The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps

De: Kai Ashante Wilson

Narrado por: Kevin Free

Critically acclaimed author Kai Ashante Wilson makes his commercial debut with this striking, wondrous tale of gods and mortals, magic and steel, and life and death that will reshape how you look at sword and sorcery.

Since leaving his homeland, the earthbound demigod Demane has been labeled a sorcerer. With his ancestors' artifacts in hand, the sorcerer follows the captain, a beautiful man with song for a voice and hair that drinks the sunlight.

The two of them are the descendants of the gods who abandoned the Earth for Heaven, and they will need all the gifts those divine ancestors left to them to keep their caravan brothers alive.

The one safe road between the northern oasis and southern kingdom is stalked by a necromantic terror. Demane may have to master his wild powers and trade humanity for godhood if he is to keep his brothers and his beloved captain alive.

©2015 Kai Ashante Wilson (P)2015 Macmillan Audio

didnt care 4 it

Seem to be more for gay or bisexual reading. storyline OK I was impressed thou.

Flowery prose obscures a unique world, characters

I’m a fan of writers like Jeanette Winterson and Lorrie Moore, whose prose is highly stylized. I don’t think every writer needs to be a Hemingway. But Wilson’s writing is so bloated with exotic adjectives, it quickly becomes a chore to listen to. Metaphors are often inapt, and confusing, better reframed as similes.

It’s an interesting world populated with interesting characters that get lost in a soup of adjectives. Towards the end, I was finding it hard to pay attention to the plot.

Did the sorcerer kill the big cat, or did the captain? Or were there two and one of them killed the captain? Were the sorcerer and captain lovers before they set out with the caravan or after? Don’t know, don’t care to slog through the morass to find out.

I think Wilson has a great talent, but needs a better editor and maybe a writing coach.

a personal surprise

Yes. Yes I did it. I'm embarrassed but I found this story by searching for books narrated by Kevin Free. I figure from an author's point of view this is just ... unspeakable. (But. You know. Go Kevin!) In the long run it gave me a marvelous and heartfelt surprise!

So. I listened to this book without paying the slightest bit of attention to the blurb including the fact that it was a novella. Here's what happened:

Wow. What a great piece of writing. Oh. Wow. Is that not a wonderfully evocative sex scene . (Wait. What?I haven't cared much about a sex scene in years.)

Oh my. This battle description really works.

Oh. Hey! This is a *romance* set in a band of mercenaries. Neither of these things is my first choice genre yet I can't put this down...

I'm chuckling again. The dialogue really is good.

But now it seems to be getting serious. What's happening... OMG. The story is over. I pause, stunned by the perfect words of the ending. Then I react.

It was one of the most moving moments in my 60+ years of reading. Kai Ashante writes beautifully and with a great sense of timing. This story is wonderful.

I highly recommend the story, the author, and yes! *the narrator* who did a fantastic job of bringing it to life.

What is this story about?

Liked:
-Interesting and charming use of narrative voice and dialogue
-really unique and weird way of using magic: "milking third eye" and then spitting ichor from a forked tongue
-yay for gay and bisexual characters!

Disliked:
-This book is missing elements of a clear narrative structure. I never knew where it was going, what the goal was. It just meandered. This might have been helped if the characters' meeting had taken place in the beginning of the book instead of the end.
-The end was rushed. SPOILERS BELOW


The main character's lover dies. An annoying trope for gay romances, but even worse, the death is purposeless and not explored at all. It literally happens in the last minute of the 5 hour book. As far as I can tell, the main character's goal throughout the story was simply to be with his lover, follow him, maybe convince him to lead a more peaceful life. Well, the lover dies, which I suppose makes this book a tragedy, but there is absolutely no exploration of the death, resulting grief, and how the main character will refocus his life and move on. So as a love story it fails. As a tragedy it fails.

I would love to see this book rewritten with a more logical narrative structure. Set up the problem, work towards solving it, give us the character's darkest hour, then a glorious resolution. The cool setting and unique dialogue/narration combo deserve a better narrative structure.

Skillfully Written

A beautiful story skillfully written, blending romantic prose and modern day vernacular seamlessly! The symbolism for the concerns and the beauty of the black community is deeply present and felt even more deeply. I love the story and was sad for it to end.