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Arcane
- The Arinthian Line, Book One
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 10 hrs and 36 mins
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Arcane
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Summary
Fourteen-year-old Augum and friends Bridget and Leera dream of becoming warlocks. But with a kingdom in total chaos, it will take courage, sacrifice, and an iron will to make that dream come true. The lord of the legion, a vicious tyrant, has overthrown the king in a relentless and murderous quest for seven mythic artifacts - and Augum's mentor, the legendary Anna Atticus Stone, possesses one. While Augum struggles with demons from a painful childhood, a betrayal puts him, his friends, and his mentor through a harrowing ordeal that threatens to destroy them all... and change the course of history.
Arcane, the debut novel in the fantasy adventure series the Arinthian Line, follows three friends as they navigate an ancient, abandoned castle, endure grueling training, challenge old mysteries, and learn that a bond forged in tragedy might just be the only thing to save them from a ruthless enemy.
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What listeners say about Arcane
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Boyan
- 19-12-21
Good narration, weak narrative
I honestly hate bashing on a children's book but here we go.
I am not one of the people who thinks that every single trope should be subverted but hitting every cliche in the book is kind of tiring. The story is chaotic, jumping from one status quo to the next without any rhyme or reason. Just when you think you know what the book is about something facepalm-worthy happens and the story tries to figure out again how it should proceed. Seriously we go from the call to adventure to the crossing the threshold stages five times in this book.
And the weird part is that the MC doesn't have anything to do with it. He doesn't really have an initiative on his own and the driving force behind his actions are usually what he was told to do or the things that happen to him. The reasons we are supposed to like him are not that great either - he is an orphan, he was bullied and he is not a sadist. That last one is apparently really rare in this world for some reason, because there are like 3 characters in the book that are not and one that pretends not to be but clearly is.
The world is a weird mix of a happy-go-lucky children's fantasy and grimdark. At one point a 12 year old girl was about to be raped in this children's book. But a moment later we are once again gushing over "arcanery" and doing household chores with magic. If I had to guess the author wanted to skip over the important first part of a fantasy series where characters are established and the world is set up and to jump straight into the middle of the series where the big important revelations happen and the stakes are raised. The problem is that it is not earned.
I honestly do not think a child will mind that book as much as I do because that is how children work - they rush ahead, skipping over details. A like the main character - good children do what they are told. But great child characters grow gradually and even in their earliest adventures have that streak of rebellion and that initiative that drives them forward.
On the other hand the narration is great - it was kind of baffling at first that a man with such a deep voice does female characters especially children but he manages it. Kudos for that!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 06-11-21
Intriguing
Tha book started slow, but became more interesting throughout the listening. Would highly recommend.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Tristan
- 02-10-21
Fantastic
Great narration and story!
The main character and his friends go through a small amount of arcane progression with a solid plot.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 22-12-22
Great
Loved this can wait to hear the rest in the series great to listen too
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Steven
- 02-12-21
Brilliant first chapter to this series.
Very good book. Has enough to stand out and laid the work for more...
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- AWENOWL
- 28-06-22
No depth
Boring and superficial... Might be best suited for teenagers.... Story had potential but too much talking...
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Scott Barnes
- 18-10-21
Exceeded Expectations
I say that in my title because I genuinely had no idea what this book would be like. I've listened to a few fantasy / arcane style books and all have different systems of how the arcanery work. This one, like the others, makes a lot of sense.
The story is well planned out with characters you can relate to. I think the author did a wonderful job of developing the characters while keeping intrigue where needed. It's a well paced story and clearly leads into the sequels which I now can't wait to listen to.
The narration was very well done and Stefan has a wonderful speaking voice and despite his voices deepness, he does a good job of differentiating characters - a lot of which are female. It's not that he does full voices and so on, but he controls a fragility compared to the male characters that helps distinguish who is who.
It did take me a while to warm to his narration as his voice sounds like a videogame hero speaking but once I got used to it I really enjoyed listening.
I'm looking forward to diving into the sequels and hearing more of Stefan along the way!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Lamb
- 12-06-22
An enjoyable listen when you’ve got fed up of battle after boring battle.
A bit of a harsh scene in the beginning but turns into a good story. I’ve been listening to a lot of fantasy which even though they are great stories get tied up in one battle after another, one great power which always comes up against another to the point that I start to turn off when yet another impossible victory occurs blah blah. This book may go that way in future books but I just enjoyed the story and will get the next book. As a read/listen it’s good but wouldn’t want to watch it as a movie. Worth it as it’s a freebie !
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- william
- 22-07-22
Nice easy listen
I enjoyed this book characters were good an I found it easy to get into. An it’s very well narrated probably won’t listen to again hence 4 stars for story but still very good listen.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 20-03-24
absolutely riveting
I was recommended this and honestly didn't know what to expect. I'm in my 40s and wasn't sure about the medieval time setting (sort of) and teenage protagonists. I was wrong to be unsure... this is a fantastic book and a fabulous narration. I have been completely hooked at every stage! I have gone on to order the paper book version for my bookshelf. So excited to read the next books (or listen to them!). Highly recommend.
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