Audio Book Review: Quest of Heroes by Morgan Rice

I enjoyed this coming of age with magic story.

Quest of Heroes, A & Slave, Warrior, Queen Bundle
By Morgan Rice
Narrated By: Wayne Farrell

Duration: 16 hours 28 minutes
Publisher: Findaway Voices
Genre: Fantasy, Sword & Sorcery, Teen & Young Adult
My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.0; Narration 4.0.

In the #1 Bestseller A QUEST OF HEROES, Thorgrin, a special 14- year old boy, the least loved of his father, learns he has powers he does not understand. An outsider, he must fight for acceptance as he strives to become a warrior, to join the King’s Legion, and as he falls in love with the king’s 16- year old daughter. Most of all, he must learn who he really is, and why his destiny is so important.

Review:
Thorgrin is frustrated when his father refuses to let him go with his elder brothers to have a chance at being picked to be trained as a warrior in the King’s Legion. He goes forward anyway and is mocked as too young and too small. When he runs to the forest in anger he comes upon a strange man in a clearing. Thorgrin is shocked to find himself face to face with the King’s own Mage advisor. And the man brings to Thorgrin’s attention that he has special powers that he needs to learn to use.

Thorgrin kills a wild beast in a remarkable way with his newly emerging skills. Bolstered by this success, Thorgrin makes his way to the King’s city to force his way into the Legion. He faces opposition but manages to convince a handful of influential warriors to take him on. Thorgrin finds favor with the King and several of the royal children, including the Princess. But the King has enemies, even in his own household and not everyone likes Thorgrin and his interference. Thorgrin tries to warn the King of an assassination attempt but the warning goes awry.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I am not always into coming-of-age stories, but I totally enjoyed this one with its touch of magic Thorgrin is brave and means well even in his foolish impulsivity and naivety which made me roll my eyes. The theme of farmer boy making it good in the King’s forces isn’t new but it has a certain charm in this book. Further, although the characters are not greatly developed, there is a good mix of good guys and grades of bad to evil guys. I enjoyed the action and the bits of humor. This ends with a cliff hanger so part of me wants to get the next book to see what happens next. No big rush on this. Readers who enjoy magic and don’t stress on writing form may well enjoy this story.

Audio Notes: Wayne Farrell does a fair job for the work. He actually helps to deliver Thorgin’s youthful emotions. I am glad that I got to listen to this on audio.

Source: I've had this on Kindle since 2003 (it's still free). I picked up the audio at May 2020 Audiobooks.com bundle for $.99. This qualifies for 2022TBR, 2022Audiobook, and 2022Alphabet goals.