Two Heads, Two Spikes

The Pearl of Wisdom Saga, Book 1

De: Jason Paul Rice

Narrado por: Evie Cameron

Knights. Queens. Chaos.

Could you defy a king's command to protect your only daughter?

With intense hatred brewing among the ruling families, Duke Jon Colbert has a choice to make. Will the indomitable duke bend a stiff knee and obey the king or risk treason to be the first man in many years to defy his king openly?

In a land where the lines between good and evil can be both clear and blurred, motives for revenge become entangled in a world of intrigue, deception, and drama. Separate storylines converge to weave a vivid literary tapestry of interesting characters with questionable intentions.

Two Heads, Two Spikes is the first volume in Jason Paul Rice's Pearl of Wisdom Saga. If you love George RR Martin, Joe Abercrombie, and Robin Hobb, you'll enjoy a series that combines their tradition with a multiple point of view epic fantasy set in the medieval period.

Pick up Two Heads, Two Spikes and embark on an adventure filled with darkness, forbidden romance, family struggles, suspense, action, and strong female characters amid overtones of classic fantasy.

©2014 Jason Paul Rice (P)2017 Jason Paul Rice

Intriguing Story

I found this story to be complex, intriguing, and interesting. There is plenty of action from the get-go, some of it violent. There are political machinations, backstabbing, and betrayals. The cast of characters is numerous, and trying to keep them all straight made it hard to listen to this book casually. You really need to pay atteniion to keep up with everyone and what is going on. Be forewarned, this is book 1 in a series, so you'll need to buy the succeeding books or audiobooks if you want to know how it ends.

The narration was good, and the delivery was even and well-paced,

I was voluntarily provided this review copy audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator.

Fans of GoT will enjoy

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed the first volume of this saga and would recommend it to readers who like the Game of Thrones series.

I suspect that some folks wouldn't find this book satisfying, because of the POV-switching (point of view) and because there are so many characters and plot lines. I suppose that's understandable, but I think that it's important to acknowledge what these types of books are all about. These aren't easy or quick reads. The cover of the book says that it's Volume 1 of a saga, so we know that plot arcs will continue in the next books. And, because the book is about political intrigues, we know that characters will be complex and there will be plot devices such as betrayals and secrecy. So, starting the book with the right mindset is important and one could argue that it's unfair to give this book low ratings because of this. it's like giving a comic book a low rating because it has too many pictures and not enough words.

The narration was effective, which is good (I often get grumpy when listening to an enjoyable story with mediocre narration).

The reason why I didn't give this book a full five stars is because audiobook listeners don't have the benefit of maps and family tree diagrams that are typically found at the front of print books. It makes an already complex book even more challenging, so there were a few times when I forgot who was who. I think that's normal for a book like this, but it seemed to be a bit more frustrating because of the audio format. I think this is something that authors/publishers should improve; I don't think it would be too difficult to scan diagrams into pdf format and make them available in the Audible library or on the author's website, and it would add customer value significantly for readers such as myself!

I provided this review in exchange for a complimentary copy of this audiobook from the narrator, author, or publisher.

Lots of action

This story has all of the excitement, blood, love, death and deceit. It has many story lines that were in the beginning hard to follow. The more I listened the more I understood.

This audio book was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.

Loved the book, audio makes it better.

This has a great plot line. Nobody ever knows what to do with a bad ruler, especially their children. Does a wrong make a right or a right that makes everything wrong. I received this audiobook for free, but voluntarily reviewed.

Epic Fantasy That Sadly Misses The Mark.

I received this book through Audio Book Boom in exchange for an honest review. The need to write a review was the only reason I finished this book. There is nothing terribly wrong about this book to make me hate it. There just wasn’t anything compelling about it either. The beginning for me was the worst. I do concede that it gets better, but never enough so that I actually wanted to continue reading it. I like epic sized books set in a medieval type of time period with sword, sorcery and palace intrigue a la “Game of Thrones” and “Codex Alera” or any number of others. Although “Game of Thrones,” and “Codex Alera” are from two big name authors, I don’t actually require that my epic fantasy comes from a big name author. If it’s good, it’s good. This book just wasn't that good.

As far as I'm concerned, “Two Heads, Two Spikes” had too many unnecessary and uninteresting story threads that the book could have done without. I guarantee if they were removed, not only would they not have been missed by anyone, but the story that remained would have become much more compelling and focused.

“Two Heads, Two Spikes: The Pearl Of Wisdom Saga, Book 1,” just didn’t do it for me. It was a struggle to get through and I don’t have any intention of reading book two. I know I’m in the minority on this one compared to the reviews on Amazon, but, for what it’s worth, I stand by my opinion.