• Rise of the Ranger

  • The Echoes Saga, Book 1
  • By: Philip C. Quaintrell
  • Narrated by: Steven Brand
  • Length: 15 hrs and 12 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (4,894 ratings)

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Rise of the Ranger  By  cover art

Rise of the Ranger

By: Philip C. Quaintrell
Narrated by: Steven Brand
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Publisher's summary

300,000 Copies Sold Worldwide

The Echoes of Fate, a Prophecy Uttered Unto the World a Thousand Years Ago, Cannot Be Denied....

Mankind has lorded over the land of Illian for a thousand years, building on the ruins left by the elves, as if it were their birthright. A thousand years is a long time for an immortal race to see the truth of things, a truth that has remained unsaid for a millennium - elves are superior. They are faster, stronger, and connected to the magical realm in a way that man could never grasp. Illian should belong to them.

Unaware of the shadow that looms in the east, the six kingdoms of man are fractured, unallied, and clawing at each other's gates for more power.

This isn't just war set to ravage the land, but a slaughter - the world of man cannot hope to survive.

Thrown into the heart of this war is a man known by many names; an Outlander of the wilds, an assassin, a ranger. Asher was born a thousand years ago, to a life he doesn't remember. Forty years of brutal training and killing for money has beaten the earliest years of his life away, leaving his ties to the oldest of evils a mystery to all....

Rise of The Ranger Launches an Unmissable Epic Fantasy Series.

©2018 Podium Publishing; 2017 Philip C. Quaintrell

What listeners say about Rise of the Ranger

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    3,272
  • 4 Stars
    1,088
  • 3 Stars
    349
  • 2 Stars
    107
  • 1 Stars
    78
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
    895
  • 3 Stars
    329
  • 2 Stars
    91
  • 1 Stars
    108
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    3,039
  • 4 Stars
    950
  • 3 Stars
    277
  • 2 Stars
    91
  • 1 Stars
    57

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

Worth it

I loved the story. The writing is great. The only issue I had was with the narration. I could not tell which character was talking. In a conversation between two people, you can normally tell who it is because the narrator will usually have different voices for the characters but with this, it’s the same voice, and it becomes hard telling who is saying what.

Apart from that, good book worth listening to.

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101 people found this helpful

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

Hfofate to say it, but read the book instead

I think I liked this. But, I should have taken heed of other's reviews. Steven Brand has the perfect voice for this story, but 2/3 of the content was lost on me! Could not tell who was saying what. The story changed to a different POV, and 3 minutes would have gone by before I understood this. I think this could have been "one of the greats", but I was way too confused about whom was speaking, where they were, and could barely keep track of the main storyline!
I think it could've been easier to follow had a companion guide been given. Having said this, I am willing to give the next book a try. And, I do hope Mr Brand will narrarate. Maybe the book will have the kinks worked out!?,

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76 people found this helpful

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

Fantastic story, lackluster narration

The story is great. The narrator has a pleasant voice, but never changes it for the many and varied characters. Most professional narrators are so good at subtle changes between characters that you don't have to pay much attention to who it said is speaking. This one, you have to pay close attention at every single dialogue because every man and woman sounds exactly the same. It's a blasphemy to have such a wonderful book turned into a confused jumble by a narrator who should only be narrating nonfiction.

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60 people found this helpful

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

Brand has a train to catch

Speed reading with no nuances, no character differentiation , no tonal graduation, too boring, couldn’t finish

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46 people found this helpful

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

A nice story, but not a fan of the narrator

The difficulty with a mosaic story set in a fantasy world is often the pace of introduction of new characters, locations and names of items. Here we see/hear such a story. It is incredibly difficult to follow in the beginning, but even later on in the story. I found it very hard to get my bearings and understand the narrative. This is in part due to the narrator, as he almost uses no inflections and/or change in pitch between characters. The voice itself is deep and pleasant to listen too, but often I lose who is talking. Next to this I think the story is nice, but the world itself is quite 1 dimensional and lacks the diversity and depth you might expect from a fully newly crafted world. I will give the author and narrator another try in the second part, but my expectations are low.

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39 people found this helpful

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

Book: 4 stars | Narration: 1 star

Rise of the Ranger is a better than average, fantastical novel. The characters are interesting, its plot is entertaining, and the writing is good. Steven Bland’s narration, however, is colorless, monotonous, and soporific. Even though it’s a 4-star book, his performance is the reason why this AudioBook is worthy of only 2-stars.
Note: I felt the same way about Steven Bland’s performance of Blood Song, author Anthony Ryan’s wonderful debut novel. The audio version of a great book deserves to be represented properly by great narration.

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27 people found this helpful

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

Geralt of Rivera goes to Middle Earth

I pick this book on a whim because I just finished reading the stomlight archives & wheel of Time and damn this book surprised me with how many races their are in this world and I honestly missed the whole LOTR feel and this book delivered thanks to the author and narrator for doing an awesome job I shall move on too next book.

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16 people found this helpful

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

Narrator was hard to listen to...

It got a little better as the book progressed. It was a excited monotone that doesn’t know what punctuation is

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16 people found this helpful

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

kicking myself for not listening to it earlier

I love the entire concept, forever intriguing and immersive looking forward to the next in the series

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16 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 story well written. I love listening to Steven Brand. I can’t wait for the next book to come out on Audible I hope they keep the same narrator.

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14 people found this helpful