Companion of Darkness

An Epic Fantasy Series (The Chaos Wars, Book 1)

By: CJ Rutherford

Narrated by: Ginger Sue, Dustin Spiehler

Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

If you could free the dragons, you might save the world.

The Citadel: a glowing jewel of magical wonder, sparkling in the distance.

For years, Jesaela has longed to visit the home of the Eldar, but what happens when your dream becomes a nightmare? Ripped from her family and home in the forest to become companion to a princess she’s never met, Jes soon discovers the far-off beauty is a lie.

The Citadel is a den of darkness and cruelty, with forces and prophecies lurking within the crystal battlements, ready to ensnare the innocent and unwary.

Caught up in an ancient war she never knew was being fought, Jes may be her people's only hope, because if she can’t free the dragons from the Eldar curse, the rebellion is doomed.

©2018 Colin Rutherford (P)2018 Colin Rutherford

Loss for words !

I’m truly in loss for words on this one.
I’ve never thought that a book from this genre could affect me that much, not even in my finest dreams but the author CJ Rutherford have so proved me wrong that I can no longer say no to this genre and start following it and its authors.
This book is so perfectly and beautifully written and the imagination to write such an amazing story is unbelievable!
It will grab you from page one all the way to its ending wishing for more, wishing for it to never end.
Narration by Ginger Sue and Dustin Spiehler was / is Spot on !

Absolutely full heartedly recommended to all without a doubt !



In exchange for an honest review I’ve received this audiobook.

Can't wait for the next book!!

This was a story full of intrigue and sorrow with hope and love. Must read!!

Holy Dragon!

A wonderfully written fantasy! Full of twists and turns, magic and mystical creatures. Love, hatred, jealousy and pain. And, for a change, this format made it seem like a whole new story!

I have to say I was very very pleased with the performance on this book. I rated the actual story as one of my top 10 of 2018, and Ginger Sue and Dustin Spieler were perfect choices to bring it to “life”.

Thank you again CJ Rutherford for a lovely world!

[disclaimer: I received this audiobook from the author and voluntarily listened and reviewed it ]

Good book

Well written book. The storyline combined with the characters draws you into the story and makes you not want to stop until it is done.

I greatly enjoyed this reading.

I rarely re-read or listen to a story already read. Truly appreciated this narration. Although, now again impatiently awaiting book two.

Had me from beginning to end!

I thoroughly enjoyed this first book in The Chaos Wars series. Companion of Darkness had me from the beginning.

We start out in the forest, where the faerie Jesaela is setting a trap on her siblings to prove to them that she actually has the special power that they don't believe she could possibly have, but it's all in good fun. Suddenly, at the summons of the Faerie Queen, she is torn from her loving family and homeland to become the companion to an Eldar princess at The Citadel. On her journey there she bonds with the dragon that was forced to fly her to her new home. Not given any specifics of how her new life is going to be, Jes is horrified to find out that behind closed doors the Princess Lyssa is a cruel, torturous monster that threatens Jes with the murder of her family and entire people by the very dragon that was her transport from forest to Citadel, if she attempts to flee. Locked in her cell of a room (glamoured to everyone but her & the royal family, she is slowly coming to realize that this silly prophesy everyone keeps mentioning but not explaining might be her only hope. Never in the world did she believe she would find such wonderful friends, such terrible enemies, or suffer such painful betrayals. And this is just book 1.

C.J. Rutherford has given us a wonderful tale with detailed, colorful writing. His interesting characters garnered my attention immediately. Rutherford does a good job at portraying his characters' true personalities - from innocent to pure cruelty, there was no doubt of each's intention (you know, except when we were deliberately being tricked. I have to say, he definitely got me on the major deception that played out. While most of the action is in the form of memories, it is definitely setting the stage for a major confrontation. That said, there is plenty of torture that happens that pulls at your heartstrings until they almost snap. The different races of beings that we only just got a glimpse of in this book have me hoping that we get closer looks at them in the next book.

As far as age-range recommendations, it's definitely not a book for kids. There is no sexual content, although there is a romance blooming. I would recommend for adult fantasy readers and YA fantasy readers alike.

The narrators Ginger Sue and Dustin Spiehler are both nice to listen to. Ginger does a great job with expression and accents. I knew who was speaking and she uses a nice, wide range of realistic emotions. Dustin was a believable dragon and his range of indifference to outrage was on point. There were no audio or editing issues in this recording which was such a relief. The use of a few special effects on the voices works and wasn't cheesy at all - really. I look forward to hearing Ginger and Dustin for the rest of the series.


I received this audiobook at my request from either the author, narrator, or publisher in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Great start!

I enjoyed this book a lot! I have only one issue: NO BOOK TWO YET! I am waiting for book two with baited breath! I love the authors ability to introduce us to the characters and STILL surprise us in the end.

Addicting

The story was not what I was expecting, in a good way. So many intrigues and secrets, suspense and magic. I was addicted and can not wait for the next! And the narration was amazing!

An engrossing fantasy read for teens and adults

Companion of Darkness is an engrossing fantasy read that hooks the reader (or listener) and keeps them enthralled until the ending leaves them desperate for the next book in the series. This book would be appropriate for YA readers, though it may be to scary or gory (at least in one particular scene) for younger kids.

The narrator of the audiobook does a very good job bringing the book to life.

I received a complimentary copy of this audiobook. This is my honest and voluntary review.

4 - richly detailed start to series

An interesting and richly detailed first installment to this series. My opinion is that the plot might perhaps be too complex for some young adult readers (especially in audiobook format, where it is less convenient to flip back a few pages and re-read specific passages, or re-read a passage a few chapters back). I think you need to be patient with the story, and your patience will be rewarded. There's a lot of complexity to this first installment - much of the plot involves lies and deceptions. So just when you think you've understood the situation, an event happens that prompts you to do a mental re-boot. Also, the author alternates between a steady flow of action (and character development), followed by pivotal scenes that dump a lot of important information about the heroine's quest/ destiny/ powers. At various times, the heroine laments that she's just a girl and has no idea what's going on, who to trust, or what she's supposed to do. At various times, she blames herself for making a fatal mistake, but it turns out that it's the right thing to do after all. On more than one occasion, I was as confused as she was. This is why I recommend patience when reading. I have complete confidence that the author will resolve everything satisfactorily by the time the series finishes. The heroine is an adolescent - not a frustrating one, but in a frustrating situation. She has a good heart and courage; she's naive but not immature. There is cruelty (mainly bullying) and violence in the story, but there are no r-rated scenes in terms of sex. As this is a series, the first volume ends at a good point in the series arc. Not a cliff-hanger specifically, but clearly at the beginning of the next stage of her journey.

The narrators did a great job. I confess that I was a bit perplexed that the male narrator didn't speak all of the male characters' parts. The telepathic conversations between characters were produced with an echo-like sound effect, which I was ambivalent about because (to my ears) it bordered on fake-sounding. But I could understand why the author would want that effect, since it was important for plot purposes to distinguish verbal and telepathic conversations. The female narrator matched my mental image for the heroine perfectly. She has an excellent storytelling voice.

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