Sword of the Gods

Forgotten Realms: The Abyssal Plague, Book 1

By: Bruce R. Cordell

Narrated by: John Pruden

What you don’t know will kill you...

Demascus awakens surrounded by corpses, at a shrine littered with traces of demonic rituals, with no memory of his past. But the Firestorm Cabal remembers him - and the demon who leads them seems to have a personal vendetta against him. Dodging knives, uncovering clues left by his past life, and dueling demons, Demascus must figure out who he is, what battles he is fighting, and who is hunting him before one of them catches up with him.

Sword of the Gods brings the events of the universe-spanning Pandemonium series to the Forgotten Realms world!

©2011 Wizards of the Coast LLC (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Spoiler Free

If you could sum up Sword of the Gods in three words, what would they be?

Easy. Enjoyable. Attention.

If you’ve listened to books by Bruce R. Cordell before, how does this one compare?

This is the first book from Bruce R. Cordell and overall it is enjoyable.

What about John Pruden’s performance did you like?

John Pruden is a Pro's Pro. As always he does a really nice job and I specifically look for books narrated by him.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No extreme reactions from this book. It was refreshing to start a new character/series.

Any additional comments?

The story is pretty tight and the book moves really well in the first half. But, the second half gets a little sloppy and characters start to fade in and out. It was nice to not have a book jump all around from chapter to chapter (there are only a few core characters. Drizzt books are nice but they tend to have a few chapters on Drizzt then a few on whatever and a few on something else). You actual feel like the story is progressing with Sword of the Gods.

SKIP THE PROLOGUE for maximum enjoyment

What did you love best about Sword of the Gods?

I love the main character concept. That's why I say skip the prologue. I somehow did because as I'm listening to this for the second time I am learning that most of the novel's twists are given away right there. It is far more fun to learn about everything as the main character does. Isn't that always the best way?

Who was your favorite character and why?

Damascus. He seems to be genre savvy and otherwise reasonable and intelligent. And of course the big reveal for him is pretty neat.

John Pruden is horrible...

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Get someone else to narrate...

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I don't know. I couldn't listen to it due to the narrators horrible voice.

What didn’t you like about John Pruden’s performance?

His voice is like fingernails on a chalkboard. To make matters worse, he reads as slow as possible. I'd like to listen to the Elminster series but John Prudent ruined those too.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Sword of the Gods?

Don't know.... The ear raping voice of John Pruden prevented me from listening to it.

Any additional comments?

John Pruden is horrible.