• The Legacy

  • The Darkness Within Saga, Book 1
  • By: JD Franx
  • Narrated by: Simon Vance
  • Length: 21 hrs and 37 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (2,687 ratings)

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The Legacy  By  cover art

The Legacy

By: JD Franx
Narrated by: Simon Vance
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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

What listeners say about The Legacy

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

Good story. Recommend it.

Excellent story, loved it even. Strong world building and lots of grey characters that feel real. Except the main character. He almost ruined it for me. He has the problem that arises, at least to me and that occurs a lot in recently written books by many authors, and it is that he's afraid or remorseful of taking life, inexplicably so. I understand the need to be human and good... But there was a scene, and spoiler's, where he took bullets from some gang members instead of shooting back because he didn't want to see death... that in itself I can understand. But his wife was with him and she nearly died. That I don't. You protect those you care about, not die for a belief that will injure others. Happens again and again through the story. Stupid mistakes he makes that get others hurt.. and all he can complain about is how much this place sucks and how he can't be a good guy. And then he feels bad because others got hurt. What!! The author probably had his reasons... it was too weird for me. Cannot stand cowardly or saintly main characters... the reader has to be off like mind to enjoy it. And that's not me. It was hard for me to connect with him, couldn't really feel sorry for him at all, which was opposite of what was intended. But other than that.. loved the book. Probably will buy book #2.

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70 people found this helpful

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

An interesting take on Multiverse Fantasy

The author has taken an interesting twist on what, so far, is mostly an epic fantasy story. The primary realm is similar to what would be found in magical realms and includes many typical characters like wizards, fae, elves, dwarfs but also vampiers. death witches, pirates and necromancers.

The primary thing that sets this off from other works is that the 3 primary adult protagonists were pulled into this realm after being raised in a sleepy mundane Washington State beach town in the US. The story then focuses on their ability to adjust to the incomprehensibility of their surrounding and trials and travails thrust upon them.

JD Franx writing is very good and Simon Vance gives a typically excellent narrating performance.

Fair Warning: There is an over-abundance of brutal and goreish sections, some particularly sadistic, however, the rest of the novel was highly entertaining.

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37 people found this helpful

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

Another pathetic hero

If you like listening to a story Where an "all powerful" hero is weak and a carebear constantly Getting into situations like inspector gadget and only Getting through it by cliche luck then this is a good book. I don't, the story is from the mind of a bad GM who thinks that NPC always have the logic of an 80's action movie. The people in this book do things that don't make logical sense. Don't bother with this one.

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20 people found this helpful

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

Frustrating

This book has great characters and great story but the author’s insistence on making every decision by the characters turn into a great struggle, the fact that the most accomplished wizard never can do any magic and everyone loses every fight just to luck their way out gets very tiresome and just leaves you feeling frustrated. This is the first time I wished for an abridged version of any book because it could be so good but unfortunately is not.

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15 people found this helpful

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

All tell, no show

I enjoyed the story, but the writing fell short - too many info dumps. I have 5 hours more and am forcing myself to finish, but I doubt I’ll continue the series

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15 people found this helpful

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

Magic is a crutch

I am amazed and disappointed that this book received such high reviews. I did finally finish the book; mostly because I wanted to be able to provide a fair review, but I will not be continuing on to the next one in the series nor will I ever read another by the author. I understand how others could enjoy this series; after all, people enjoy spaghetti-O's too despite them being a culinary perversion. I, however, could not get past the clichés, the truly awful dialog, and the unimaginative way that the author uses magic as a literary device to solve any and all problems.

First, the clichés. This book takes every element of science fiction, magic, demons, angels, gods, dwarves, elves, witches, fairies, vampires, dragons, etc., etc., etc. and works them into the ridiculous world he has created. This conglomeration of folk tales, science fiction, and Tolkien-kind sounds like it would be fun, and is indeed one of the things that made me pick this book up, but the author made absolutely no attempt to harmonize these distinct archetypes so that their existence in the same world made any kind of sense. In a world of Greek-like gods, where do angels, elves, dwarves, fairies, vampires, and dragons fit in? An effective and creative author could certainly pull them together and create a backstory where each race fit into the pantheon of gods but this author put little effort into rationalizing the relationships between these fictional elements. Instead, each one has characteristics typical of their origin so vampires are hurt by silver, dragons are immune to magic, and witches wear dark robes and are evil. Combining them in a single story is an original idea, but the characters themselves are unimaginative and cliché.

Next, the dialog. Where to begin. Several of the main characters are transported through a dimensional rift from Washington state to a world of magic and monsters. After traveling through space and time to a distant universe, the Washington natives find that everyone in this distant land speaks English. The worst part of this narrative shortcut is that now the reader can be subjected to dialog that is nothing short of mind-numbing. I can't help but picture the author as a lonely and reclusive social outcast who's interaction with the rest of humanity has happened primarily over the internet. The dialog is what you would expect from someone unaccustomed to speaking with other human beings and is so laughably juvenile that it was hard to become invested in the plight of any character because they sounded and acted like idiots. I feel for the narrator who had to put voice to the dialog.
Finally, the magic. The weakest and most annoying part of this books is the use of magic. While the author makes a weak attempt to provide some rules around his magic system through the terrible dialog which I have already discussed, those rules seem to be obstacles to the authors narrative rather than plot devices. Anytime the author wants to advance the story he just throws in some new magic to make it happen. Main characters captured by bloodthirsty pirates, no problem, someone in the group who has so far shown no magic affinity suddenly performs a transportation spell lost for millennia. Main character tortured or savaged by monsters so badly that no living being could heal him, no problem, "bibbidibobidiboo" and he's miraculously healed. Vampire killed with silver daggers and thrown into a pit, no problem, demonic power brings her back from death even stronger. And this goes on and on and on. Magic is the crutch, the single narrative device that the author wields like a sledge hammer to cobble together a story with so many plot holes and contradictions that it is impossible to become invested in the characters. There's no reason to fear or worry along with the characters and no reason to try and solve the mysteries and riddles of the plot. In the end, magic will fix everything in a way that no one but the author could imagine.
This is far from being a good work of fiction. On the contrary, it is one of the worst books I have ever gotten through. While not completely devoid of interesting ideas and perspectives, as a whole it is a poor work of literature that lacks the intelligence and creativity that makes this genre great.

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8 people found this helpful

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

Could not stop listening

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

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8 people found this helpful

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

The Plot and all subplots are never resolved.

The story keeps on adding new characters and subplots that never amount to anything. I enjoyed the first quarter of this book but afterwards it just dragged on.

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7 people found this helpful

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

Lots to love. Lots to dislike.

Two hours into this book, I thought it was one of the best books ever. Then the author spends the next 10 hours torturing his main characters. Plot twists are unbelievable. Character abilities are unbelievable. Nothing about this book is believable. But the author is super creative. It is really interesting all the ideas that are spun into this tale. I liked it. But I'd only recommend it with heavy reservations.

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6 people found this helpful

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

The book is ordered wrong!!

This book comes in multiple parts and they are incorrect. It gave me the second half first. i was confused as all hell.

good book though. just make sure you listen to the first part first

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3 people found this helpful