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  • Malice

  • Written by: John Gwynne
  • Narrated by: Damian Lynch
  • Length: 23 hrs and 50 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (154 ratings)

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Malice

Written by: John Gwynne
Narrated by: Damian Lynch
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Publisher's Summary

Winner of the Morningstar Award for Best Fantasy Debut, 2013

The world is broken....

Corban wants nothing more than to be a warrior under King Brenin's rule—to protect and serve. But that day will come all too soon. And the price he pays will be in blood.

Evnis has sacrificed—too much it seems. But what he wants—the power to rule—will soon be in his grasp. And nothing will stop him once he has started on his path.

Veradis is the newest member of the warband for the High Prince, Nathair. He is one of the most skilled swordsman to come out of his homeland, yet he is always under the shadow of his older brother.

Nathair has ideas—and a lot of plans. Many of them don't involve his father, the High King Aquilus. Nor does he agree with his father's idea to summon his fellow kings to council.

The Banished Lands has a violent past where armies of men and giants clashed in battle, but now giants are seen, the stones weep blood, and giant wyrms are stirring. Those who can still read the signs see a threat far greater than the ancient wars. For if the Black Sun gains ascendancy, mankind's hopes and dreams will fall to dust....

...and it can never be made whole again.

Malice is a dark epic fantasy tale of blind greed, ambition, and betrayal.

©2012 John Gwynne (P)2019 Hachette Audio

What the critics say

"Influenced by Gemmell's Rigante and George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones ... Hell of a debut."—Conn Iggulden
"Middle Earth-ish extravaganza with all the usual thrills, chills, spills and frills ... there's plenty of action."—Kirkus
"Three-dimensional characters, a gripping plot, and a world that became real to me ... this is the type of fantasy I love to read and I truly can't wait to read the next volume in The Faith and the Fallen!"—Fantasy Book Critic

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For fans of dark fantasy looking for collections of short stories and epics like Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher, finding a new adventure to get swept up in once again can be challenging. Whether you binge-watched the Netflix series or devoured every incredible book in Andrzej Sapkowski’s series, we’ve compiled a fantastic list of audiobooks that will return you to the world of The Witcher and keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end.

What listeners say about Malice

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent Fantasy

Love the story action and well written characters. Jumping into Valor now!

Well performed, but pauses between paragraph, action and certain chapters were not taken as the book was written. For example action of a different scene takes place in the very next sentence without a breath and this is not how it was crafted. Diminishes the style slightly.

Overall excellent though.

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

It has potential

I've seen this book pop up as a recommended title for some time and decided to give it a shot knowing ahead of time that the intro might be a little slow. I did find the first half of the book to be slow and considered returning the book more than once for a few reasons (the story didn't grab me, it was difficult to follow so many characters, the narration at times was jarring).
The narration was difficult for me mainly due to the cadence of the narrator (it was very halting with many unnecessary pauses and that took me out of the scene on many occasions). Some people say his voices are too similar but I found enough difference between them for the majority of the time. I could tell the passion was there and I think over time he will develop into a fantastic narrator (I also think a few of my issues could have been smoothed with a bit more editing).
I enjoyed the development of the main character Corban but didn't gain much of a connection with the other main characters. The book definitely picks up towards the end and it did enough that I'll give the second book a try.
Overall, prepare yourself for more actively listening to really enjoy this book.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A great start

I found this very accessible. This isn’t breaking new ground , it’s just very well done . Engaging characters and great action sequences. The narration is really impressive…. one of the best I’ve heard.

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

Lots of jumping around and lots of plot armour.

This story was so hard to finish because there was not one single character that I cared about. Fight scenes that don't make any sense like charging an enemy on horses only to dismount and go in with swords.

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

Great story, great narrator

It was great, I can’t wait to finish the faithful and the fallen series. I loved The Bloodsworn saga

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Really cool book

Found it a bit tough to get through the early chapters with so many characters but once I got familiar I couldn’t stop. Some real great highs and lows. Starting second book now haha

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

Amazing listen!

I love the voices the narrator does for each character in the book, it adds that extra level of depth

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

good series

slow beginning because of large number of characters. great action and great world building

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

Great narrator in the fight scenes.

The narrator manages to make each major fight all the more exciting with his great tone and pitch control. some of the conversations are read a bit too haltingly, but all in all not bad. the story itself, well, the names are all too similar. lots of main characters have very similar sounding names, which makes things quite confusing when you are only half listening while driving or doing something else. Aside from that it wasn't as dark as I was expecting, nor do I really care about most of the characters besides the main family. Just didn't completely jive with me. I know there's a lot more to this story now that it's over, but I just don't know if I liked it enough to read the rest, or even the next instalment.

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3 people found this helpful

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

Moved me!

Though it was slightly predictable throughout, and not a new story by any means, it was still very enjoyable...and quite moving in fact. looking forward to the next book!

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