic with flawed characters we can identify with and grow to love. He takes time to develop a world we can see so very clearly in our mind's eye with richly descriptive text that breathes a special life into the narrative. I came along on this beautiful adventure because of the narration. What a pleasure and privilege to stay for the incredible story. Thanks for sharing this with us all.

A world of Fantasy, Dragons, and Tattoos!

Love this story! The characters are dynamic (both written and voiced) and the world brings the reader to a wonderful place! Favorite part involves purple glitter yarn!

WOW

I love this story and can't wait for more. No one could have narrated this story like Keval. THANK YOU

Thoroughly enjoyable

All in all, I really liked this book. The premise was interesting if a little black and white. While I don’t think it is ground-breaking it was thoroughly enjoyable. 

The story was paced quite well in my opinion and I was thoroughly engaged throughout. It also set up the next few books nicely. I also found the magic system intriguing 

This is the second book I've listened to with this narrator, and I think is career is looking promising. He made dialogue easy to follow with clear and unique voices for each character which kept me hooked throughout the book.  I will say I felt Balor’s voice sounded a bit too young for who he was supposed to be which  although I think can be justified considering age can change through magic. 

I have two complaints about the story; I thought the characters were a bit too trusting/forgiving and I thought the story was a bit too completely good vs totally evil, although there were other factions with shades of grey. 

In total a solid four stars and I will be purchasing the next book in the series. If you like epic stories of dragons and heroes this is for you!

I couldn't stop listening.

A very fast paced book, with interesting action scenes. The author builds a rich and diverse world, and the performer brings all of the characters to life brilliantly.