Convergence

Convergence, Book 1

By: Craig Alanson

Narrated by: R.C. Bray

Length: 16 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

From New York Times bestselling author Craig Alanson comes a thrilling new series that melds action-packed urban fantasy with his signature humor, read by none other than award-winning narrator R.C. Bray.

My name is Kazimir Wolfe. People call me "Kaz", except they don’t. I never use my real name; it’s too dangerous, for me and for anyone I meet.

I’m on the run from the law, who think I killed my aunt, and from whoever did kill her, because they want to finish the job. So, I move around a lot, working construction or whatever job I can find. It’s a lonely life. I don’t let anyone get close...people who get close to me end up dead. Why?

I’m a wizard. The world’s only wizard, as far as I know. I don’t have a wand or a sword, and I don’t ride a dragon. I carry a Glock, and drive around in a beat-up RV with a talking dog.

Yeah. The talking dog was a surprise to me, too. Duke is inhabited by the spirit of a 3,000-year-old wizard from Babylon, and he’s a good dog, but he is still a dog, and that’s a problem. Like, he still thinks squirrels are his mortal enemy. And that I don’t feed him enough. How did the spirit of a wizard reach across millennia, to our time? I don’t know.

The truth is, I’m not much of a wizard, because there’s not much magic in the world for me to work with. But there used to be magic. And magic is coming back as our world converges with the Nether.

Unless I can stop it.

©2022 Craig Alanson (P)2022 Podium Audio

another great series and performance

I love this author and the expeditionary series. I also love this narrator. when it started out (and as SOME moments throughout the book) I swear I was listening to Joe Bishop (Matt) and Skippy (Duke) but they are fleating. I did pick up on two expeditionary force Easter eggs which were a nice surprise. the story set up in book 1 is great and def has me ready for book 2.

Awesome!

I'm not even finished with this book yet and I love it! I already did a full investigation of it and cleared myself to write this positive review! Craig and R.C. are a team that make the best audio books ever!

Interesting set up

Feels like a solid albeit slow burn to the start of a very good series, just a lot of what felt like filler or treading water in this book. So far I wouldn't put this in the same league as the fantastic Expeditionary Force series, but its certainly an interesting enough story to warrant moving on to book 2. And RC Bray, as always, is utterly fantastic. I would drop an audible credit to listen to him narrate the dollar menu at McDonald's and consider it well spent.

Useless knights

Good story, too much background, the two knights from the past turned out not even useful to this story's ending. Also the convergence was never even confronted and that is the title of the story.

Come on! its Alanson!

I get the complaints: the female character is infantilized-not sure why the hero is crushing on a teenager, and making her the recipient of fatherly protective feelings is diminishing- yeah cringey. There is some repetition of the ancients being over awed by tech - okay, maybe a lot of that.

But have you guys not READ Alanson? 14 books about Bishop and Skippy and counting? Did you expect a book containing a talking dog to be serious art? It's entertainment guys. I think those of us who have listened to all those Skippy novels know what to expect from Alanson by now. it's been working for a while. Expecting something else would be like expecting Dostoevsky from Robert Asprin.

Even for its faults I am finding it entertaining and hope he writes more.

Really fun, but Craig get a new playbook

I first read this after reading Expeditionary Force by Craig. I liked the story, and am interested to see where he takes it. However, there is a bit too much reference to X force and some characters seem to be a bit too similar. Branch out dude. Skippy was great, but not every story needs him. All and all it’s well done and I look forward to more.

It’s missing something

The book was good, the story seems interesting enough, but it’s a little too convoluted at this time. I’ll reserve judgement till I hear the next book in the series. With ExForce completed. He should have more time to work on this fantasy book.

listen and you will be like Duke, hungry for more.

love the humor in Mr Alansons writing, and combined with the incomparable narration of RC Bray, this was a joy to listen to.

The Duke story is terrific

As a voice over performer myself I am always astounded by RCBray as the narrator. He is a genius. Duke is the “Skippy” of this story. Kaz is the Bishop. As a Harry Dresden fan I was worried that Craig Alanson would find this new territory a big challenge. However this story was very well crafted. My only criticism would be related to the final scene. It needed more definition and challenge. I look forward to the next one! Barney style! I see what you did there.

Great read

Interesting twist on the fantasy genre. I’m not a huge fan of dogs so that was a bit much for me. Overall it was an entertaining read that I would suggest to pretty much anyone.