The Traitor God

Age of Tyranny Series, Book 1

By: Cameron Johnston

Narrated by: Paul Woodson

Length: 14 hrs

Publisher's summary

A city threatened by unimaginable horrors must trust their most hated outcast, or lose everything, in this crushing epic fantasy debut.

After 10 years on the run, dodging daemons and debt, reviled magician Edrin Walker returns home to avenge the brutal murder of his friend. Lynas had uncovered a terrible secret, something that threatened to devour the entire city. He tried to warn the Arcanum, the sorcerers who rule the city. He failed. Lynas was skinned alive and Walker felt every cut. Now nothing will stop him from finding the murderer.

Magi, mortals, daemons, and even the gods - Walker will burn them all if he has to. After all, it wouldn't be the first time he's killed a god....

©2018 Cameron Johnston (P)2018 Tantor

Action galore, witty banter, juvenile banter, hear

The Traitor God is the story of Edrin Walker, a surly deviant of a magician who has spent the last ten years running away from a past he can’t quite remember. He’s fairly certain, however, that it has something to do with his murdering of a god. But when his best friend is killed and enemies from abroad start to invade, Edrin returns back to his home city in an attempt to unravel the plot and his past both.

I’ll start by saying I listened to this one and it was narrated by Paul Woodson who did a fantastic job of it. His sarcastic flair really helped bring Edrin Walker to life in all his sour, aresholic glory (yes, I just made up a new word for it).

We ride along in Edrin’s head for this one, and he’s a fairly typical anti-hero for the most part. He’s the type of man who claims he’s only there to gain vengeance for his friend, and only cares about those he calls friends… but when the threat becomes bigger than him, he’s the first one to throw himself into the fray. He’s a complex character and best of all, he barely even understands why himself. At Edrin’s core is a mystery, a hole in his mind. He’s fairly certain he killed a god, and he knows there were consequences for that that he’s dealing with even 10 years after the fact, but he has no idea how or why he did it. It’s a compelling mystery with an answer that is 50% drip fed to the reader, and then 50% slammed into the reader’s mind like a magical command.

There’s action galore, witty banter, juvenile banter, heart felt reunions, and horrifying monsters. It’s a bit of a thrill ride really and rarely lets up on the pace once it gets going.

A hearty 4 stars from me, and I’ll definitely be picking up book 2 when it releases.

Good book with an interesting premise

The Traitor God is an enjoyable grimdark tale with an interesting protagonist and world.
I enjoyed the ride, especially Paul Woodson, which I'd now like to hear narrate my autobiography. That man voice is smooooth. His performance was excellent, the only minute observation is that characters' voices are a bit too similar.
The plot itself is ok, it didn't hook me at first but got me towards the end.
I also appreciated the setting, even if I wished some parts of the mythos were explored more thoroughly. Some concepts are not explained properly and left me the curiosity.
Another small thing is the level of grimdark being forced: I read almost exclusively said genere and I felt the amount of filth, guts, shit, piss and blood was excessive. The book centered the genere even with less mention of said bodily fluids.
All in all, a good read!

A lot of fun

Action-forward with a backstory shrouded in mystery. The revelation of the mystery is as potent a product storytelling as the action and the reprobate main character.

The voice performance was a bit tortured at times, but mostly lovely.

Quite enjoyable

Really enjoyed this. Great narrator, interesting characters, plot has some good twists. A bit overly gory at times, but not enough to take away from the rest.

Difficult to finish

Except for the MC being a roguish, uninteresting mage, the supporting characters being mostly relegated to tertiary roles, unending world and atmosphere building and a razor thin plot it had some good points. I did like the boss battle at the end.

Beautiful

Main character is interesting and engaging, has a great arc
The performance by the narrator is top notch and the perfect voice for Walker
Engaging. Would highly recommend to anyone

Always a pleasure to find a new author and narrator.

I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of this Audiobook. I do enjoy a bit of death and in depth detail as to how wizards and mages accomplish it.
I recommend this book very highly if you enjoy the likes of Joe Abercrombie. I am not really comparing these authors. I just lack the intelligence to convey the talent that has been crafted together.
Forgive my shortcomings. And I will leave you with the truth. Purchase this Audible Book and I am sure that you will enjoy it. Irony…

good story, problem with focus

amazing story however the author has a problem keeping priorities straight around chapter 20. wish the Mc would stop jumping around with random thoughts in the middle of serious situations

wow

this book was fast passed and action packed, I had a hard time stopping the book to go to sleep, and I look forward to the next if there is one
also the narrator was top notch

it's okay

I get annoyed by the pervasive feminism in these and pretty much all types of stories these days. If that doesn't bother you, ya might like it.