Toric's Dagger

Book One of the Weapon Takers Saga

By: Jamie Edmundson

Narrated by: Greg Patmore, Bridget Thomas

Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

A fast-paced and action-packed adventure, set in a detailed and compelling fantasy world.

Toric's Dagger is just another religious relic, until it's stolen. Belwynn and her twin brother, Soren, volunteer to lead a team tasked with its retrieval. Drawn into a world of danger and treachery, they must rely on Soren's magical abilities, and on the telepathic bond they share.

Now, as kingdoms and empires start to fall, the twins confront the dark forces that threaten them. They must not let the Dagger fall into the wrong hands. But when mercenaries, zealots, and sorcerers are all hunting for the same weapon, who should they trust?

Book one of the Weapon Takers saga, an epic fantasy series in the tradition of Tolkien, Tad Williams, & George R. R. Martin. The story is told from multiple points of view and is perfect for listeners who like their fantasy done on a grand scale.

Connect with the author at jamieedmundson.com.

"Outstanding...Quite simply, this is the most fun I've had reading since the Kingkiller Chronicles" (readper)

©2017 Jamie Edmundson (P)2018 Jamie Edmundson

Fun adventure / fantasy

I enjoyed listening to this story. The main narrator was a man, with a woman narrating just the voices of the women in the book - at first it was a surprise to hear, but I really enjoyed the format as both narrators used distinct voices for all the characters. The story was interesting and fast paced. There was a satisfying conclusion, although obviously the adventure continues in the next book.
I appreciated that there was minimal language, innuendo, and no "adult" scenes.

A Grand Adventure!

Toric's Dagger is a very adventuristic tale about a brother and sister team that is charged with regaining a dagger that has been stolen. The two siblings have a telepathic bond that allows them to speak to each other in their own heads. Good tale that has a lot of twists and turns. I received this Audio Book for free in exchange for an unbiased review. Very good Listen. Highly recommended!

An Epic Tale of a Dangerous Quest

If you're looking for a high stakes adventure that's reminiscent of an epic journey like Odysseus, then this is your story! I quite enjoyed the creativity and the world building within Toric's Dagger, even if the cliff hanger of an ending left me at a complete loss of words and a swirling sense of anger. The only slight problem I had with this story is that I couldn't shake the feeling I was being privvy to a DnD (Dungeons and Dragons) campaign more than enjoying a story. That feeling took me out of the story for the majority of the time I was listening to it, and while I appreciated Patmore's delivery, his various voices didn't do much to help that problem of mine. The narration, however, was also reminiscent of a father reading to their child with unique and outlandish voices and if someone enjoys that, I would really recommend giving this a listen! That style just wasn't for me. I also wanted to hear more of Thomas, rather than her just being limited to the narration of the female characters. Do I have mixed feelings on whether I enjoyed this or not? Yes. Do I think others should give it a chance? Also yes! I don't think I enjoyed it as much as I could have, but I'm really glad I did get a chance to read it!

good start

When this book first opened up with the English narration and heist for a dagger it got me really excited for some Crown Tower by Michael Sullivan vibes. While the rest of the story didn't quite play out to be as exciting as I thought it could have been, it was a good start to a series. There was a big focus on the characters and getting to understand the relationships between people and territories.

There is a merry little band on the run throughout the book trying to get and then keep Torric's dagger. It seemed very slow at points but I think it all served a purpose of setting us up with what is to come. Its a big world with a lot of players so listening to this instead of reading it was tough at times. I think reading would have been easier for me, but I still really enjoyed the narrator so I didn't mind.

There's magic, fight scenes, and a few unexpected twists. There is no romance but there are potential love matches you see developing. The end isn't really a cliff hanger but it will make you want to jump into the next one!

solid if uninspiring epic fantasy

the world is richly imagined and extremely reminiscent of "stormlight chronicles" minus the storms and stormlight. if you liked those books you might like this series. however it shares SLCs weaknesses, specifically, difficult to care about characters. by the end each character is distinct, but I still had not found a sense of attachment to any of them. there is no Caladan in this book, and no Dalenar. really there isnt much of a protagonist at all, but a sampling of lots of characters playing significant roles in a war over the fate of the world. excellently voiced though. I could listen to the narrator all day, and did, as a matter of fact.

slow but story develops well

the narration on this book is good no complaints on the narration. Hook is a bit slow but it all comes together very well leaves you wanting to listen to the next book in the series.

A grand Tolkien-ish journey!

I was not familiar with Jamie Edmonson's work, other than the blurb, but The Weapon Taker's Saga sounded very interesting.
When it came to this narration, I was thrilled! It was fantastic; Bridget Thomas and Greg Patmore did a fabulous job bringing the multitude of characters to life with various accents & feelings. In Toric's Dagger, it was particularly welcome, due to the sheer volume of characters in this Tolkien-ish adventure.
The story slowly unfolds in perhaps the first third to half of the book, with the opening of the story highlighting a small band of adventurers. Soren, a sorcerer still learning to control his use of magic. His twin sister, the lovely troubador Belwyn, puts crowds into a trance-like state as she sings. A couple of exiled Kreekers(sp?) One of which is a smithy, good with weaponry, both with hard scaly skin. Add in a couple of mercenaries, a guide/tracker, a healing priestess who claims to speak with the gods, & her new acolyte, who carries secret, this is the group who ultimately is sent on a quest to retrieve a holy relic, Toric's Dagger. The characters aren't really developed, not the main focus of the story, but along the way, some of their backstories are revealed. As they travel, they cross into various cultures and lands, running into obstacles and other sorcerers with nefarious plans. Meanwhile, the politics of the lands they travel through are introduced. Princes, kings, an emperor, dukes, wardens, mages, etc. are introduced as a war is threatening to break out. Treason, double-crossing, spies, & shifting loyalties are revealed. Some of this was a bit boring to me, I'm not a fan of politics & with that much political detail, I do better physically reading to keep track of who is who. However, I knew it had to be important groundwork for what was to come. (Again, I was thinking of the scope of Tolkien in the back of my mind.) The groundwork is intertwined with the rich scenery and cultures that did hold my attention... the world building was wonderful.
The book gained momentum just after halfway, and continued as more information was discovered about the importance of the dagger to the world, not just one country. Alliances are made, and enemies revealed, showing the group what possibly will be required for an epic battle, as they go off to collect more holy relics from various cultures. Edmonson lays groundwork for a series of books focusing on humanity vs an ancient evil that's building in power, and only retrieving the various holy relics from separate cultures will give them a chance at defeating the building evil. Once past the politics, which I'm not fond of in real life, I really enjoyed the story! It's well-written, richly described, and I'll be going to find the second in the Weapon Takers Saga, Bolivar's Sword!

I was voluntarily provided this audiobook for free from the author. This in no way affected nor influenced my thoughts.

Great traveling companion fantasy.

This is a great beginning in what is sure to be a superb epic fantasy series. It has everything you could want, a group of travelers, interesting humanoid races, and fantastic world building. Pick this one up if you want a travelling story with a montley crew

A good story.

This is a good book but it is slow in some places. I received this audio book free and voluntarily reviewed

slow building but great

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

So, all in all, this is a really good epic fantasy story. This is book 1, so there is a LOT of character and world building going on. This isn't unexpected, but it does make the first bit a little slow. It is one of those necessary evils to creating a truly fantastical world. I really think this is building to an amazing series. The narration is great and really does a good job of bringing the story to life. I don't often like when there are mutliple narrators. The transitions between them can be jarring and interrupt my level of engagement in the story. This duo, however, do a good job of having clean transitions. All in all, it is slow starting but good and I would recommend it to all fans of epic fantasy.