The Sword of Truth (The Godling Chronicles #1) by Brian D. Anderson is a terrific read that includes gods and elves! The boy of the story is being chased by an evil, the Dark Knight that has stolen the Sword of Truth and for some reason he is after Gewey, our kid of the story. Gewey is not just a farm boy. Gewey and friends meet a girl, and elf, but she is not just an elf but something else. There are so many twists and turns and surprises! Wonderful epic tale of gods, godlings, good vs evil, action, adventure, coming of age of a godling, humor, great fights, wonderful world building, great characters, and plot. Love it! ( )

ABR's original The Sword of Truth audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

First thoughts about the cover of The Godling Chronicles: The Sword of Truth, Book 1? Dark, ominous, haunting. That horse looks possessed and that rider looks like something out of a nightmare. His armor makes me think of a dark night from days long past. Digging the creepy vibe.

The main character in this book is Dewey Stedding. He’s seventeen, but he looks like he’s in his mid-twenties. He’s also built like a hoss. Big, strong, sturdy. Sometimes he’s impatient and to inquisitive for his own good, but I think that’s a side affect of being a teenager. He’s also a god raised as a man and is earth bound. He didn’t know this till recently though.

This story makes me think of Hercules in a way. Except, Dewey is full god raised as a man rather than a half god. Think of it as if Hades had won already and the world is going dark. Then comes in a teenage Dewey that is supposed to save the world. He’s being trained by half man-god, a servant, and an elf. It’s all very interesting. I dig the fights scenes and when they’re training Dewey. It’s very well read.

The Narrator is Derek Perkins. I enjoyed his natural accent and his accents for the characters helped bring the story to life for me. They were very distinct and different. I didn’t have any confusions of what was going on or who was speaking each time. I did get a huge kick out of how he pronounced different words though. I think that has to do more with his natural accent. The author is Brian D. Anderson. This book is twelve hours and fifty-five minutes long.

Warning – There are a some fight scenes in this book, some death, some blood, and some scenes that are not close to being PG13. Recommended age group, in my opinion, is sixteen and up.

This book left me wondering about people from different cultures and their gods. It makes me curious about their beliefs and their different stories and histories. What makes each of these groups different than those that I know? There are always common things to tie all of them together. Those ties bring us together. They make us who we are, they make us human. What more can we ask for?

Audiobook provided for for review by the publisher. ( )

This book has all of the things that make fantasy great, an epic journey, interfering gods, and a love story. There are fantastical beasts and legends that roam freely about the lands and a young hero. That being said I think that it is to early for me to judge this trilogy yet. While I liked this book I will give my final judgment until I have finished book three ( )

I wasn’t impressed when I first started this story. The writing was mediocre and the plot was cheesy. The further along I got the more interested I became. While the writing wasn’t amazing, there was nothing blaringly wrong with it. My biggest problem with the writing was that I felt there was too much dialogue.

I liked the overall plot and I’m a bit curious to see where the story will go. There are a few cheesy moments and fantasy clichés, but it was still interesting enough to read. The romance, for example, was so typical and mushy that I’m not sure how I feel about it.

The characters were okay. Most I didn’t like and there were many instances when I felt they were too similar. I feel like the characters weren’t flushed out enough to stand out or be unique. I was also confused as to why he had unique names like Kaylia, Millet, etc and then had others like the Dark Knight and the Sword of Truth.

I’m not sure if I’ll continue the series. I’m curious but I don’t feel like the story held my interest enough. ( )

“I still don’t understand,” said Gewey. “If I’m a god, then why do I seem so human?”

This young-adult novel presents the coming of age of Gewey Stedding. Young readers new to the fantasy genre will enjoy the exploits and growth of his character; these "human" readers may even question whether or not they have their own hidden potential (and awesome mentors ready to help them).

Anderson's emphasis on character development keeps this interesting. The pacing is appropriately fast for the intended audience, and readers will experience what has become standard fare in the genre (elves, lots of travelling and inns, spooky forests, etc.).

Veteran readers will shrug at the lack of originality, but the storytelling is done well. The foreshadowing of the Dark Knight’s power is effective though sparse; being biased toward liking horror elements, I was left hungry for more raising of the dead! Plenty of conflict keeps Gewey and his party busy, but most is not from the antagonist; with peril at every turn, the primary destination of their travel and the conflict gets obscured. Ultimately, the conflict remains “Gewey vs. Peril.” As a leading book in a series, it successfully gets the reader attached to Gewey and anxious to delve into the sequel. ( )