Siege of Talonrend

The Goblin Wars, Book 1

By: Stuart Thaman

Narrated by: Bryson David Hoff

Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

Lady Scrapple lurks in the depths of Kanebullar Mountain, building her army of mindless slaves and waiting for the perfect moment to strike. As the final pieces are about to fall into place and secure her victory, an anomaly is born. One of her goblins, an incredibly powerful shaman, stands free of Lady Scrapple’s iron-clad hive mind.

A few miles west of Kanebullar Mountain, the frontier city of Talonrend perches dangerously on the edge of anarchy. King Lucius Firesbane has disappeared without an heir and left the city leaderless.

In the face of chaos, a disgruntled paladin sets out to find his king.

©2013 Stuart Thaman (P)2018 Stuart Thaman

Good, but not exceptional

I'm about half way through the book so far. The writing is a bit clunky, and the book doesn't seem to have a primary or main character on the human side of things. There is a main character who is a goblin, but he seems .... well... honestly he feels like a bit of a male marry sue... He just got this uber-mench type goblin power, and im' sitting here like.... two seconds ago he was going to kill a petty rival... what the heck? But the goblin is by far the most sympathetic character so far, though I do like the prince character though from what I understand he is NOT the main human character. Haven't finished of course, but so far thats kinda been the case. There are also a couple of plot points that just don't seem to match up, like the next kingdom over is a total ruin but the main kingdom doesn't know it. and its been like six months... your telling me no one bothered to ride over and visit their friend or relative, or even bother to communicate with the other kingdoms king over anything? Just seems a bit unbelievable.

Over all its an interesting story though, and really interesting concept of a "goblin god" type hive mind thing. it plays on the old school fantasy tropes but in a way that doesn't seem copy pasted, but rather at least somewhat organic. Kinda cool.

In terms of the performance, it was about the same quality as the book. Okay, but not fantastic. The audio editor needs fired though, there are times in the audio when it skips back a few seconds and has a different version of the same voice over, kinda distracting. Also, the over all audio quality is below professional level. If you try to use high quality ear buds you will get a little bit of static as the narrator speaks.

I would recommend as a short distraction but don't expect too much from the book.

Fascinating Fantasy

I enjoyed this audiobook a lot. Once I started listening to it, I had to listen until the end as I was enthralled by the fast-paced action and the characters. The world building was extensive. The machinations were intricate and twisted. The characters were complicated, and I liked the interesting way that the author portrayed the goblins. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series. Bryson David Hoff's narration was excellent, and his performance added to the story's entertainment. I was given a free copy of the audiobook, and I have voluntarily posted this review.

Interesting

This was an interesting take on some of the goblin culture. I did enjoy the story and was well done. I am looking forward to the next one.

A fun but flawed epic fantasy yarn

This is essentially a fun retelling of The Battle of Helm's Deep with the "epic" tag removed. The battle scenes are good, especially when hero Gideon fights a minotaur, but also at the end when it stops being a seige and becomes a beseige. The characters are okay. Ex-paladin Gideon was my favourite, though a little starchy. Then there was a couple of goblins who liked humans, which was a break from the rest who were constantly referred to as "mindless drones," apart from the leaders. Then there was the prince haunted by the disembodied voice that constantly told him he'd never be king. Also, there happens to be an army of zombies. The narrator also does a fine job, although he needs to work on his 'goblin.'
On the negative side, it jumps around a bit, making it hard for some of the key parts to sink in. The motivation for the goblins to throw themselves on the blades of the humans (apart from their leaders) was never really made clear (at least to me), and kind of annoying.

Still, an enjoyable tale, and part of a series, which I will likely be continuing.

Of hive mind

A goblin on a mission that soon realizes hes different than the rest, he has free will. What will he do now that hes an outcast.

A former paladin, now pit fighter sent on a quest by the prince's guard. How will their paths cross.

The backstory is well done, leaving you to wonder and try to piece the story together as you go. There is so much detail in the world and all that its contents, you can easily visualise it. I really liked the characters storys and the twist to the goblins society.

It was really entertaining. Filled with battles with dark magic demon things, mindless goblins and necromancy. I had a hard time wanting to stop listening.

I cant wait for the next book.

A war told from both sides of the conflict

A very good start to what shows promise of being a very good epic fantasy series. The tale is told from the view of both goblin and human. The idea of a goblin society being a basic hive mind controlled And run by their queen is a new and unique way of looking at it for me. Overall good battle scenarios, uniquely crafted weapons and some truly interesting and engaging characters. I’m interested in seeing where this story and these characters go in the long run. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator or publisher

badly written and poor performance

The characters are nonsensical the setting and backgrounds are poorly written. Dialog is written like a 4th grader was doing the writing.
Bryson tries to salvage something from the bad writing but making every line over dramatic makes it even worse. this thing is not worth the time or money in any way.