Realmbound: Sword of the Scion

By: Darren Hultberg Jr

Narrated by: Sean Duregger

"Forge alliances. Gain powers. Save the realm."

In the realm of Valion, a war is fought between the vile demons of the under-realm and the mighty scions, mystical beings with the power to wield super-human abilities. It is a war that turns cities to ash, that leaves the very land itself ravaged and uninhabitable....

The scions fought valiantly, but even with their powers they were no match for the demonic horde. With the realm in ruin and no one to oppose them, Valion’s dark forces set their sights on a new world...Earth.

Now, fierce dragons rule the skies of North America. Savage hordes burn and pillage the world's great cities. Civilization sits on the brink of total collapse. People have been forced to end their lives of convenience and pick up swords in a bid for survival. Rian Asher, a young man chosen by fate, must form an unlikely alliance of heroes from both his world and theirs to fight against the growing darkness in a battle that will decide that fate of the realms.

The scions must rise again....

©2017 Darren Hultberg Jr (P)2019 Darren Hultberg Jr

Solid

There's a lot to like about this book, both audio and story wise.

Story wise, it's fun, engaging with many characters to get to know and like. Also loved the D&D feel/references within the story. I will say that there were times that I wished for a tad bit more, but it was well executed.

Audio wise, the narrator is talent, and did well at protraying the many different characters within it. Though, it did sound if he struggled with the Darion character.

overall though, extremely fun world, concept, and storyline. I will definitively be looking forward to the next one.



I received this audiobook as a free copy at my request, but my thoughts are entirely my own.

pretty good, all things considered

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

Overall, I rather quite liked this book. The narration was a little dry and sort of...jerky at first, but as the book progresses, it gets better. The story, though, is what truly captured my interest and kept me engaged in the book. It was a little formulaic, but really well executed. If you are a fantasy fan, I think you'll enjoy it.

When worlds collide what will be left of ours?

An involuntary joining of realms. The evil of another realm has found a way to join our world to theirs and potentially eliminate all the good of their realm overwhelming ours with evil. Hero’s will rise, civilizations will fall, what will be left of our realm is uncertain. You must listen to find out what will become of the realms. Really great story with some unique properties. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator or publisher

It just kept getting better!

I honestly want sure if I'd make it all the way through when I first started this one. The narrator's timing and voicing made me cringe for the first few minutes. He got better, and I got used to him, it just took a bit. Thankfully, the story didn't need him to help it along!

It started with the odd experience of not liking the MC but connecting with him anyway, because he didn't like himself. This character was different than most, in that he had to learn to cope with his insecurities long before he came into any power. I very much enjoyed watching this character grow. By the end, I was completely into the story and cheering him on!

This was a great take on post apocalypse fantasy, and I look forward to seeing where the series goes as more magic and other races come into play. It's definitely worth a listen, just give yourself time to get used to the narrator.

Unfortunately, the narration isn't great.

The truth is that the story was actually okay. A boy (Ryan) is chosen to protect his people and defeat evil without him having any knowledge. A person (Darius) in his life has known he was the chosen and has been sent to protect him. The story follows that journey.

The problem was that the narration is very stunted, jerky, and seldom fit the situation that was being read. I don't like being negative when someone has worked hard to put something out into the world but I was asked to give an honest review.

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