Eleventh Cycle

Mistland, Book 1

By: Kian N. Ardalan

Narrated by: Jessica Threet, Evan Jordan

It has been a thousand years since the last Seed abandoned their duty. The mists are closing in. Finally, the Morning Bell tolls. A new Seed is born, but is it too late?

The rot eats away at mortals. The Witnesses pray so that they may not turn into one of the forgotten. And the constricting mists infect the lands with fear.

But there is more to this tale than just the Elders and their Seeds. Four mortals will have a part to play in Minethria’s fate.

A farmer girl with only love in her eyes.

A warrior born to the life of a refugee.

A highborn stuck between the realm of gods and men.

And a woman running into front lines and away from home.

Will the cycle finally be completed? Or will the mist swallow all? A seed is born and the evil is slain, so doth another cycle commence. Yet the last Seed born hath turned traitor, and the mists which had been pushed back, returneth.

©2023 Kian N. Ardalan (P)2023 Podium Audio

Critic reviews

"Eleventh Cycle...is a stunning achievement, establishing Kian N. Ardalan as one of the most exciting new voices in speculative fiction." (Grimdark Magazine)

Audio is the way to go with this gripping novel!

I had the pleasure of joining the Escapist Book Co book tour for this, and due to time constraints, I decided to grab a copy of the audio anyway, and the two narrators did a great job.

This is book one of the dark epic fantasy series ‘Mistland’ and it’s a chonky one. The author definitely smacks you right in the middle of a very diverse and deep world. Minethria is suffering from darkness and rot. The Elders remain silent, the eleventh seed may be too late, but there are mortals at play here as well. Will it be enough?

Firstly, I loved how much is going on here. There are so many things mentioned that don’t play out in this novel that it seems like the author really knows the trajectory they’re on with this series. And with that, I’m impressed, because that’s a fine line to dance on where it could easily be too much. It’s not. There’s some great diversity in this novel, with new and intriguing races, as well as a good balance of both strong female and male characters.

Secondly, there is some phenomenal characterization here. The characters are dynamic and ever changing. They each have their own arcs and developing to go through, and it was fantastic to get to read through their journeys. I will say for the male and female narrators, they each brought a slew of different accents and voices to the table, and that definitely helped to sell the characters as well. So, although I absolutely would like one of these for my shelf now, the audio was an invaluable way to experience the storyline.

I will say I was not a fan of the spice/smut, nor the like genuine chapter of phallic descriptions, but not everything is for everyone.

Great action, fantastic descriptions, and a lot of fantasy fun (and pain). Personally a 4/5* for me. I look forward to seeing where this series can go.

Very close to a 5-star. But not quite

I found the prose to be very well crafted and the story gets a B+. I really did like the story. But it had a confusingly variable tempo. Some parts got ample detail while other parts which were integral to the story felt rushed. Easily could have been 5/5 if a little more care had been taken.

scratches that itch

I was looking for a dark fantasy and oh boy did I get one. couldn't recommend more!

Worth it

Brutal & dark. It’s a long one but worth the time. Some wild twists and turns by the end.

An okay book but not what was advertised.

From the advertising about being inspired by souls born games I had expectations of adventuring in an unknown land destory/corrupted by magic uncovering deep lore while trying to find our place in the world. Instead it is better described as a kinda grimdark but more horror slice of life book that follows the day to day lives of 4 characters over a few years. It is a decent book if that is what you are into but as the title says, not what drew me in.

The narrators do an great job at bring life to the characters but be warned, the male narrator has a bad habit of whispering and getting quieter while reading scenes to the point of having to turn up the volume to hear them and then suddenly returning to normal levels on the dialog and hurting your ears.