The Solace of Hope

The Eternal Ephemera, Book 3

By: Davis Ashura

Narrated by: Travis Baldree

Cam Folde's tribulations in the Realm of Hearth are not the end of his struggles. They are only the beginning.

Cam and Light Squad have returned to Salvation, but important questions linger. How many of the great Sages have turned traitors? Who can Light Squad trust? And is the Ephemeral Academy itself compromised? Strangely pertinent as well is the nature of Cam's relationship with Charity Kazar. Who are they to one another?

Dangers abound, and while none of the questions have easy answers, what becomes clear is that Cam has to forge his own path. The rest of Light Squad shares his antipathy toward those in authority, and together, they conceive a plan to make their own destiny.

Another, however, has his own schemes, and he is far beyond a mere Sage. He is Coruscant, a Great Rakshasa, and his deadly challenge will be the greatest that Cam has yet to face.

©2024 Davis Ashura (P)2025 Podium Audio

Excellent narration, good story, some disconnect

TBald proves again why he’s easily one of the best narrators/voice actors in the business. Truthfully, with 1000 or so titles in my Audible library, I actually think he’s THE Best.

As for this installment and without dropping any major spoilers, I’ll just say the ‘super angry and no good Fold’ inner dialogue portions are making listening to Cam’s POV portions of the book much more annoying than interesting. Top that off with a heavy dose of teenage insecurities regarding relationships, and the formula for delivering an entertaining story skews heavily towards ‘unfavorable’. Ok, so the cliche team split trope being used repeatedly doesn’t help either.

Card, Jade, and the rest of the characters on the team are great. The magic and rank systems are solid. The actual writing is great when the author isn’t trying so hard to flex on the readers/listeners with big words. In other words, there’s a lot of good material and potential with this series. I enjoyed the book overall, but I’d like to see more emphasis placed on outer conflicts with true antagonists than being constantly reminded of all the personal struggles.

Always find myself IN the story.

The feelings, the environments, the characters all make me feel as though I am in Light Squad as I listen.

Truly appreciate Cam, the team and the development of each personality.

Development

loved the flow of the story and development of the chosen ones arc. Can't get enough of how well the world building is done

A good series

While I thought Book Two of this series was the strongest of the trilogy, this book did tie up the story nicely.

Fun Story

I am enjoying the world being built! I think this is my favorite story in the universe the author is writing.

Character growth, progression, challenges, this book keeps things moving!