The Whitefire Crossing

The Shattered Sigil, Book 1

By: Courtney Schafer

Narrated by: Andy Caploe

Length: 17 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's Summary

Dev is a smuggler with the perfect cover. He's in high demand as a guide for the caravans that carry legitimate goods from the city of Ninavel into the country of Alathia. The route through the Whitefire Mountains is treacherous, and Dev is one of the few climbers who knows how to cross them safely. With his skill and connections, it's easy enough to slip contraband charms from Ninavel - where any magic is fair game, no matter how dark - into Alathia, where most magic is outlawed.

But smuggling a few charms is one thing; smuggling a person through the warded Alathian border is near suicidal. Having made a promise to a dying friend, Dev is forced to take on a singularly dangerous cargo: Kiran. A young apprentice on the run from one of the most powerful mages in Ninavel, Kiran is desperate enough to pay a fortune to sneak into a country where discovery means certain execution - and he'll do whatever it takes to prevent Dev from finding out the terrible truth behind his getaway.

Yet Kiran isn't the only one harboring a deadly secret. Caught up in a web of subterfuge and dark magic, Dev and Kiran must find a way to trust each other - or face not only their own destruction, but that of the entire city of Ninavel.

©2011 Courtney Schafer (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Loved the plot, loved the characters

Any additional comments?

I loved this story! It was fast-paced, kept its sense of mystery and urgency to the end, and I found both of the main characters really likeable. The author has built an interesting world with an unusual take on magic. I couldn't stop listening and I find myself impatient for the next book!

Great fantasy!

Well, it's official. I have another favourite! I absolutely loved this book. The plot is tight and fast moving and the main characters are engaging and complex. I wished it was longer... I loved the magic system, which reminded me of the old, honest-to-goodness magic that I read in my early fantasy books in my teenage years, but with a very fresh take. How the magic is used or not used is well thought out. One of my favourite moments was the "fight" between Ruslan and Kiran. The only thing I was a little put off with was the narrators weird emphasis on some of the words. Still, overall, a good narrator.

Good narrator

What made the experience of listening to The Whitefire Crossing the most enjoyable?

Andy Caploe made this story fun to listen. The first 1/2 of the books was real exciting, but it kind of petered out in the conclusion. There is a good twist to the ending. Overall well worth the read.

A hidden gem in Epic Fantasy

I discovered this book many years ago on the recommendation of Mark Lawrence. The eBook was on sale and I decided to give the story a shot thinking I would enjoy it. What I didn’t expect was to be completely absorbed and engrossed in a story we have seen before, but with wonderful twist, worldbuilding, and beloved characters who will surprise you at every turn. Cities are built in environments seemingly unable to support human life, but that us where the magic kicks in and there is plenty of it in The Whitefire Crossing. This book is a relatively unknown series in the SFF community and I look forward to sharing it with the ambitious readers.

We follow two main POV characters in The Whitefire Crossing and they both have their secrets and mysteries to be discovered. Dev is a smuggler with the perfect cover story. He’s in high demand as a guide for the caravans that carry legitimate goods from the city of Ninavel into the country of Alathia. The route through the Whitefire Mountains is treacherous, and Dev is one of the few climbers who knows how to cross them safely. With his skill and connections, it’s easy enough to slip contraband charms from Ninavel – where any magic is fair game, no matter how dark – into Alathia, where most magic is outlawed.

Transporting cargo and supplies is one thing, but the smuggle in a person into Alathia is a whole different matter. The borders are guarded by magic warders, but Dev made a promise to a dying friend and he takes the job and the dangerous cargo Kiran. Kiran is a young apprentice mage and decides to pay a small fortune to run far away to Alathia and one of the most powerful mages in Ninavel. Dev is unaware of Kiran’s past and they will traverse the mountains and desert terrains to accomplish their tasks.

What makes this book such a compelling story is the pacing, character depth, and interesting magic system. The background for the characters is told organically throughout the journey with our characters as opposed to huge info dumps. The chapters switch back and forth between Dev and Kiran with you never feeling let down. What I loved most about the plot was Kiran’s flashback episodes involving his training, use of magic, and tragedy he had to endure. You will know why he is on the run from his master at all costs.

Finally we have the magic in this world. Mages have different skills based on there power base and strength. For example, the city of Alathia has water mages to control the water supply into the desert city and I find it ironic that the city where magic is banned uses magic in order to exist. It is very much in the same vain as a leader saying one thing but doing another. The world also possesses charms which can be bought and sold with varying powers. This was a nice touch to a fantasy novel.

This is a story about secrets, politics, and survival and its most pure form. The story will not be made clear from the start and it is just a taste of the larger world we get to explore. You will definitely have more questions than answers upon completion of this book especially with the ending we get. Stakes will be high, but the characters will be their along the way. I’m sure some of you have never heard of this story before and I’m am happy to put this on your radar!

Cheers!

Badly written book with an even worse narrator

This is hands down one of the worst narrators I’ve come across. Lacking in both voice talent and reading ability, I’m left wondering how on earth this person became a book narrator. Ugh. Torturous to listen to. I wouldn’t even have been able to tolerate if he was reading a competently written book. Sadly, this book doesn’t approach competently written. The dialogue was pathetic and juvenile. I think my middle school friends and I wrote stories on this par back in the day. I certainly would have been embarrassed to turn in a story like this by the time I reached highschool. Wow. Did the author have nobody to advise them that this was a terrible idea?

Slow going

A character-driven story more than concept or plot-driven. Not bad, if you like evil blood magic and mountaineering. Story moved too slowly for audiobook format. Chapters alternated between mountain guide Dev, in 1st person POV, and young mage Kanin, in 3rd person. Thus, listeners hear the same events from two different perspectives. This overlapping felt slow and frustrating. I wanted the plot to move faster. Also, I saw no reason for the unusual choice of perspective style.

Incredible

This book, and series, is amazing. It absolutely does not get the attention it deserves! the writing is fantastic, the plot of fast and fun, and the magic is a joy to read. What's more, Courtney Schaffer does something unique with the physical geology/adventure/climbing/hiking aspects of a journey that I have never encountered before.

A brilliant book, and a great audiobook production too. Well done.

Slow start, great finish

I have to say, this book really grew on me. If I had reviewed it after the first 3rd, I would have given it 3-stars as a promising first book, but by the halfway point I was really engaged. It took the author a while to set up the total plot line of the book, but it was worth it. I look forward to the 2nd book.

Wonderful

What did you love best about The Whitefire Crossing?

It was well written, well paced, and well read.

What does Andy Caploe bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I have both read and listened to this book, and I think that Andy Caploe brings it to life in a way that is absolutely refreshing. There are one or two rather scathing reviews about this narrator on here that seem so out of place (and kind of personal?). He does a wonderful job. So many books that I have listened to have narrators that speak in an almost monotone dynamic throughout the book. This guy performs! He is always engaged in what he is saying, and pulls you into the story. I would listen to him again.

Must listen at 1.25 speed.

Would you try another book from Courtney Schafer and/or Andy Caploe?

I would not try another book for Schafer or Caploe. I read the reviews on Amazon and was expecting a great story. I may not have liked it because it was not very deep and the narration was horrendous. If you are interested in this book I would suggest reading it instead of listening to it. Andy Caploe's narration is one of the worst I have ever heard.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

After suffering through the book the author uses what I feel was "dues ex machina" to get the characters out of the bind they had gotten into. Thus, totally wasting the time I put into listening to this book.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Andy Capole is an award winning narrator so I was very suprised when is narration totally ruined this book. He enuciated every sylable. He read veeerrrryyyy sssslllllooooowwwwllllyyyy. Iiiiiffff tttthhhiiiiisss isssss aaaannnnooooyyyyiiinnnngggg tttthhhheeeennnn yyyyoooouuuu ggeeettttt aaaannnn iiiiiddddeeeaaaa ooffff wwwwhhhhaaattt iiittt ffffeeelllltttt llllliiiiikkkkeeee llliisssttteeennniiinnngggg tttooo hhhhiiimmmm. Listening was excruciating until I remembered that Audible has a speed up function. I had to up the speed to 1.25. When I did the speach ACTUALLY sounded normal.
Also his mage voice was an annoyingly afeminate male. I don't mind the character being gay, but ugh, the voice he used was WAY over the top.
The f-word is used throughout the story. No big deal, it is in a lot of books and does not detract. However, everytime Andy Capole said the f-word it sounded like a child saying it and thinking he was being a big boy using a bad word. His emphasis on the word was very distracting.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I can't think of any. I would like to say the discription of the mountain terrain and mountain climbing was done well. However, after hearing the same discription a few times, the description becomes annoying. So what started out as good became boring.

Any additional comments?

I wish I had read the book so I would know whether or not Andy Capole single handedly destroyed it or if it really is just a mediocre story. I listen to books with my husband as we drive 40 minutes to work and 40 minutes back home. If he had not wanted to plug through it I would have put myself out of my misery and not finished the book. As it was we plugged through, groaned a lot, and were thankful when we sped the narration up. Upon finishing the book we looked at each other, sighed, gave a big high-five and congratulated ourselves on making it to the end.