The Kallanon Scales

Lore of Reaume, Book 1

By: Elaina J. Davidson

Narrated by: Colby Baker

An ancient map, a strange prophecy, and anyone who dares speak of it, dies. A new enemy enters the Valla arena, but this one is as old as time and seeks a forbidden place. An ancient map points the way. Sorcery and technology work together to contain a creature created of time and fire. The terrible secret of the source of Valla power is uncovered and, as friends and family are murdered, Torrullin reveals the truth about the Valla Dragon, a secret about greed from the era of Nemisin.

Hurting after Saska abandons him, Torrullin hurtles into battle when his twin sons are kidnapped, and takes with him into danger a pilot, a navigator, and an innocent girl - they are the Dalrish seeking escape from Xen III. Another truth rears up, the tale of the Nine who fled into the Forbidden Zone with a strange taliesman in the shape of a dragon. “There are dragons in my future,” Torrullin once tells Quilla of the Q’lin’la...and that future is now. Quilla knows who the fire creatures are; the Q’lin’la fled them in ancient time. They are the Kallanon, the Glittering Darkness.

War erupts on a world no more than a circle on an ancient map, a world hidden in the time of the Nine. There Torrullin discovers who his sons really are, Taranis confronts his inner demons, Bartholamu of the Siric faces his arch-nemesis, Q’lin’la and Kallanon are thrown into the same melting pot, an ancient emperor speaks again, the new Lady of Life is born, the Dalrish have a profound effect on Torrullin, and Vannis seeks revenge.

The Kallanon Scales is an epic journey into the realms of time and legend, and forever alters the future.

©2015 Elaina J. Davidson (P)2022 Elaina J. Davidson

wanted to

I wanted to like this but after about 4 hours I just couldn't get into the book. On average if I can't get into a book I do move onto the next I'm not saying this book isn't good , I'm just saying it really isn't for me.

Great Narrator - Story was Disappointing- 18+ yrs

Parents: R- this is not for readers younger than 18, bad language is mild, violence has really gruesome murders, and the sexual content has an attempted rape, non-explicit sex scenes, and male nudity and not just from behind.

The story (2⭐) is so slow and has a convoluted beginning. I had to relisten to the first 10 chapters to better understand the set up and characters. This story is hard to follow and doesn’t pick up speed consistently for close to 10-15 hours in. While interesting, this book could stand to be edited in a way where it isn’t so erratic and long winded.

Narrator helped pull me through the story - 5⭐. He had great differentiation between characters and was fun to listen to.

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

Great Story

It took me a while to get into this book, This is the first book by this author that I have listened to and I wasn't familiar with the style, pacing, etc. That being said, I did enjoy the story and after about 3-4 hours I was really getting into the story and wanted to see how it would end. I will most likely move onto the next book in the series. I was given this review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Top class high fantasy

** I was presented a free copy of this audio book, in exchange for an unbiased review.**

This is the point where high fantasy meets space age science fiction. This is a novel and approach, which I enjoyed. The Kallanon Scales is the first book in the "Lore of Reaume" trilogy, which follows on the "Lore of Arcana" trilogy. I've not read / listened to the first trilogy, please keep that in mind.

The story is set in an alternate reality, possibly in the distant future. It's not clear but doesn't matter. It is a technologically advanced era, where space travel is commonplace. There are hundreds of inhabited planets, with many different races. Some few have magical abilities, some are immortal and some are both. Most are much more normal, though not human. The story follows the ruling family of one of these races - humanoid but magical. They often interact with other races.

The protagonist becomes aware of an existential threat. He forms a relatively small band which will attempt to eradicate the threat or die trying. That is pretty standard fare for high fantasy. The norm is that the protagonist is typically young and inexperienced and comes into their powers as the story progresses. Not in this work. The protagonist is fully trained and in full control of his powers. He is charismatic and dynamic and leads the party from a space of vast experience.

What makes this story special is the focus on the characters. Their inner turmoil, their personal uncertainties and insecurities. Their strengths and weaknesses, both known and unknown to the character. It is almost reads like a family drama, set against an epic journey in a fantastical environment. It puts me in mind of the Empire trilogy by Raymond Feist and Janny Wurts.

Anyone who has read the first trilogy will already know most of the characters, but it was the first time that I met them. There is a large back story which I did not know. This can leave a reader feeling lost. In truth there were a few references that initially had me confused. There were enough explanations to get me up to speed quite quickly. If I'd read the book and had the opportunity to check the character lists at the back it would have been much easier. Even without, it wasn't a problem.

Sometimes epic fantasy can have a large and expanding cast of characters with multiple plot lines, which can make for very slow progress. Not the case here. There is one single major plot, which allows the novel to move forward at a decent pace. This major plot is rather intricate, with the result that the story says intriguing right up to the last page.

My one critique is that the book doesn't really explore the magic system and it's limitations. That may have been done in earlier books that I'd missed.

All in all, I am truly surprised that Davidson hasn't hit the headlines as an author yet. Her story is original and her writing is very good. Better than some best sellers in the genre that I could name.

Colby Baker is a good narrator and well suited to the characters and the style of writing. He has a wide vocal range and does the voices of different characters well. My test of a good narrator is always if I can identify the different characters of the opposite sex. Baker does this quite well. He also uses accents quite effectively to differentiate the various races. I got the sense that he worked with the author to better understand the personality and style of the characters, which I thought was a nice touch.