Wizard of the Wasteland

A Post-Apocalyptic Adventure

By: Jon Cronshaw

Narrated by: Ian Coleman

Length: 6 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Finding hope in a hopeless world....

Abel survived the apocalypse, but drugs nearly killed him. He scratches out a living scavenging for anything of value until he witnesses something incredible...the Wizard of the Wasteland.

When Abel joins the travelling showman, passing off pre-apocalypse technology as objects of magic and intrigue, they come upon a horrifying sight: a group of children enslaved by the brutal drug gang The Family.

As he and the wizard take on the challenge of freeing the slaves, Abel must resist the temptations of a world without hope. To keep the kids from reliving his miserable existence, he'll have to risk everything. Even having the wizard on his side may not be enough....

Wizard of the Wasteland is a post-apocalyptic action adventure novel for fans of Fallout, The Stand, Alas, Babylon, and The Road. If you like unforgettable characters, gripping action, and new takes on dystopian survival tales, then you'll love the first book in Jon Cronshaw's thrilling new series.

©2017 Jon Cronshaw (P)2017 No World Press

Interesting Idea for a post apocalyptic novel

I liked this more than I thought I would. The idea of tech being precieved as magic in the future. Though I will say the performance left something to be desired. There were odd pauses between characters that didn't make sense and sometimes the narrators flow would just stop. But over all it was a good book.

Received this copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Some might like this book but it was not for me

To me this book felt jumbled, disorganized, and went in way too many different directions. I have absolutely no desire to read the next book in the series. The narration was sometimes overdone but ultimately was good. I was voluntarily provided a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest unbiased review

Interesting and Fun

"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review." this was a fun book to listen to. I like the twists in the post apocalyptic world.

Pretty good.

Where does Wizard of the Wasteland rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Somewhere in the middle

Any additional comments?

“I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.”

Alright, but not for me

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I want to apologize if what I'm about to say comes off as overly harsh because there are many aspects of this story that I did enjoy. The biggest thing that pulled me out of this story was the number of questions that came to my mind as I listened. As this is a series, it is safe to expect some loose threads, but most of my questions weren't of that nature. For the sake of time I'll only list three. 1) How long has it been since the apocalyptic event took place? The reason why I dwelt on that question was because the vast majority of people thought the wizard's magic was real, but a handful of the main characters knew right a way he was simply using technology from before the wasteland. One would think it would take a long time for almost the entire population to forget about things like binoculars, TVs, and electricity, but the main characters didn't strike me as old and they all seemed to remember. 2) Who are The Family and why are they so well armed? All I got from the information in the story is that they're bad, they're taking children, and they also sell drugs. I'm not asking the author to info dump on us, but if he could've given us some information about them through character dialogue, then it would've been really helpful. Also, Abel mentions he rarely finds bullets when he scavenges, and on the times he has found some they weren't the correct type for his gun. How then do all of The Family people we come across have guns and ammo? 3) Who was the 10 year old girl who gunned down The Family to save Abel? I'm sure we find out about her as the series continues, but it felt as though she was added to the story because the author wrote himself into a corner and he had to come up with a way to get Abel out of it alive. Not only does she appear out of nowhere, but she immediately leaves without saying a word after saves him. Again, these were just some of the questions that I had, and if the author were to address them within this story then it would've been a more enjoyable experience.

Has Wizard of the Wasteland turned you off from other books in this genre?

It certainly hasn't turned me off from this genre, and it hasn't even turned me off from this author. From what I can tell, this is one of his earlier works. Like every craft, you get better the longer and more consistently you do it. I'd be very interested to check out some of his more recent work to see how much he has grown.

Which scene was your favorite?

My favorite scene in the story is when Abel and Alfonso arrive to Town, and they perform his "magic" for the inbred hillbillies they come across.

Could you see Wizard of the Wasteland being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

I can see the concept being made into a TV series, but there a lot of things that would need to be expounded upon.

Any additional comments?

I received a free copy of this audio book in return for my honest review.

Captivating

Wizard of the wasteland held me captivated. I became quickly invested in the characters. The Author did a wonderful job at world building and character development. The pace was pretty even and Ian Coleman did a good job as narrator bringing the story and characters to life. I am defintely interested in reading more of this series!

A post-apocalyptic tale. Pretty good overall!

In this story, it becomes apparent early on that, long ago, something happened which all but destroyed modern society. All that remains of our technological innovations are dusty relics, rendered useless after the power went out generations ago, and the people can't recall what such objects even are, much less how they function. A man called The Wizard travels from camp to camp, cleverly turning his knowledge of scavenged gadgets into an advantage, as well as a meager profit. Another traveler accompanies The Wizard on the road to the next camp. But in this rough and changed world, no journey is without its perils. The deteriorated pavement they tred upon is a road for innocent travelers and criminals alike, who are inevitably bound to cross each other's paths.

I most certainly enjoyed listening to Wizard of the Wasteland, but at the end I pondered if the author intentionally left out details regarding the cause of the world's downturn so that perhaps the reader could identify with the book's characters, who themselves seemed to have difficulty remembering those long-passed events. Narrator Ian Coleman provides a terrific performance and lends a fitting voice to the tone of the story. Overall, I found Wizard of the Wasteland to be pretty good!

I was provided a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for my unbiased review. Many thanks for this opportunity!

Struggled to like and finish this one

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

I struggled with this one. The narration was really dry, which is odd, because Ian Coleman a good voice for it. He just needs to put more... personality into it. The other reason I struggled is that I felt there just wasn't enough information on what the apocalypse was, how long ago it happened, etc. It seemed like the "Wizard" wowed people with technology that a lot of the main characters remembered but no one else did? The Family, if technology was like magic to them, how are they able to produce drugs to sell and have plenty of guns and ammunition when the "Wizard" struggles to find ammo in the caliber of his gun? This may not bug other people but it just kept bothering me the whole time.

ok story but Audible reader was too monitone

"This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review."

I enjoyed the story but Ian Coleman the Narrator delivered the book in mostly a monotone style. This made it hard to listen to at times but I listen to the entire book for the storyline which I thought was good... Had Ian put a little life into his narration it would have been much more pleasurable...

Great premises but poor execution

In an post-apocalyptic world where technology is seen as magic, Alfonso, the great Wizard of the Wasteland travels from town to town to share a piece of his magic. At one of the towns he visits, he meets Abel, which decides to join the Wizard, and together they will try to save some enslaved children.

I usually enjoy post-apocalyptic stories, and this one had great premises, but I found the execution quite poor. It felt disjointed and confusing at times. The characters were one-dimensional, and it is still a mystery to me why Abel decided to join the Wizard.

I am usually very curious about what happened to trigger the change in the world, but in this case I just didn’t care. I also found strange that some people seemed to remember technology and others didn’t, and that very few people knew how to read. Reading and writing is something that has been among us from very distant times, and it is not something especially tied to civilization or electricity. It is just very difficult for me to believe that this situation could happen one day.

Even with these setbacks, my main problem with the book were the characters. They were mere drafts, with no depth. I also found the dialogs forced and awkward at times.

Ian Coleman’s narration did not help. He delivered a narration without technical issues, and distinctive voices for the characters, but the general tone of the narration was monotone, and I had to force myself to pay attention, which I found difficult. The dialogs were just okay, and I would recommend Coleman to work on his interpretation skills.

This was just an okay book, entertaining, but far from compelling.

I received a copy of this book in audio format from the author in exchange for an honest review.