Generic fantasy with dull characters

Ranger's Oath by Blake Arthur Peel tells the tale of a world surrounded by a magical barrier that keeps demons away from human lands. Despite of this, the young ranger apprentice Owen encounters something that resembles a demon in a forest, but before his master, the ranger Elias can confirm the creates presence, it is gone. They are later taken into custody of the mages guild, where they are under suspicion of helping a rebellion. Here they also meet the young mage in training, Sara, who is the only one who believes Owens demon story.

The writing as such is acceptable, but the story is simple and the characters quite generic. Dialog is equally simple and some of it is borderline cringe worthy, which emphasize the cookie cutter characters. Overall it works, but don’t except a master piece here. The story drags on for most of the time, which is mostly down to a simple character gallery, and waaay too much filler content. We are given the characters thoughts and feelings all the time, for everything little thing they do, and every area they enter is described in way too much unneeded detail. The book also ends with a prolonged battle which isn’t very interesting. With a proper editor, this book could easily have had 25% removed. Mostly this comes down to uninteresting and generic characters, that one doesn’t feel anything for, as they don’t really evolve at all. Even the protagonist is a cookie cutter model, that provides us with multiple dull “i will kill you now” speeches.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading, so there’s not anything particular to criticize there, as they are very experienced narrators. But having also listened to the Wheel of Time series narrated by these two narrators, in comparison, this book comes off as Wheel of Time light. The quality difference is quite stark, as the writing here is not nearly as tight, and the story and characters not very interesting. I do wonder though, if this book was directly inspired by the Wheel of Time series, because I do see quite a number of similarities?

Overall a simple, predictable and generic fantasy story. It has its moments, but overall it is not interesting enough to make much of a mark. There is minor setup to a sequel, in case you find it interesting.

I received this audiobook for free in return for a review. I have no affiliation with the author, the narrator, the publisher, or their pets (Although I am sure the latter are quite nice!).

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2 people found this helpful

rangers oath

thoroughly enjoyed this book would heartily recommend to fans of the genre cant wait for the next one

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There are Still Things Worth Fighting For

Two apprentices from different worlds thrown together to fight the demons no-one wants to believe are real.

This is a good start to a series which promises much. The two protagonists are Owyn Lund, Ranger and Zara Dennel, Mage. I have to admit preferring the Owyn chapters to that of Zara. However, I very much look forward to Book 2.

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A great listen

This is an intriguing story that keeps you listening to the end, and really benefits from having two voice actors.

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Nice

I really enjoyed this book was it a good listen from start to finish impressed

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You'll like this

Sword and Sorcery - right up my street with good guys, bad guys, good guys who you think are bad guys and bad guys who end up being good guys.

The story is sufficiently original to maintain interest and I found that I worked my way through it quite quickly compared to some other books of comparable length. The magic isn't overdone; nor is the blood and gore, and I enjoyed the dual-narrator format as each spoke in first-person perspective of the character they portrayed. The ending is tidy too; you're not left hanging for what's going to come in Book 2. I thought this was a great read; you will too.

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Enjoyable

Wasn't sure this was for me at first, but in quite a short space of time I got hooked into the story. Looking forward to the next installment.

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Great book

Great book and story and narration it is a bit on the dark side. but a thumbs up for me

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highly recommend

all the makings of a classic
from start to finish the story just pulled you in leaving you wanting more!

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Very enjoyable story and wonder narration!

I was very pleasantly surprised by this book, it follows a ranger and a mage who are both in training and details a conflict in which they are both heavily involved. There were some typical fantasy tropes here and there but overall I thoroughly enjoyed the story. The narration of Michael Kramer and Kate Reading was absolutely fantastic too which helped bring the story to life. I highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of fantasy.

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