Virtuous Sons

A Greco-Roman Cultivation Epic

By: Y.B. Striker

Narrated by: Justin Thomas James, Emma Kate Starling, Jeff Hays, Zachary Johnson

Length: 18 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's Summary

The Heavens fear a shining soul. Defiant, the virtuous cultivator ascends.

Lio Aetos is the Young Aristocrat and heir apparent to a legendary Greek sect, a prodigious talent born and bred for glory.

Solus is a slave, a disgraced patrician from the fallen city of Rome with nothing to his name.

They're as different as the East is from the West. Yet both of them hunger—to cast off the threads of Fate they’ve been given. To reach for a higher purpose.

In this world of ruined empires and long-forgotten gods, the Young Aristocrat and the Son of Rome share an unyielding conviction. As brothers, they will face tribulations and climb the divine mountain of Olympus.

It is a mad thing. It is utterly against the will of the Fates.

It is cultivation. It’s the mark that every philosopher bears plainly on their soul.

Ingeniously combining xianxia and cultivation elements within the world of ancient Greece, Y.B. Striker brings a fresh take on progression fantasy that is brimming with wit, adventure, and larger-than-life characters.

A top-rated novel on Royal Road with millions of views, now edited. Buy a copy today!

©2022 Timeless Wind Publishing (P)2022 Soundbooth Theater

Greco Roman Themed Cultivation - Incredible!

This is Will Wight's Cradle series mixed with Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, Plato's Republic and a smattering of Greek Mythology.
I go through a lot of audiobooks, mostly fantasy or science fiction. Recently I've gravitated toward cultivation themed stories. since this is a newer genre a lot of the stories are from first time authors so I'm used to taking a chance on new books with few reviews. Most of them don't make the cut and I don't even finish the book. This is not of one those stories. I'm so glad I found this one and look forward to future stories from this author.

Cultivation and Greek mythology mesh perfectly!

This series takes the core concepts from cultivation novels (stages of growth, immortality through power, advancement to a higher realm) and adapts them to Greek mythology, and it's amazing. The author wholly embraces his concept, and as a result the world he builds is totally immersive and exciting, even when it's simultaneously very silly.

The voice actors really matched the main characters, and did a fine job with the background characters as well. The characters themselves are often larger than life, so I was pleasantly surprised to hear voices that fit them.

it's like a more awesome Spartacus...

Imagine huckleberry Finn, meets Spartacus, meets cultivation magic, and is serious like red rising. Here's a short breakdown of what I would want to know about it:
Pros:
+ Amazing narration, as always by SBT. The new guy who plays Sol sounds like he could steal my wife with a phone call lol Also, multiple narrators help distinguish the characters from each other without constant "xyz says" "xyz replied"
+Good pacing, nothing drawn out and has a gripping start
+Good character depth, without too much backstory
+A general lack of PC bullsh**, that kind of stuff is always emersion breaking for me

cons: (not many)
-I did loose track of one or two changes in perspective, but caught back up quickly
-no second book yet to continue 😭

Really enjoyed the listen

So far with what most have said in reviews has been very agreeable in my opinion. This a sort of mix of both Roman and Greek mytho with its own cultivation style. The story and characters both are entertaining and set up for the next book to only get better

The narration. Just y’a LOVED IT 😊

Grade A+++

This is a bit different from what i have been listening to. This may be why I enjoyed it so much, but one thing I can say is the author did it right. The narrators are some of the best also and I have listened to them in other books. They don't fail in this book either. When you think of mythology you think of word play and battle. you think of speaking as if you are reciting poetry. the two main MC's are my favorite. The passion will have you rooting for them even when they should fail. LOL. I cannot wait to see what happens next. I am a fan. Thank you for a different type of experience.
PS. i can see how the riddle talk would bother people, but I can see why it was written this way.

Quality. Highly Recommend.

There are many things I look for in a book. Quality exposition, interesting characters, impactful meaningful events and decisions, and impactful meaningful consequences to those decisions that make for an interesting story are a few examples from the top of my list.

Virtuous Sons has all these things wrapped in a fun philosophical package that I found to be entertaining, inspiring, and thought provoking. The author's approach in manifesting philosophical concepts as a magic system and a plot device both is a unique and refreshing approach to power in fantasy. I loved it, simply.

An audio book can be ruined by poor narration and poor production quality. Soundbooth Theatre has never let me down. The team or narrators who worked on this production did a fantastic job. I felt the characters come to life. I'm particularly picky about audio production, narration, and writing approaches so it is truly worth celebrating when I find a book that ticks all the boxes.

This book is fantastic, and so are the people who made it happen. Highly recommend.

Great story

The Greco-Roman setting is refreshing. The bromance and vitriolic best buds dynamic is well-done, both leads are fun in their scenes together, they are great foils.

Try this if you want a fantasy epic with a strong focus on friendship.

Character driven story with true cultivation/progression taking a backseat

Don’t get me wrong, the word cultivation is mentioned every other line but it’s almost like no one, not even the characters, know what it takes to progress or what the progression/cultivation system is. This being said, I think the author wanted it this way and there is nothing wrong with that. It all depends on personal preferences and whether you enjoy the writing style. A lot of philosophy, almost wanting you to come up with your own answers. I’m no philosopher. I am just a simple progression fantasy, cultivation ranking system style, book fan.

It depends on what you expect in wanting to read this story. I was hoping for a cultivation driven story like cradle or a thousand li or something similar, but it’s far from that. I got a story that jumps around with characters and timelines - I think it’s fair to say that the story is not focused and many times I found myself confused. Everything get jumbled together, thoughts, reality, past, present, motivations, feelings … and while some may like, I didn’t. I can tell you that by the end, I still didn’t understand the cultivation ranking system or where the story was going - there is no clear explanation (I’m not even sure we know what ranking Solus is). Besides Solus wanting revenge and Leo/Griffin wanting a thrill, there is no clear direction. Again it’s a character driven story and many may love that. It’s all about expectations.

This being said, the story is so confusing at times that they needed to bring 4 different narrators to help bring the story into focus and help the listener figure out which character was speaking or in whose head we were, or which timeline we were. They did their very best, given the poor structure of the story.

This book is a philosophical book with a bit of cultivation thrown in from a western philosophical perspective. That’s fine but let me at least know the basics, what is the lowest you can start in cultivation then how far can you progress? What kind of powers can you get? Things are mentioned but nothing is explained. I even went online trying to figure out the ranking system, I didn’t find any. Almost like I should know what they are talking about it. Besides mentioning the ranking systems, the realms and heroes which I had no idea which came first or which one was after. I don’t know, maybe things will get cleared up but I read the entire book hoping to find answers and didn’t find any. I really wanted to like this story but I just didn’t. It’s a fantastic premise, a western cultivation story! But it fell short in my opinion. At least in the first book.

This being said, if the concerns I have stated are addressed in future books, this could be a great series indeed.

Holy crap the voice acting

So I’ve only had audible for about a year, gone through about 2 dozen novels (and a single Audio drama) and the second I heard that this story had multiple voice actors I knew I was in for something special

And boy was I right!

The VA’s- all of them were absolutely amazing. If only one of them had narrated this entire story I would have been quite pleased but the multiple VA’s was something I never imaged for such a long story.

Something I should really give a shout out is the Voice Acting for the Rein-Holder chapter/interlude.

THAT is probably the example I’m going to give to show people why Audiobooks are so cool.

on of the best i have ever heard

the original was sublime, this only deepened the immersion into the world. 10/10 from me.

Nice

I didn't care for the ancient Greek setting, the terminology, the very slow start and the sometimes patchy audio quality.

It grew on me though. The characters are all well defined and have their own distinct temperaments. The momentum builds and builds. The dialogue can be sublime. The character development never stops.

This is one of the more well written cultivation books. It's not fast paced, but it respects the story and it respects the characters.

yes please

the writing is well made, it's all so amazing, though it starts to get a little repetitive it is still so good.

Call to Adventure

A lot can be said about Virtuous Sons, but to be succinct. It is well worth the time.

The narration from the Sound Booth Theater cast is Top tier as ever. The chapters being narrated by the voice actor of the character who is the readers point of reference for the scene. This added touch makes it so much easier to switch from chapter to chapter without getting lost and having to wait to pick up a line that tells you who your following at that point.

The story itself is well written, giving you mysteries and building up on them adding more as some are answered. Always giving a drive to see what is happening next. the characters are all likable but far from perfect, In a book about people striving to achieve their greatest self it is refreshing that the personality traits and faults are embraced rather than pushed aside and ignored.

A real treat

Although I enjoy cultivation novels, historical themes are not something I usually pick out. But this was an absolute treat. Very quickly, the story pulls you in and like any top audiobooks you're listening more than you planned. The voice acting is quality and the voice of the Young Aristocrat really suits the character.