Visions of Zarua

By: Suzanne Rogerson

Narrated by: Guy Barnes

Length: 15 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's Summary

Two wizards, 350 years apart. Can they save the realm of Paltria from Zarua's dark past?

An ancient darkness haunts the realm of Paltria. Apprentice wizard Paddren is plagued by visions of a city on the brink of annihilation. When his master Kalesh dies in mysterious circumstances, the royal order of wizards refuses to investigate. Helped by his childhood friend, the skilled tracker Varnia, and her lover Leyoch, Paddren vows to find the killer. The investigation leads Paddren down a sinister path of assassins, secret sects, and creatures conjured by blood magic. But he is guided by a connection with a wizard from centuries ago - a wizard whose history holds the key to the horror at the heart of the abandoned city of Zarua. Can Paddren decipher his visions in time to save the Paltrian people from the dark menace of Zarua's past?

©2015 Suzanne Rogerson (P)2019 Suzanne Rogerson

new to me

a new to me author. I'm on the fence about this book. If you like a little mystery with your fantasy you might enjoy this book.

Dark and Exciting

Paddren, an apprentice wizard in the land of Paltria, mourns the loss of his mentor, Kalesh. He believes Kalesh to have been murdered, and therefore cannot understand the refusal of the Royal Order of Wizards to investigate. While struggling to keep his friend Varnia safe from the dangers that he is only slowly coming to understand surround them, Paddren continues to investigate on his own with the help of Varnia's lover, Leyoch. Already this tale presents us with compelling characters and a mystery and conflict well worth reading (or in my case, listening to), but what made it all the more fascinating was how well Suzanne Rogerson wove into the mystery an even deeper, darker, and more tragic tale set three and half centuries earlier--the story of the fall of the magical city of Zarua. I wanted to follow Paddren and Varnia and Leyoch in their own lives and struggles, but was even more excited to follow this intriguing and complex tale that binds their fates to events narrated from far in the past--beautifully done! And the narration was excellent! Guy Barnes does a great job of creating distinct, believable voices for each character, with fine pacing and emotive enough to evoke more detailed imagery and experiences in the thoughts of listener while following along in this grand tale. I cared enough about this land and its people to have wished, by the end of this book, that there would be more to come, as Suzanne Rogerson has done with her Silent Sea trilogy. Very well done to both--Suzanne and Guy!

Loved it!

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

This was an absolutely fantastic book. I always seem to compare wizard books to things like Wizard's First Rule and a lot of them leave a lot of disappointment in their wake. This one lived up to what I expect of a book about wizards. I loved the characters and the take on magic. I enjoyed the world and the narration felt fantastic. He was not too rushed like some narrators and he was not too slow like most others. He was perfect. I was not disappointed in any way, shape or form.

Great Read

I really enjoyed this book it captured my attention through out and kept me engaged I hope this is the beginning of a series

interesting

I received this audible book free in exchange for an honest review. I have not read anything by this author before but I am always up for new and exciting adventure books. I loved the style that was created and the medieval lore . I definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a good mystery fantasy book.

very suprized by this book

some wizard books i skip. this one got me going right away(that's important 2 me, if they do not grab me that's it)
this one was very good. loved the girl and her story. very good book

i got a free copy of this book

Mystery in a Fantasy World

I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and any opinions expressed herein are my own.

This is a mystery book set in a fantasy world. The author also alternates the narrative between present day and 350 years ago - to provide backstory and context for some of the events. I enjoyed the complexity of the world with the political intrigue and the secret sects of wizards. Varnia, a female, was initially my favorite character. She was a strong, assertive woman who was an accomplished tracker and hunter and ultimately elevated to the King's Huntsmaster. But then, she discovered that she had magical powers and her character changed - becoming selfish, annoying, and, at times, overwhelmingly dark. While I understood the reasons for some of the changes with the character, I, at times, would roll my eyes at her behavior. My other quibble - to me, it seemed that the characters didn't have the urgency they needed with danger lurking around every corner. They seemed to just kind of drift along in a reactionary state, which, to me, dampened some of the potential excitement.

The narrator, Guy Barnes, was excellent. He created distinct voices for every character, which brought the book to life.

Great world building but few women

The world building is captivating, the characters engaging, and the plot full of suspense. There was quite a bit I enjoyed about this book. Paddren is our main character and he’s the glue that holds everyone together. As a wizard, he feels a strong sense of responsibility to protect the kingdom and the innocent. Both Leyoch and Varnia are his friends but also kind of his mentorees. While he isn’t much older then them, he often provides them with guidance and protection.

Varnia is an accomplished hunter. In fact, she so talented that she’s elevated to the Kingdom’s Huntsmaster when the old huntsmaster is indisposed. She’s got her own life and a set of valuable skills that she worked hard to earn. I really liked her character…. until she turned into a bit of a witch. At that point, she was selfish and single-minded and, quite frankly, became the most annoying character. I tried to cut her some slack because I know she’s dealing with some serious personal revelations, but she just couldn’t get back to awesome. Meanwhile, Leyoch, who starts off pretty interesting, ends up being the main comforter to Varnia instead of continuing his own awesome character arc.

The world building is solid. There’s magic with a set of rules and the world keeps adding dimension. There’s more talents and more monsters! Yay! Now there is several flashbacks. Sometimes these are recent flashbacks and sometimes we’re jumping further back in time. I liked this for the most part but I have to admit there were a few times where I lost track of who was doing what and why. Most of the flashbacks are told in the first person and since much of these are shown through some magical memory of events at a certain place, you can go from Paddren or Varnia dealing with their day to begin swept back in time with new characters doing things unrelated to what our main characters are currently doing. Still, this aspect of the story kept me entertained for the most part.

There are very few female characters in this tale and Varnia is the only one that has real page time. While Varnia starts off worthy, she spirals into grumpy, witchy annoyance and pretty much stays there. The lack of a variety of page-worthy female characters is the biggest drawback to this story.

All said, it’s an engaging story with Paddren holding it all together. 4/5 stars.

The Narration: Guy Barnes has a great gravelly voice for Paddren. It really drew me in, making me listen all the harder. I also really liked his voice and accent for Leyoch. His female characters voices were feminine, and his voice for Varnia was well done indeed. The pacing was perfect and there were no tech issues with the recording. Even though I grew to find Varnia annoying, I truly appreciated how Barnes captured the myriad of emotions this character was going through. 5/5 stars.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Suzanne Rogerson. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

Lovely

Paddren finds himself cursed with random visions of a city long forgotten. If the visions aren't enough, his master died. It would seem that he was murdered. Somehow, everybody is content to think that he killed himself. Padden requests the help of a good friend, Varnia, and her lover Leyoch. They work together to uncover what has happened to cause the visions and why many wizards are dying so mysteriously. This book was a little weird to me at first. I didn't think I would really adapt to it. I thought it would be a book that I would set aside after awhile. Once I got used to the characters and the world the book was set in, I was fine. I actually started to enjoy the series very much. I was rooting for everybody and cringing when something bad happened. It's a very fast-paced book once the story has been laid out fully. There were a few things I didn't really care for in the book were the character inconsistencies. One of the characters has a drastic mood change. It's blamed on their magic being released. I just find this a very flimsy reason. Also, I don't care for the lack of progression in that change. It just happened all at once with no warning. Add that to the fact that a few of the characters in this book were very robotic and not really there. This book is narrated by Guy Barnes. This narrator knows how to tell a story full of adventure and intrigue. I'm highly impressed. He knows how to pact a lot of intensity in his voice. He speeds up during intense moments as well. It's quite impressive. I will definitely look to listening to other books narrated by him. I really did enjoy this book. I thought some things weren't as consistent as they should be. I also felt some of the characters could have been humanized a bit more. Other than that, it was a great read. I loved the action and adventure. I also loved the underlying mystery and lure. I would have read this book in a day if I could have.

Sword and Sorcery with a suspenseful mystery!

I grew up reading fantasy novels so I've always had a huge soft spot for works of epic fantasy. It's been ages since I had the chance to read a good old fashioned "sword and sorcery novel," and Visions of Zarua was so much fun to read. The author's writing reminded me of one of my favorite authors, Ursula K. Le Guin. In many ways, this book reminded me particularly of The Wizard of Earthsea. It follows the adventures of a wizard as he fights to save his home from an ever growing threat of darkness. 

I found this book to be fresh and unique because the author combines my favorite elements of fantasy with an engaging and suspenseful mystery. I was on the edge of my seat and I couldn't stop listening as I waited for Padren and his friends to unravel the suspenseful plot that involved murder most foul in the wizarding world. 

The narrator was excellent. I have low vision, so I do a lot of my reading in audio format. Guy Barnes had distinct voices for every character and his reading helped to bring the book to life. I particularly enjoyed hearing him narrate the three main characters. His voice acting made their friendship feel vivid and real.

My only gentle criticism is that I found the book to be a little bit slow in the beginning; however, i understand that is par for the course in epic fantasy. Once the world building and characters were established, the narrative took off at a ferocious pace. and involved a mystery that I couldn't wait to see solved. If you are in the mood for an epic fantasy with a a great underlying mystery, I strongly recommend Visions of Zarua! 

*Note: I received this book from Rachel at Rachel's Random Resources. in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Tries something new but doesn't fully wow me

I give credit to try something I've not read in many books with the split between two separate timelines. At first it was a bit jarring and confusing but I got used to it.

I did like the friendships in the books and the characters should some development. There was parts I would have loved to hear more about (the spying and infiltrating but that is probably personal preference).

My biggest grip was for the MC being a wizard there was barely enough magic for my liking and most of it wasn't explained well. This is probably me coming from a background of reading good hard magic systems and loving how it's explained and then how it is creatively used.

I enjoyed the 1st half of the book more the 2nd half as the scale of the plot escalated and the pacing seemed a bit too rushed.

Overall a pretty good listen, especially with the good narration.

[Note - I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.]

amazing book

Two wizards, 350 years apart. Can they save the realm of Paltria from Zarua's dark past?
An ancient darkness haunts the realm of Paltria. Apprentice wizard Paddren is plagued by visions of a city on the brink of annihilation.
amazing book I was hocked by chapter 1 l can't wait for book 2