The White Tower

The Aldoran Chronicles, Book 1

By: Michael Wisehart

Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds

Length: 20 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's Summary

Winner - National IE Award for Fantasy.
Winner - Readers Favorite for Epic Fantasy.
Winner - Beverly Hill Award for Epic Fantasy.
RunnerUp - Kindle Book Awards for Fantasy.

They are feared, hated, hunted down, and destroyed....

....and yet they are mankind's last hope.

For a thousand years magic has been banished throughout the Five Kingdoms, and those caught wielding it are rounded up and taken to the White Tower. They are never heard from again.

Ty knows he's different. But when the bounty hunters arrive in the quiet city of Easthaven, his family reveals the shocking truth about his magical bloodline. And when an Ahvari witch hires a tribe of Northmen to capture him, Ty finds himself in the middle of a war he didn't know existed....

Armed with nothing but his will to survive, Ferrin attempts what no prisoner has ever accomplished and vows to escape the White Tower. His only hope is Rae, a gifted healer tasked with keeping the prisoners alive during the inquisitors' brutal interrogations. Will she be willing to risk her own life for that same chance of freedom....

Ayrion outworked his fellow soldiers for years to become captain of the guard. But his strength and valor alone won't be enough to stop the bloodthirsty creatures coming for his king. And when a sweeping number of the city's outcasts begin to mysteriously disappear, he realizes that the threat is closer than he knew....

War is coming, the likes of which hasn't been seen since the time of the Khul Hordes. How will humanity fight back when those with the ability to do so are being exterminated?

©2016 Michael Wisehart (P)2017 Podium Publishing

Spend the Credit

I'm a devoted listener of fantasy audiobooks on audible. I listen to 3-5 books every week. In spite of the endless number of books audible has to choose from I find it increasingly difficult to find new, well written, and most importantly well edited fantasy series.

So many books have good story arcs or interesting worlds but become unlistenable just because the author was unwilling or unable to have a competent editor pick up a red pen and beat their story like a rented mule.

I intro my review this way because when I stumble across a book like The White Tower it makes the experience all the more unique. This book has great characters... Protagonists you can't help but root for, villains you want to strangle and conflicts whose outcomes are uncertain.

The narration is solid, the voices are spot on, and the writing is fluid. While some might critique this book for having a relatively standard epic fantasy plot, I find that it's the writing and the characters that keep me engaged in a story more so than a reinvention of the genre. I've listened to many books with groundbreaking plots that I never finished because the dialog was idiotic or the characters two dimensional.

In summary, if you like epic fantasy you should spend the credit and start listening.

Enjoyable new epic fantasy

Rushed review: got the book solely due to the narrator (Reynolds is the best, listen to the Riyria Chronicles) and so glad I did. Good pacing, multiple story lines & protagonists to care about. I have a new fantasy favorite to add to Michael J Sullivan, Patrick Rothfuss, Brandon Sanderson, Robin Hobb) Actually, if you like Sanderson's works, you'll like this too. Will get book 2 as soon as it's out.

Evil wins

I have never fast forwarded and skipped chapters so much as I did with this book. if you enjoy seeing the bad people win at every turn and all the good people die then this is the book for you

I wish the author spent less time on torture

Overall, not a bad story, if you fast forward pat the many, many chapters that describe the torture of a couple characters in vivid, anatomic detail. I feel that most of this was gratuitous, and did nothing to drive the story forward. However, the story arcs of the 3 main characters is interesting and I will probably buy the next book in the series.

Endless tortue and fight scenes with little plot

I suppose this would be a great book if that is what you are looking for, but there was very little plot or character development beyond what is genre cliche. I had to make myself finish it in hopes that it would get better. It didn't.

Borat is that you? lol...

great start to a promising, potentially amazing, Epic series... just how long a wait between each book... that is always the question. Like any good vacation you need at least 2 weeks to really enjoy it. It takes one week just to get unwound enough to finally feel adjusted to your new temporary envirnment and get that stress and anxiety release momentum.

Coming to the end of this book was like having to go home after one week. The story ended right at the point when it got its real momentum.
Maybe could have gone further into the story before ending where it did but at least we werent left hanging in the middle of a significant climax ..

recommended to fantasy fanatics...
i look forward to the next book as the way this book planted seeds for those to come i expect they will keep getting better...

The book did jump plot lines alot from chapter to chapter. if reading the book it probably wouldnt be noticed but when listening to audiobook you cant walk away while its plyaing and come back cause youll be on another plot line... minor thing. more to make potential listeners aware.

Completely unoriginal and poorly written

This book has a 4.5 star rating which blows my mind. I got through 20 chapters before exchanging it, hoping that it would get better, but it didn't. There is absolutely nothing remarkable about the story. The characters are shallow and cliché, the dialog juvenile and unsophisticated, and the magic system has no rules, boundaries, or limitations making it a handy crutch for the author to beat the plot into submission. On top of that, there are several chapters with some fairly graphic brutality that only exist to elicit some response from the reader after failing to do is so miserably with anything else. I truly can't understand why anyone would enjoy this drivel.

Good story line but needs some more editing

Good story line but some editing is needed. The section relating to the Kings guard back story becomes a complete ramble. 3 or 4 chapters could be reduced by a lot. Also comparing him to a circus performer pulls away from the story. I understand the author is trying to show he is Mr awesome but that was too much. I found the timeline a little confusing in comparison to each characters point of view sometimes weeks past in one but days in another between chapters.

over all the book had a good story line and I will read/listen to the next book.

Tim Gerald Reynolds ability is always great. He really knows how to bring the listener in.

Tropes, enjoyable, but so... unremarkable.

I like the world, and I want it to work... but it just has no real life...

I feel like this book was just pieced together by every YA fantasy book the author had in his workspace at the time. The story was fun, sometimes. I was into the torturer and smith plot, but everything else was so milquetoast.

Main "hero" character is not named Aiden but instead "Arien"... and that statement is really what you can expect from this book. The characters act so predictable, they're all here, bumbling old people, uppity old lady, unaware scion, valiant hero with rough childhood, ignorant well meaning king, sexy vixen rogue, inquisitive sister, wicked witch, beautiful blondes and redheads, fiery redheads, greasy haired bad guys, sunken eyed evil wizard...

The writing was ok, but a little uncreative. You could actually feel when the author was reaching for a metaphor or simile to describe a situation. It was a little tragic at times. After being gravely injured in a huge battle, "his vision started fading, as though he had been out with friends and had too much drink."... This doesn't fit the situation at all. And it's not the only time it happened.

I hope the author improves, the world built needs some better representation.

I'm hoping that the rest of the books are better, but I don't think I want to gamble with my credits.

Tedious, Unfocused, and Not Worth the Effort

I hate writing reviews that are complete downers, but this is a book with no redeeming features. To start with, the story flits from character to character with very little connection between in such a way that for the first half of the book it felt like I was reading three different books. The story and plot offer nothing new, just a rehash of the common fantasy mechanics: the lost magic, the orphan child with a startling destiny, the sullen prince and the coniving advisor with a nefarious agenda. All thrown together without any binding to create an interesting story.
The characters are all standard. The ancient wizard, the noble king and his adoring wife, the secret society dedicated saving the hunted magic wielders, the dedicated bodyguard. The do not give me anything compelling to grab my interest. At the end of the day, I don't care if any of them live or die.
The writing just drags and is annoying. There are nonstop irrelevant detail. Nobody cares that something curves around like blah blah blah sandworm from the blah blah blah blah desert. It doesn't add to world building giving everything a name, and then explaining the name, ad nauseum. When a character does something, that is enough, we don't always need to know the internal motivation and thought process for everything. Also, you should not assume modern attitudes and morals from a feudalistic society; it doesn't ring true. Finally, when writing a fight scene, describing every blow, strike and parry is long winded and boring.

It feels like the author read a copy of Fantasy Writing for Dummies and used it as a checklist of the necessary items in the book, and incorporated every idea in every scene written. I cannot imagine that it was run by a writing group or editor because it reads like a first-time author's first draft.

I would stay away from this story. It is a waste of time, and a waste of attention.

Not Meaty enough

Perhaps I'm just getting jaded with fantasy. This is a reasonable story but too soft. There are goodies and baddies (yawn) and the goodies are just so very nice. I need grimdark. The narrator is good, as he always is, but there's just no real meat.

RANKS WITH THE GREATS

Great story, Tim Gerald Reynolds always a great reader.
Book 2 alas is not written yet.

will any of his earlier stuff be available at Audible in the near future ??

A Lot of Patience Required

This is one of those books with great potential but requiring too large an investment in time to get there. It’s not gripping or captivating so far. Several hours in and like a child I keep asking, “when will we get there?” The details while appreciating, get overwhelming then boring at times. The story is also quite predictable in some respects. I do not appreciate the long-winded, detailed torture scenes...
I’m sure the book would have turned out alright in the end - it’s just not engaging or mature enough for me to appreciate.

slow going

struggled at the start bat as characters are fleshed out the story gets going at some point. I will buy the next one but I'm not going to rush

One of the best books ever

I haven't enjoyed a book this much for too long. Believe me, you're missing out.

ok.

ok didnt leave me desperwte for more
good narration
perhaps i need a new genre all getting a but samey

bad narrator

I hate this narrator he makes all the books he reads sound like ya novels