Witchbreaker

Book Three of the Dragon Apocalypse

By: James Maxey

Narrated by: Jake Urry

Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Five hundred years ago, the famed Witchbreaker Lord Stark Tower launched a war against the cult of witches, nearly wiping them out. Today, only a handful of women still practice the craft in secret. A young witch named Sorrow has dedicated her life to changing this reality, vowing to wipe out the Church of the Book and launch a new golden age of witchcraft.

In pursuit of her goals, she bonds her soul with Rott, the primal dragon of decay, giving her nearly limitless powers of destruction. Unfortunately, tapping this power comes at the cost of her humanity, leading her into a desperate quest to find the greatest witch of all time, Avaris, in hopes of mastering her dark magic before it destroys her.

But she's not alone in hunting Avaris, as fate throws her into an uneasy partnership with a man who wants to be the new Witchbreaker. Can either of them survive their mutual quests when their journey leads them into battle with Tempest, the primal dragon of storms?

©2012 James Maxey (P)2018 James Maxey

Many thought provoking moments that ? "Faith"

Excellent addition to this series. It follows Sarrow, who's going through many changes. Slate who memories have been wiped. Brand and his dwarf brother "The Princess" who search for justice and a home. All work together to reach their goals.
I'm hoping that Sarrow and Slate find their new beginning lasting, and Gale and Brand just find each other.
I do miss Stagger and Infidel. Here's hoping they show up in the next release. Thank you Mr. Maxey for bringing us this great new world.

Great substory to bigger picture

At first Sorrow wasn't a very likeable character for me so this book being all about Sorrow's quest wasn't as interesting to me but honestly, getting into the story right away my mind was changed. She's misunderstood and lost. The unearthing of Slate and the transformation of Sorrow in her many dragon forms was really fascinating.

Is there something more going on between them? What role does the Roma family play in the bigger picture?

This story was definitely not lacking on the degree of epicness. There was some monumental battles and events happening in this one that's for sure. The presence of the Witchbreaker keeps making you think something bad is going to happen to Sorrow and keeps you holding out hope that the mission goes in her favor even though she's a witch and her goal isn't always virtuous.

You really get into the characters of Sorrow, Slate and the Roma family in this story. While the bigger picture of the primal dragons and Infidel and her daughter is put on hold you know we'll get back there eventually.

A great part of the saga. The narrator continues to impress and do the story justice with his accent and charm. Onto the next and last chapter.

Significant change from the previous two books

I wasn’t sure what to expect going in to book three, based on how book two had ended, but book three ended up being a significant change from the previous books. The book is focused on Sorrow as the main character, which I really didn’t like at first, because she was one of my least favorite characters. The author makes up for this by adding more pirates. That, and bringing back a couple of the characters from book one. Even though I’m not fond of Sorrow, the author does a great job with this story, and I listened to book three quicker than the previous two. The narrator does a great job here as well, he voiced all of the characters really well, and it really draw me into the story. Definitely worth a listen.

This audiobook was provided by the author at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.

Confusing at times but very Satisfying!!

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. This story is an excellent continuation of the adventures of Sorrow and finding a way to accomplish her goals. I would highly suggest to read this book and see where Sorrow takes you next!!

Another Thrilling Chapter of the Dragon Apocalypse

Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Are you ready for witches, dragons, pygmies, dwarves, knights, giants and magical pirates?

Following up on the events of Hush, we now follow Sorrow Stern in her quest to achieve power at almost any cost in order to bring the Church of the Book to its knees. Along the way she makes powerful allies, enemies, alliances and bargains with dark powers.

Somehow Maxey manages to balance the voice of a woman driven by hate in a quest for revenge yet keeps the tone in line with previous volumes. This means quips, sarcastic retorts, philosophical and social commentary well seasoned with superheroic action set pieces while ramping up the world building and mythology of the world. Yet he never shrinks away from the gravity of her mission or its consequences not just for her but the world.

The volume is surprisingly inviting. Even if you haven't read Greatshadow and Hush (which you should) you could jump into this volume and still enjoying a rollicking tale that will keep you guessing until the cliffhanger at the end. Yes, I am letting you know that everything is not neatly tied up but not to fear - the fourth and final volume Cinder is already written and published.


Jake Urry continues his excellent work narrating the book and Maxey makes use of the full range of his talents.

I AM Flabbergasted

Color me gobsmacked! This is my favorite from the entire series so far. I have a few more to go. So I won’t say it is for certain just yet.
But I’m completely enamored with Sorrow. She is so hard headed and brave.
The plot is incredible. The narrator is amazing. And the characters are insane and complex. I loved this one.

Rich world building and vivid characters

I had mixed feelings about revisiting Maxey’s world knowing that this time Stagger was not going to be the one telling the tale. He makes a couple of brief appearances, but this story is mainly about Sorrow, the witch we met in the previous book, and Slate, a knight she unearths by accident when looking for nailed skulls at the witch cemetery. If one thing can be said about Makey’s books is that they are very well written, with a beautiful and ornate writing, and amazing creatures and worlds. The world building is still amazing in this third book in the series, and I can say that it is one of the most original settings I have read about in the last years. Another thing that this book has in common with previous books is a full cast of lively characters with complex relationships. Many of them already appeared in the previous book, and we see an evolution in some of them. I like to think about Brand and Bigsby as characters that have grown. The dialogs are fresh and snappy, and I laughed several times when listening to conversations between Sorrow, Brand, and Bigsby.

The plot was complex and well written, but I found myself a bit disinterested at times. I replayed the first and last chapters of Hush after finishing this book last night to check what was missing for me here. Stagger’s narration had heart and soul, and despite of him being dead from the very beginning in book one, I was able to connect to him. I did care for Stagger and then Infidel, and I think part of the strength of books one and two was this deep connection to both characters. Maxey writes very strong female characters, but most of them are broken in ways that make them hide their human side for fear of appearing weak. I think this is why I could more easily relate to a male character being a woman myself. Men in these books have an array of problems, and some are strong, some weak, some have traumas from the past; but women have all similar issues, and I found more difficult to “like” them. This was more evident with Sorrow. She has good intentions and believes in a greater good, but she is a loner, and somehow loses perspective in her search. This could have made me care for her, but I missed some of her internal voice to be able to relate to her.

Sorrow’s fight was a noble one, and I considered a feminist for going against the Church of the book to avenge the death of so many witches in the past. I somehow expected the good side to win, or at least that the good in this fight was acknowledged and these women redeemed, but in the end, things were not just black or white, and some witches were meaner than how I expected them to be. I was a bit disappointed by this.

Jake Urry did again a fantastic job bringing the characters to life and narrating the story with the perfect cadence to get me hooked. Maxey writing style paired with Jake Urry’s voice is just pure pleasure. This is not an easy book, because there are many characters in it, but Urry made them sound all different with subtle voice changes and interpretation styles. Something that I found strange was Sorrow’s husky voice, deeper than most of the male characters’ in the book. I know it matches her voice in the previous book, but I got confused several times, especially when listening to dialogues between her and Slate.

Despite the minor issue I had with the book, I am still in love with the world James Maxey created, and I am looking forward to the next book.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Following the connection to the dragon Rott

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

If feels fitting, yet I felt unsure to have Jake Urry return to voice the story. Unsure because Stagger is not telling the story this time. But it fits as Jake has voiced these characters in the previous two books. He fits the same tone and personality to the characters we have become use to, easing my worry with quickness. Once I got over Stagger not being the voice of the story, I was happy to have Jake back to tell the tale of Sorrow's adventure. As usual, Jake's narration is clear and full of life for the characters.

Sorrow has a plan. She wanted to find the lost witches graveyard to learn more about putting special nails in her head to get more power. Now, she has more to fuel that desire. She needs to learn how to control the new power she has with a part of the dragon Rott's tooth in her skull as she's slowly turning into a dragon.

We meet Sorrow in the previous book and learned how and why she has a piece of Rott's tooth in her skull. It is fitting for the story to follow her next, as it's a series of the Dragon Apocalypse and she's now connected to a dragon. Sorrow has her vision set on what she's going to do. But her friends open her eyes to somethings she didn't see about herself. This is Sorrow's journey in what she wants and what she learns, sometimes they are connected but don't lead to the same result. I found I felt as though Sorrow's ending fits what she learns of herself and sees of the world and those around her.

Sorrow knows she needs allies, and picks up a few along the way. We reconnect with friends we made in the previous books. Brand and Bigsby. And we spend most of the book with the sea fairing Romer family. I enjoy the special talents and how the Romer family is a tight knit family. We have a new character as well. I very much like Slate. He's a new friend we find in this book. He's got a different look on things than Sorrow has. He gives Sorrow somethings to think about. He's a mystery for us for most of the book, but we do find out about him. These are all great friends that stick with Sorrow through the thick of troubles and help her see more than what she was seeing.

I found I enjoyed the beginning and the ending of the book. Even much of the meat of the story. But there were times I felt like I didn't have to listen to every word to know what was happening. I don't know why this is as we learn details that all build on each other as the story goes. I can piece back to where we learned details and even drew conclusions as to what would come to pass, which does.

This story finishes the troubles of Sorrow's, but it leaves us with new troubles in the world that need to be tended to. Cool.