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The Magic That Binds

Haelan, Book 1

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The Magic That Binds

By: AJ Sherwood
Narrated by: Eric London, Jamal Roque, Philip Alces
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All Dag Gates wants is a place to call home. (And to practice magic freely.)

All Stefan Bjorne wants is peace in his adoptive country. (And less paperwork.)

All Mikkel Vinters wants is both of them. (No, really, he could do wedding bells.)

So why, pray tell, is half the magical community set on denying them all their wishes?

©2023 AJ Sherwood (P)2024 Podium Audio Fantasy Fiction Literature & Fiction Paranormal Paranormal Romance Romance Science Fiction & Fantasy Magic
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I enjoyed this book, it held my interest from start to finish. The characters are interesting and very likeable and the story itself has enough to hold the readers interest all the way through. The one big negative is the narration, given that two of the three main characters are Scandinavian and none of the narrators managed to get within a thousand miles of a decent (or believable) accent, I can only give an overall four stars .

an interesting story

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enjoyable story and likeable characters with all the standard aj Sherwood characteristics. If you like Bel etc then you will like these three main characters. The narration is not good, while Dag is okay and that narrator okay, the others do random accents not only for their own characters but for side characters. Guards sound like muppet characters and at one point I swear one of Mikkel's business partners has a touch of Ludo from the Labyrinth.

liked the world building

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Loved the characters, would have liked a more satisfactory/bigger squish of the villains. Enjoyed the three narrators’ performances, they were v good.

If you enjoyed this, I think the author’s Mage’s Guide to Human Familiars has the slight edge on this - also 3 men and magic :)

Enjoyable story

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I laughed so loud I scared my cats the first time I heard a perfectly applied and perfectly pronounced Norwegian swear word in this book. And the Swedish "skitstövel" was truly impressive - I can hear the narrators have made significant effort to make sure they got the pronounciations right. The author also made sure to utilise a wide variety of swear words and endearments, everything from asshole to dork, and from dear to My heart.

I enjoyed the fact that the Norwegian MC is dark skinned, great way to break up the stereotypes.

It took me some time to get used to this alternate reality being set in our time, I kept expecting medieval details. However it was not a problem, it just brought interest.

My only criticism is that the challenges faced by the American MC were perhaps solved too easily. There were so many allies, so many people willing and able to change the world for him, it was only ever a question of time. His challenges were still interesting though, and the relationship building was good. I will buy the next book when it comes.

Fun, engaging, interesting.

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This was a great listen. The story was engaging with plot that kept me interested. The characters were intriguing with backstories that added depth. I look forward to the rest of the series!

Interesting story, lovable characters and I love it when the baddie gets theirs!

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