An unusual but delightful premise

I absolutely *loved* the series (though I have yet to listen to the 3rd book). The premise behind the plot is like something I have never seen before. The main character grows up away from regular society and this has not had typical relationships with anyone (parents, family, friends, girlfriend, etc.). Due to a miscommunication, the main character carries out a purpose which was not actually intended for him. It leads him to interact with others, and due to his lack of social experience, it causes many misunderstandings which are both comical and tragic. His newfound relationships with others also lead to other events which may not have occurred had he not met those people, as he has no control over what the others will say or do. As he meets more and more people, it becomes increasingly difficult for him to have control over everything. During the story, we learn about the character as he learns about himself which he had never known. The main character also seems like a bit of an antihero. One moment, you're cheering for him because of his actions. The next moment, you wonder if they are truly actions worth cheering for. It is a fantastic series! Also, I absolutely love Nick Pohdel as a narrator. I happened to start with him as a narrator and haven't been able to handle listening to anyone else now. He can do so many voices and speaks in a way which is engaging but not overly fast. I actually came upon this series after doing a search for Nick Pohdel as a criterion.

7 people found this helpful

Narrator is amazing

Nick Podehl makes this book absolutely amazing. His Mastery of being able to not only show the emotion at the point in the book, but also to make EACH character have their own individual accents, voices, and inflections is remakable. The book itself is not as descriptive as I would like, but Nick Podehl again makes a book worth listening to because of his talents.

5 people found this helpful

What the heck people?

I couldn't finish this book and returned it. I'd like to focus on 2 main factors that I found very annoying. First, the characters, particularly the protagonist, all seem to be total idiots who are victims of elephant-sized plot holes. For example, the hero had been trained in every conceivable facet of life during his isolated upbringing in order to become a master manipulator, but somehow during that time no one gave him the birds and the bees talk or explained the literal definition of the word "friend." We are left with a protagonist who can dress up as a merchant from some far off land and expertly talk about current grain prices, but has zero concept of love, sex, etc. The effect on the story is maddening and totally unbelievable.

The second issue involves the prose and dialogue. Every page seems to have some lengthy, weird description about how gorgeous and ripped and strong and intelligent the hero is... over and over and over! The discussions the characters have with one another are also very one dimensional. They are basically caricatures of themselves, no matter what has taken place in the story. There is also a burdensome amount of exposition. The hero repeatedly stops to explain or think about everything he has done or plans to do, instead of letting his actions speak for themselves.

If you want a good fantasy book, try Blood Song Raven's Shadow or The Way of Kings.

513 people found this helpful

Started strong, went nowhere

The narrator is the best in the business; Nick Podehl's narration can strengthen and breathe life into an otherwise weak story, and this book is a great illustration of that part of his skill.

The main character Rezkin is pretty much a composite of Wesley from The Princess Bride mixed with a Chuck Norris joke. Rezkin knows everything, he's more powerful than twenty men combined, he sweats justice, his tears cure cancer/but he never cries. When the author wanted him to be socially naive (about women) he was. When the author wanted him to be a keenly discerning judge of human character and social situations, he was that instead. All the women in the story were charmless, dimwitted, sobbing helpless victims who needed Rezkin's protection and every single woman (and some of the men) immediately fell in love with him from their first glance. All the men in the story were similarly dimwitted weaklings who were jealous of him and bowed down to him if their job in the story wasn't to be killed by him.

In the beginning it was kind of funny - Nick Podehl's narration almost made it sound like at some point we'd get a wink and a laugh about this, but it never happens. At once point Our Hero had broken his leg and the narration went something like, "The river was far too dangerous and impossible to swim across - so Rezkin swam across it anyway with his broken leg trailing behind him" It goes like that a lot.

The story starts out interesting, gets ridiculous but is still enjoyable, gets even more absurdly overblown but is still enjoyable because of all the action, and then stalls out 2/3 through when we get to the house of the Uncle of one of the side characters. (Nick Podehl narrates the character of the Uncle as a pitch perfect Sean Connery!!! This kept me listening to it when I really, really wanted to fast forward the story line.) The characters stay there forever, nothing happens, descriptions abound of various characters drinking tea and feeling socially uncomfortable (except Rezkin, who is never uncomfortable) in the formal living room. Hours of this. It's like listening to music on hold.

Anyway, it finishes in line with a set-up for Book 2. I bought both at the same time and regretted buying the second while listening to the first, but I'll give Book 2 a go because Nick Podehl could make my shopping list interesting, and I hate skipping a book he's got so many good character voices in. I wish he had better characters to work with, but his performance is exceptional.

148 people found this helpful

It grew on me and now I am hooked!

it started out seemingly flat and one-dimensional, but it slowly unfolded into the promise of a tapestry of stories and characters. My least favorite thing is the female characters in the first book are stereotypical fighting over the man and a bit shrill. However, I speed past this dialogue to get to the more interesting parts of the story.

3 people found this helpful

It's a power fantasy but it's a good power fantasy

If you know what you're getting into then it's a fun ride but make no mistake the main character is a Mary sue who's good at everything except emotion. However, the story is decent and the narrator is very good.

3 people found this helpful

Simple and drawn out with ridiculous characters

1 - I like my protagonists strong and capable as the next person however this one had my eyes rolling just too entirely much.

2- I am so upset over the poor and ridiculous character development of every female character in this story line. It borders the ridiculous as each female is petty, jealous, demure and incapable of making decisions that inspire respect. I understand if it serves the storyline but even some respectable qualities would have only enhanced the story line. This angered me.

3. Poor storyline. There is entirely too much emphasis on how much of a warrior and perfect the protagonist is from physical capabilities and it gets overly redundant. We get it - wish more time was spent on the actual plot and story development instead of 2/3 of the story spent expressing how amazing the character is...

I was hoping this would get better by the second book. Part way through and it hasnt. I like to finish through with story lines but I am so frustrated at the poor character these people were developed as.

75 people found this helpful

Reader Beware: Worn Out Tropes Abound

I was a bit surprised with what I found, given the many glowing reviews of this book. I listened to the whole thing, which is rare for books I don't like much, so I thought I'd offer a different perspective. This review contains some minor spoilers.

The Bad
The protagonist of this book is the complete Mary Sue package. At 19 years old, he can fight better than anyone, is a master of stealth and subterfuge, is a brilliant scholar in history, a doctor, and has a detailed knowledge of all intrigue and current events. Oh, and nearly every woman he meets is so smitten with his impossibly good looks, they find it very difficult to function. Despite this, the Macguffin used to drive the plot is the fact that he can't figure out what the word "friend" means. Not in a metaphorical sense, but literally.

The author's female characters are something you'd expect out of speculative fiction written 50 years ago. In one scene, two of the main characters get into a catfight (over who gets to woo the protagonist, naturally). The author tells us that possibly due to their "basic female nature", they fail to remember any of their training and just brawl it out (naked while bathing, of course). Female characters who aren't taken in by the protagonist's charms are usually cast as fallen women or Jezebels. The protagonist elevates them or puts them in their place accordingly.

The Good
The pacing in the book is good, and Nick Podehl is a great narrator.

Summary
The cover art, taken along with some of the reviews, may lead you to believe this book is gritty fantasy like Abercrombie, Lynch, or Martin. It's not. It's much closer in tone to someone like Scott Meyer, albeit with a bit more violence. If that sounds appealing to you, and you don't mind some of the well-worn tropes, you may enjoy it.

125 people found this helpful

great narration, frustrating writing

What disappointed you about Free the Darkness?

The main character is essentially perfect. He has been trained so he can do everything and do it better than everyone else. He never does anything wrong. He has no flaws except being un-used to common society but even then is still perfect in all of his interactions. Every man wants to be him, and every woman wants to be with him. It's the literary equivalent of playing a videogame with "god mode" on and unfortunately makes for a very boring read after a while.The writing is repetitive. I honestly lost count how many times the main character is called "The young ______ " with some added descriptor like "warrior" "man" "assassin". In addition, the main character "easily does ______" with almost every action. An example of this would be a scenario like "The young warrior EASILY disarmed the man", which once in a while wouldn't be so bad but I feel like I heard it almost once every 5 minutes.

What do you think your next listen will be?

I think the premise and overall plot is somewhat interesting and will consider giving the author another try later.

Which character – as performed by Nick Podehl – was your favorite?

He does ALL of them exceptionally well.

111 people found this helpful

Technically not a Gary Stue

I have really mixed feelings about this book. It somehow managed to keep my attention in a way that I couldn’t put it down and even had to purchase the sequel. But the book was also exceedingly frustrating. The main character was always the best, smartest, and strongest person in the room and was never challenged in any situation. In fact the book always made it clear that every “struggle” was laughable for the protagonist. His only weekends comes in social skills. Yet like I said I couldn’t put the book down and the narrator did such a good job that I had to hear this one till the end. In the end, I really did enjoy this book and it’s sequel. I am not 100% sure I can recommend it to everyone, but if you are interested in fantastic world building and a dark fantasy novels then this one is for you.

2 people found this helpful