The Tree That Grew Through Iron

The Panagea Tales

De: McKenzie Austin

Narrado por: Gerard Marquez

The world's end was his beginning.

Whole chunks of earth are withering away from the mainland and falling into the sea. Natural disasters are claiming thousands of lives. Prayers are no longer answered by gods. Prayers are answered by machines and the Time Fathers of Panagea.

Nicholai Addihein, one of the eight ruling Time Fathers, struggles to save the lives of his people. After a single moment of misunderstood treason, he must also save his own.

While running from the wrath of Panagea's other Time Fathers, Nicholai lands in peculiar company. Can a fabled immortal, a crew of societal rejects, and a silver-haired woman with a mysterious past breathe life back into a world on the brink of death?

With all of existence at stake, Nicholai and the others prepare to fight until their last breath to change the fate of Panagea. Who would ever guess that success might be just as fatal as failure?

©2018 McKenzie Austin (P)2019 McKenzie Austin

Such a well developed World!

so perfectly painted, you feel like you are actually there.. in the city, on the ship, walking on the island..... can't give away much more! fun to read, just couldn't stop.

Amazing!

What an epic book! The actions of one heartbroken man trying to save his dying daughter triggers events that literally change the course of humanity and time. The Tree That Grew Through Iron is one of my favorite books I've ever read! The author does a spectacular job laying out the world of Panagea and elaborating enough so that the reader truly feels like witnessing the events in the story. I hope that this one becomes a movie or series of movies!

The narration is also amazing. The narrator puts a lot of effort into creating emotion and giving characters their own voice (some sounded similar, but with a story this epic it would be impossible for one man to voice the entire cast and not sound similar).

I received this audiobook from the author/publisher/narrator in exchange for an honest review. Thanks so much, Ms. Austin!!!

That's a solid yes!

I loved this story! So much so that I will be spending a carefully hoarded credit on the sequel.

Join Kazawaki Hidataka, his crew, Nikolai Adahein, and Umbrial on a nail biting adventure to restore Panagaea to it's former glory, and try to save the lives of some loved ones. There's a Lesser God, men who think they're Gods, a loyal to a fault crew, and some people with completely misguided loyalties. High sea adventures, and frozen in time divisions.

My favourites were Kazawaki Hidataka and his loyal crew. Nikolai Adahein got frustrating at points, but his unwavering insistence on sticking to his beliefs and trying to save his love endears him to you. He's easily relatable in his efforts to hide a mistake made behind an ideal. By the time I got to the last 2 hours of the book I didn't want to "put it down"

I have one small complaint and it comes in the form of the narrator. While his reading tempo and voice assignments were very good, his mispronunciation of some everyday words and odd (what I'm assuming were breathing breaks) were a little grating. As a narrator overall he was not unlistenable though, and the annoyances were small enough to get over (mostly)

Magnificent, captivating fantasy

A rogue timefather. An immortal captain. A mythical earthmother. A dying continent. These are just some of the things you'll experience in The Tree That Grew Through Iron, as Nicholai Addihein joins Captain Kazuaki Hidataka and his grew in a quest to save the world, and hopefully, his love.

Austin has created a magnificent fantasy world, and the world-building stands out instantly. It will pull you in, captivate you, and take you on an amazing journey.

Much of the story, if not most, happens on board Captain Hidataka's ship, and I loved it. It's a kind of environment that makes for a lot of fun adventure, and bonding between the story's cast (of which there are many, considering there's a whole crew).

Austin's writing is beautiful and captivating, and most importantly, never boring. I found the pace to be a bit slow a times, this is a long book, and I have a tendency to feel like it's just a little bit drawn out at times.

I had the audiobook version, and as usual, I find it a bit difficult to keep track of names, and some of the things that are going on, especially when it's a story I don't know from before. I didn't for example realize until the end of the book how much time had spanned during the events of the book, even though I'm sure it was mentioned several times.

Also, I didn't feel like the narrator was a good fit for me. I say it that way, because he didn't do anything wrong, he was an excellent reader and did great work with all the characters, but I felt like something was missing. Something didn't quite click with me, and I noticed I sometimes lost interested a little bit. I don't know quite how to describe it, which is why I want to emphasize that it's probably me, not him. Also, perhaps particularly toward the end, there was often a noticeable drop and increase in volume, which made me have to turn it up and down occasionally. Not a big issue however, by all means.

Austin has created a wonderful fantasy universe, with unique settings, adventures and characters. A pleasure to have read, and I'm sure the next installment will be just as captivating. Recommended!

Adult Dystopian Fantasy

As a parent reviewer I feel the need to start out with a morality rating - Just in the first 30 minutes of listening alone there is a pretty descriptive near sex scene, 3 f-bombs along with other bad language, and violence - I would rate it in the "R" range and say it is definitely geared to an adult crowd. It is a beautifully descriptive story that does draw in the reader into a very complex dystopian world of fantasy and mythology. It was a bit out of my comfort realm since I prefer a cleaner read. The narrator did a wonderful job and was an asset to the story with his skill.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Good Read

I received a copy of this book from the author. I really liked the story and it did hold my interest. I am glad that it did have an ending to it.

Gritty, dark, and supremely imaginative

This was a pretty fun book. Although it was a bit longer than I usually prefer, the author managed to keep the story interesting throughout, filling the story with the most imaginative characters I've come across in some time. I particularly liked Kazuaki, with his gruff, all business exterior and loyal heart underneath. Not to mention his motley crew, who had no trouble lightening the mood when needed.

Overall, I'd say this is a great choice for anyone into deep stories and steampunk shenanigans.

Also, the narrator has an excellent reading voice. Very enjoyable to listen to.

A Definite Page Turner

4.5 out of 5 stars

The first thing that is apparent in this book is that Austin has a grasp on character development. A lot of this book was devoted to that and usually I harp on books going into too much detail or being too long because of this but I thought that she did a good job walking that tight rope of being overly descriptive and actually giving great details. The same can be said about setting the scenes. They were described well without being too wordy. Unlike I’m being in this description here.

The story itself was enjoyable – I usually do not read a lot of (what I would call) Epic Fantasy usually because of its length – but it didn’t bother me in this story. I thought that the scenes and overall vibe of the book was well told and every part that I would have shortened would have most likely taken away from the pacing and vibe that Austin was going for.

Another thing that is apparent is that Austin loves a good shock and awe (or other may call it cliffhangers). They happened a lot in this book and every time you think you had something or someone figured out, boom, another change up. It made for a fast read and a definite page turner.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I’m glad that I read it. I usually don’t pick up longer books like this but I’m glad that I did.

excellent.

** I received a free review copy of this book at my request.

This book was great, it has heavy environmentalist tones which is always good to see.

the adventure was a lot of fun, and the main characters where well developed and full of quirks. In some cases they did feel a bit forced but it didn't over shadow the narrative.

The antagonists did have the problem of being either completely insane, or so biased and incapable of being reasoned with that they may as well have been insane.

This book is solidly enjoyable, while also making a strong point about social responsibilitu.

Phenomenal story

I love how the author developed the characters. The storyline is emotional it made laugh and cry. The writing is descriptive with strong details. The book is fast paced with an air of adventure and a touch of mystery. The book deals with environmental issues and that is very important. The narrator was absolutely perfect. I received this audio book upon my request. I am voluntarily leaving an honest review because I really enjoyed this book.