Shattered Dreams

Ultimate Level 1, Book 1

By: Shawn Wilson

Narrated by: Johnathan McClain

Max wanted to be a [Baker].

Settle down, bake stuff, and enjoy life. The gods, however, ruined that dream.

Given [Baker] and a rare black skill, he is now running for his life, trying to grow strong enough to return home. Now, Max must find a way to grow strong enough to survive the people and the god hunting him. Unprepared for an adventurer's life, Max will have to learn things the hard way as he hides his secret lest his fellow adventurers turn on him.

©2024 Shawn Wilson (P)2024 Podium Audio

Awesome, weak to strong, MC must hide ability

This book was a great little adventure, and I pretty much listened to it straight through. I wanted a good light novel, and this one really hit the spot with a good dose of humor, some light stress, fun adventures, and an awesome narrator who really brings the characters to life. Johnathan McClaine really does an awesome job with it! The main trope of the MC having an alternate path to progression that they must hide while they are weak is extremely common, but this one does some things that are a bit different by making the MC less clueless and more mature than most. There were a few minor plot holes, but nothing really egregious. I will definitely be getting the next book in the series when it comes out!

Narration

I will say this the narrator really brings this amazing story to life, I love it and will continue the series! Onto the next!

Character development.

It was absolutely fantastic. The whole story is fascinating. I cannot wait till the next book.

Gluttony rip off

its the gluttony anime but the mc is a whiney imbecile. such a good narrator and its stil a bad parody of a good thing

good book

good book. . . good narrator. . .will get the next book in the series.

I liked the interactions between the battles

I liked the interactions between the battles . Being 0P, He will always impress, I enjoy listening to the skills he gets as well as the interactions he has in the lulls between battles.. Him baking, him having artifacts checked

And interesting start

The main thing I disliked? Forget using headphones. The stupid narrator several times goes from an absolute whisper to screaming... also seems to have a love for accents that they are hard to understand.
Yes, I understand you're trying to be dramatic... But you're reading a book not doing a stage play, And you should definitely not scream and shout. Same goes for whispering... nothing worse than listening to it and suddenly have to turn up your volume. almost all the way to hear what's happening, ... Just to have the idiot speak and a loud voice blasting your ears.

It is good to have an MC that is not starting super overpowered... although the deeper into the book you get the more overpowered he gets... I only hope that's tempered in further books to come.

Excellent Writing and Performance - 5 Solid Stars

I've just finished the fourth book in this series after listening to the first two books twice, and I'll be looking forward to the fifth book, which is due to be released in about three weeks.

The performance is exceptional for a single narrator. Jonathan McClain nails down complex intonations for the different characters and sticks with them, each being so well-defined that it's a joy to relax and sink well within the story.

The story is a fabulous progressive fantasy that has classic, rich arcs for each book, consistent humor, and no cliffhangers or weakly/ill-contrived solutions to problems. Each of the main characters are well developed. The dungeon/fighting scenes are varied with plenty of development outside the dungeon as the world is gradually built up around the evolution of the main character.

This a great first book in a series that has proceeded (up to four audiobooks at this time) with strength and uncommon originality, with both the writing and the performance. It's hard to recommended it any more strongly than I do, give it a shot if you're looking for a solid progressive fantasy.

volume control of the narrator is all over

love the story but like the narrator volume is all over the plase whispering one minute yelling at the next so I'm playing pong with my volume controls. utterly ridiculous

Fantastic performance

Love the story, very interesting premise. But the performance just brings it to life. This is one of the most animated performances I have ever heard and I am in awe of the talent. Enjoyable in the extreme, can’t wait for more credits to buy the rest of the series.