C. O. Bonham

Hello and Happy New Year. I know it’s pretty late to be doing the first post of the year. Is it really almost February? But I needed a serious break from everything. I also had some cleaning up to do on my manuscript. (Don’t get excited. It’s not the sequel.) A couple trusted friends helped me get my commas in the right places so Runaway Lyrics would read better. There’s a couple good reasons why it needs to read better. Hopefully I can share good news about both of the reasons soon.

With so much going on I haven’t had much time for reading—at least not typed books. I can always find time for audiobooks.

Sylvalla escapes Avondale castle and the life of a princess, in search of the adventure she’s always wanted.
Once found, adventure bites back.
Fortunately, she’s not alone. Unfortunately, her new-found companions are less than heroic. Jonathan, would rather make money than learn wizardry. Dirk, would rather live a long and happy life than confront danger. And at 150, old Capro would rather stop gallivanting, and harangue unsuspecting wizardry students about his glory days over a nice cup of tea.
Quest has everything, heroes, monsters, chases, escapes and a complete lack of true love.

A celebration of adventure fantasy, Quest is a quirky and original fantasy from award winning and USA Today Bestselling author, A.J. Ponder on behalf of Wizardly historian, F Fraderghast. Become a student of magic today, and discover the true fighter, warrior, and most unprincesslike Princess Sylvalla, as she battles for her place as a hero.

Audiobook Review of Quest: book one in the Sylvalla Chronicles

*review of audiobook edition*

Quest is a fun little side quest of a read that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

It has jokes sprinkled throughout by a Douglas Adams style narrator, character intro’s that read like D&D character sheet summaries, with gimmicks that could have carried the novel if they had to.

Quest is a fun read is you are just looking for surface level adventure and humorous antics. The story does get a little serious towards the end, which I fear may be setting the tone for future installments.

The Characters are all likeable enough and each has their own thing that draws you too them.

There is a wizard named Goodfellow who is trying desperately to reconnect with his adult son, Johnathan. These two are the characters that I connected with most. I felt like their plot thread was never fully developed to it’s fullest potential. There was an opportunity for some real deep feels here.

The rest of the characters felt like stereotypes of D&D classes. I suspect this book may be a novelized D&D campaign—or several. Like a Dungeon Master was trying to bring several campaigns together in one story.

Which brings me to this book’s one major flaw.

There are too many characters. They are not together as a party either. They are separate and seemingly unrelated to each other. The constant jumping from one character to the next makes it hard to care about any of them and also keeps them from developing.

The narrator Benjamin Fife was amazing as he always is. He handled the large cast of characters the only way he could, by giving each one a different voice. He even reads subtext and emotion into the really underdeveloped relationship between Johnathan Goodfellow and his father.

If you do pick up this book, I really hope you choose the audio version.

Will I continue this series? Yes, but mostly likely not until they release on audio. I like to complete series in the same format I start them in. I certainly hope Benjamin Fife returns for the next two books.

*Thank you to Story Origin and the author for providing me with a free reviewer code. This review is my own honest opinion.* 

Quest is available in ebook, paperback, and in audio formats from multiple retailers. As of this writing you can get the ebook for only 99cents.

A.J. Ponder

“Writing is about fun. Reading doubly so.”

USA Today bestselling author, and winner of the Wright-Murray Residency 2021, A.J. Ponder (BSc, Dip Teach) is the author of numerous novels and short stories including the award winning Frankie and the Netball Clone, Dying for the Record, The Sylvalla Chronicles, Wizard’s Guide to Wellington and more.

A.J. lives in a hundred year old house overlooking Wellington harbour with three cats and a family all obsessed with games, books and dungeons and dragons. A.J. has a head full of monsters, and recklessly spills them onto the written page. Beware dragons, dreadbeasts, taniwha, and small children—all are equally dangerous, and capable of treading on your heart—or tearing it, still beating, from your chest.