The Shadow Casket

The Darkwater Legacy, Book 2

De: Chris Wooding

Narrado por: Simon Bubb

Duración: 32 h y 37 m

Resumen del Editor

A BAND OF REBELS.
A TRAITOR IN THEIR MIDST.
A REVOLUTION ABOUT TO BEGIN.

It's been three years since Aren seized the Ember Blade. Three years since they struck the spark they hoped would ignite the revolution. But the flame has failed to catch. The Krodans have crushed Ossia in an iron grip of terror. The revolution seems further away than ever.

Far in the north, the Dawnwardens seek to unite the fractious clans of the Fell Folk and create a stronghold from which to retake their land. But even if they can overcome the danger of treachery from within, they still have to contend with the dreadknights. Only the druidess Vika can resist these near-unstoppable foes, and there's only one of her.

But what if there was a weapon that could destroy the dreadknights? A weapon of such power it could turn the tide? A weapon that, if it fell into the wrong hands, might mean the end of all hope?

The Shadow Casket has returned from out of the past, and it will save or damn them all.

'The Ember Blade is Lord of the Rings for the modern generation - an epic world full of history, depth and adventure' Ed McDonald, author of Daughter of Redwinter

©2023 Chris Wooding (P)2023 Orion Publishing Group Limited

Great series

The characters, setting, plot…. Such a good series. Wish the main character got a better name at the end! Definitely should give this a listen or read.

it's not bad, but I don't want this

I'll admit, I didn't finish this book. Maybe it gets better, maybe the hamfisted drama gets more complex and satisfying, maybe the main characters develop interesting dynamics, maybe ANYTHING happens that makes me want more from this book. After 24 chapters filled with tedium and artificial drama (that honestly takes away from the real story) I just can't finish it. Nothing is overtly awful, but it is boring with a sense of anticlimactic eye roll teen drama that flattens any character arc. the book has completely ejected me out of the world, and I'm left with my mind wandering half the time.

I would really hesitate buying this book. It tarnishes the rising hope and awe from the ending of the Ember Blade. What a shame.

Frustrating

First let me say I have over 300 titles in my library. I rarely write reviews. I decided wait a week before writing a review to let me relax and try to be fair. Where to begin…? I won’t give any plot spoilers but the story starts 3 years after the Ember Blade and our MC has had no growth! Everyone else in his band has grown but him. He is not even a better swordsman! His personality is weak, in that he cannot make a decision and throughout the story defers everything to everyone else. He is the “keeper of the blade” and it’s to be given to the next worthy ruler… so what does our hero do? He gives it to the first warlord he finds. One he knows cannot unite the people. UNBELIEVABLE! Don’t get me started on his whole “love triangle” thing. Passive and weak. OH! And for the “big adventure” of the story they get 99% of the way there and quit! What!? Yet his motto is “hero’s are hero’s because they NEVER QUIT!” Grub is by far the best character.

On a good note… the narration is amazing.

I am on the fence about continuing the story…

Fantastic story, gripping throughout

I thought this book was wonderfully done! I felt like the last third of the book was constantly in a climax and I couldn’t put it down. Great character development and so many twists and turns with betrayals and redemptions. I was emotionally gripped throughout. Can’t wait for the third book!

An Excellent Sequel

I have some odd feelings about this book. First off, the Narrator was great, no problems there. And the ending was very satisfying while I think making it pretty clear there are more books to come in this story. The meat of the story is were it's weird in my head. And by that I mean that it's one of the few times were I think the book is very well written from a story and character perspective and also that I didn't enjoy listening to it. The things that happen and the actions the characters take make sense and feel real, but they aren't the things I WANT to happen and that I WANT them to do, mostly. That is not a criticism in case it wasn't clear. Not going to go into spoilers about those actions but it's just you want good things for characters you like and you can see what they need to do to get to that best outcome but that's because you are an outside observer. The characters don't have the advantage of perspective and their actions make sense in their limited knowledge and experience. So it's hard to watch characters you like bumble into problems that you can so easily see and you're just wishing you could sit them down and talk to them about it. Which would actually just ruin the story but in the moment it's how I felt lol. The only thing I think I can really say as criticism is that we had a 3 year time skip and in a lot of ways it seems like Aren and Fen's character growth was put on pause for that time. Like there's some alluding to their relationship growing in that time and a sort of weak explanation from Aren about what he was doing but if you look at how their characters and relationship were growing at the end of The Ember Blade (which I re-listened to right before starting this) and then at them supposedly after 3 years have passed if feels like both were artificially held up so that we could witness it while also having older characters to work with. It's pretty small when weighed against the rest of the book really. Overall I think it's a very good book and I'll be waiting for the next one!

Fantastic

Woofing really knows his stuff! Super rich story that had me guessing at every turn. Character development was phenomenal. The plot really came alive and was tugging on my heartstrings so much they are raw! This book dodged the mediocre prequel trap and instead did a slam dunk on intensity, relevance, and significance! Chris really hit this one out of the park and I can’t wait for the next book in the saga :)

Soooo flipping good!

The writing… excellent. The story… wonderful. The performance… perfect! Couldn’t stop and so ready for the final book!

Slow build to an epic conclusion!

Since it had been a couple years since I read The Ember Blade I was really excited to start this one. It started out slowly, building upon the first book. Man, did it take off toward the end. Can’t wait to see what happens next!

Absolutely incredible

A+++ This book is everything that I’m looking for in a fantasy novel and Chris knocked it out of the park. So many great twists and turns and repercussions that it had me smiling ear to ear when I tied 2 things together. Narrator was also 10/10 fantastic and I can’t recommend this enough if you like sword and sorcery and Grim dark and long journey acquiring new friends type fantasy. Great great great book.

So we all agree on the best character rite?

Harod all day. He reminds me of Rock Lee and Sirfetch'd. To be honest I'm leaving this review not even half way through the book because he always hype's me up in every scene he's in. 5 out of 5 for harod alone.