Chains of Blood cover art

Chains of Blood

The Chaos Cycle, Book 1

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Chains of Blood

By: ML Spencer
Narrated by: John Banks
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About this listen

He thought he was born Rylan Marshall...until he found out he wasn’t.

Rylan was attacked, his young son murdered, his baby daughter taken. But his assailant left him with two gifts: the gift of magic...and an oath to darkness.

Gil Archer is the son of a legend and one of the most powerful battle mages in the Lyceum. He is sent on a mission to recover Rylan, but ends up on a far more dangerous path.

And war is coming for them both.

Will Rylan use his newfound power to make a stand, or will his oath to darkness guide him to the enemy? And will Gil live up to the legacy of his father, or will his fate lead him to a much darker destiny?

If you love grimdark fantasy filled with vivid realism, brutal warfare, and raw emotion, this new adventure is just for you.

©2019 ML Spencer (P)2020 Podium Publishing Action & Adventure Dark Fantasy Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Destiny Magic Magic Users

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All stars
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Intricate and interesting plot, it kept me listening. Looking forward to Book 2. Narrator did an excellent job with so many characters to differentiate between.

An enjoyable listen

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Good solid start to the book , will probably get the next one to see how it pans out

Good solid start

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Loved the twists & turns, really good character progression. Descriptive details make for good visualisations.
Great accents.

Excellent

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I enjoyed a lot of the story but found so many parts completely irritating as the protagonists make such stupid decisions to further the story so obviously ridiculous but do you have to swallow it and move on I had to skip large sections because of my irritation the story could have been so much better if they also take the time to find a path to where he wanted to go instead of making his protagonist act like complete morons

excellent story but so many stupid actions

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A well written story. Kept me entertained all the way through. Only criticism would be of the voice actors' portrayal of the female characters and their accents.

Didn't disappoint.

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I enjoyed overall but some parts dragged / took too long to get to the plot twist.

Enjoyable listening.

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Started ok and thought it was going to be good. However, characters make stupid decisions and seem a bit dense. Also some plot contrivences really stretch it.

Ran out of steam with dumb characters

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one the most original fantasy books I've listened too recently. throughly enjoyed this book.

brilliant concept

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I read the Arc and even more impressively found the audio version added an extra punch. The Rhenwars series often gets compared (rightly) with WOT, but this time starts with a nasty twist and ends after several twist and boots to the goolies.

I keep tormenting myself with this series by never reading it through and jumping between books in the series. The Rhenwars series isn't necessary - but you'll pick far more nods and winks and continuation through the backstory.

Rylan is an interesting character, quite normal until the rabbit warren bites him in the goolies, swallows him up and spits him into hellish misery. The other characters (Archer the younger in particular) are equally thrown out of their death as they approach an epic siege of jerusalemlike proportions from multiple story arcs.

If familiar with Rhenwars you'll see the nod to WOT with the cyclical nature of characters in roles, with the resonance of namesakes and positions and the continuation of some old faces emulating Gandalf in wisdom and the powerlessness of nudging fate and not controlling it without giving too much away.

It is a pacy and well rounded story. Brutal and unforgiving and not one for someone looking for unicorns and fluffy Elves. It is a solid evolution on the earlier series and spreads out across the globe for new enemies, yet clever in keeping the conflict local and focused. Merciless in driving characters beyond torment. That focus pulls in and spits out the characters and centralises the storyarcs.

If I have any gripes it's minor things. Rylan's relationship seems to occur somewhat sudden considering the circumstances - but there's a couple of driving forces behind it and essential for the climax and conclusion. Here's boomtime by the way... and damn nice to see mages being allowed to run around and be glass cannons.
My second is the focus around the siege. There are a couple of lulls that seem to jar with the race to save the city. I'd expect Naia to be doing more at this time, but I appreciate the POV of the main characters would limit citywide events.

It is a damn fine start to a continuing series and M.L. Spencer continues to be implacably consistent with every release and I enjoyed this one more than her other work. Well worth picking up, but she needs to be careful... There is an outfitting scene and while the Robert Jordan comparisons will continue, it is brief and does not take up several pages and allow a breath for the savagery.

Just buy the thing if you aren’t squeamish. If you are, worry - to what depths will the author’s mind sink to next?

Better than the Arc, adding a gravitas to Grimdark.

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This made excellent listening. Fabulous two pronged story with intriguing dilemmas for the characters. Well put together and made the books real edge of seat listen

Gripping Counter Stories

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