The Obsidian Path: Omnibus

By: Michael R. Fletcher

Narrated by: Kyle Adams

This is the omnibus edition of the Obsidian Path Trilogy and contains Black Stone Heart, She Dreams in Blood, and An End to Sorrow.

A broken man, Khraen awakens alone and lost. His stone heart has been shattered, littered across the world. With each piece, he regains some small shard of the man he once was. He follows the trail, fragment by fragment, remembering his terrible past.

There was a woman.

There was a sword.

There was an end to sorrow.

Khraen walks the obsidian path.

©2022 Michael R. Fletcher (P)2022 Michael R. Fletcher

Kinda typical fantasy story with simple prose. from main character’s pov

Not as good or as ridiculous or as funny as manifest delusions (not really funny at all )
Main character does a bunch of evil stuff and then wonders if it’s evil and then decides that it is and then does it some more….
Some interesting and possibly purposeful similarities to Book of the New Sun (narrator is: unreliable, closely linked to death and a sword, naive/unfamiliar with the current world, and willing to trust every hot chick (and he only meets hot chicks) he encounters. Femme fatales, faction with god-like powers, etc…)

Amazing Narration

I absolutely loved the narration and the characters but I have to admit that I didn’t really understand the ending… I will have to try and read the actual books and hope that maybe I just missed something! But I highly recommend this omnibus.

Great grimdark value

The Obsidian Path trilogy in the omnibus is really great value for just one credit. The story is a really enjoyable wild ride from start to finish with memorable characters, vivid world building all told by a good narrator. If you haven’t read Michael R Fletchers books, you are missing out.

Kind of flat and anticlimactic

I've listened to books one through three and this story is mostly flat. The beginning has some allure in that the protagonist climbs out of his grave with an innate ability to absorb all life around him for nourishment.

After his resurrection, his hunger for something other than food is compelling but the journey from there isn't packed with breath taking accomplishments and feets. He has minor advancement in terms of strength.

He learns about the power he can wield but the way the author delivers it as borrowed power versus inherent power makes it fall far from awe inspiring.

His constant disgust with his choices and his decision to follow them anyway is a good rendition of the human condition but unfulfilling in this character. The internal conflict doesn't elevate the story because he wants to change, the reader wants him to change, but the author does not.

Ultimately the ending leaves more frustration than questions and interest. When it's finished, you're happy it over. Not because you're satisfied but because it's now out of the way and you can read something that's more enticing.

Documented Discontinuity

If I didn't know better, I would swear up and down this book was written by AI. This book shows all the signs of AI. Overtime the plot seems to forget what happened several chapters ago, making you question whether you hallucinate something. There are moments in the story that really hook me, but they are brief and sparse. My OCDness keeps me from giving up on a book, probably in hopes that it gets better.

The main character, a very whiny trash human being that can't get out of his own way. I hate him the entire time.

This books struggles trying to decide whether it's a macabre story, porno, or love story. Fails at all of them.
Can I recommend this book? No. But there are definitely worse books out there.