The Acrid Sky

The Malice of Light, Book One

By: Brady J. Sadler

Narrated by: Rachel Leblang

A high fantasy tale of dark storms, dire prophecies, and epic adventure....

Anika Lawson was just a 16-year-old tanner living a simple life in Blakehurst, until she receives a mysterious stone on her birthday. When her adoptive father is taken captive by an incarnate seeking that stone, Anika and her brother Gage set out on a perilous adventure to save not only their family, but the entire realm.

Meanwhile, in the northern city of Rathen, a cursed storm threatens all of Vale. Errant priest Avrim Kaust is determined to uncover the truth behind the storm and soon finds himself and his dwarf bodyguard, Deina Brasson, drawn into Anika's plight. Despite their differences, Anika and her new companions must find common ground against an apocalyptic foe above—the raging fury of the imprisoned storm god breaking his bonds.

The Acrid Sky is a dark and thrilling tale that will transport listeners to a classic fantasy world filled with adventure, intrigue, and tragedy, perfect for fans of R.A. Salvatore, George R.R. Martin, Steven Erikson, Michael J. Sullivan, and Brandon Sanderson.

©2023 Brady J. Sadler (P)2023 Brady J. Sadler

Great first entry in the series

Brady Sadler has done an excellent job world building and creating memorable characters in the first book in the series. Multiple storilines weave in and out of each other ending with a great final few chapters. The vocal performance is also great. She does a great job juggling a lot of different voices and tones which helps keep the character as separate entities, and also makes for a very enjoyable listen.

Strong Start to a Dark Epic Story

This promises to be a sprawling epic fantasy. The bones of the story are very intriguing,. particularly with a High Fantasy world where the "religious" magic seems more prevalent than the "arcane". While the story uses some common tropes of fantasy stories there is enough twist to them to keep you on your toes.

There are a few things to critique. There are a LOT of characters and at times it can be hard to keep track of who is who. This is not helped by the narration-which is very good in description, but she seems to have had a hard time making the massive amounts of characters sound distinct.

Finally there are potential triggers in this story. This is neither good nor bad, just something to be aware of. these include:

Sexual Assault
Violence against children
Racial Tensions

Glad I listened and am quite curious where the story will go in the future.

Book 2 can’t come soon enough!

I was immediately hooked and couldn’t put the book the down. Finished in 2 days and now I’m itching for the rest of the series. The narrated did a phenomenal job of portraying the characters. 🖤

A perfect mix of excitement, intrigue and world building!

An absolute gem! Can’t wait to read this again and I hear there is a book 2 in the works! It can’t come soon enough!!

Boring

It was hard to finish this book. But I did. I will not read the others. I most likely will cancel my pledge for their board game currently on Gamefound.