• Pathfinder Tales: Lord of Runes

  • By: Dave Gross
  • Narrated by: Steve West
  • Length: 13 hrs and 1 min
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (243 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Pathfinder Tales: Lord of Runes  By  cover art

Pathfinder Tales: Lord of Runes

By: Dave Gross
Narrated by: Steve West
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $20.24

Buy for $20.24

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

The aristocratic Pathfinder Varian Jeggare and his hellspawn bodyguard, Radovan (Pathfinder's answer to Sherlock Holmes and Watson), return for their fifth standalone novel. When Varian is bequeathed a dangerous magical book by an old colleague, he and Radovan are pulled into a mystery that will set them on the path of a powerful necromancer seeking to become the new avatar of an ancient and sinister demigod - one of the legendary Runelords. But in saving the world, will Varian and Radovan lose their souls?

Based upon the world featured in the award winning Pathfinder role-playing game.

©2015 Dave Gross (P)2015 Macmillan Audio

What listeners say about Pathfinder Tales: Lord of Runes

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    169
  • 4 Stars
    54
  • 3 Stars
    17
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    138
  • 4 Stars
    52
  • 3 Stars
    22
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    5
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    162
  • 4 Stars
    43
  • 3 Stars
    17
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Excellent Audio Introduction to Pathfinder Tales

This is an excellent audio Introduction to Pathfinder Tales series of novels. The narrator was easy to listen to and there was no difficulty in distinguishing between characters. If there was any problems with the Novel was that at points it felt it went a little too fast, but that may be because I am used to long series of linked novels.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Better than the last book

I love this series. Sadly, Steve West butchers the established character voices. Pausing should have gotten the normal voice actor.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A great start!

Where does Pathfinder Tales: Lord of Runes rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I've been waiting for the audio formats for this series for years! And the wait wasn't in vain!

What did you like best about this story?

While it does take place as the 5th book in the series, the previous novels do get the appropriate level of history to keep new listeners informed and still allow previous readers to hear it in a new light.

What does Steve West bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I could not picture a better set of voices for Radovan and the Count.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

That time with Radovan, Jeggare...and the knife! Good times.

Any additional comments?

I can only hope for more wonderful renditions of Gross' and other paizo authors work to make their way to audible.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting "read"

I would/will likely listen to this again as the Android App is currently being flakey and there are a couple of spots I missed. That said, I also enjoyed some of the subtle, "gamer" in-references, such as the Wizard Yondo using his last scroll rather than saving it and having a crisis because he "knew he should have saved it." Every RPG I've played, table or video, there's always that moment of "should I use it now or save it because I might need it later?!" There are a number of similar moments the author portrays that gave me a chuckle.

I can't give a favorite moment in the book without spoilers, but there is a moment when Radovan has to make a decision (yes, there are more than one of these scenes, but you'll recognize the main one that I'm referencing when you listen to the book) and that scene fired off a visual in my imagination that was nearly a movie. It was a well written, well narrated scene.

The narrator seems a bit 'mellow,' and the change in voice that I'm used to in other books is more subtle, so that at times I had problems following which character was speaking. That said, the differentiation between the two main characters was easily distinguishable and it didn't necessarily detract from the reading as the author's writing allows one to pick up on which character is speaking either by stating it or by referencing them in some way.

All in all, a good, solid read, especially for old gamers like myself.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

I was more bored than the narrator seemed to be...

Any additional comments?

I generally expect a fairly quick-paced story when reading a novel based on a game world. With this book, I instead felt like I was getting a boring 19th-century novel exploring interactions in society. Varian Jeggare and all the people he interact with in their society take offense with each other all the time, but then let slights pass with a quick apology.

Radovan's path is a little easier to listen to, but not by much.

The description says that Jeggare and Radovan are Holmes and Watson of the Pathfinder world and that doesn't ring true. The original Holmes stories, written in the late 19th century and early 20th century, were better told and flowed better than this story.

Steve West sounds like he's bored the entire time as he plods along through the ponderous writing and it makes getting through the book a tedious listening experience. I didn't finish the book, and might at some point when I am bored and have nothing else to listen to.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Different Reader...

I have re written my review after 2 things. 1 finding out that all the audiobooks for PFTales were recorded roughly at the same time, so they couldn't use the same reader for all. And once I got the reader from the previous books out of my head I think Steve West actually did a great job with this particular story.

so give it some time before moving on to this one if the reader change will throw you off. but it is well worth it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good book, hard to adjust to new voice

It's a bit jarring to listen to Mr. West after the last set of books but I took a break and it made all the difference to enjoy a good listen to another great addition to the Count and his main man Radovan go through an awesome adventure with the Runelords.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A good pick up

If you are a fan of Dave Gross, this is a great tale and builds on the lore. However Steve West turns Radovan to a downtown blighted brawler who is perceived as dim and weak. While Count Jiggary seems so slow and cadenced that make him far more boring then intelligent.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Pleasantly surprised how well this developed

I really enjoyed the majority of this story. It was a little difficult to tell the difference between the two main characters toward the beginning of the book, but by the middle the issue stopped being one. I look forward to listening to more stories in this series involving the main characters of this book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved it!

Great voice pretrial of Characters as well as a great lead up climax to a mystery story in the setting of my Favorite Table Top RPG world of Pathfinder.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful