Age of Assassins 4 star

A very enjoyable first person fantasy novel, that follows a young apprentice assassin. The story describes his background and details his progression in learning his dark trade. The young assassin has to take on a character of his own to fit into royal life whilst trying to solve an assassin plot with the help of his master. It has the unique feel of a detective novel based in a fantasy realm of murder and magic. The book has a nice simple flow which is very easy to follow. The narrator does a good job with the characters and pacing. I look forward to listening and reading more into this world as it is part of a trilogy.

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Damned fine debut!

Would you consider the audio edition of Age of Assassins to be better than the print version?

Can't say. I've only listened to the Audio, but the story was 5* so I would say they are equal.

What did you like best about this story?

Right up my cobbled street. Medieval setting with a fantastical flare that reveals antlered war mounts and colourful armour; reinforced kilts and good ol' Welsh names! I don't see that enough, and as a history geek (specifically Anglo-Welsh wars), this impressed me muchly.

Have you listened to any of Joe Jameson’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Nope, so N/A

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Murder mystery in a magic-tainted medieval castle.

Any additional comments?

The story had me guessing at suspects throughout. I'd like to claim I'd figured it out early on... or at all, truth be told, but I didn't. I had suspicions about the right sort of people, but I never guessed at reasons, motives, secrets until they were revealed. Bravo, RJ. Bravo.

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3 people found this helpful

Great characters and an interesting world

A quick and easy read! I had a lot of fun with this book. The world is interesting and well done. But what I enjoyed most were the characters, especially Girton and his master. As a little side joke... "my master" must be by far the most used word in this book. ;)
Honestly, if there was one downside to the book than that I would have loved to learn even more about Merela Karn; she was by far the most intriguing character and her and Girton's relationship was the heart of the book. It is so rare to see a great parent/child relationship in a fantasy book and I really enjoyed that. She might "only" be Girton's master and a killer on top, but Merela seems like a great mother to him.
The narrator did an awesome job. Loved his distinct voices for all the characters!

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Awesome story, wonderfully crafted

Each character is well rounded, and it is easy to connect with or dislike them.
The story is perfectly paced, so it keeps you gripped and informed constantly.
The narration is really good, and the humour in the book is expressed well with brilliant timing.

Book two here I come.

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Great narration makes the book more entertaining

this book is very well paced

I'd describe it as a can of worms opening a can of worms

very fun with some great action scenes

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Great start to what should be a great series

The only way to start off is by saying that this title did not disappoint. The story was fabulous and the cast of characters equally so. It had everything from intrigue, to romance, to shadowy plots and, of course, a bit of school yard bullying from a thoroughly hateful little wastrel of a boy.

Unlike most tales of assassins, or fantasy protagonists in general, our hero isn’t a muscular Adonis making the ladies swoon wherever he goes. Admittedly, he is a very capable killing machine due to the training he has from his master. He’s a cripple with a club-foot. Not the first thing you’d think of when envisioning an assassin skulking in the shadows ready to slit a throat. R. J. Barker does well to remember his character’s limitations and often highlights when his disability is causing him pain or distress. Its little bits of attention to detail like that which bring a welcome touch of realism to a fantasy world.

I won’t delve too much into the story, after all I don’t want to spoil anything. But I will say that the relationships, be they positive, negative or somewhere in-between, are well-formed and the characters all have … well … character to them. None of the named/important characters feel like they were just thrown in.

The world is also pretty detailed. This excites me more than most when it comes to a fantasy novel, as it means the author is fully intent on going deep into his creation. Nothing worse than a series that has little depth to the background.

My only slight negative was that I didn’t think the narrator would gel well for the whole story. Just at the start I kind of felt his voice wouldn’t fit. Thankfully, I was wrong and he settled down really well into it and did the varying cast of characters justice with his narration. Either that or I got used to him so quickly that it didn’t bother me (which would be a plus in itself).

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7 people found this helpful

Not so bad for a boy with a club foot

I must admit my heart fell when I realised that a chunk of this book was about our hero, Girton, being trained in combat school. I am heartily sick of fantasy novels that are based on a boy (sometimes a girl) who doesn't realise they are very gifted/magical/secretly royal attending a school to learn fighting/magical arts etc.But this one turned out to be rather better than most. I really enjoyed the character of Girton's 'Master' and the setting was good. As often the case, the baddies were a bit one-dimensional. But it's a good romp and I will probably listen to the next book. I think the narration by Joe Jameson helps to lift the quality somewhat.

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just amazing

one of the best books of the year for me. thank you highly recommend it.

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Rediscovering Fantasy

I used to read a lot of fantasy many years ago but lost interest in the late eighties when much of it seemed formulaic and tired. This book however kept me interested from the first page. The world and characters are different and interesting whilst also feeling familiar. I thoroughly enjoyed everything about it and have bought the second book in the series straight away so I continue to escape to the Tired Lands.

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2 people found this helpful

Well!

What can I say! This was one of those books which turned out to be not quite what the title intimated it would be. Not alot of assassins in sight and characters which really didn't hold my attention.

It was a pleasant book, but not a great one and wasn't for me.

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1 person found this helpful