• Blood and Shadows

  • Saga of the Seven Stars, Volume 1
  • By: Dayne Edmondson
  • Narrated by: Scott Berrier
  • Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (18 ratings)

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Blood and Shadows  By  cover art

Blood and Shadows

By: Dayne Edmondson
Narrated by: Scott Berrier
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Publisher's summary

Shadows stretch across the land as the denizens of the underworld unite under a single deadly leader and threaten to bathe the magical kingdom of Tar Ebon in blood, dooming mankind. To answer the threat comes Dawyn Darklance, the champion of the king and time bender. Along with his companions, the fierce druid Anwyn, the fiery mage Alivia and the flamboyant minstrel Favio he must travel across the terrified kingdom to bring justice upon the leader of the assassins, Lord Garik, and his allies, the mysterious veiled assassin and arrogant mage. Along the way, Dawyn and his companions will encounter dangerous enemies, stout allies and uncover a secret threat that could yet doom the world. This novel, the first in a series by a talented novelist, introduces listeners to the world of Tar Ebon, a place where magic pervades and dangerous creatures lurk in the far reaches of the world. This book will leave you entranced by the characters and begging for more.

©2014 Dayne Edmondson (P)2016 Dayne Edmondson

What listeners say about Blood and Shadows

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

A good light-fantasy starter

Blood and Shadows is the first book in the Shadow Trilogy. The story starts out in a very LitRPG-type fantasy world in which all of the world's Assassin Guild leaders are being killed by the relentless Lord Garik, who is set on taking over not only ALL of the Assassin Guilds, but all of the Tar Ebon land. The king worries for his land & people, so he calls upon Sir Dawyn Darklance, head of his elite guard The Shadow Watch Guild, to get to the bottom of who Garik is, his plans, and ultimately take him out. Dawyn gathers a party (fighter/hero, mage, druid, rogue) and starts his journey running into trouble from monsters and people left and right.

While the descriptor does not have this book listed as LitRPG and it doesn't have players that have been sucked into their game world, it definitely reads like one. If you like LitRPGs you should give this book a try. The MC Dawyn has an uncanny magical ability that allows him to slow time, making him a beast in battle and skirmishes. One of the villains can shift from shadow to normal in the blink of an eye, making dodging projectiles easy. Magic everywhere. There's lots of action from pretty much start to finish. I would recommend this book for less hardcore fantasy readers, even going so far as to say that older middle school aged kids that have a love of fantasy books would like it along side adult readers. The fighting isn't super graphic but there is a lot of it.

The end has a sci-fi twist that I would have LOVED to have been hinted at more throughout the book! It sets up a completely different world(s?) than what we learned in the rest of the book. I'm guessing book 2 will envelope that aspect greatly.

The narrator, Scott Barrier has a nice deep voice that is very easy to listen to. The beginning started out a little monotonous, but he worked out of it not to far in. Some accents and pitch changes might have made it a little bit easier to discern who was speaking, but he's a good reader. I would not hesitate to listen to more books he has narrated.

Things that would've brought it to 4 star:
1)Language (class) differences. I do wish the author had embellished his bartender and street folk character with some slang and less proper grammar - they just didn't seem as tough as the lower caste usually does. 2) More Victoria. Victoria was underutilized considering the amount of time she filled at the beginning. I thought she was a MC and then we hardly hear a peep about her for the rest of the book, making her demise anticlimactic. 3) If it has to be there: a better love story. The love arc goes from 0 to 60 in practically 4 seconds and I would feel more invested in the their future together (because I think it will play a vital part in future books) had there been more friendship before the literal insta-love. This isn't an author-only problem, it's a genre problem. I'm not looking for 8 chapters of courting, just a reason beyond "he saved me this morning/I saved her this morning and now we're in love.

I reiterate: I liked this book. I will probably pick up the next.

I was given this book by the author, narrator, or publisher in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

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1 person found this helpful

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

Engaging

Story is well done, but the narration was a little rough

Interesting characters and a villain that you can loath

Well done magical fantasy world... and what's this? A hint of Sci-Fi at the end?!

I look forward to more from this author.

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1 person found this helpful

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

Reads like an RPG

So I can can see my middle school aged son loving this book. For me personally it read very much like a RPG style book even though the characters are not pulled into a game in this story. It's a good book for those who like the fantasy and RPG genre books. The narrator does a good job, he has a pretty deep voice that starting out seems pretty monotone but does get better as you get further into it.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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

Blood and Shadows

Blood and Shadow was a pretty good fantasy novel. I quite liked the action, adventure and the premise of the story. I did feel it was a bit lacking in the way the dialogue was written between the characters and their conversations which did not feel completely natural to me and the way some of the characters began to feel and act around each other after knowing each other for such a short time.

The narration is fairly solid and fits well with this type of story. I think this book could use some work but it is still quite enjoyable and am curious to read other books in the series to see how things turn out and if the writing progresses at all.

"Please note I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

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

different

it was different then what I was expecting but it didn't lack in drawing me in.

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

Assassins in charge

when the head of one of the assassins guilds takes over all the others and begins to threaten the lords, something must be done. An action packed adventure with twists and turns. I was given copy of this audio in exchange for an honest review.

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

Saga of the seven stars

This book is predictable but I did not mind since it is fast paced and has plenty of action which I really like.
Would highly recommend.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
Listener received this title free

A Really Good Start

This flowed well. The characters were interesting and. yes, it does make you want to hear more.
This audio was given to me free and I voluntarily gave this review.

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

Great book

it was a great book, but the narrator was a little bland. Need a more emotional voice
Great book though.

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