Time Thief: A Sci-Fi Romantasy

Eclipse, Book 1

By: Lindsay French

Narrated by: Tess Irondale

In a world in which Prophets wield the power of wayward gods, a banished woman is determined to regain her own powers and free her people.

When Max learned her world and its advanced race posing as gods were not all they seemed, her powers were sealed off by an unbreakable curse. Banished from the Mountain of the Gods, she devotes her life to protecting the village that adopted her as their own—until the Prophet of the Valley captures her and her people, intent on using them as a blood sacrifice.

Max vows to escape and return to the mountain to reclaim a power she hates in order to save the people she loves. But she'll need the help of one of the Prophet's fiercest warriors, Nash the Unknown, who has his own reasons for joining her, and she isn't sure she can trust him.

The journey will be a grueling one, made even more dangerous by the draw Max feels to the charming Nash. Together, the pair must climb the Mountain of the Gods and steal back Max's powers. Only, the mysteries of the mountain reveal ever more about the gods' cruel intentions and the reality-breaking secrets of her world, leading her to a harrowing discovery.

Come what may, Max will destroy the Prophet and reach beyond her world to rescue her home from the ruthless gods—in this life and every other.

The first volume of the hit progression fantasy series—with more than 170,000 views on Royal Road—now available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook!

©2025 Lindsay French (P)2025 Podium Audio

Performed very well... story?

The narration was very good. The story however, ... it was like AI wrote the story and wasn't given a very good prompt.

Cliche city

I think there's SO much possibility with an idea like this. I don't want to spoil it so that's all I will say on the matter. But honestly the amount of eye-rolling that happened on my side of the equation just goes to show how the author fell short when it came time to execute. I won't be going on with the series.
It's not the worst book and there are some cool places that the story goes. I just can't really get on board with the whole "and everything was great no matter what" trope.

Tess was amazing!

I loved this audio! Tess did a phenomenal job!

The best way I can describe this is like a Romantasy mixed with The Matrix? It was such a fun ride! Sci-fi isn’t my normal genre, but having this mixed with Romantasy was really unique.

I wanted to see more of Max and Nash! But the relationship was still full of witty banter and more realistic conversations than in other books. With this being closed door, there is even more pressure for the connection to stand on its own for the reader, and this delivered for me.

And while I did guess at one of the twists, the way French played it out was entirely different than what I anticipated, so it kept the story fresh and kept me interested!

Only thing that pulled me out of the story was how stubborn Max was in her plans. She had so many people offering other views that she ultimately would just disregard in the end and do her own thing.

LOVED THISSSSS

Oh dammmmn girl. Really really glad I bumped this up on my listening list. I don't know this author at all but def want to get to know her other stuff. And Tess is one of my top 3 Audible narrators for sure.

I really liked how the protagonist of Max was crafted. She felt so real in a way that not a lot of romantasy leads are. And I loved her relationship with Nash--super slow burn and fun, really dynamic. And their relationship isn't the whole focus, the world is beautifully painted and rich and there are some great scifi twists. I don't want to reveal too much!! She legit made me cry at one point. Was so swept up in it.

Anyhow, definitely recommend this one. It's fire!!

Pretty good for a debut author.

It's a fantasy with a sci-fi twist. I wish it was longer and more fleshed out, but it's already 12 hours. Its strength is the writing and cool sci-fi concepts, rad battles and gritty violence. Irondale is a fantastic reader, though her voice for the lead male doesn't fit, but you get used to it. I could probably fall asleep to Irondale reading me bedtime stories or NSFW ASMR.