A Crucible of Souls Audiobook By Mitchell Hogan cover art

A Crucible of Souls

The Sorcery Ascendant Sequence, Book 1

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A Crucible of Souls

By: Mitchell Hogan
Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
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When Caldan’s parents are brutally slain, he is raised by monks and taught the arcane mysteries of sorcery. Vowing to discover for himself who his parents really were, and what led to their violent end, he is thrust into the unfamiliar chaos of city life. With nothing to his name but a pair of mysterious heirlooms and a handful of coins, he must prove his talent to earn an apprenticeship with a guild of sorcerers.

But he soon learns the world outside the monastery is a darker place than he ever imagined, and his treasured sorcery has disturbing depths.

As a shadowed evil manipulates the unwary and forbidden powers are unleashed, Caldan is plunged into an age-old conflict that brings the world to the edge of destruction.

This is an updated recording from the original 2014 edition, also performed by Oliver Wyman, which matches the current reissue of the print book.

©2013 Mitchell Hogan (P)2014 Audible Inc. Epic Fantasy Sorcery Magic Fantasy Epic Fiction Action & Adventure Scary

Critic reviews

  • Winner of Best Fantasy Novel, 2013 Aurealis Awards
"For a debut novel this is more than a little impressive. Characters are vividly drawn, multi-layered, and in one or two cases, compelling. Hogan joins with the new wave of fantasy authors in his use of morally ambivalent characters, distinct and tight points of view, believable world building, an intelligible magic system, and some edgy, gritty content." (D.P. Prior, author of The Nameless Dwarf)
Engaging Magic System • Compelling World-building • Excellent Character Voices • Well-crafted Plotlines • Complex Hero

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Loved the book. Good character building and decent world.
The magic system is not exactly ground breaking and the story of an orphan getting into his/her powers is very over used these days, but the story (journey) is still well told and an enjoyable journey.

I am a bit concerned about the multiple story arcs especially since a few are still unconnected by the end of book one

I cannot stand another WOT series.
Hopefully things will start to pan out in book two.

Great adventure

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Be forewarned. This is a good fantasy novelist... offering a good fantasy story... in several parts. You are not buying a story when you buy this book. This is piece of a story that does not resolve. You are buying the wheel of a car... not the car. That said he can write. It's entertaining and well performed. Made almost entirely of genre tropes to be honest... but what isn't nowadays. (Aside from the ones that aren't, obviously.) There's the dead parents, the inherited trinket ring, the nice monks who raised me in ignorance of the size of the big bad world, the first boat ride with the sea sickness, the street urchins or poverty-shock, the giant g=beardy magician... "are you a good witch or a bad witch?" -- Orc Hoards and the Absentee Overlord, etc. - There's no tall-important-tower in the distance surprisingly.
Essentially, a well-performed execution of the upper middle of fantasy fare.

Not A Complete Story

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No surprises, no twist and turns to the story. it is simple and strait forward, You know what is going to happened far before the characters figure it out. Authors seem to struggle on the differences between a naïve young man and a simpleton. It is not a bad story it just becomes dull when you know what's coming next and you have to wait for the characters to figure it out.

Very simple

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I would recommend this book to someone new to the genre. The writing is skilled and the story is engaging.

However, I found it to be average and forgettable - literally. I had to reread the publisher's notes to remind myself about it before writing this review a scant couple of weeks after finishing the book. But that's probably because I've been reading this genre for decades. If you've read through Butcher, Sanderson, Martin, Brett, Rothfuss, and Abercrombie, and you're looking for more, this isn't it.

Good YA Fantasy

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If you like Rothfuss' "The Name of the Wind" or Sanderson's Stormlight Archive, you will love this book. A brilliant debut from a young writer that had me purchasing book 2 of the series before I'd even finished this one! Highly recommended for any fan of the genre.

Brilliant, original, and entertaining from start to finish

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