Wraith Knight

By: C. T. Phipps

Narrated by: Peter Berkrot

The King Below, Enemy of the World, is dead. Will his successor save the world...or rule it?

Jacob Riverson was once the greatest hero of an age. Cut down during what should have been the final battle against the King Below, he was condemned to centuries of torment as a Wraith Knight in the service of said monster. With the destruction of his master, Jacob finds his free will returning and discovers he is in a world torn by civil war between the King Below's former slaves and the heroes who "saved" them.

Joining forces with the overly-idealistic but brilliant warrior Regina Whitetremor, Jacob must determine whether he has any place in the new world and whether his destiny is as a hero or monster.

©2017 Charles Phipps (P)2019 David N. Wilson

Great fantasy!

Wraith Knight is an excellent fantasy that had me hooked from chapter one. Fantasy isn't my normal genre, but Phipps never disappoints! I've listened to a few of his books and have a few others on my list to be listened to soon. I've loved them all so far. Great narration by Peter Berkrot.

Fun and Surprisingly Thought Provoking

C.T. Phipps spins an engaging tale, centered around a protagonist with more depth than you might expect. Sure, Wraith Knight can be simply a fun adventure it it's what you want. Yet there's even more to offer if you seek depth. What defines good and evil? Do ends justify means? Can power bring redemption for one who has done horrifying things?

Peter Berkrot does a nice performance here. He may not have the range of voices some narrators offer, but he reads with feeling and adds a dramatic touch.

I received this audiobook for free in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Surprise!!

Not sure at first, but by 2nd hour I was getting involved with the characters and the story. It has intrigue and some unique romantic entanglements. The narrator does an excellent job. Will look forward to future audios in this series.
This audio was given to me free, and I voluntarily gave this review.

Better than expected

C. T. Phipps can be an entertaining author, although I've gotten a little tired of the "Supervillainy" series. And when this character appeared in that series, I though "oh, a character that just blatantly copies a ringwraith, how unoriginal" and thought that's where it ended. So I didn't have high hopes for this book.

I was pleasantly surprised! At first, it does seem to draw heavily from the Lord of the Rings. There are even 9 heroes that the Wraith Knight wants to hunt down. But there's so much more to the story than that. The character's story as a hero and a villain. His relationship with the King Below. Him struggling to figure out what to do with himself. This is, for the most part, a serious story with a bit of depth to it, but there are still moments of levity sprinkled through.

I had hoped this book would be a one-off. And it can be enjoyed on its own, as for the most part it seems to button up a decent conclusion to the story. But I see there are at least two more books in this story. I'm unsure on if they can be as good as this - but perhaps I'll try and see.

Thoroughly enjoyed this!!

I've loved pretty much all the books I've read by this author so was excited to dive into this, and it was awesome, well written, great world setting...but then he added in the dreaded love triangle!! I loathe love triangles and try to avoid books with them in it, and I wasn't impressed to find one here, it just didn't add to the story at all and I wish it wasn't part of it which is why the 4 stars instead of 5.

Anyway, The plot was fast paced and intense. We are thrown into the story right from the start and have to learn the back story of Jacob before we fully understand his character. I loved that fact!! Jacob is awesome and seeing what he went through and where he is now was brilliantly done. I loved the world building and learning all about the Wraith Knights, the Dragon Riders and every other being that's part of the world. I'm a massive fan of Lord of the Rings and the Wraith Knights reminded me of the Nazgul. I also loved learning about the King Below. I actually think the world building in this book is the best one this author has written. It's rich in detail and beings and was just all round amazing.

As I said, I loathe love triangles. I think the blossoming relationship between the other two characters involved in the love triangle (I'm keeping it vague to avoid spoilers) was beautiful and enough, Jacob does not need to be involved! Other than that, the book is filled with what I've come to expect from this author, great characters, strong women, witty banter and laughs as well as tears. I will definitely continue on with the series and try to put away my hatred of love triangles ;)

In all, a well written and developed read. It grabbed me from the start and I was hooked the whole way through. It's the start of what's sure to be an epic journey.

Peter Berkrot read this really well. He has a pleasant voice that was clear and easy to listen to. He had a great range of tones and voices and I thoroughly enjoyed his performance.

I was given this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. This in no way affected nor influenced my thoughts.

Not really my genre, but I still had a good time

It is no secret I’m a big of Charles Phipps’ writing. His stories are always good for a laugh. When he asked me to try this Wraith Knight series, I figured why not.

This story follows Jacob Riverson, a former war hero, but after falling in battle, he became a wraith knight and fight for the evil he was fighting against. As he starts to get his free will, he finds the world different than he last remembered it.

This story was a bit more of typical fantasy than I normally read. It has Formor and Sidhe and a lot of war and a quest. It read to me like Phipps take on a Tolkien-ish story (I’m saying that having never actually read a Tolkien story, but having seen the Lord of the Rings movies).

As with most of Phipps stories, Wraith Knight had really great characters I really enjoyed my time with them. They are very real and flawed characters, and pretty funny, too. I really have a fun time with any of Phipps characters and these were no different.

While this wasn’t my favorite C.T. Phipps story, I still enjoyed Wraith Knight. I think it was just a bit more typical fantasy than I like. So, the storyline wasn’t my favorite, but I enjoyed the characters as much as any other. They really kept me interested in the story.

Narration:
This was my first time listening to Peter Berkrot. I really enjoyed his narration. I thought he did a great job with all the voices, especially the two female secondary characters. His pacing and tone are on point. I would gladly listen to another book by this him.

**I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.

Don't Be Fooled By Labels

Wraith Knight is a major shift from the books I have listened to by C.T. Phipps and after I got over that, I settled in for an action packed fantasy with struggles between two sides for dominance over a medieval, magical world. The humor is still there occasionally and most is of a darker nature, which is one of my favorite types.

Phipps' world building and main characters drew me into the book and the last hour is full of revelations that definitely makes me want more. Book 2 is downloaded and waiting for me.

The narrator, Peter Berkrot, has a great voice for the main characters and does well with the others. I did find I had to speed the narration up to x1.2 to keep my ADHD from wandering off too often, when my hyperactivity settles down I'll try it again at normal speed.

An epic battle between good and evil

This is a story of growth for Jacob and the many twists and turns taken to be true to oneself. An epic battle between good and evil finds an unlikely hero. Jacob was turned into a dark knight for the beast below, until his untimely death brings about Jacob’s freedom centuries later. Now Jacob finds himself in a quandary – does he continue in darkness or can he truly become one of light again? If he can truly silence the “trickster” and focus on helping Serah, a witch, and her sometimes love Regina.

CT Phipps vividly describes the characters and storyline clearly. For me, I found this book very well done. I enjoyed his change in writing style – I enjoy his pop culture references in the Villainy series, but this book demonstrates with clarity his true skill at writing. I found his switch in writing styles to be refreshing.

The storyline was well done and the characters each had depth. I enjoyed (ok, weird I know) the struggle Jacob had in rediscovering himself and making the journey to become good. His struggles were well written, and the dialog also flowed smoothly.

I do not remember ever hearing Peter Berkrot narrate before, but he was good. He has the tone of voice and cadence I think Jacob would have. The drama of the story was easily translated by Berkrot’s performance. His narration performance was well suited and fit this book very well.

I did not encounter any difficulties with the production or quality of this audiobook. I also want to say that this could have easily become one of those books where they could have added music and sounds, thank goodness they did not! The quality of this audiobook was perfect!

Audiobook was provided for review by the author/narrator/publisher.
Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog.
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Villains by necessity

You, your ancestors, friends, neighbors and countrymen have spent generations fighting the great evil of the world. War after war age after age the light has driven back this evil god and his minions. The tactics are questionable...do the ends truly justify the means? Our hero has slain one of the dark lords right hands. He has in turn been slain. Yet he has been resurrected...as the dark lord that he slew...take a journey to the dark side and see what the light is truly doing to the world. See how absolute power corrupts absolutely and how the light bringers justify genocide and slaughter of innocents. Take up the dark mantel with our hero and take the journey to become a villain out of necessity. For the light must be opposed. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator or publisher

a well told, dark, fantasy novel

Coming into this series right out of the Supervillainy saga was a bit of an adjustment, especially since there are a lot of similar themes but in a very different kind of telling!

Exploring a lot of the fantasy tropes through the bad guy (kind of) lens was fascinating and Jacob was an interesting character to follow. I'm glad we got to hear a lot of his thoughts along the way as that helps get to know him even better. Regina and Sarah make great companions, although I was a bit annoyed by the romance as I thought it went too fast to be believable, but the narrative in the book seemed to agree with me, so that helped mollify me on it.

I also enjoyed the world building, and the politics are balanced nicely with character/plot development.

I hadn't heard Peter Berkrot before this book but I thought he did a wonderful job and I look forward to hearing more of his work in the future.