Poor characterisation

I felt I had to add a review for this book, mainly as I got caught up in all the other wonderful reviews. I just don’t understand any of these reviews at all. Its like they read a completely different book. It’s poorly written and the characters are so bland that I didn’t care what happened to them at all. I’m a fan of long sagas and I don’t mind slow pacing. However, every character is bland, not one character has a distinctive voice. It’s very cliche, the same old tropes. In all honestly I can see where the influences have been taken from, the only problem is it’s been a hundred times and a lot lot better. The’s nothing “new” just a poor rehash.
I gave this book 8 hours in the vain hope I would start to enjoy it and care what happens. It’s a shame as I’m sure there’s a half decent story there, but no matter how good the narrator is (and Perkins is brilliant) there’s only so much he can do with it. The writings not great. That aside if you’re going to write a long slower paced book (with multiple books)there needs to be strong characterisation to keep it interesting. I really wouldn’t waste the credit.

3 people found this helpful

A fantastic debut and fantastic performance

I loved this - it is warming and nostalgic, a reminder of all I love in the genre.

2 people found this helpful

A must listen epic fantasy adventure

The story had me gripped from the first few chapters and transported into the world of Epheria. The adventure Cahill takes you on will have you both laughing and crying as you feel like your on the journey alongside Calen and his friends. Highly recommend for all fantasy lovers. Derek Perkins also does a great job as narrator for the book with his different character voices and tone. Can't wait for the second!

2 people found this helpful

Old school fantasy at its best

This is a story reminiscent of Lord of the Rings which although borrowing from this epic it is done so with love and admiration. It does contain adult themes, violence etc but at its core is heart, family and adventure. I'm also told book 2 and book 3 are even better, so highly recommended

1 person found this helpful

A fantastic fantasy debut with excellent narration

I'll have a full review up on goodreads and my instagram (dublin_book_review).

This is a brilliant debut from a fantastic Irish novelist. I read the fall novella prior to reading this. It's an excellent blend of classic and modern fantasy elements. With intricate and powerful magic, an excellent cast of characters of all fantasy races, and story that while builds slowly. Is captivating and interesting. I'd reccomend this book to anyone, the fall is a ripping roller-coaster 90 minute battle that grabs hold of you and doesn't let go. Can't wait to check out book 2 this November. I'm very interested to see where this story goes

1 person found this helpful

WOW you have another fan

This book gets a hold on you and you will have trouble putting it down. When I started it I was thinking it would be like any other fantasy book, but from the moment the story starts you are in the middle of everything!
Very well written and I am looking forward to all the rest.
I loved the whole book. Please don't stop writing.

1 person found this helpful

Narrator far to Whiney !

Love the story by Ryan . Narrator is great when reading the story , describing places etc. But the character voices are awful. All sound the same and so whiny , Rist , Dan and Calen all sound like a pack of teenage girls. And it’s not the writing. It’s the tone the narrator uses . I certainly will be buying the physical copy of the second book as it’s annoying me too much

Bootleg version of the Inheritance Cycle

First things first. The positives. I like the narrator
The negatives, the story and character arch in the series is poor and predictable. If you have read the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini then this will leave you disappointed as it is a poor copy of the plot.

A Fantastic first novel in an Epic fantasy trilogy

Firstly I'll say I gave 4/5 for Of Blood and Fire, and 5/5 for The Fall novella at the end.
A really fun first book in a series. Although this is a rather tropy story, that is a not a negative as it takes a quite well tread story and adds refreshing life to it. This reminded me of Malice, Eragon and Eye of The World however it took the basic building blocks set from fantasy past and laid a very interesting path for us to follow. I think one of the main reason this worked is due to Calen, Dan and Rist, our protagonist and his two best buds who made the story such a fun read. I also really enjoyed all the side characters and I look forward to seeing them fleshed out in later books.
I find the world really interesting, and Cahill's writing skill at capturing small town life at the start is fantastic. The magic is also very interested and I look forward to hearing more from it.
I think this is a series where book 2 will make it or break it for me, this is a lot of great set up so I now hope book 2 can take what weve learned and just hit it out of the park.
Im really excited for next month to read book 2, and I think I'll read the first novella in the series before then.

Incredible

One of the best epic fantasy books I have ever read, absolutely stunning and compelling.