The Mists of Olume

Book I of The Gods of Being Human

De: Geo Rogers

Narrado por: Stephen William Hodd

Contains some language/swearing.

Maglen, a hero of the Freedom Wars, was an amazing leader of warriors at a young age. The tolls of war tainted the man. After the wars, Maglen became a loner. He had become bitter, xenophobic, and very rude. Summoned by his emperor, he is encouraged to lead an extremely important expedition in search of the legendary continent of Olume. At first skeptical and reticent, Maglen argues against the perceived validity and value of the expedition..

The Mists of Olume includes two epic adventures wrapped into one story.

First, Maglen must meet the demand, at his emperor’s insistence, that he upgrade his capabilities in the realm of magic. He must accomplish this while he prepares the expedition for the odyssey. Once at sea, he must overcome the shipboard challenges while attempting to find Olume. These strain both his mental and physical capabilities.

Equally or perhaps even more importantly, Maglen must conquer the hurdles encountered in his efforts to eliminate his uglier faults. That quest has him fighting to surmount his shortcomings and recapture his purer motivations, optimism, and leadership skills from his past. Maglen has a love of blades and is a remarkable swordsman. His proclivity for blades proves, for the second time in his life, that he is a less-than-stellar student of the magical sciences.

So, grab your favorite beverage. Get comfortable. Join Maglen and his expedition as they take on this epic adventure in a forgotten place, in a forgotten time.

©2020 George Rogers (P)2023 George Rogers

Slow world building

Overall I enjoyed this. It had long stretches of world building backstory or explicit knowledge sharing instead of implied. There was a loss of focus towards the end, but I'm hoping the second book makes up for it.

Performance was decent.

The performance was decent and about the only good thing about this book. The author expounds unceasingly on a single philosophical viewpoint. The story focuses on scenes with auch high detail for a process that it reads more like an instruction manual on how to do something. These same scenes and details detract heavily from the story. There is little action involved and seems to be focused on dreary details that could have been omitted in favor of a plot and plot progression.

Good Listen

I was given this book for free,

This is a good listen and narration is fine as well.

Insanely Slow

Prose and performance are serviceable, but the pacing is glacial. Most of the book is spent with characters giving long soliloquies about the MCs backstory or doing world building. The world building is decent.

A thrilling fantasy tale with a twist!

"The Mists of Olume" by Geo Rogers, narrated by Stephen William Hodd, is a thrilling fantasy tale with a twist of introspection. Rogers weaves a captivating narrative, showcasing Maglen's journey of self-discovery amidst epic adventures. A slow build but wsell worth the patience. Hodd's narration brings the characters to life, making it an engaging listen for fantasy enthusiasts.

An interesting story hindered by its delivery

There's an interesting story here, but the book is swamped with awkward info-dumps and stilted writing that feels uncomfortable to read. Mists of Olume could have greatly benefitted from editing out the unnecessary scenes and repetitive bits-- just general structuring and pacing issues. Overall, needs more polishing-- lots of set up for little payoff. Hoping the second volume will do more showing and less telling.

(Also, the narrator uses only two distinct voices, which might not be for everyone.)

Very slow, could have been structured better

This book suffers from a few problems... telling instead of showing, repeating items many times and moving things along slowly. Basically, the characters meet at some place and start talking for a long time. They finally decide to travel to another place. In the meantime, they talk a lot about other people and other places.

This comes across like a jumbled plot outline for something better, with details written on index cards and shuffled... and then a few characters randomly mentioning them as they travel, at length.

Hopefully, things get better in the second book.

The performance was great love the voices and voices

I enjoyed allot of the book however I think there was an allot of heavy information that made a had to fallow at times.

Young Mage's Quest - Action Filled

Maglen is a warrior and a leader at a young age but the Freedom Wars turned him into a bitter, rude, loner. His emperor has other plans for him and insists that he hone his skills as a mage for a new quest. Fortunately for Maglen, his sword skills are much better than his magical!

Geo Rogers, the author, is masterful at world crafting and blending unique characters into the narrative in a captivating manner. Rogers takes his listeners on the quest by way of an immersive writing style. His dialogue is authentic to the storyline and action while also moving the narrative forward at a solid clip. The relationship-building between the characters is masterfully done as well. One can almost feel the ship moving, see the demons, and feel the emotions and strain experienced by Maglen.

The narrator, Stephen William Hodd, cleverly brings each character to life, speaks clearly, and employs unique voices for each one. Hodd’s consistent and strong delivery, coupled with a deliberate cadence, ensures the narrative moves forward steadily and compellingly.

This is a captivating first book in a series! I cannot wait for more.

There were no issues with the quality or production of this audiobook.