Lifeweaver

By: Dan Staten

Narrated by: Jim Dixon

Domination, control, pain and death are as fundamental to Eru’s survival as breathing, for Eru is an archos. Bereft of any senses, it is only through enslaving others that Eru can see, hear, and feel the world around him. Eru knows all too well why the people of Deor hate the archos, why they hate even a lowly street wretch like him. Yet Eru knows that he is just as fully enslaved by his archos instincts as those he seizes. He is as much a slave as any other in Deor, living under the inescapable power of the archos goddess Aitrox.

For uncounted centuries, Aitrox has ruled Deor. Little in her kingdom escapes her notice, including Eru. To Aitrox, Eru’s quest for redemption is as amusing as his goal to free Deor, and equally as impossible. How could an archos, particularly a worthless street urchin, possibly escape the cruelty and violence bred into his very being? How could one below even the beggars ever threaten a goddess?

©2015 Dan Staten (P)2026 Dan Staten

Fantasy adventures with ethical dilemmas

As a fantasy lover I enjoyed Staten's world building, original storyline, and good length of the book to not rush the buildup. The protagonist(Eru) had depth and conflict to overcome and the support characters helped to keep you emotionally engaged.

The storyline follows multiple events throughout the protagonist(Eru) and Big Bad’s(Aitrox) present as well as giving a slow release of information on the world’s history to build and maintain suspense. These separate storylines continue to build and eventually collide to push through the climax of the book in preparation for the final confrontation. Great presentation of ethical dilemmas, the inevitable decision by the protagonist of “do the ends justify the means” and mixed with a decent helping of fantasy action and adventure.

Writing was easy to follow and allowed you to visually become part of a world controlled by Archos without overly indulging in adjectives like some fantasy writers. There were several instances of repeated words in back to back sentences that made it occasionally distracting for me to listen to as I wondered why he didn’t pick a different word rather than repeating one just used. Also, the world was pretty bleak understandably due to their situations but for readability I would have loved to have one of the characters as some sort of "comedic relief" or something to bring a few more chuckles. Eru had a couple good moments but otherwise not too much banter or comedic timing throughout.
Ultimately the story wrapped up well(no spoilers!) but also left enough to keep your imagination engaged in what could happen next if he chose to continue the story.

Jim Dixon’s narration helped carry the book with an appropriate amount of emotion to feel invested in the story without being distracted by an overly zealous narrator. Each character had a distinct and easily recognizable voice to keep track of who was speaking. Also – no music or sounds effects to drown out the reading… thank you!!

Parental Guide:
Language – None
Sex – None (brief references to desitute women having to make "worse choices" to feed their children.
Violence – Plenty of fantasy fighting and death but no gruesome or overly graphic descriptions.
Age – Suggested for Pre-teens and up.

Very unique story

This world has some super unique elements that kept it interesting until the end. It turns a lot of typical fantasy tropes on its head. There are a lot of mysteries that keep you wondering, and it all comes together in a satisfying way in the end. If you are looking for something new, this is definitely worth it.