Call, Justin Travis. Silent Gods. #bk. 1

Narrated by Peter Kenny

You've heard the story before: an orphaned boy, raised by a wise old man, comes to a fuller knowledge of his magic and uses it to fight the great evil threatening his world. But what if that hero were destined to become the new dark lord? The Academy of Chaenbalu has stood against magic for centuries. Hidden from the world, acting from the shadows, it trains its students to detect and retrieve magic artifacts, which it jealously guards from the misuse of others. Because magic is dangerous: something that heals can also harm, and a power that aids one person may destroy another. Of the academy's many students, only the most skilled can become avatars-warrior thieves, capable of infiltrating the most heavily guarded vaults-and only the most determined can be trusted to resist the lure of magic. More than anything, Annev de Breth wants to become one of them. But Annev carries a secret. Unlike his classmates who were stolen as infants from the capital city, Annev was born in the village of Chaenbalu, was believed to be executed, and then unknowingly raised by his parents' killers. Seventeen years later, he struggles with the burdens of a forbidden magic, a forgotten heritage, and a secret deformity. When Annev is subsequently caught between the warring ideologies of his priestly mentor and the Academy's masters, he must finally decide whether to accept the truth of who he really is … or embrace the darker truth of what he may one day become. "A classic coming-of-age tale meets a hero-to-be adventure with spiraling depth…Call writes a world of deep and profound mythology." "Artifacts, ancient secrets, and an aching desire to prove himself force neophyte Annev de Breth to contend with magical forces in Master of Sorrows, the first book in The Silent Gods series from Justin Travis Call…Master of Sorrows is a rousing and imaginative high fantasy novel-a promising beginning to a new series." "In Master of Sorrows, the first of a new series, Justin Travis Call asks a question that has been largely missing from high fantasy: What if the orphaned hero and the threat to the world were one and the same? Annev de Breth, a warrior-thief with a past shrouded in mystery, must face this very notion in a novel that turns one of the core fantasy plots on its head. Brutal and intense, this is a book no one will be able to put down." "In a world where difference means death, can a boy with a secret find his own path?…Debut novelist Call plunges the reader directly into the action and never lets the pace flag. Even as we learn about the ancient battles, dark prophecies, and mystical assassins that are about to change the course of Annev's life, the stakes remain appealingly human: Can Annev achieve his goals without betraying his moral code? Will the people he cares about accept him for who he is? A fast-paced, action-packed epic fantasy to sink your teeth into." "Game designer Call inverts fantasy tropes…A late-stage reveal and violent climax nicely set up book two." "Call's debut, which kicks off the Silent Gods series, takes its time coming to a boil, but by the final act there is plenty of action and conflict. Readers of Mark Lawrence's Book of the Ancestor trilogy or Patrick Rothfuss's Kingkiller Chronicle will appreciate the depiction of a young conflicted hero coming of age in a fantastic school." "If you loved Robin Hobb's Fitz in Assassin's Apprentice, you'll love Annev in Justin Call's Master of Sorrows!" "A fast-paced and intricate coming-of-age story that shows that villains aren't born but forged." "An astonishing first step along a dark descent that readers will want to see to the end." "Master of Sorrows is one of the best books I have read this year and a perfect example of grimdark fantasy. It isn't overly mired in negativity or cruelness. The rawer parts of grimdark and epic fantasy are there, but this story is t

Mode of access: World Wide Web