The Ember Blade, Chris Wooding
The Ember Blade, Chris Wooding
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The Ember Blade
A breathtaking fantasy adventure

Author: Chris Wooding

Narrator: Simon Bubb

Unabridged: 30 hr 40 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Gollancz

Published: 09/20/2018


Synopsis

'The Ember Blade is hands down the best fantasy novel I've ever read' Grimdark Magazine

A land under occupation. A legendary sword. A young man's journey to find his destiny.

Aren has lived by the rules all his life. He's never questioned it; that's just the way things are. But then his father is executed for treason, and he and his best friend Cade are thrown into a prison mine, doomed to work until they drop. Unless they can somehow break free . . .

But what lies beyond the prison walls is more terrifying still. Rescued by a man who hates him yet is oath-bound to protect him, pursued by inhuman forces, Aren slowly accepts that everything he knew about his world was a lie. The rules are not there to protect him, or his people, but to enslave them. A revolution is brewing, and Aren is being drawn into it, whether he likes it or not.

The key to the revolution is the Ember Blade. The sword of kings, the Excalibur of his people. Only with the Ember Blade in hand can their people be inspired to rise up . . . but it's locked in an impenetrable vault in the most heavily guarded fortress in the land.

All they have to do now is steal it . . .

Read by Simon Bubb
(p) Orion Publishing Group 2018

About Chris Wooding

Chris Wooding is a full time, award-winning novelist, a YA novelist, and a professional script writer for film and TV. He has travelled extensively, plays bass and guitar (and has recorded several albums) and his novels have been published all over the world. He has penned the Braided Path trilogy, a standalone novel (The Fade) and the Tales of the Ketty Jay series for Gollancz, all of which were critical and commercial successes. Chris Wooding lives in Kent, and you can learn more at www.chriswooding.com.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Petrik on February 10, 2023

ARC provided by the publisher—Gollancz—in exchange for an honest review. Wooding strikes a magnificently fine balance between classic epic fantasy and grimdark fantasy, making this an amazing start to a new trilogy. To be honest, I feel like the love for classic fantasy has started to dwindle these da......more

Goodreads review by Sean Barrs on February 23, 2023

I read a lot of fantasy, though I’ve never read a fantasy book that somehow manages to incorporate elements from so many other books and make them original and unrepetitive. It’s a triumph of writing, and I dare say one of the best in the genre for a very long time. I gave it five stars because it i......more

Goodreads review by Matt's Fantasy Book Reviews on April 26, 2024

Watch my video review by clicking here. An epic fantasy story that is simultaneously epically boring, and epically cliché.......more

Goodreads review by Adam on November 29, 2022

I’ll cut to the quick: Chris Wooding’s The Ember Blade is one of the best starts to an epic fantasy series that I’ve ever read. This book is a massive 800-page tome, yet it stays economical in its scope. It is a story filled with thoughtful insights, rousing battles, tense chase scenes, richly drawn......more

Goodreads review by James on September 17, 2018

One of the best fantasy books I've read in years. An instant classic!......more


Quotes

The Ember Blade is everything I could possibly want in an epic fantasy novel, and so much more. Buy this book as soon as it is available. FANTASY BOOK REVIEW

If you like Brandon Sanderson you'll love this. The best epic fantasy for years. Gavin Smith, author of The Bastard Legion

It's like David Eddings, Margaret Weis, Tracey Hickman and Terry Brooks had a brainstorming session over a power lunch... then Wooding stole their notes, drank their beer and set about skewing everything. ...great fun, a classic epic fantasy. WERTZONE

A well-written tale of revolution, dark magic, and a quest for an ancient game-changing artifact set in a well-built and well-realised epic fantasy world. THE BOOK BAG

From the excellent characterizations to the relentless chase, from breathtaking set pieces to the intricate world-building, everything was written with finesse. It seriously doesn't matter whether you're a fan of classic, epic, or grimdark fantasy (even better if all three), there's a place for you here. The Ember Blade is a book every fantasy fan will feel right at home with, and yet will find new adventures in it. It's a book that fantasy readers will love to revisit and inhabit longer and longer with every visit. NOVEL NOTIONS

The Ember Blade is hands down the best fantasy novel I've ever read. Grimdark Magazine