The 13th Paladin Boxed Set: Books 1-3

by Torsten Weitze, Tim Casey, Gildart Jackson (Narrator)

Ahren: Ahren's life consists of being beaten up by his drunkard father or bullied by the village lads. But at the annual suitability tests for apprenticeships, the young boy finds himself selected by Falk, the guardian of the forest, to be his apprentice and his world is turned upside down. From his new master he learns the skills of archery and how to fight the Dark Ones. And then, on the day of the Spring Ceremony there is another unexpected turn of events. He touches the Stone of the Gods and it illuminates for the first time ever. It isn't long before a cantankerous wizard turns up and urges Falk and Ahren into action. The Naming: Two Einhans have been found but the third is still at large. Time is of the essence. Ahren's Appointment as the 13th Paladin--assisted by the three Einhans--must occur by the winter solstice. If not, He, Who Forces will awaken before his time and plunge the unprepared peoples of Jorath into the depths of darkness. The Brazen City: The saga of the 13th Paladin continues. Join him and his friends on their adventures in the Sunplains and enjoy meeting his old friends in Deepstone again. Note: This audiobook includes Books 1-3 in the 13th Paladin series.

Genres: Audiobook, Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Fiction

Audiobook

Published January 31, 2022

About the author

I was born in Krefeld, Germany in 1976 and still live there under the caring eyes of my wife and two Norwegian Forest cats. Originally a publishing salesman, I couldn't resist the lure of writing, and after over a dozen years of playing the gamemaster in pen-and-paper groups, not to mention reading hundreds of fantasy novels, I decided to finally try to write a story myself that I thought might be worth telling. And so my novel Ahren was published in Germany, the first in the best-selling series The 13th Paladin.

When I am not creating new worlds and stories, I like to relax by playing pen-and-paper and story rich video games, reading or binging on TV series. I also practise Jiu Jitsu and the art of handling ancient Japanese weapons like the Katana or the Bo Staff.

Reviews

[Mettesknit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook - Audible
Narrated by
Gildart Jackson
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

First, the narrator did a great job!

The book was slow and possibly written for a young teenage audience.

I would probably liked it a lot when I was 13 years old.

[James Uscroft · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before I begin, I just need to clarify that what follows are merely minor niggles which, although they might be dealbreakers for other people, don't make me hesitate for one moment to recommend this boxset or be willing and eager to buy the other 10 books in this series.

That being said though, the first critique that I have of this boxset is that. as the fact there are 10 more books in this series demonstrates, it's just so unconscionably 'LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG.' That even listening at 3.5x speed, it's still taken days for me to make it this far. Half way through the first book in this 'not-a-trilogy,' after hearing about Ahren's childhood struggles and watching him grow under the mentorship of Faulk as an apprentice forest guardian, I was wondering, "Wait... wasn't there supposed to be a Paladin in this story???" And then, by the end of the first volume when they did finally mention the 13th Paladin, I literally had to check the title again because "Oh right... I remember now... This story 'IS' supposed to be about a Paladin!"

Seriously, the 'Introduction' to this series takes up so much of the first full novel that I'd literally forgotten where the story was going or what I was supposed to be waiting for. However, that paradoxically demonstrates how engaged I was with the writing and how much I loved the characters. Because as a man with ADHD, I would have cast the audiobook aside the moment that it became tedious or a chore.

But as much as I love the characters though, a good subtitle for this entire series so far would be "The Torrent Of Exposition." Because while, as a fan of Classic Doctor Who, I understand the vital need in many stories for an "Audience Surrogate" character so that everything can be explained, almost every piece of worldbuilding in this series consists entirely of Ahren having everything explained to him by one of the other characters.

However, while Torsten Weitze needs to have the words "!!!LLET T'NOD !!!WOHS" tattooed on his forehead to remind him that exposition dumps are a sign of lazy writing every time he sees his own reflection, and they 'MIGHT' become unsufferable over the course of the next 10 books, (as I say, this story is 'LOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNGGG,') for the moment at least, I can excuse them, because I'm just so infatuated with the characters. ^_^

[Rosemary Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have submitted reviews after listening to the audiobooks for each title contained within this set box and those reviews can be found on the individual title's pages. (Audible Membership)

I would like to continue this series in the future.

[Teri B · Rating 3 out of 5]

From rags to riches and from nobody to a chosen one the story is nicely set up and then starts to go through the motions for Ahren to survive the tests he has to survive before he is confirmed as chosen one.

[Chris Cisneros · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gildart Jackson breaths life into every character please do yourself a favor and listen to the box set on audible, trust me you will not be disappointed.

[H J Palmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ranger's Apprentice, if Ranger's Apprentice was high fantasy.

[Courtney Solinsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a cute series so far. I'm not sure I'll finish, I didn't realize how many books were in the series. It's a great listen for free on audible.

[Lionely De La Torre · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.7