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Black Talon
- Dragonblood Assassin, Book 1
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer, Kate Reading
- Length: 18 hrs and 53 mins
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Black Talon
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Publisher's Summary
Kullen is the emperor’s assassin. The sharp hand of justice. The Black Talon.
Gifted a soul-forged bond with his dragon, Umbris, Kullen is tasked with hunting any and all who oppose the empire.
But when the secretive Crimson Fang murders two noblemen before his very eyes, Kullen must discover the truth of who they are and what they want. What he uncovers is a web of lies and deceit spiraling into the depths of Dimvein.
Natisse, a high-ranking member of the rebellion known as the Crimson Fang, has no greater goal than to rid Dimvein of power-hungry nobles. Haunted by her past, fire, flames, and the death of her parents, she sets out to destroy the dragons and those who wield them as unstoppable weapons of destruction.
Until she, too, finds herself buried beneath the weight of the revelations her investigations reveal.... The empire is under siege from within, and one man, dressed in black like the night, stands at the epicenter of it all.
Black Talon is the first book in Dragonblood Assassin from number one Audible and Washington Post best seller Jaime Castle and epic-fantasy legend Andy Peloquin, perfect for fans of the Forgotten Realms, Joe Abercrombie, David Dalglish, and Kel Kade.
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What listeners say about Black Talon
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- diana
- 2023-03-26
fast paced exceptional story
incredible characters, awesome world building, fabulous story where is book 2. I need to know what happens. can't wait for more.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- L. Spooner
- 2023-05-20
Far, far better than I expected or hoped.
I love listening to Michael Kramer & Kate Reading narrate. The story was entertaining and kept me listening. Looking forward to more!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Merryn
- 2023-05-16
Read if you like Brandon Sanderson
This book had flavours of Stormlight Archive and Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson. It does not have the philosophical or world building depth of Stormlight, but there are just some points that have the same essence. I mean this in the best possible way as Stormlight is my favourite series of all time so finding something that feels similar and is another series is a delight. It’s also read by the same narrators who are so good, so listening to their voices after hearing stormlight so many times also just brought it to mind constantly as well.
The story by no means feels ripped off, just some minor parallels, where if you are a fan of Brandon Sanderson I feel like you will also be a fan of this book. There is a decent amount of swearing, which is a big difference. It didn’t bother me but it’s worth noting if that’s something that matters to you, because there’s a not insignificant amount.
Intriguing and emotionally engaging story, tough and highly skilled characters, a unique take on dragons and dragon-related magic, and the ending leaves you highly anticipating the next in the series (coming out at the end of this month!).
Would recommend for sure.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- JG
- 2023-03-27
loved it!
loved the story. im intrigued by the lore and the world. I want more now!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- MP
- 2023-03-24
A quick paced story that's left me wanting more.
This was a great take on Dragons with a satisfying conclusion. The narrators are top tier.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- janet
- 2023-08-12
exciting
and never let you down The excitement just carried on on every chapter kept me in through now I'm going to enjoy the second book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 2023-07-28
Great Story
This is a very good book to listen to with a great storyline. I recommend this book as the narrators do a good job keeping you interested.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Harley R.
- 2023-06-30
Half bad.
This book is half bad. you can safely skip every even chapter. not a bad story, horrible execution of the telling and forcing the reader to sit through chapters of horrible writing and character development. if you just skip every even chapter its listenable. but not that good. obvious why it's free.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- NICOLE
- 2023-06-21
Awesomeness
I can’t wait to read the next book! I couldn’t put this one down! Exciting from start to finish!!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- krista johnson
- 2023-06-20
Good!
Really enjoyed the flow of the story. Not an overly complicated plot but you got to know the characters and rooted for them.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Willis Burns
- 2023-03-14
😱 This is the new thing...
Absolutely loved every minute of Black Talon. Strong characters, dark but hopeful themes. Dragons. Assassins. Deep character growth and connections. Tremendous world-building. This is about all you can ask for in an Epic Fantasy. And at 19 hours, with the voices behind Sanderson? Dayum. Thank you Castle/Peloquin for knowing what we wanna hear!!!
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16 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Marcie VanDuyne
- 2023-03-17
Cliffhanger 🥺 but truly worth it 😉
Let me tell you…..This is an amazing book. I HATE that there is a cliffhanger BUT….there is enough of/to this book that it’s not as bad as most js. I like reading/listening to books the are completed, even if I have to wait forever lol. I listen to sooo many books that I tend to forget the story 🤷🏼♀️ (Like min. of one a day unless it’s longer than 11 hours) 😁❤️
If you like action packed fantasy adventure I would most definitely purchase this book. It’s going to be a kick a$$ series if the rest of the books are anything like this one .
TRIGGER WARNING lots and lots of in detail killing….which you should already assume if you enjoy these kind of books
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11 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Rob Bew
- 2023-03-19
Dragons AND Assassins...
As if the name didn't tell you that...
Kullen and Natisse are both very well thought-out characters with deep backstories that we are only getting a glimpse of here in this book. It feels as if things are going to unfold slowly (but absolutely not boringly) throughout this series, and I'm in it for the long haul.
Dimvein and the magic system therein seems intriguing and I can't wait to find out more about the blood surging and the dragon magic.
I especially love the Kullen/Jaylen dynamic (maybe even more than the ?budding love? between Kullen and Natisse?)
Bravo. I want more. Now.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Katie
- 2023-03-19
YES!
Absolutely loved this book! I’m ready for red claw! That cliff hanger is killing me. Great book all the way around strong characters and the dragons and the fighting scenes awesome!
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Tango
- 2023-03-17
Ok for a Freebie
I might be more critical if I'd paid for this book, but since I got it free through the Audible Plus Library, I can cut it a little slack. After all, I feel reasonably satisfied if a free book is entertaining enough to finish the book and I did listen to all 19 hours of Black Talon. The plot is presented right up front - Evil Empire vs ragtag band of oppressed underdogs - but doesn't develop much further through the book. Sure, the "good-guys" are righteously defending the poor and fighting against slavery, but there is no sense what the good-guys are trying to accomplish. Do they want to overturn the government? Do they want the emperor to become a better, more humane ruler? Do they want the power for themselves? By the end of Book1, Black Talon, I have no clue. There is an interesting magic system - some people (unclear who gets the opportunity and how they get it) have a chance to form a "blood bond" with a dragon. If the bond forms, the human has access to some of the dragon's powers and can also call on the dragon in the flesh when that level of lethality or strength is needed. Nineteen hours of listening and that sentence sums up my understanding of the magic system; very skimpy. The world building is almost non-existent - only a little description of landscape, almost no history, and only rudimentary explanation of the class system and the government. (If you like Sanderson's detailed description of his fantastical worlds - monetary and weather systems, backstories for everything - imagine the opposite end of that scale and you'll have Castle/Peloquin.) Of course the authors probably couldn't spend much time on plot, characters, magic system, and world building, because they had to squeeze in detailed descriptions of about 500 one-on-one fights. If you like hand-to-hand, knife-to-knife, human to monster, or sword fighting battles, Baby, this is your book! Maybe the meat will be added to the story as it continues into Book 2, but I just didn't get enough nourishment from Book 1 to bother with Book 2 and beyond. I will admit that the last 10 minutes or so ratcheted my interest level up a great deal. Enough that if I could get Book 2 free or really cheap, I'd read it.
Although Michael Kramer and Kate Reading are both above average narrators, they are a Terrible Pairing. The book is written with alternating POV's every chapter - one male/one female - and so Kramer and Reading alternate between each chapter. Kate Reading reads SO slowly and lets the last word of every sentence just hang. I always speed her up to about 1.5. Unfortunately Michael Kramer is a much faster speaker and I don't like to speed him up at all. Trying to change the narration speed every chapter is just not practical so I just set my book for 1.2 which didn't make me happy with either narrator. Because of the mismatch in styles between the two narrators, the narration added nothing to this book.
Recommended if you can get it free.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Doug
- 2023-03-27
Solid entertainment that pulls no punches
I was skeptical that this book would keep my attention. I haven't heard of the authors and there was an editing error early on in the book. As the story progressed however I was increasingly engrossed. It was solidly written and it had my action sequences. When I say that it pulls no punches I mean that the authors weren't worried about offending the more sensitive reader with explicit carnage. I will say that the book lacked the sophisticad magic system that is present in books by other authors, Brandon Sanderson, for instance, but it didn't lack for entertainment because of it.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dorian T
- 2023-03-19
good stuff
I'll listen to anything from Kramer/Reading duo. but this isn't just good because of them (like a lot of the others).
Halfway through, I realized I knew Castle from the Buried Goddess Saga. Loved that as well. Peloquin's new to me, but i'll check out his other stuff.
Lookin forward to the rest of this series.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2023-03-19
good listen.
I love this team of narrators. they are a good fit with each other. I first caught them on the WOT.now I will be on the lookout for more collaborations with them.
the book was good too, I will get the next one when it comes out.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Leonard D. Floyd
- 2023-03-27
Enjoyable listen.
I believe this was my first listen where the authors were male and female. It was challenging to listen to the lead male side with it's bravado and violence, and then listen to the lead female side with all the feelings and emotions (not my thing). Overall pretty good though.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jetskijdm
- 2023-07-23
Super fun
Can’t wait to see where it’s headed. Like the two main characters quite a bit.
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1 person found this helpful