The Complete Wardstone Trilogy

By: M. R. Mathias

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Brothers torn by magic. A sorceress with dragony aspirations. A wolf king, a royal wizard, a squire fleeing with a coveted sword. What could possibly go wrong when they all collide in Highwander, where the very bedrock is formed of the powerful substance known as Wardstone? After reading all three of the Wardstone novels I find myself wanting more. I love Hyden, Mikahl, and Phen. This is a great fantasy trilogy. Well written and worth every penny. The characters may never leave me. - Liz Corwell Book One - The Sword and the Dragon Book Two - Kings, Queens, Heroes, and Fools Book Three - The Wizard and the Warlord Praise for, The Sword and the Dragon - Book One of The Wardstone Trilogy: Deemed one of the top 10 indie Fantasy releases of 2010 by Fantasy Book Critic, and listed in the first ever Publishers Weekly Indie Select issue, this 235k word epic title was originally written in longhand in a Texas prison cell by M. R. Mathias. - Digital Wizard Overall The Sword and the Dragon (A+) is an impressive debut - a traditional fantasy that manages to be fresh. It succeeds in offering a complete reading experience. See the full review here: fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com --Fantasy Book Critic Fans of Tolkien and CS Lewis will find much to enjoy to enjoy in M.R. Mathias' debut fantasy novel. This is a big book, with a steady flow throughout. Read this book. Take up your sword and get ready for a hugely enjoyable adventure. --Book Smart UK This is an epic fantasy, and I do mean epic. This book is LONG. I'm talking 200,000 plus words, here. Probably three times as long as Harry Potter. A fat fantasy, the kind you would expect from a Jordan or Tad Williams. One should not be put off by the price, because you do get your money's worth. -- Bestselling Author, B. V. Larson Praise for, Kings, Queens, Heroes, and Fools - Book Two of The Wardstone Trilogy: The battle scenes, brawls, mysteries, and adventures kept me turning page after page. Yet it was the close relationships between the main characters that makes this book transcend beyond adventure --Dr. Sheri Kaye Hoff It almost isn't fair to compare any Fantasy novel to Tolkien's trilogy but I'm going to say it: if you loved The Lord of the Rings, you will love this book... IF... you are not attempting to compare the two works. Come on, J.R.R. Tolkien's world is a whole different world than the world crafted by Mathias. If the fantasy genre is bigger than Tolkien (and I believe it is), then Mathias also deserves a place in the reader's heart. -- John Cardwell Amazon "Vine Voice' Reviewer Now that I am fully into the trilogy, I can state how amazed I am by the world building and the details. I am in awe of M.R.'s ability to work in details and descriptive passages without them ever being tedious or taking away from the story itself. That takes great talent and for this reason I am one of his biggest fans. Of course there are other reasons too, but I think he is one tremendously talented writer, and I hope he never stops. - Great Imaginations

Stories are great. Computer voice not good.

Enjoy the story throughout this series. Great characters and adventures but the computer voice was difficult to listen to. Way to monotone.

Virtual voice issues

I had a few issues with the voice. It was not consistent with the character names. Some of the character names had 3 different pronunciations. Eg Micarl / Mikkel / Mikhail, Luden/ Lowden/ Low Don, same goes for Talon's name. This caused confusion in book 1.

A few words had strange pronunciations. Also pauses happened at strange intervals.

I almost gave up on listening several times, however I continued because of the story.

The virtual voice really retracted from the listening. I wasn't as engaged as I usually am.

disappointed with AI reading

I did not enjoy the AI reading. names were frequently misspoken; intonations were not correct; too much monotone.
This story is very much a Lord of the Rings formula.

Great Story, Terrible Narration

I thought this would have been an awesome book had there been a good narrator instead of a virtual voice. The inflections were all wrong and completely threw me off. It was so distracting that it was hard to follow the story and stay immersed. This was my first virtual narration and I don't think I would ever purchase a book with virtual narration again. It ruined this book!

Awesome story but with an abrupt ending.

Did not enjoy the virtual voice due to mispronounced words and weird inflections. Would have been much better with a human reader.

Loved the characters and story. I would have preferred a more elaborate wrap up with some details about how everyone is doing in that one year later ending. I would have gladly listened to two or more chapters just to fill in those details.