So, DUDE, where's the next book?

It's been, like, YEARS...how about a sequel to this CLIFFHANGER ENDING?

Not to give any spoilers, but HELLO? Is the author even still alive?

Yeah, I know he lives to go out in the woods and figure out how to make every item from twigs and tree sap before he permits it to exist in his written world, but enough autogratification already!

We don't actually care THAT MUCH about the EXACT process (using nothing but a pocket knife and a rock) for extracting the juice of the indigo plant and turning it into colorant so that Aedan can hand-dye the flax-linen tabard (the making of which the author just spent thirty pages describing, before rewriting it from scratch 19 times) so he can blend in with the also-indigo-garbed Lekrau slavers or whatever. It's NOT THAT IMPORTANT TO THE STORY, people!!

Hey: Mr. Renshaw! Do you want to write books or don't you? Your erstwhile fans are all feeling a little annoyed, the degree to which depends on how soon after its publication they each read "Dawn of Wonder" in the first place.

It's time for Wonder to get on along to AFTERNOON already!

As ALWAYS, Tim Gerard Reynolds kills it! He is one of the best. Even he can't make a bad book good, though, so the poor guy has had to read some real dogs. Dawn of Wonder is not one of those dogs; it's a great book, but COME ON ALREADY. Don't start what you can't finish, and for pity's sake DON'T LET PERFECTION STAND IN COMPLETION'S WAY! Believe it or not, we the people will not NOTICE if you have forgotten a comma or split one little infinitive in a 700-page doorstop!!

Sheesh.

103 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

less than what I expected

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

An epic fantasy would have been great. Instead it was about dysfunctional childhood and adolescents in school.

Has Dawn of Wonder turned you off from other books in this genre?

No, I love the genre that the book claims to be.

Have you listened to any of Tim Gerard Reynolds’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Reynolds is excellent.

What character would you cut from Dawn of Wonder?

Aiden

Any additional comments?

The book is well written. The story simply isn't what it is advertised to be, starting with the cover art. I bought it because the first page of reviews was so consistently excellent. Later I looked farther and learned that the reviews are not really chronological, but rather with the better ones on the first page. Good sales technique, but iffy reliability. Perhaps when my review is "processed" it will vanish. But that at least will mean someone read it and perhaps Audible will improve this part of the service. Everything else about Audible is certainly first class.

109 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

DON'T BUY IT

Excellent book. Great narration. Loved it all the way to the end. But that is the problem. I have been waiting for four years for book two and still nothing the stoty leaves you hanging with no real ending. WHAT HAPPENED?

22 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Instant Favorite

I can't say enough about this book! Before I even got halfway through this book I knew it would be one of my favorites. The thing that glues me to this book most is the character development. I felt emotionally attached to the main character Aedan, I found myself screaming out loud in some situations routing him on. Jonathan Renshaw has a natural ability to set up tension in a scene. One key thing that I really like is the fact that the character development feels very realistic and natural. It doesn't seem forced or stiff if that makes any sense. People react to situations as you could imagine they would in reality which is something I look for in a book. Some authors like to use coincidence far too much, to the point where it takes you out of the immersion. And some authors like to take the character to a knifes edge and then some miraculous event saves the day. Which is OK sometimes... That certainly doesn't always happen in this book. Sometimes the characters in this book have to go through some really rough things not always being saved at the last minute.
Jonathan Renshaw REALLY did allot of research for this book and you can tell. He goes into detail about the making of weapons and fighting techniques etc. I very much enjoyed these parts of the book. You can very much tell that the author was a school teacher before becoming an author and likely a very good one.
Another thing which stood out about this book is the solid morality which goes against so many adult fantasy books that are popular right now. Too many authors these days feel as though in order to make the world feel more real and the characters more believable you have to add questionable morality harsh language and obscene over the top sexual situations. This book proves that this is not the case. In fact, this is a book I will be reading with my children when they are a little older as there are allot of life lessons and virtues I want to teach them which I find scattered throughout this book.
In summary, this book is a must read for anyone who likes fantasy. I wish I could give more than 5 stars. One more thing of note Tim Gerard Reynolds did a spectacular job of bringing this story to life! What an amazing performance!

400 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

This is such a great book!!!

Just listened to it again, I've been waiting almost three years for the second...ugh but if Johnathan gives us another amazing story, I can be patient, it's just hard lol.
Love, adore, crave these characters!!! I was getting sad at chapter 34 knowing it was half way through.
This book is so awesome, I know I'll listen again before the second book comes out!!!
The narrator does a wonderful job, I wouldn't want anyone else, he's so good!!! I already have 5 books that he narrates and I'm getting more for sure!!!

182 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Best book this year

Where does Dawn of Wonder rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This ranks among the top, not the top 10 but very high. I saw influences from many of the great writers of fantasy and the author managed to bring out the best in fantasy.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Peashoot (or how it is spelled), solid character with quick retorts.

Have you listened to any of Tim Gerard Reynolds’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes I have and he is among the best. His performance in this was very good but the reason I don't give top grades is that I felt that the editing was sub par to his other works. Constantly the new sentences changed in volume and you noted that the author had taken a break. The flow was interrupted.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, it was to long for that. A lot of smaller adventures over several story years made the main story a bit weak to hold interest for one sitting but no less important as character build is one of the most important bits to a great story.

Any additional comments?

Strongly recommend this story and look forward to the next. Readers should note that this story is a bit slower than other in the same genre but I felt that was refreshing.

16 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Renshaw will go down as one of the greats!

Any additional comments?

Okay, this is truly something special! The writing is absolutely beautiful - a few steps above even the better modern novels in this genre. The amount of detail is superb - not overly drawn out, but wonderfully intricate.

The plot has a lot of depth/dynamics, and doesn't fall into the usual routines so many modern Fantasy novels are guilty of.

The characters are so easy to engage with, and most definitely NOT two dimensional and obvious - there is lots of depth/range in this department.

Perhaps the best part is that it's fresh. It follows in the footsteps of the greats, such as Tolkien and Jordan, but is easily distinguishable from them - and even manages to be distinct from the modern greats, such as Sanderson and Rothfuss.

If he keeps this up, Renshaw will easily be remembered as one of the greats of the genre.

And as always, Tim Gerard Reynolds brings an absolutely brilliant delivery, making it all the more amazing. SO glad this got properly matched with a narrator equal to the material!

Absolutely superb!!

257 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Next?

This is one of those stories that should have notation "sequel not ready" and a note to the author to write fast and stay safe!

34 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

This was an excellent fantasy coming of age story

Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw is the first novel in the series called The Awakening. This fantasy novel is set in the country of Thirna and it’s a coming of age and adventure story about a young boy, Aedan. When an officer rides into Aedan’s home of Mistyvales warning of coming slavers, Aedan is immediately suspicious. As events unfold, Aedan is forced to travel away from his small northern country town and finds a home in the large southern city of Castath, where he aspires to join the Academy and become an honorable marshal. He is thrown into a new life that he isn’t prepared for and must learn to contend with his demons as well as become adept at understanding and interacting safely with the world around him.

This was an excellent fantasy coming of age story. Each of the characters is filled out with a range of emotions and actions. Similarly, their interactions with one another are filled with amusement and feeling. I especially liked the boys and girls that Aedan interacts with at the academy. They turn out to be his solid footing when other things in his life are trying. Renshaw’s world building and character development are just incredible. There were many times during the listen that I actually laughed out loud! It is definitely a long book, but it lets the reader soak in every part of it with all the detail. The plot is dynamic and there are many highs and lows for Aedan and his companions, which keep it from getting boring with its length. I actually wanted it to keep going! The end is satisfyingly set up for the next novel, which I’m really looking forward to. One interesting part of the fantasy aspect was that it isn’t blatant. The world is slowly becoming more and more aware of strange mystical occurrences and vaguely speculating of their meaning. This magic wasn’t the centerpiece of the story, but something slowly coming more into focus, similarly to Aedan’s adulthood. As the series continues, I can see how it’ll become more important and I’m looking forward to learning more about the meaning of everything that was introduced in this first novel.

The narration by Tim Gerard Reynolds was excellent. He is incredible at voicing the different characters and delivered the amusing lines extremely well. I would definitely listen to another novel narrated by him. The production quality of the novel was good as well. I would recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys fantasy coming of age stories with complex, in depth story lines.

Audiobook was provided for review by the publisher.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

[If this review helped, please press YES. Thanks!]

201 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Possibly the best Audible book ever!

Any additional comments?

I just finished Dawn of Wonder on Audible and I was extremely delighted with the book. The character building was detailed and meticulous from the start, which I appreciate. The main character Aedan was a delight. Mentally following Aedan from the Misty Vale to the Academy and beyond was captivating. His coming of age story and the difficulties he faces are magnificently portrayed within the book.

The story took a surprising turn about 25 hours in which for me was the highlight of the entire book. If I went farther I would risk being a spoiler. Let’s just say I will be purchasing and downloading book 2 in advance the minute it is available.

I was in awe of the care and skill that the author employed to maintain sexual and linguistic purity within the story. It is nice to listen to a book with creative writing that does not require an NC-17 rating. Humor and action are scattered throughout the book providing an excellent rhythm for the story.

I have already began recommending this book on audible to my family and friends. My brother and Father will be listening soon. This will be my Father’s 2nd book on Audible, the first was Ben Hur. I myself have listened to 81 Audible titles.

I place Dawn of Wonder at the top of my list in the fantasy/Adventure category.

This has been my first ever review, that tells you something about the quality of this Book. Spend the token, you will not regret it.


The only sad point for me is that the 2nd book is not out yet which means I have to wait ;(

149 les gens ont trouvé cela utile