Vengeance of Hope: Can Freedom Ever Be for All? cover art

Vengeance of Hope: Can Freedom Ever Be for All?

Silrith, Book 1

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Vengeance of Hope: Can Freedom Ever Be for All?

By: P. J. Berman
Narrated by: Christopher Dukes
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About this listen

Vengeance of Hope, P.J.Berman’s explosive debut novel, marks the beginning of the Silrith series, a new power in the world of epic fantasy.

This opening book pitches you head first into the intense and unrelentingly dangerous Kingdom of Bennvika, a world of strong, powerful women and ambitious, ruthless men. As a bitter power struggle surges through the land, you are just as likely to die in a devious political plot as you are in the carnage of a great, bloody battle.

Your ears will ring with the clang of steel on steel. Your heart will tremble at the thundering of charging hooves. You will feel the cut and slash of blades as you follow three very different rebels in their desperate fight against a tyrannical King.

Silrith, the exiled Princess of Bennvika, stands shoulder to shoulder with her followers, sword in hand, ready to defend those in need of her protection. Yet, she knows that if she falls, thousands more will also perish.

Ezrina, of the Hentani tribe, burns with desire for revenge against those who oppress her people, but more than anything she must fight to protect the woman she could be executed for loving.

Zethun, an ambitious young politician, yearns for a fairer world with a greater voice for the poor. However, for him and his followers, to speak the word republic could be a fatally dangerous move in a land ruled by a despot.

Will the rebel factions succeed? Or in the indiscriminate butchery of war, will their disunity prove to be their downfall, bringing about the destruction of their world as they know it?

With vivid imagery, a punchy writing voice, detailed worldbuilding, and an unapologetically fast pace, Vengeance of Hope has everything an epic fantasy novel needs.

©2018 P.J.Berman (P)2019 P.J.Berman
Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Revenge Royalty Heartfelt

Continue the series

King of the Republic cover art
King of the Republic By: P. J. Berman
All stars
Most relevant
This book is for you if… fantasy narratives set in the middle ages with lots of characters and scheming are just your thing. You should be able to keep track of a lot of characters, a distinct weakness of mine.

⤐ Overall.
I'm not sure how I know, but I have the peculiar feeling I've not enjoyed this as much as I should or could have. The story is pretty epic and intricate, demanding a lot of attention from its reader/listener. It would have probably been easier for me to follow the many characters and developments had I read this myself instead of listening to the audiobook - whose narrator did an excellent job. I loved his voice and style of narration, I would have gladly listened to another 12 hours of him telling me about the fate of Silrith.

[I'm weirdly into The Office gifs although I've never seen a single episode.]

Personally, I was annoyed by the many characters who often bore similar names. It made it difficult for me to follow the story in Vengeance of Hope, causing me to not pay as much attention as I should have. I thus sometimes losing track of the story.

The world(-building) was excellent, I dare say it's your somewhat average medieval universe, spiked with supernatural elements (gods). It's political dynamics were depicted fairly well, which made up a bit for the character-caused confusion.

⤐ What’s happening.
‘Mother of many, Mother of none, a Queen will fall and a Warrior will come.
In a rain of fire and from the ashes of destruction, a daughter shall rise.’

When the princess is framed for the murder of her father, she has to flee, build her forces and form alliances in order to take her kingdom back from the new king and his queen - the actual murderers. This, in turn, kickstarts plenty of scheming and spying on everybody's behalf, making it hard to see who's on whose side.
_____________________
writing quality + easy of reading = 4*

pace = 3*

plot/story in general = 3*

plot development = 3*

characters = 3*

enjoyability = 3*

insightfulness = 2*

3 STARS ★★★✩✩

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It is a good story, I just couldn't get into it. Maybe with all the stress we are currently under during Covid and lockdown, the continuous fighting was difficult to follow.

Good, just difficult for me at this time.

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this is a great book for those who enjoy reading fantasy but can wrap their heads around a politically fueld religious rebellion. it almost reminds me of star wars in regards to political and rebellion pieces.

great fantasy religion book

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This first novel in the series has all the hallmarks of the classic romp with a feisty heroine, dashing allies, hefty battles and clandestine skulkings, what’s not to like? However, it was the attention to detail and what I assume to be technical accuracy that I really enjoyed. You can probably tell I’m not a historian but along with enjoying the story in it’s own right I definitely enjoyed the extra heft. However, even though the reader would be benefitted by having an attention span stretching more than 10 seconds, the story bounces along at pace and I can’t wait to listen to the next one.

Happy listening!

A revelatory romp!

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Listener received this title free

When a king dies, plots and twists pop up as greed, suppression of people and religion rears their ugly heads and the struggle to take a kingdom begins. Expect spies, traitors, unlikely friendships and of course the cliffhanger at the end.... this is the first book of a series after all.

A battle for a Kingdom begins.

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