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Rider: Spirals of Destiny: Book 1

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Rider: Spirals of Destiny: Book 1

By: Jim Bernheimer
Narrated by: Christine Padovan
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About this listen

Forget everything you thought you knew about unicorns and maidens...

A unicorn is not supposed to survive the death of its rider, but Majherri did. Now he is a pariah, mistrusted by the Greater Herd. To reclaim his lost honor and status, he will entrust the remnants of his life to a new human female while unraveling the mystery of his continued existence.

Kayleigh Reese is not Battle Maiden material. She's three years older than any other recruit and has enjoyed a peaceful, nomadic life working with her artist mother. The rigors of joining the High-King's elite unicorn cavalry are clearly not for her. Now, with a bond to Majherri, she must overcome her mother's disapproval, the ire of her commanding officer and fellow trainees, and, most importantly, the secrets of her unicorn's past if she is to become a legendary warrior. To prevail, they must quickly come together as a team and unlock the powerful and dangerous magic inside them.

©2011-2015 David Wood- Gryphonwood Press (P)2011 David Wood Fantasy Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy Classics

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Sorceress cover art
Sorceress By: Jim Bernheimer
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This was a pretty decent book. The story is good and the main characters are fairly compelling. I dislike the facistic vibes that are present in seemingly all military fantasy series but I think that might be addressed in later books in this universe.

The main problem is that this was published in 2010, the sequel in 2012 and the conclusion of the trilogy(?) is still outstanding. I don't want to read the sequel if the remaining books will never materialise. Fair warning this not a standalone novel with an ending, the conclusion feels more like a stopgap before the story continues in the next book.

Other than that I liked seeing the characters grow and develop over the course of the book. I was pleasantly surprised by the various developments that weren't obvious as I was reading.

The narration was not great though. The main character's voice was good but all of the older women in authority positions sounded squeaky and young. The men didn't sound right either. I think the narrator gave some characters more angry and more irrationality than perhaps the author was trying to convey. There were several times that I thought the voice didn't match the text. There were a few minor mispronunciations as well.

Overall not a bad book but as of 2022 it is the start of an unfinished series.

A good book

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enjoyable story even as an adult. bernheimer does not disappoint. and if i had been the intended age audience (teenage girl) I would have loved it even more . . shame about the narrator though

Another fun story from bernheimer

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I am not normally a fan of Fantasy, my partner recommended this book and I picked it up with trepidation. The synopsis for this book intrigue me as I do you like stories about unicorns and other mythical creatures. Normally I am not keen on magic in books, however the way magic is portrayed in this one really interested me. I found the story similar in some ways to the inheritance cycle. I would recommend that anybody give this a try although I would not recommend it for very young readers. When I got used to her I also find narrator read the book very well and was very good at portraying different voices for different characters.

A pleasant surprise for me.

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Listener received this title free

Brilliant story of a battle maden and her unicorn. Enjoyed the character development and the story progressed at a decent speed keeping me engaged throughout. Onto the narrator, Kayleigh's voice was good but all the older riders voices were too young for their supposed age, especially Rider Welsh sounds like mini mouse and really off putting. That being said and great first book.

Battle Madens

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