The People's Necromancer

The Age of Magic, Book 1

By: Rex Jameson

Narrated by: Adam Gold

Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's Summary

Craving a complex, daring high fantasy? The Age of Magic series is reminiscent of the emotional roller coaster and grit of Game of Thrones with the wonder and danger of the Upside-Down from Stranger Things! 

Amidst the darkest days of antiquity, mankind discovers a new kind of hero. 

For thousands of years, mankind warred without magic. Peculiar abilities were buried in history along with the storied paladins and the mysterious dark elves who rarely ventured into human towns. 

That all changes at the end of the Tranquility Era, when a young man named Ashton accidentally raises his murdered best friend Clayton from the grave. Because of his mistake, Ashton becomes the focus of manhunts, armies, and the King’s judgement, but Ashton is not the biggest problem in the Kingdom of Surdel. 

The golden age of man is coming to a close and enemies surround the civilized world. Lulled into a false sense of security by isolation and pervasive peace, human lords hatch petty schemes to weaken their rivals and gain favor with the throne. Meanwhile, an ancient darkness stirs beneath the Great Northern Mountains and the orcish hordes grow restless just beyond the Southern Peaks. Out of the chaos at the end of the Tranquility Era, a new breed of hero arrives to forge an age of sorcery and mayhem. And into this chaos comes the Necromancer!  

©2018 Rex Jameson (P)2018 Rex Jameson

Sets the scene

Warning: This book contains rape, incest, extreme violence, and the undead.

This book did a good job of creating the setting for more to come, the world is well built and the characters are well written. However it left me wondering what the point was of anything that happened. There was a lot of violence and while some of it was used to provide motivations for other things that happened the whole thing just left me wondering 'why'.

I didn't like this enough to want to read the next book, but I also didn't dislike it, perhaps it just wasn't the right book for me.

The character voice were well done, they're clear and easy to tell apart. the narration flows nicely and the intonation helped convey the tension in the book.

I received a free copy of this book from the author and/or narrator and/or publisher and I voluntarily wrote this honest review.

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Not on par with The Spellmonger series

I just left the world created by Mancour and needed a replacement. This was not even close. I was going to shut this off in the first hour but “powered” thru. It got a bit better after Hour 6, but I did not find myself craving to comeback and listen. Narrator was ok.

Dark magic with a good heart

"I was given this free review copy audio-book at my request and have voluntarily left this review."
Now that we got that out of the way, I can tell you I was interested in the idea of necromancy from the point of the protagonist instead of the typical bad guy for a change, and I was not let down. Without giving away too much I can see how some people may not like this story. When the main character Ashton accidentally discovers he can raise the dead he does not go off half-cocked destroying everything in his path when someone close to him is murdered. It may be your first thought but this story was very well thought out having Ashton and his motives being very methodical. Author Rex Jameson penned a wonderful world with some detailed backstory, laying wonderful groundwork for the rest of the series. Narrator Adam Gold also did a wonderful job keeping the story and dialogue moving. Although he didn't have a broad range of voices for the characters it was enough to hear the differences between the characters. The two combined make for a wonder experience and I cannot wait to listen to the rest of the series.

A Necromancer, a Friend

Compelling plot, intriguing characters, and a narrator that brings the world to life more than anyone I've seen. Adam Gold delivers a masterpiece.

What's better than a good-guy necromancer? This story has a very unique twist for a high fantasy. This necromancer isn't bad. In fact, he wants to do good. He brings people back from the dead, and they go village to village to stop the Red Army, who have been attacking villages. And the main character is aided the whole way by his undead friend.

This promises to be an excellent series, and I look forward to reading the rest of it!

It was ok.

The story was alright, at times predictable and a bit boring. It’s slow to get going and only gets somewhat interesting at the end. It didn’t really hook me at any point and I didn’t really get interested in side stories or sub plots.

At times the voice actor was trying to hard or overacting. Idk... like I said, it’s just ok.


Maybe it’s good for a younger audience?

Good story with complex plot

This book involves a young man who discovers he is a necromancer by accident as he is grieving for his lost life long friend. The story then involves his adventures as he at first tries to flee and then take revenge for what others have done to his people. The plot involves politics within a human kingdom and the war among elves and orks and demons. It also involves him beginning to learn about the history of his world and the magic that has shaped it.

He makes many mistakes during his journey and moves toward his destiny.

This is a good book and well written with a complex world of magic and beings. The narration is very good and enjoyable.

This book was provided free of charge and this review is done voluntarily.

Absolutely worth the listen

I got it becuase I had an extra credit and needed something to listen to. Glad this was recommended because now I'm in love with the series

Younger peoples fantasy that is unsuitable.

The novel starts off with an interesting premsie and writing that quickly degrades into tell, not show. The novel seemed to be for teens or kids until i hit a certain point in which sex starts being very heavily involved, and leaned on. I'm not sure who this book is for but considering its subject matter yet plain writing i feel like the author interjected some things after having read game of thrones without considering if they were right for the story of what his target audeince should be. The characters are pretty flat, and the actual interesting bit of the book (the necromancy) is quickly just made a regular thing for the protaganist, with him seemingly just as undead as those he raises. I wanted to like the book but gave up with two hours left. The narrator did his best with the subject matter.

Loved it

Book could be a little longer but overall enjoyed it . The story line is fun

Good enough

Good enough.
The performance isn't great, but it's good. The story isn't great, but it's good
I suspect this is very much intended to begin small to set up something larger.
for anybody familiar with elements of dnd, you'll recognize key elements towards the end of the book.

Dull

I really struggled with this. it's just dull! I didn't care about the characters or their peril and couldn't wait for it to be done. Some of the interactions were good but overall I just had a profound feeling of boredom - and I don't want that from a book!