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  • Malice

  • The Faithful and Fallen, Book 1
  • By: John Gwynne
  • Narrated by: Damian Lynch
  • Length: 23 hrs and 56 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (815 ratings)
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Malice cover art

Malice

By: John Gwynne
Narrated by: Damian Lynch
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Summary

Young Corban watches enviously as boys become warriors, learning the art of war. He yearns to wield his sword and spear to protect his king’s realm. But that day will come all too soon. Only when he loses those he loves will he learn the true price of courage.

The Banished Lands has a violent past where armies of men and giants clashed in battle, the earth running dark with their heartsblood. Although the giant clans were broken in ages past, their ruined fortresses still scar the land. But now giants stir anew, the very stones weep blood, and there are sightings of giant wyrms. Those who can still read the signs see a threat far greater than the ancient wars. Sorrow will darken the world as angels and demons make it their battlefield. Then there will be a war to end all wars.

High King Aquilus summons his fellow kings to council, seeking an alliance in this time of need. Prophesy indicates darkness and light will demand two champions, the Black Sun and the Bright Star. They would be wise to seek out both, for if the Black Sun gains ascendancy, mankind’s hopes and dreams will fall to dust.

©2015 John Gwynne (P)2015 Audible, Ltd

What listeners say about Malice

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    444
  • 4 Stars
    225
  • 3 Stars
    81
  • 2 Stars
    31
  • 1 Stars
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Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
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  • 4 Stars
    164
  • 3 Stars
    86
  • 2 Stars
    34
  • 1 Stars
    33
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    409
  • 4 Stars
    186
  • 3 Stars
    83
  • 2 Stars
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  • 1 Stars
    22

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Excellently read, and a good story

I'm listening to the book again a few years after I first read it. The story is good, it inevitably ticks a lot of the inevitable boxes such as the unlikely connection between the lead character and a wild animal that somehow seems to occur in almost every fantasy novel that I read, but it is a good story that is well crafted and paced. The only real weakness and inexperience that the author shows (I can't believe anyone picked up on before it went to print) is that everyone seems to walk around grinning and smiling like idiots at one other the whole time. It is so frequently written that it does rather cast a bizarre hue on the tale, but one that is easy enough to ignore.

The narrator is excellent, and manages to conjure different accents from different parts of the English speaking world for every character which is no mean feat. Some are a little misguided - why Veradis sounds like a working-class Yorkshireman when he is one of the highest born people in the realm is a bit of a mystery to me, as is she surprising arrival of Braithe straight off the boat from Australia, but overall the narration is great. If would be nice if they'd left a slightly bigger gap between chapter sections, as they tend to carry on like one sentence to another, meaning that the focal character is often suddenly translocated from one location to another out of nowhere, but that is down to poor editing rather than narration. All in all, a good book and a very enjoyable listen.

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24 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

listen to ... the pause ... every 5 .... words.

What would have made Malice better?

remove the narrators constant pausing.

Would you ever listen to anything by John Gwynne again?

with a different narrator

Would you be willing to try another one of Damian Lynch’s performances?

no no no ... and no

What character would you cut from Malice?

never made it past the first 30 mins

Any additional comments?

i listen to 3 / 4 books a month while driving and this is the first one i have given up on completely.

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

A painful experience

narrator terrible
I had no idea who half the characters were.
I really struggled to complete it

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A Surprising find, a decent book with a character

Would you consider the audio edition of Malice to be better than the print version?

Haven't read the book so i cannot tell you.

What did you like best about this story?

To be honest the twisting route of light and truth into the darkness inch by inch and decision by decision. Its a great rendition of a similar and familiar story we all know and love.

What about Damian Lynch’s performance did you like?

He is a solid voice actor , was confused by the random accents.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

again I've heard this question its stupid.

Any additional comments?

Dear avid listener, this book has 2 min characters and 4-6 sub characters, it follows mostly two main lads are coming of age, one is a prince the other a blacksmith son. you dont quite know who is the good guy and who is the bad. I would recommend this to most people.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Show, don't tell.

Sentences are short and clipped lacking in descriptions of scenes and characters. I really wanted to enjoy this, but I was struggling to create a rolling scene while listening. The book was so low on character and world building it could have been anything. I am a handful of chapters in and am giving up.
Narrator delivering the dialog with a flat tone doesn't help.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Unexpected pleasure!

I was hooked from the start. I couldn't stop listening until the end.

I'm already downloading book two.

Good story and performance.

Definitely one of my favourites!

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Slow to start

Very good but you might find the book is slow to start but keep going because once it gets going it is very good

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A bit slow to start but a great story eventually.

A bit slow to start but a great story eventually. Has a cliff-hangar ending so you do need to read the next book.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An intoxicating entry into audio books

If you could sum up Malice in three words, what would they be?

Amusing, detailed, intriguing

What did you like best about this story?

The fact I found I was easily able to relate to many of the characters.

What about Damian Lynch’s performance did you like?

his wide variety of voices for both male and female characters.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Surprisingly It did actually make me laugh aloud, as I find it hard to imagine anyone who doesn't find brinna and craff funny has a stale sense of humor.

Any additional comments?

While there's political intrigue it's not overly complex and it's made very easy to follow and it's all explained very well.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

good time sink

This is an audio book review.

It's not a good story. very predictable plot twists and its full of cliches, tropes.

The voice acting is good, though some characters and lines are jarring & just wrong. That is to be expected when the actor has to voice tens of characters.

I enjoyed the listen overall. recommended for a very long journey to fill time.

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7 people found this helpful