The Legacy

The Darkness Within Saga, Book 1

By: JD Franx

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 21 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

DeathWizards have been the scourge of Talohna for over 5000 years; they are executed at birth or hunted to the death. There are no exceptions.

Pulled by magic and blood sacrifice into a world he can't possibly begin to understand, Kael Symes soon finds himself the focus of a Talohna-wide manhunt.

Desperate and trying to stay ahead of ArchWizard Giddeon Zirakus's execution squad, Kael soon discovers that Talohna's ArchWizard may be the least of his worries. An ancient witch coven is also on the hunt for Kael, and they'll stop at nothing to find their messiah first.

Trapped far below the earth inside the long-lost Dwarven prison of Arkum Zul, Kael has few allies he can trust. After months of torture and suffering, he is quickly running out of time to recover what was stolen from him: The magic of the DeathWizard.

It's his only hope for escape.

©2016 JD Franx (P)2017 Podium Publishing

started slow, but don't stop!!

the more i hear the more I'm enjoying this story. it stated out slow for me; but, as the storyline progresses the characters and storyline mature and become deliciously complex and exciting. im hooked!

Solid story

Good, complex story so far. I do have to say, though, that hearing Simon Vance do an American accent is pretty comical. The thing with Kael does remind me of the WoT and Rand al Thor with the whole saidar/saidin taint thing, but we'll see where it goes!

strange and weird in a great new way!!

This is a new frontier mixing magical and non magical universe's. The author made it work and for that he has profoundly moved my soul and gain my respect in so many ways!!

Fantastic Idea, yet immersion breaking writing

I absolutely loved the story and the idea and amazing lore behind it, it has so much potential, but there is way too many moments that broke immersion and took me out of the story for a long while.

Honestly the story felt as if I was eating at a 5 star restaurant, but the meal was poisoned with something lethal. Taking in too much of it made me feel sick, but I wanted MORE.

To start, way too cringy dialogue and there were some moments that caused me to suffer a slight aneurysm.

For example, the main character has been brutally tortured for 3 to 4 months yet his sense of sarcastic humor has him blowing a kiss at his torturer. ~makes me want to bash my head in with a hammer to just forget that whole entire paragraph~

main character gets one life ending injury after another but is somehow healed perfectly fine (I understand that the Fai have returned but seriously, main dude needs to stop the emo level of self harm he puts himself through)

Main character flip flops between his disgusting self-virtuous "oh no killing is bad" mentality and "kill them all" bad assery. I understand the main character having a moral compass and standards at the beginning, but after four months of brutal torture, he should not feel so bad about killing his torturers and say "oh no what have I done" that is just ridiculous. Also Kale feels absolutely nothing when he kills a bunch of monsterous creatures and feels no remorse. Seriously stick to one personality, yes you can have an inner struggle and you can have him explore his actions, but do it like how Macbeth (from the Shakespeare play) did during a very brief moment of self reflection. Or go the Ken Kenkie from Tokyo Ghoul route.

Next flirtatious romance, PLEASE STOP DOING IT. It is disgusting, weird, creepy, totally from left field, and does not feel real at all. I get a cold shiver every time an interesting female character goes full creepy anime girl and screams for the "dense" main characters reproductive organ. I don't care if it is teasing/jokes, it is super uncomfortable and it is done at the worst possible moment. This also includes what ever is going on with the assassin elf chick and Max (feels very forced).

Next leave the Arche Wizard alone, everyone keeps harassing the dude, sometimes there r valid reasons for it other times it's out of no where, he's now become that one office employee everyone takes their frustration out on. Also for an Arche Wizard he can't do shit, What the hell, I know their magical knowledge and capability is limited but an Arche Wizard should be able to fry a couple of pirates with ease (him being tired should just make it slightly more difficult but still possible)

Character interactions are pretty bad. Kale and Vampire Grandma met each other a week ago but act and joke with one another as if they knew each other for several years, three weeks later Kale makes her his new best friend, and three months later he loves Grandma, age changing, Vampire Lady as if she was Kale's own sister. God damn it that is not how characters should interact. Yes I know Kale owes Lakory a favor for saving his life so many times but that shit should not develop so fast. Gailon's and Kale's interaction felt the most real of all the interactions throughout the story.

What happened to the Spoiled Naive stupid Princess was not enough. The part where she called her father a bastard should have earned her a soul shattering pimp slap, calling a king or anyone a bastard during medieval times was not only very offensive but dangerous since bastards have weak claims and such talk could the king's power in danger. I know the king is not a litteral bastard but being called one should have resulted in a soul shattering pimp slap.

Finally Profanity was not implemented properly. Max: "What the FUCK!!" five minutes later he says it again like a catchphrase. Also all the times characters were called Asshole felt very bland. Please do better, maybe with a simple FU or one of the dozen of no no words that can really send a powerful message.


Even with all of that ^, I still recommend this story series.
Other than all the problems I mentioned, I thought the story was fabulous, if the writer polishes all of my issues then this story would fall in Lord of the Rings and Game Of Thrones Level of awesomeness.

Narrator Could Be A Turnoff

Maybe it was a everyone else was already busy situation, "Well call Brad then damnit"

This one is a winner!

Loved it!! It encompasses magic, love, hate, adventure... you just have to listen! It was one of those audiobooks you almost pass until I heard the depth of the archmage character on the sample listen. I was not disappointed. This has been a rewarding listen and one of the better ones I've heard in some time. Kudos to the author and the famous, Simon Vance for bringing this story to life!!

Engaging on very different levels

This book incorporates so many different fantasy levels from vampires to elves very engaging overall enjoyed it

Obsessed!

I seriously cant have enough. Characters are so unique and they main character just speaks to the reader. He's so relatable but also striking and unique. love the story, love the author and the Narrator.

Could not stop listening

Like a mix of Token and Goodkind. Awesome read.. I highly recommend it.. can not wait for book 2..

A Fun Romp!!!

A Story With More Twists And Turn Than The Average Corn Maze In Kansas . A Nice Long Story!