Excalibur: Book I of the Avalon Series

By: Dustin Howe

Narrated by: David Loving

All he wanted was a normal life.

Alex McTiernan is an ordinary college student if you don't count his social awkwardness, his sketchy past, and a routine bout of schizophrenia. Normal and boring, that is, until a series of dreams leads him to believe he is a descendant of the legendary King Arthur.

Guided by an ancient prophecy written by a madman, Alex races to find Excalibur, the long-lost sword of his ancestor. Now if he can just avoid getting caught in between two warring secret organizations as well as the police, he might stand a chance. Oh, except for that pesky magical assassin sent to assure the sword falls into the wrong hands and that Arthur's bloodline fades into history.

©2018 Dustin Howe (P)2018 Lionrock Publishing

A pretty good arthurian legend story

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

I thought this was a pretty good modern take on the arthurian legend. The main character was a bit dense at times but that wasn't so bad that it killed the story for me. The narration was pretty good. All in all, I think this was good enough to warrant a recommendation. I'm interested in continuing the story, afterall.

Great start to series

"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."
Dustin Howe does a very good job in taking an old story and giving it a present day setting. I enjoyed the adventure he gives Alex. There's plenty of action, romance and tragedy in this story. The only thing I would have done differently is made Alex older. This is the first time I have listened to David Loving and he does an excellent job in telling the story.

Good potential!

This book was good, the series has a lot of potential. Don't know if it was just my download, but there were audio issues at several places in the book.

This book was provided at no cost for a fair and honest review.

Great Story But ...

The narration was great and the story was good. the only issue I had was with the main characters inability to see the forest for thw trees over and over and over. It was a running theme and would have made a great way to show this character develope but the author missed the oportunity. Still planning to give the next one a listen.

A fresh look at the Authurian legend

I am a bit of an Arthurian Legend snob, so I read this book with high expectations.

This is a fast paced book, offering a twist to the familiar story. It engaged my imagination from the start. The two opposing groups offer a wealth of development in future stories. The protagonist, Alex, also has a lot of room for growth, as he does not seem to have learned much from all his troubles except dogged determination, but the story made me care about him and want to see him succeed. I don't want to commit a spoiler, so I'll just say I am looking forward to the sequel! I paid full price, and will happily do so again when the next book comes out.

The narrator, David Loving, was okay, but the mispronunciation of "Myrddin" as "Meer-den" instead of the Welsh of "Murthen" grated, although it is a common mistake. His voice is so like that of Wil Wheaton, one of my favorite narrators, I had to look it up to be sure it wasn't!