The Blood of Orcs

Knights of Airygon, Book 1

By: Trevor Jones, April Nia Raine

Narrated by: Suzannah Laski

Do the gods know what they're doing?

The orcs of Kinthur have been conspiring to circumvent the long-standing Gods’ Covenant. They plot to bring their evil god, Old One-Eye, back to rule Kinthur and dominate or destroy the other races. Ellwyn, a young elven ranger, and her companions stumble upon an ancient prophecy that foretells this event. With only the help of her companions, she must unravel the mystery before it’s too late. They are set on a course that will lead to high magic, monsters, treasures, and possible death. Can they stop the orcs in time, and at what terrible cost?

©2021 April Nia Raine & Trevor Jones (P)2021 April Nia Raine & Trevor Jones

Highly recommend!

If you’re a fan of DND, high magic, or fantasy in general, this book and the others set in Kinthur are worth the listen!

Good book.

Pretty good book, it has the authentic feel of a D&D game translated into novel form without any of the pit falls that would make it awkward to read.

Great quick listen

I really enjoyed listening to this. The magic and stuff in it was good. I also really enjoyed the narrator's voice. I found it really soothing. Looking forward to reading more in the series/from the authors in the future.

Cartoonish Fantasy Tropes

Cartoonish fantasy tropes with a straightforward style; it has a Saturday morning cartoon vibe. It cycles through goblins, orcs, witches, cryptids, etc in short order more keen to variety than atmosphere. The narrator overdoes some inflection to a point it feels like she is reading to a library summer program (I started to imagine the characters as muppets with the narration, her game approach to voices, and variety of characters). The reading is not bad but the lack of gravity gives the material an ironic comedy feel (there is still enough slit throats to make it not for youths) – sometimes I wish there was more pageantry or fearful threat but a largely breezy light touch approach here. The lead character has a backstory, and one that hits, but feels underdeveloped more a mechanism for us to experience the events through her than as a nucleus on her own (maybe it is the chill tone). The writing has good grammatical syntax but sometimes without peppery weirdness of verbiage. With the first person perspective there is a bit too much of “I saw… he consulted… I believe…” prefixing action and feeling, at times a little distancing. There is a chase quest premise but largely the main event feels more like a road trip style series of stops fraying off the main narrative thread. The first person perspective and a rogue comedic relief character gives the lead a little bit of an arrogant tone.